PROFILPELAJAR.COM

"**The Crater (TV play)**"
"The Crater (TV play)"
Lights Out episode
Written by	Sumner Locke Elliott
Based on	radio play by Elliott
Original air date	August 9, 1949
Running time	30 mins

The Crater
Genre	drama play
Running time	60 mins (9:30 pm – 10:30 pm)
Country of origin	Australia
Language(s)	English
Home station	2FC
Syndicates	ABC
Written by	Sumner Locke Elliott
Directed by	Frank Harvey
Recording studio	Sydney
Original release	January 23, 1948

The Crater is a 1948 Australian radio play by Sumner Locke Elliot that was later adapted for American television.^[1]

Plot

Bert Turner is the new schoolteacher for the town of Tooraburra. Herb Curtis, the shire councillor and president of the school P and C, takes him out to visit a nearby crater. It makes Turner uneasy and it seems to be bottomless. Curtis brings Turner home for a cup of tea and to meet Curtis' wife Amy. Their marriage is in trouble, due to the loss of their child in an accident some years ago. Also Curtis is having an affair with Tessie Durkin.

Town gossip Mrs Button tells Turner that Amy has left to join her sister. However Amy never reaches the sister and suspicion begins to mount that Curtis may have killed her. Turner realises he gave Curtis the idea to throw Amy down the crater.

Turner confronts Curtis at the crater and Curtis tries to kill him but is overpowered. Curtis kills himself. The body of Amy Curtis is never recovered, but that of a dead missing Aboriginal girl is.

Radio production

The play was first produced on ABC radio in January 1948.^[2]

It later played in Melbourne in August 1949^[3] and in October 1950 where the Age said "it did not replay the 90 minutes of listening".^[4]

It played in Adelaide in October 1951.^[5] Then again in 1952^[6] and April 1956.^[7]^[8]

Reviewing the 1956 production the Argus said "walks up to a simple old story and puts a bit of new life into it. He does this - as he must with only 30 minutes at his disposal - by building atmosphere very quickly. In this he is guided by his precision observation of the Australian scene and his ability to make it live with workman like economy of words."^[9]

Reviewing the script, Filmink said "it is very atmospheric with excellent feeling for small towns, unfortunate if accurate use of racist slang to describe Aboriginal people, and plenty of twists."^[1]

Cast of 1956 production

Gordon Glenwright as Turner
Don Crosby as Herbert Curtis
Lyndall Barbour as Amy Curtis
Reg Lye as The Barman
Betty Lucas as Tessie Dermot
Connie Hobbs as Mrs Button
Alma Butterfield as Mrs. Flower
Ron Whelan as The Sergeant
Ossie Wenban as Joe

1949 TV version

The play sold to US television, the second Elliot play to do so, after Wicked is the Vine.^[10]^[11]^[12]

Like that it had an Australian setting making it one of the first television dramas on US television to be set in Australia.^[13]

The play aired as an episode of the anthology series Lights Out.^[14]

References

^ ^a ^b Vagg, Stephen (September 11, 2022). "Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Australia on US TV – Sumner Locke Elliott's Wicked is the Vine and The Crater". Filmink.
^ "January 23 A.B.C. Programmes", ABC Weekly, 10 (3), Sydney, 17 January 1948, retrieved 14 May 2023 – via Trove
^ "WORTH HEARING". The Herald. No. 22, 546. Victoria, Australia. 26 August 1949. p. 9. Retrieved 14 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "The Week in Wireless". The Age. No. 29, 798. Victoria, Australia. 28 October 1950. p. 12. Retrieved 2 February 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "New 5 AD Competition ABC's Play Matinee". The Advertiser (Adelaide). Vol. 94, no. 29, 019. South Australia. 13 October 1951. p. 11. Retrieved 2 February 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "PLAY BILL". Daily Mirror. No. 3583. New South Wales, Australia. 26 November 1952. p. 28 (Late Final Extra 3). Retrieved 2 February 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "Night Spot". The Argus (Melbourne). Victoria, Australia. 16 April 1956. p. 7. Retrieved 14 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "Radio Plays for Next Week ABC", ABC Weekly, 18 (15), Sydney, 14 April 1956, retrieved 14 May 2023 – via Trove
^ "Night Spot". The Argus (Melbourne). Victoria, Australia. 16 April 1956. p. 7. Retrieved 2 February 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "MUSIC AND THE THEATRE "Radio Is Doomed"As "Rusty Bugles" Author Sees It". The Sunday Herald (Sydney). No. 50. New South Wales, Australia. 8 January 1950. p. 6 (Features). Retrieved 14 May 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "Australians In Television". The Sunday Herald (Sydney). No. 22. New South Wales, Australia. 19 June 1949. p. 8 (Features). Retrieved 2 February 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "Four Australians abroad". The Daily Telegraph. Vol. X, no. 38. New South Wales, Australia. 7 August 1949. p. 43. Retrieved 2 February 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "Radio roundabout", ABC Weekly, 11 (38), Sydney, 17 September 1949, retrieved 14 May 2023 – via Trove
^ The Crater at IMDb