''A Rum Affair'' is a 1940 Australian radio play by

Alec Coppel Alec Coppel (17 September 1907 – 22 January 1972) was an Australian-born screenwriter, novelist and playwright. He spent the majority of his career in London and Hollywood, specialising in light thrillers, mysteries and sex comedies. He is best ...

. Although Coppel was Australian, most of his career took place overseas. ''A Rum Affair'' was a rare work of his that debuted in Australia. It premiered in 1940 on the ABC as part of a series of Australian plays. Leslie Rees called it "a short, irresponsible comedy of fantastic situation... Alec Coppel is willing to take types and settings that have served in other plays; his originality is in his wit and deft sense of situation and holding... of suspense... ''A Rum Affair'' is a saucy morsel." Another critic called it "the most suave and delicately balance radio script we have seen for years, only a trifle... but a trifle that is like a waffle that melts in the mouth. We don't often say, don’t miss this; but, don’t miss this. " The play was produced again in 1942, 1946 and 1958. The 1946 version starred

Peter Finch Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch (28 September 191614 January 1977) was an English-Australian actor of theatre, film and radio. Born in London, he emigrated to Australia at the age of ten and was raised in Sydney, where he worked in vaudevi ...

and was directed by Frank Harvey. A review of this production called it "a pleasant enough trifle, proving a good starring vehicle for Peter Finch. For a while he stayed in the substrata of understatement, but on the entrance of the ghost a mos seductive shade played by Sheila Sewell, things got going so you could hear them. Outstanding was a nice piece of character from erstwhile A.B.C. producer Charles Wheeler. Production, by Frank Harvey, ideal." The play possibly was adapted by Coppel as ''The Story of an Inn'', a stage play he announced in the 1940s but which doesn't appear to have been produced. It was called a comedy dealing with social regeneration. The play was postponed reportedly due to its large cast. A 1943 article asked Coppel, "We’d like to see it. We’ve heard a lot about it. You’ve often been about to produce it but never got very far. Now’s the time. Give yourself and Sydney a chance. "

Premise

A travelling young man, Peter, pulls in for a night at a Kentish village that was once on the sea, but is now inland, because the sea has receded. The inn is haunted by a female ghost, Helene. He also encounters a man called Clifford and a yokel.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rum Affair 1940 Australian radio dramas 1942 Australian radio dramas 1946 Australian radio dramas 1958 Australian radio dramas Plays by Alec Coppel Radio plays directed by Frank Harvey