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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.[4]

It was based on a 1955 novel by James Lansdale Hodson which was turned into the 1964 film King and Country. The novel had been adapted for radio in Melbourne in 1957.[5][6]

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.[7]

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"[8]

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."[9]

The Woman's Weekly called it "one of the strongest and most moving plays yet presented on TV."[10]

See also

References

  1. ^ "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 15 October 1962. p. 25.
  2. ^ "TV Guide". The Age. 22 November 1962. p. 19.
  3. ^ a b "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. ^ Vagg, Stephen (29 March 2021). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays: The Case of Private Hamp". Filmink. Archived from the original on 29 March 2021. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
  7. ^ "TV play Puts Deserter in Court Martial". The Age. 22 November 1961. p. 15.
  8. ^ "Army Play Televised". Sydney Morning Herald. 18 October 1962. p. 8.
  9. ^ Marshall, Valda (21 October 1962). "TV Merry Go Round". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 87.
  10. ^ "From convict girl to colonial lady". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 30, no. 2. Australia. 31 October 1962. p. 17. Retrieved 8 July 2020 – via National Library of Australia.