Sun Up

Summary

1939 BBC studio production of Lula Wollmer’s American folk drama Sun Up, which was Sybil Thorndike’s television debut.

Theatre play

Sun Up by Lula Wollmer (1898-1955) [more information]

Play synopsis

1917, the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. World War One seems a very distant event until Rufe, the son of Liza Cagel, is drafted into the army. Liza Cagel was widowed after federal agents shot her husband because of his moonshine trade. The widow Cagel is vehemently opposed to Rufe’s going to fight for ‘The Law’, questioning what the government has done for her family, except bring about a tragedy.

Production history

First performed in New York in 1923.

Date of transmission

Saturday 14 May 1949

Time

9.05-10.30pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Theatre company

[choose none of these]

Credits

Producer

George More O’Ferrall (1907-1982)

Playwright

Lula Wollmer (1898-1955)

Cast

Finlay Currie	Pap Todd
Harry Hutchinson	Preacher
Betty Jardine	Emmy
André Morell	Rufe Cagle
Anthony Quayle	Stranger
Sybil Thorndike	Widow Cagle
Edmund Willard	Sheriff Weeks

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Later transmissions

Presented again at 3.00pm on Monday 22 May 1939.

Notes

A photograph in the Radio Times shows Sybil Thorndike with producer George More O’Ferrall. The caption notes that this production is Sybil Thorndike’s television debut.

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

America, as theme or setting; American drama; First World War, as theme or setting

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 12 May 1939 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing and photograph on p. 14