The Angry General

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2019}} {{Infobox television | image = | image_upright = | image_alt = | caption = | creator = | based_on = | writer = Allan Trevor | screenplay = | story = | director = Patrick Barton | starring = | narrator = | music = | country = Australia | language = English | num_episodes = | producer = | editor = | cinematography = | runtime = 60 mins | company = ABC | budget = | network = ABC | released = {{Start date|1964|03|11|df=y}} (Melbourne) | released2 = {{Start date|1964|04|15|df=y}} (Sydney) | released3 = {{Start date|1964|07|15|df=y}} (Brisbane) }} '''''The Angry General''''' is a 1964 Australian television play written by Australian author Allan Trevor.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/122304839/?terms=%22patrick%2Bbarton%22|newspaper=The Age|date=5 March 1964|title=TV Guide|page=37}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/123905676/?terms=%22angry%2Bgeneral%22|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=13 April 1964|title=TV Guide|page=17}}</ref><ref name="times">{{cite magazine|title=A "Corner" in Generals|magazine=TV Times|page=15|date=8 July 1964}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104278407 |title=Training For The Showring |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=38 |issue=10,820 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=13 April 1964 |accessdate=19 February 2017 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article106969496 |title=New series on 3 |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=41 |issue=11,754 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=31 July 1967 |accessdate=19 February 2017 |page=13 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/60-australian-tv-plays-1950s-60s/|magazine=Filmink|title=60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s|date=February 18, 2019}}</ref>

==Premise== The play is set in London in the present day. Former wartime minister, Lord Athol Medway, publishes his memoirs attacking the leadership of Major-General Forbes Barrington-Hunt in the war during a disastrous commando raid. Barrington-Hunt sets out to clear his name.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article104278408 |title=ANGRY GENERAL |newspaper=The Canberra Times |volume=38 |issue=10,820 |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=13 April 1964 |accessdate=19 February 2017 |page=12 |via=National Library of Australia}}</ref>

==Cast== *Raymond Westwell as Major-General Forbes Barrington-Hunt *Edward Howell as Lord Athol Medway *Williams Lloyd as Sir Geoffrey Bryson *Norman Kaye as Major Derek Barrington-Hunt *Joan Letch as Jane Barrington-Hunt *Dorothy Bradley as Elizabeth Barrington-Hunt *Joan MacArthur as Miriam Barrington-Hunt *Campbell Copelin as Gen George Chaesling *Douglas Kelly as Dobson *Kenrick Hudson as Dickie *Raymond O'Reilly as Hodge *Neville Thurgood as Benbow *Christine Calcutt as sister

==Production== It was one of 20 TV plays produced by the ABC in 1964 (and one of only three Australian scripts).<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=The Age|title=ABC Plans to Show Significant Works|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=g5FVAAAAIBAJ&sjid=vpYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6982%2C3380131|date=20 February 1964|page=13}}</ref> It was the first one that year to originate in Melbourne.<ref name="rare">{{cite news|date=5 March 1964|title=Rare Dramatic Combination|newspaper=The Age|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/122304778/?terms=%22angry%2Bgeneral%22|page=27}}</ref>

It was a play by Australian actor and author Allan Trevor and was produced in Melbourne. Trevor called the play "a study in motives — the motives that make people accept what is not right to achieve their own ends." He said the plot was "based very loosely on the case history of one of the numerous generals 'bowlerhatted' for no apparent reason during World War II."<ref>{{Cite news|title=Australian Play Has a War Theme|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald |date= April 6, 1964|page=13|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/123902288/?terms=%22westwell}}</ref> Trevor added that "It has as a leading character a 62 year old man still vital enough to dominate a television play. Dramatic events do not all happen to the young, clean cut chaps with wavy hair who turn up so often."<ref>{{cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/123905227/?terms=%22westwell|date=12 April 1964|page=84|title=Quiz stars in contest on ATN|first=Valda|last=Marshall}}</ref>

It was the Australian TV debut of Raymond Westwell. He had only acted once before in Australia, in a stage production of ''Ross'', but worked as a director of theatre, notably ''Camelot''. He said he accepted the role "because he was getting a bit rusty as far as acting was concerned. This will help keep me fresh and flexible."<ref name="times"/> His wife Joan MacArthur had a role playing the wife of Westwell's character.<ref name="rare"/>

==Reception== The TV critic for ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' thought that despite "a liberal sprinkling of cliches and a pattern of stilted patches in its dialogue" the play "maintained a high degree of tension... Two major merits distinguished it. One was the originality of its theme, and the other a consistently capable standard of acting."<ref>{{cite news|title=The Angry General Produced on ABN|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=16 April 1964|page=8|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/123906576/?terms=%22patrick%2Bbarton%22}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb title|4103194}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Angry General, The}} Category:Australian drama television films Category:1964 television plays Category:1964 drama films Category:1964 English-language films