The Big Knife

Summary: Associated-Rediffusion production of Clifford Odets’ play The Big Knife.
Theatre play: The Big Knife by Clifford Odets (1906-1963) [more information]
Play synopsis: Charlie Castle is a Hollywood star who cheats on his wife and lets a friend go to prison for causing the death of a child in an accident he himself was responsible for, but he finds some moral fibre when the studio boss starts talking about arranging the death of a female actor who knows the truth about the accident.
Production history: New York, 1949.
Date of transmission: Tuesday 30 December 1958
Series: Play of the Week
Channel: ITV
Production company: Associated-Rediffusion (1955-1964)

Director

John Moxey

Playwright

Clifford Odets (1906-1963)

Adapted for Television by

Ken Hoare

Designer

John Clements (1910-1988)

Cast

Notes: The booklet in the production file for this production in the BFI Library estimates that this production was seen in about 1,270,000 homes in the London television area.
Extant status: No archival copy is known to exist.
Play tags: American drama; film, as theme

Title: The Big Knife (Archive file)
Archive: BFI Reuben Library [more information]
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Reference: Special Collections, Associated-Rediffusion Television papers, file reference ART/122/1
Notes: Contains booklet entitled Postscript to The Big Knife, with quotations from reviews and articles by the director and designer.

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