The Big Client

The Big Client is a 1961 Australian television play. It was directed by James Upshaw. It screened "live" on the ABC on 19 July 1961 and was recorded in Sydney[3] Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[4]

The Big Client
Written byMalcolm Hulke
Eric Paice
Directed byJames Upshaw
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time75 mins
Production companyABC
DistributorABN-2
Release
Original networkABC
Original release19 July 1961 (Sydney)
30 August 1961 (Melbourne)[1]
13 September 1961 (Brisbane)[2]

Plot

In London, Henderson is an American millionaire launching a brand of tranquillisers. Fred Cooper, head of a London advertising firm JCB, tries to get Henderson to sign with them. Fred is ruthless, more so than three directors of JCB, Sam Bloomberg, Philip Comely and Peter Jones.

Cast
  • James Condon as Henderson
  • Barry Linehan as Fred Cooper
  • Alistair Duncan as a copywriter Dave Mason, a crippled ad exec
  • Ric Hutton as Peter Jones, a playboy
  • Noel Brophy as Sam Bloomberg, advertising director of JCB
  • Deryck Barnes as Philip Comely, director of JCB
  • Keith Buckley as Geoff Manning, recently fired from a rival firm
  • Coralie Neville as Greta Heffner, Fred's secretary
  • Pamela Page as girl from rival firm, Jennifer King, who is friends with Fred Cooper
  • Diana Perryman as Eleanor Comely, Philip's wife

Production

The play by British writers Eric Paice and Michael Hulke had been filmed on British TV in 1959 directed by [[Ted Kotcheff].[5] Geoffrey Wedlock did the sets.[2]

Reception

The TV critic from the Sydney Morning Herald thought an advertising executive would have.been hard put to clarify the curious dramatic direction—embracing shifts of meaning and emphasis" in the play, adding "it was a fault of the play_, not, generally speaking, of the actors or of James Upshaw's compact though not very imaginative production."[6]

References
  1. "TV Guide". The Age. 30 August 1961. p. 20.
  2. "The Big Client". TV Ties. 7 September 1963. p. 16.
  3. "Advertising Intrigue". Sydney Morning Herald. 17 July 1961. p. 11.
  4. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  5. 1959 British TV drama at BFI
  6. ""The Big Client" On TV". Sydney Morning Herald. 20 July 1961. p. 11.


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