If It's a Rose
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translated by
Robert Rietti
| If It's a Rose | |
|---|---|
| Written by | Dario Niccodemi translated by Robert Rietti |
| Directed by | Raymond Menmuir |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Production company | ABC |
| Original release | |
| Network | ABC |
| Release | 26 March 1958 (Sydney, live)[1] |
| Release | 23 April 1958 (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]
Set in Italy. Over the course of one day, Mario is courting Anna.
Cast
- Annette Andre as Anna
- Don Pascoe as Mario
- Ethel Lang as the maid
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]
