The Big Deal (film)

This article is about the 1961 Australian teleplay. For the 2011 film, see A Big Deal.

The Big Deal
Advertisement from The Age 29 Nov 1961
Written by	Charles Cohen
Directed by	William Sterling
Starring	Don Crosby
Country of origin	Australia
Original language	English
Production
Running time	60 mins[1]
Original release
Network	ABC
Release	29 November 1961 (1961-11-29) (Melbourne)[2]
Release	9 May 1962 (1962-05-09) (Sydney)[3]
Release	5 March 1963 (1963-03-05) (Brisbane)[4]

The Big Deal is a 1961 Australian TV play.^[5] Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.^[6]

Plot

Herbie, a despatch worker at a plastics factory, dreams of being a millionaire, but he lacks the killer instinct. His friend Julian dreams of creating novelties from plastic.

Cast

• Donald Crosby as Herbie Schiff
• Marie Renshaw as Lillian
• Edward Howell as Solly Parness
• Kenneth Goodlet as Julian Ring
• Morton Smith as Al Konits
• Diana Bell as Ginger
• Brenda Beddison as Claire
• Keith Hudon as Ralph
• Roland Renshaw
• Campbell Copelin
• Carole Potter
• Nancy Cato
• James Lynch

Production

The play had been broadcast in London and New York but this was its first production in Australia. Brenda Beddison and Morton Smith made their debuts in "live" drama.^[7] Eight studio sets were constructed by Kevin Bartlett.^[4]

Reception

The critic from the Sydney Morning Herald thought the play was "neither comical, subtle, ironic, nor in fact even, remotely entertaining" having "no plot worthy of the name, and its theme, tenuous to say the least, gained nothing from the hourlong treatment" with "dialogue of unrelieved stodginess, produced without imagination, dramatic sense or photographic skill."^[8]

References

1. "Wednesday TV". The Age. 29 November 1961. p. 23.
2. "TV Guide". The Age. 23 November 1961. p. 37.
3. "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 7 May 1962. p. 17.
4. "Small man big deal". 28 February 1963. p. 15. {{cite magazine}}: Cite magazine requires |magazine= (help)
5. "Big Deal Next Week". Sydney Morning Herald. 29 April 1962. p. 107.
6. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
7. "Untitled". The Age. 23 November 1961. p. 28.
8. "Television Play Production". Sydney Morning Herald. 10 May 1962. p. 10.

External links

• The Big Deal at IMDb