The Case of Private Hamp

The Case of Private Hamp is a 1962 Australian television film which aired on the ABC. Despite the wiping of the era, a copy of the presentation exists as a kinescope recording. Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[4]

The Case of Private Hamp
Based onthe novel King and Country by James Lansdale Hodson
Directed byColin Dean
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time55 mins
Production companyABC
Release
Original networkABC
Original release17 October 1962 (Sydney)[1]
28 November 1962 (Melbourne)[2]
1 January 1963 (Brisbane)[3]

It was based on a novel which was turned into the 1964 film King and Country. The novel had been adapted for radio in Melbourne in 1957.[5]

Plot

The court martial of Private Arthur Hamp who was accused of desertion in Passchendaele, France, 1917. He is defended by Hargreaves.

Cast
  • Edward Hepple as Private Hamp
  • John Llewellyn as Lt Webb
  • Ric Hutton as Captain Hargreaves
  • John Armstrong as Cpl Haslem
  • Donald Philps as Col Eckersley
  • Rhod Walker as court martial president
  • Richard Howe as Lt Midgeley
  • James Scullin as Cpl Barnes
  • Richard Parry as Captain O'Sullivan
  • Ron Haddrick as padre
  • John O'Sullivan as Johnson
  • Don Pascoe as sergeant major

Production

Designer Jack Montgomery created trenches by mixing bran with black earth. The cast was all male. Ric Hutton had just appeared in a TV production of Madam Butterfly.[6]

Hepple called it "a marvelous play about what I consider to be legalised murder. It should bring tears to the eyes of anyone who watches it."[3]

Reception

The TV critic for the Sydney Morning Herald said it featured "capable acting"[7]

The Sunday Sydney Morning Herald critic called it "a first rate piece of drama, with a case and a quality of acting that was well-nigh flawless."[8]

The Woman's Weekly called it "one of the strongest and most moving plays yet presented on TV."[9]

See also
  • List of television plays broadcast on Australian Broadcasting Corporation (1960s)

References
  1. "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 15 October 1962. p. 25.
  2. "TV Guide". The Age. 22 November 1962. p. 19.
  3. "In the mud". TV Times. 27 December 1962. p. 10.
  4. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  5. "Three Nights of Parliament". The Age. 31 August 1957. p. 20.
  6. "TV play Puts Deserter in Court Martial". The Age. 22 November 1961. p. 15.
  7. "Army Play Televised". Sydney Morning Herald. 18 October 1962. p. 8.
  8. Marshall, Valda (21 October 1962). "TV Merry Go Round". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 87.
  9. "From convict girl to colonial lady". The Australian Women's Weekly. 30 (2). Australia. 31 October 1962. p. 17. Retrieved 8 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.


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