The Crater (TV play)

The Crater is a 1948 Australian radio play by Sumner Locke Elliot that was later adapted for American television.[1]

The Crater
Written bySumner Locke Elliott
Date premiered1948
Original languageEnglish
SubjectAustralian outback
Genremurder
SettingAustralian outback

Plot

Bert Turner is the new schoolteacher for the town of Tooraburra. Herb Curtis, the shire councillor and president of the school P and C, takes him out to visit a nearby crater. It makes Turner uneasy and it seems to be bottomless. Curtis brings Turner home for a cup of tea and to meet Curtis' wife Amy. Their marriage is in trouble, due to the loss of their child in an accident some years ago. Also Curtis is having an affair with Tessie Durkin.

Town gossip Mrs Button tells Turner that Amy has left to join her sister. However Amy never reaches the sister and suspicion begins to mount that Curtis may have killed her. Turner realises he gave Curtis the idea to throw Amy down the crater.

Turner confronts Curtis at the crater and Curtis tries to kill him but is overpowered. Curtis kills himself. The body of Amy Curtis is never recovered, but that of a dead missing Aboriginal girl is.

Radio production

The play was first produced on ABC radio in 1948.[2]

It later played in Melbourne in August 1949[3] and in October 1950 where the Age said "it did not replay the 90 minutes of listening".

It played in Adelaide in October 1951. Then again in April 1956.[4][5]

1949 TV version

The play sold to US television, the second Elliot play to do so, after Wicked is the Vine.[6] Like that it had an Australian setting making it one of the first television dramas on US television to be set in Australia.[7]

References
  1. Vagg, Stephen (September 11, 2022). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Australia on US TV – Sumner Locke Elliott's Wicked is the Vine and The Crater". Filmink.
  2. Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "FRIDAY, January 23 A.B.C. Programmes", Section v. : ill. ; 29cm., ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 10 No. 3 (17 January 1948)), nla.obj-1549863557, retrieved 14 May 2023 – via Trove
  3. "WORTH HEARING". The Herald. No. 22, 546. Victoria, Australia. 26 August 1949. p. 9. Retrieved 14 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Night Spot". The Argus (Melbourne). Victoria, Australia. 16 April 1956. p. 7. Retrieved 14 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "RADIO PLAYS for NEXT WEEK A. B. C.", Section v. : ill. ; 29cm., ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 18 No. 15 (14 April 1956)), nla.obj-1427943538, retrieved 14 May 2023 – via Trove
  6. "MUSIC AND THE THEATRE "Radio Is Doomed"As "Rusty Bugles" Author Sees It". The Sunday Herald (Sydney). No. 50. New South Wales, Australia. 8 January 1950. p. 6 (Features). Retrieved 14 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "RADIO ROUNDABOUT", Section v. : ill. ; 29cm., ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 11 No. 38 (17 September 1949)), nla.obj-1359245872, retrieved 14 May 2023 – via Trove
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