The Governess

Summary: 1957 BBC Television production of Patrick Hamilton’s melodrama The Governess.
Theatre play: The Governess by Patrick Hamilton (1904-1962) [more information]
Play synopsis: 'The story follows Detective Rough, as he tackles the case of a missing infant following the arrival of a sinister and manipulative governess at the Drew household’ (source: http://www.live3sixtymagazine.com/index.php/2013/05/the-governess-rediscovered). The boy has disappeared from the Drew household and the arrival of Inspector Rough uncovers an unhappy house and a strange relationship between the governess Miss Fry and her bullying employer Mr Drew, on the one hand, and her pupil Ellen, on the other.
Production history: 'Hamilton wrote The Governess in 1945 as a prequel to his most famous play Gas Light, which, under its American title Angel Street, became one of Broadway’s longest-running plays’ (source: http://www.live3sixtymagazine.com/index.php/2013/05/the-governess-rediscovered).
Date of transmission: Thursday 22 August 1957
Time: 8.00-9.30pm
Channel: BBC Television
Production company: BBC

Producer

Stephen Harrison

Playwright

Patrick Hamilton (1904-1962)

Designer

Lawrence [Laurence] Broadhouse

Cast

Play tags: 19th-century setting; adultery / infidelity; melodrama; mental health / illness; mystery

This record has been viewed 340 times.

British Universities Film & Video Council