The Merchant of Venice (1961 film)

1961 film by Alan Burke

The Merchant of Venice

The Sydney Morning Herald 13 Sep 1961

Based on| play The Merchant of Venice by William Shakespeare
Directed by| Alan Burke
Starring| Owen Weingott
Country of origin| Australia
Original language| English
Production
Running time| 120 mins[1]
Production company| Australian Broadcasting Commission
Original release
Network| ABC
Release| 13 September 1961 (1961-09-13)

The Merchant of Venice is a 1961 Australian television adaptation of the play by William Shakespeare [2] that aired on 13 September 1961 in Sydney, and on 25 October 1961 in Melbourne.[3]

## Cast

[edit]

* Owen Weingott as Shylock[4][5]
* Tanya Halesworth as Portia
* Ron Graham as Bassanio
* John Unicomb as Antonio
* Annette Andre as Jessica
* Barry Creyton as Lorenzo
* John Faasen as Gratiano
* Carolyn Keely as Nerissa
* Alistair Roberts as Lancelot Gobbo
* Leonard Teale as the Prince of Morocco

## Production

[edit]

The Sydney Morning Herald called it "the most important television play of the year. and among Sydney's actresses the role of Portia was the most sought after."[6]

It went to the relatively inexperienced Tanya Halesworth who was a presenter at the ABC (she had only acted once on stage in The Women). She won the role over two other candidates. Director Alan Burke said "I am not unduly worried that Tanya hasn't done Shakespeare before because I haven't produced a Shakespeare play before."[7]

Burke saw Portia "as a beautiful debutante, the darling of the deb set of her day. I wanted a beautiful girl for the role, one with wit, astuteness, vivacity; but one with a little bit of edge to her tongue. Tanya has all these."[8]

All members of the cast except Halesworth and Andre had experience doing Shakespeare. Weingott, Graham, Roberts and Vernon had all performed their roles in previous productions of Merchant on stage.[7]

Annette Andre later recalled "here I was, a nice Catholic girl – God! I’m a long way from that now – playing Jessica, daughter of Shylock. I would’ve loved to play Portia, but Tanya gave a wonderful performance."[9]

Barry Creyton later recalled, "I remember during my vital speech to Jessica, “how sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank”, a makeup girl dropped a jar nearby. That was very disconcerting, but being live, we just continued as if a makeup jar dropping onto concrete was a common sound in old Venice." He also remembered that when the programme was recorded that "lost half an hour of sound", so he and Annette Andre "had to go back to the studio to loop one of our scenes."[10]

Creyton said the cast "wanted to make the Shakespeare accessible to even a non-Shakespearean ear. We tried to make it sound like actual conversational English and were criticised by old Shakespearean actors for doing so."[10]

Leonard Teale had appeared in a production of the play at the Independent.[11]

In September 1961 the ABC presented a radio adaptation of the play done in Melbourne, with a cast including Patricia Kennedy and James Bailey.[12]

## Reception

[edit]

The Sydney Morning Herald called it "a masterful piece of work in which a predominant young cast gave the play flesh-and-blood virility".[13]

The Australian Woman's Weekly said the play was "an eye-opener to me. THE eye-opening came from the depth of Tanya Halesworth's portrayal of Portia, the strength of Owen Weingott's Shylock, and producer Alan Burke's fresh interpretation and splendid production. I expected it to be good, but not as good as it was."[2]

Filmink thought "Alan Burke shows skill with blocking actors and moving the camera, though is reticent to use close ups apart from when characters are performing soliloquies. "[14]

The play was screened in Melbourne along with two other Shakespeare plays on the school syllabus, A Midsummer Night's Dream and the Royston Morley production of Hamlet.[3]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 11 September 1961. p. 15.
2. ^ a b ""The Merchant" a TV triumph". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 29, no. 17\. 27 September 1961. p. 19. Retrieved 9 February 2017 - via National Library of Australia.
3. ^ a b "'Clever' Ghost in TV Hamlet". The Age. 21 September 1961. p. 22.
4. ^ Sydney Morning Herald 14 September 1961 "The Merchant on Television" p.13
5. ^ "Biography".
6. ^ "Tanya's Surprise Portia Role". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 September 1961. p. 12.
7. ^ a b "Tanya from p 1". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 September 1961. p. 17.
8. ^ "Tanya-an alluring, vivacious Portia". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 29, no. 14\. 6 September 1961. p. 19. Retrieved 9 February 2017 - via National Library of Australia.
9. ^ Vagg, Stephen (29 August 2020). "Annette Andre: My Brilliant Early Australian Career". Filmink.
10. ^ a b Vagg, Stephen (11 October 2020). "Barry Creyton Live!". Filmink.
11. ^ Lane, Richard (2000). The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama Volume 2. National Film and Sound Archive. pp. 124–127.
12. ^ "Radio Guide". The Age. 14 September 1961. p. 31.
13. ^ ""The Merchant" on Television". Sydney Morning Herald. 14 September 1061. p. 11.
14. ^ Vagg, Stephen (8 December 2020). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Merchant of Venice". Filmink.

## External links

[edit]

* The Merchant of Venice at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

TV productions of Alan Burke

Dramas|

* A Fourth for Bridge (1957)
* A Rose Without a Thorn (1958)
* His Excellency (1958)
* The Skin of Our Teeth (1959)
* Misery Me (1959)
* Wuthering Heights (1959)
* The Slaughter of St Teresa's Day (1960)
* Farewell, Farewell, Eugene (1960)
* Venus Observed (1960)
* The Emperor Jones (1960)
* A Little South of Heaven (1961)
* The Merchant of Venice (1961)
* A Night Out (1961)
* The Taming of the Shrew (1962)
* My Three Angels (1962)
* The Young Victoria (1963)
* A Dead Secret (1963)
* The Tempest (1963)
* The Harp in the South (1964)
* Rusty Bugles (1965)
* Macbeth (1965)
* Dark Corridor (1965)
* The Prowler (1966)
* Antarctic Four (1966)
* The Survivor (1972)
* Redheap (1972)
* The Cousin from Fiji (1972)
* A Curate in Bohemia (1972)
* Dust or Polish? (1972)
* Halfway to Nowhere (1972)
* Essington (1974)
* Hamlet (1974)
* Ride on Stranger (1979)
* Coralie Lansdowne Says No (1980)
* A Toast to Melba (1980)
* Big Toys (1980)
* Departmental (1980)
* The Department (1980)
* Rusty Bugles (1981)
* A Hard God (1981)
* Going Home (1981)
* Jonah (1982)
* The Dean Case (1983)
* The Amorous Dentist (1983)
* A Halo for Athuan (1984)
* Kindred Spirits (1984)
* The Schippan Mystery (1984)
* Who Killed Hannah Jane? (1984)
* Rooted (1985)
* After Marcuse (1988)
* The Alien Years (1988)

Operas|

* Prima Donna (1959)
* Rita (1959)
* Cavalleria rusticana (1959)
* The Marriage of Figaro (1960)
* The Medium (1960)
* The Abduction from the Seraglio (1961)
* La Boheme (1961)
* Don Pasquale (1962)

Ballet|

* The Tell-Tale Heart (1961)

Musicals|

* Pardon Miss Westcott (1959) (writer only)
* Lola Montez (1962)
* The Sentimental Bloke (1976)

* v
* t
* e

William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice

Characters|

* Shylock
* Antonio
* Bassanio
* Portia
* Jessica

Sources|

* Gesta Romanorum
* Il Pecorone
* The Jew of Malta

On screen|

* 1914
* 1916
* 1923
* Shylock (1940)
* 1953
* 1961
* 1969
* 1980 (TV)
* 2004

Music|

* Incidental music: Shylock (1889)
* Opera: Le marchand de Venise (1935); The Merchant of Venice (1982)
* Musical: Shylock (1987)

Adaptations|

* Serenade to Music (1938)
* The Merchant (1976)
* Shylock (1996)
* Yasser (2001)
* The Maori Merchant of Venice (2002)

Related|

* "All that glitters is not gold"
* "Between you and I"
* "The quality of mercy"

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template