''Marriage Lines'' is a 1962 Australian television play directed by

Christopher Muir Christopher Muir (1931 - 2022) was an Australian director and producer, notable for his work in TV in the 1950s and 1960s. In the 1980s he was head of ABC Television drama. Biography Most of his early childhood was spent in France, but he ret ...

Plot

Lysette returns to London after three unsuccessful marriages to look up her cousin Virgilia who is married to publisher Felix. Felix runs a business that used to belong to Virgilia's father. Lysette begins an affair with Felix. Robbie Lambert is upset Felix wants to sell his theatre.

Cast

* Walter Sullivan as Felix Pilgrim *

Patricia Kennedy Patricia Helen Kennedy Lawford (May 6, 1924 – September 17, 2006) was an American socialite, and the sixth of nine children of Rose and Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. She was a sister of President John F. Kennedy, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, and Senat ...

as Virgilia Pilgrim * Mary Ward as Lysette Eggerton *Moira Carleton as Chrissie, the Piglrims' maid *

Beverley Dunn Beverley Ruth Dunn (24 April 1933 – 27 November 2021) was an Australian veteran radio, stage, television and film actress based in Melbourne, Australia. Biography Dunn had roles in films including ''Ground Zero'', ''Gross Misconduct'', '' ...

as Peggy, Felix's secretary *Joy Mitchell as Daphne *

Campbell Copelin Campbell Copelin (15 March 1901 – 3 August 1988) was an English actor, who moved to Australia in the 1920s and worked extensively in film, theatre, radio and television. He had a notable association with J.C. Williamson Ltd and frequently coll ...

as Robbie Lambert *Vernon Yorke as American *Kurt Ludescher and Ray Angel as waiters *Roland Heimans as office boy

Production

The play had been filmed by the BBC in 1961. It was an original for television. The play had been performed on Australian radio in 1961. In discussing why the ABC chose it for production, ''

Filmink ''FilmInk'' is an Australian film magazine published by FKP International Exports. It was founded by current publisher Dov Kornits and Colin Fraser in July 1997, in Sydney. The magazine has been through many changes over the course of its exist ...

'' magazine hypothesized that "the ABC were attracted by Dane's reputation... The BBC stamp of approval would have helped." Walter Sullivan travelled to Melbourne to shoot the production. It was Beverly Dunn's first TV play since she returned to Australia. Kennedy appeared by courtesy of Emerald Hill Theatre in Melbourne. Cas Van Puflen designed it.

Reception

The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known simply as ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Are Media in Sydney and founded in 1933. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before bein ...

'' TV critic called the production "a half-and-half job. Christopher Muir's production was satisfyingly polished; the play itself was woeful. The ABC decided to advertise this offering as a "sophisticated comedy." The theme—one woman trying to snaffle another's husband— can be funny, I suppose. But "Marriage Lines" was a melodrama of mothball manners... the cast had to battle with curiously dated dialogue... sheer waste of good production and a goodish cast. "Marriage Lines" should have been murdered. Preferably at the dress rehearsal, if not before." ''Filmink'' called it "a dreadful play and agonising to watch... all these distinguished actors spitting out upper class dialogue in upper class voices having upper class chats about upper class problems (he’s getting a knighthood, their daughter is having a baby in Kenya, etc, etc) without any wit, insight, tension, freshness or skill. There’s loyal maids and loyal secretaries and everyone discusses how hard poor Felix works while Virgilia clutches her pearls. The jokes die, drama is non-existent, the actors seem embarrassed, the story just seems to end."

References

External links

''Marriage Lines''
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

Marriage Lines
at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

1962 Australian television plays 1962 television plays Australian Broadcasting Corporation television plays Television plays filmed in Melbourne Television plays directed by Chris Muir {{Australia-tv-film-stub