The Affair at Assino

Summary

1953 BBC live studio production of N. C. Hunter’s drama The Affair at Assino, set in pre-war Italy.

Theatre play

The Affair at Assino by N. C. [Norman Charles] Hunter (1908-1971) [more information]

Play synopsis

Italy, 1938. At the Ministry of the Interior a call is received informing the military adviser, Colonel Passamonte, that the Minister of the Interior tried to drive hurriedly through a holy procession in a small hill town. Angry locals overturned his car and insulted the Minister. Fascist militia are dispatched to the town with results that are both comic and tragic.

Production history

First performed at the Royal Theatre, Windsor, 13 November 1950.

Date of transmission

Thursday 1 January 1953

Time

8.15-9.45pm

Channel

BBC Television

Production company

BBC

Credits

Director

Julian Amyes

Producer

Ian Atkins

Playwright

N. C. [Norman Charles] Hunter (1908-1971)

Adapted for Television by

Nigel Kneale

Designer

James Bould

Cast

Philip Ashley	Third Sentry
John Boyd Brent	Second Sentry
Sebastian Cabot	Pietro Pacetti
James Dale	Colonel Passamonte
Robert Eddison	Tibaldi
Philip Guard	Peppino Rossi
Derek Hodgson	Boy
Margaret Johns	Anna-Maria
Miriam Karlin	Tina Pacetti
Arthur Mason	First Sentry
Hugh Munro	Orderly
Hector Ross	Sacchi
Daphne Slater	Sister Teresa
Julian Somers	Sanzio Pasquale
Meadows [or Meadow] White	Sgt. Savoldo

Additional details

Origination

Live from studio

Vision original

Monochrome

Extant status

No archival copy is known to exist.

Play tags

fascism; Italy, as theme or setting

Print sources

Title

Radio Times, 26 December 1952 (Magazine)

Linking notes

listing and brief article, p. 40