The Gentle People

Summary: 1949 BBC live studio production of Irwin Shaw’s drama The Gentle People.
Theatre play: The Gentle People by Irwin Shaw (1913-1984) [more information]
Play synopsis: Jonah Goodman and Philip Anagnos are gentle souls who would like nothing better than to fish off of the pier near their home. But their simple, idyllic life is threatened by a racketeer, Harold Goff, who demands protection money. Goff would also have Jonah’s daughter, Stella, and when he learns the men have saved money to buy a small fishing boat, he would have that, too. So the men take Goff out in the boat, kill him, and throw him overboard but not before retrieving the money and additional sums from his wallet. (Source: http://www.answers.com/topic/the-gentle-people-1; accessed 26 July 2014)
Production history: Produced in New York at the Belasco Theatre in January 1939 and in London in 1940.
Date of transmission: Tuesday 17 May 1949
Time: 8.00-10.00pm
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Producer

Eric Fawcett

Playwright

Irwin Shaw (1913-1984)

Linking Dialogue by

Duncan Ross

Sets / Settings

James Bould

Cast

Title: Adventure in Vision: The First Twenty-Five Years of Television (Book)
Author/creator: John Swift (Author)
Reference: London: John Lehmann, 1950
Linking notes: discussion of production design, including photographs and floor plan, pp. 160-162

Title: Radio Times, 13 May 1949 (Magazine)
Linking notes: listing, p. 30; article by Lionel Hale, ‘Victorian frolics - and a parable’, p. 29; brief article, p. 28

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