Eye of the Night

Eye of the Night is a 1960 Australian television play. It was written by Kay Keavney and directed by Christopher Muir.[2][4]

Eye of the Night
Genrethriller
Written byKay Keavney
Directed byChristopher Muir
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time75 mins[1]
Production companyABC
Release
Original networkABC
Original release24 February 1960 (live, Melbourne)[2]
6 April 1960 (Sydney, taped)[3]

It was broadcast live on the ABC from Melbourne on the night of Wednesday 24 February. In Sydney on the same night the ABC were doing a live broadcast of the play The Turning Point. These two were the first in a series of ten plays made by the ABC in 1960 using local writers, others including The Astronauts and The Slaughter of St Teresa's Day. (Other plays possibly included Close to the Roof, Dark Under the Sun, The Square Ring, Who Killed Kovali?, and Swamp Creatures.) [5][6]

Plot

A man breaks into homes at night and terrorises women. He eludes police for two years. In the Melbourne suburb of Sunshine, a woman, Ruth Arnott, fears that a man in her own house, a man oppressed by his mother, may be the attacker. The opening scenes take place at Victorian Police Headquarters with the rest at a house in Sunshine.[7]

Cast
  • Beverley Dunn as Ruth Arnott
  • Brian James as her accountant brother-in-law, Frank Arnott
  • Dennis Miller as her husband Ian Arnott
  • Nevil Thurgood
  • Syd Conabere as a detective
  • Moira Carleton as the next door neighbour
  • Agnes Dobson

Production

Early Australian TV drama production was dominated by using imported scripts but in 1960 the ABC was undertaking what has been described as "an Australiana drive" of producing local stories.[8] This was based on an original script by Kay Keavney an experienced writer for radio as well as TV series like The Story of Peter Gray.

To prepare for the production, Muir visited the police department to study criminal detection techniques and meet psychologists. According to The Age Beverly Dunn "has a difficult role to play, involving several emotional scenes."[2]

References
  1. "TV Guide". The Age. 18 February 1960. p. 33.
  2. "Psychological Drama". The Age. 18 February 1960. p. 12.
  3. "TV Guide". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 April 1960. p. 14.
  4. Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  5. Marshall, Valda (31 January 1960). "TV Merry Go Round". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 80.
  6. Marshall, Valda (21 February 1960). "TV Merry Go Round". Sydney Morning Herald. p. 107.
  7. "Victorian Thriller". Sydney Morning Herald. 4 April 1960. p. 13.
  8. Vagg, Stephen (19 October 2020). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays – The Slaughter of St Teresa's Day". Filmink.


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