The Lark (1958 film) - Misplaced Pages

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1958 Australian TV series or program

The Lark
Ad from 'The Age' 14 Nov 1958
Written by	Alan Seymour
Directed by	William Sterling
Music by	Robert Hughes
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
Production
Running time	90 mins
Production company	ABC
Original release
Release	16 November 1958 (1958-11-16) (Melbourne)
Release	18 January 1959 (1959-01-18) (Sydney)

The Lark is a 1958 Australian TV version of the 1952 Jean Anouilh play of the same title.

According to The Age it opened "a new era in TV drama production in Melbourne."

Plot

At the trial of Joan of Arc, events are shown in flashback as to how she came to rebel against the English.

Cast

Beverley Dunn as Joan of Arc
Frank Gatliff as Cauchon
Christopher Hill as Warwick
Robert Peach as the Inquisitor
Jeffrey Hodgson as the Dauphin
John Morgan as the Promoter
Moira Carleton as Joan's mother
Mary Ward as Queen Yolande, the Dauphin's mother-in-law
Laura Jane Casson as Agnes Sorel, as the Dauphin's mistress
Carole Potter as the little Queen, wife of the Dauphin
Keith Hudson as Ladvenu
Ilka Brand as the Dauphin's page
Brin Newton-John as the Archbishop of Rheims
John Royle as narrator
Henry Cuthbertson as voice of Archangel

Production

The production was based on a play which debuted in 1955 in a production starring Leo McKern and Dorothy Tutin.

Director William Sterling said he worked on the production "for some months" and promised some "controversial surprises" in the play.

It was shot in Melbourne using a cast of 24 and seven sets which occupied the entire 60 ft by 80 ft of Melbourne's Studio 32, one of the largest studios in Melbourne. Historical research to ensure authenticity of sets and costumes was carried out by designer Jon Peters.

It starred Beverly Dunn as Joan. Dunn had played the role in Melbourne Little Theatre in 1956. She did 55 hours of rehearsals. Dunn would play the role again on radio for the BBC in 1961.

It was broadcast in a series of "live" dramas on Sunday night on ABV-2 Melbourne. In order, they were The Governess, The Last Call, The Rose without a Thorn, The Lark, Citizen of Westminster, and Enemy of the People (the last of "the season").

Reception

The Melbourne broadcast was recorded and shown at a meeting of the Australian Television Society, which Sterling attended. The members praised Beverly Dunn's acting but some thought the final burning scene could be more realistic. Sterling said some of the lighting effects were entirely new to Australian TV and said he was happy with the production "except for minor faults which few other viewers would notice anyway."

References

^ "From School Plays to Success on TV". The Age. 19 September 1958. p. 20.
"TV Guide". The Age. 14 November 1958. p. 32.
"TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 12.
Vagg, Stephen (4 October 2021). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Point of Departure and Man of Destiny". Filmink. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
^ "The Lark will Open a New Era for Melb TV Drama". The Age. 14 November 1958. p. 25.
"Rehearsal of Trial". The Age. 14 November 1958. p. 27.
"ABN to Screen "The Lark"". Sydney Morning Herald. 12 January 1959. p. 11.
"The Lark to be Played Here". The Age. 11 February 1956. p. 4.
"Stage and Television". Tue Age. 15 November 1958. p. 7.
Lane, Richard (2000). The Golden Age of Australian Radio Drama Volume 2. National Film and Sound Archive. pp. 132–134.
"Line Up of TV Dramas for Sunday Night". The Age. 26 September 1958. p. 24.
"TV Society Members Producer Debate Drama". The Age. 28 November 1958. p. 27.

External links

The Lark at IMDb

v t e TV productions of William Sterling
TV plays	Elizabeth Refuses (1957) In the Zone (1957) Ending It (1957) Rope (1957) Sound of Thunder (1957) Captain Carvallo (1958) Killer in Close-Up (1958) The Small Victory (1958) Box for One (1958) Gaslight (1958) The Governess (1958 film) (1958) The Lark (1959) One Morning Near Troodos (1959) A Dead Secret (1959) Black Limelight (1959) Ned Kelly (1959) Treason (1959) Heart Attack (1960) The Public Prosecutor (1960) Mine Own Executioner (1960) Macbeth (1960) Dark Under the Sun (1960) Who Killed Kovali? (1960) Two-Headed Eagle (1960) The End Begins (1961) Shadow of Heroes (1961) Call Me a Liar (1961) Hedda Gabler (1961) Night of the Ding-Dong (1961) Burst of Summer (1961) The Lady from the Sea (1961) The Big Deal (1961) The House of Mancello (1962) The Ides of March (1961) Murder in the Cathedral (1962) Light Me a Lucifer (1962) The Devil Makes Sunday (1962) The Hobby Horse (1962) The Music Upstairs (1962) Village Wooing (1962) Barnstable (1963) The Prisoner (1963) Uneasy Paradise (1963) The Fighting Cock (1963) The Chinese Wall (1963) A Man for All Seasons (1964) The First 400 Years (1964) Othello (1965)
Revues	Wild Life and Christmas Belles (1958) Trip-Tease and High C's (1959)
Ballets	The Soldier's Tale (1959) The Forbidden Rite (1962)
Operas	The Pearl Fishers (1963)
TV series	Compact (1965) Quick Before They Catch Us (1966) The Three Musketeers (1966-67) The Further Adventures of the Musketeers (1967) Sherlock Holmes (1968) Dr. Finlay's Casebook (1969) The Expert (1969) Counterstrike (1969)
Feature film	Return Journey (1961) (incomplete) Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972)

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