If It's a Rose

If It's a Rose
Written byDario Niccodemi
translated by
Robert Rietti
Directed byRaymond Menmuir
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
Production
Running time60 minutes
Production companyABC
Original release
NetworkABC
Release26 March 1958 (1958-03-26) (Sydney, live)[1]
Release23 April 1958 (1958-04-23) (Melbourne, taped)[2]

If It's a Rose is an Australian television movie, or rather a live television comedy play, which aired in 1958 on ABC. Australian TV drama was relatively rare at the time.[3]

Duration was 60 minutes, in black-and-white. Archival status of the program is unknown. Annette Andre was a relatively unknown 18 year old.[4][5]

A version had been performed on British TV in 1954.[6]

Plot

Set in Italy. Over the course of one day, Mario is courting Anna.

Cast

Production

It was recorded live in Sydney.[7] It was an early television performance from Annette Andre who later recalled:

Even though I had been performing on stage from a very young age... I still had to overcome the exquisite torture of stage fright when I did my first TV drama. For some reason, my radio work was anxiety-free, perhaps because my ‘audience’ was only the other actors grouped around the microphone. My If It’s a Rose co-star was as nervous as I was and in Act II started calling me ‘Annette’ instead of ‘Maria’. If that wasn’t unsettling enough, the zipper on my costume got stuck and I had to play the rest of the scene facing the camera to hide the half-open dress. My ballet training came into play here, as I’d learned to overcome problems such as falling on stage and not let them affect my performance.[8]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Looking Ahead On Channel 2, ABN". ABC Weekly. 26 March 1958. p. 33.
  2. ^ "TV Guide". The Age. 18 April 1959. p. 17.
  3. ^ Vagg, Stephen (18 February 2019). "60 Australian TV Plays of the 1950s & '60s". Filmink.
  4. ^ "Girl's Chance in Live Play". Sydney Morning Herald. 24 March 1958. p. 11.
  5. ^ "Untitled". The Age. 1 April 1958. p. 25.
  6. ^ If It's a Rose 1954 British TV at IMDb
  7. ^ Vagg, Stephen (29 August 2020). "Annette Andre: My Brilliant Early Australian Career". Filmink.
  8. ^ "My First Job – 'I didn't get stage fright on radio'". Annette Andre. 20 June 2018.


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