Box for One

Box for One is a live television play which has been presented three times, twice on British broadcaster BBC and once on Australian broadcaster ABC. It is a drama about a "spiv", and the entire 30-minute drama takes place in a London telephone box. It was written by Peter Brook.

Premise

A London "spiv" enters an outdoor telephone booth. He dials a number and asks if there is a message for him. As then goes to leave and the phone rings - it is a girl who is trying to find her boyfriend and has the wrong number. The spiv is on the run and is looking for help. He tries various people but they reject him.

1949 version

The 1949 version aired on BBC, and starring Marius Goring, Ivan Craig and Josée Richard.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0294400/|title = Box for One (TV Movie 1949) - IMDb|website = IMDb}} Broadcast live, it was likely never telerecorded, and is lost.{{Cite web |url=http://www.lostshows.com/default.aspx?episode=d6888f8c-2a55-4a55-b600-06956b514eda |title=Lost UK TV Shows Search Engine |access-date=9 March 2014 |archive-date=9 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140309085031/http://www.lostshows.com/default.aspx?episode=d6888f8c-2a55-4a55-b600-06956b514eda |url-status=dead }}

1953 version

The 1953 version also aired on the BBC, and was an episode of Wednesday Theatre. It featured Robert Helpmann and Harold Lang.{{Cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1665950/|title = "Wednesday Theatre" Box for One (TV Episode 1953) - IMDb|website = IMDb}} This version is likely lost, as the BBC rarely telerecorded shows during 1953.

1954 version

The play appears to have been filmed again in 1954 with Richard Attenborough and Sid James.[https://web.archive.org/web/20180212030943/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b7dbbe355 1953 Version] at BFI

1958 Australian TV version

{{Infobox television

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| genre =

| creator =

| based_on =

| writer = Peter Brook

| screenplay =

| story =

| director = William Sterling

| starring = Robert Helpmann

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| country = Australia

| language = English

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| runtime = 30 mins

| company = ABC

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| network = ABV-2

| released = {{Start date|1958|08|17|df=y}} (Melbourne, live){{cite news|newspaper=The Age|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=QlYRAAAAIBAJ&sjid=v5UDAAAAIBAJ&pg=6902%2C2207808|title="Live" Drama Calls for Conference|date=15 August 1958|page=13}}

| released2 = {{Start date|1958|09|24|df=y}} (Sydney, taped)

}}

The play had reportedly been written specifically for Robert Helpmanm, who was an Australian living in London. Helpman returned to Australia in 1958 to star in and direct a stage production of Noël Coward's Nude with Violin. In May 1958 Helpmann expressed an interest in appearing in the play on Australian television. "I'm mad about TV," he said.{{cite news|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|date=25 May 1958|page=95|title=Helpman looks for new world}}

While performing in Nude with Violin in Melbourne, Helpman appeared in a production of Box For One on Australian broadcaster ABC.[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3476860/ 1958 Australian TV version] at IMDb It aired live on ABC's Melbourne station ABV-2. A telerecording (also known as a kinescope) was made and shown in Sydney on station ABN-2.{{cite news|title=Helpmann in Play|newspaper=Sydney Morning Herald|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=IndWAAAAIBAJ&sjid=v-QDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5421%2C2031116|page=8|date=22 September 1958}} It is not known if the kinescope recording still exists.

The ABC had just presented a one-woman play, a version of Sorry, Wrong Number (1958).

It was one of several thrillers filmed in the early days of Australian television.{{cite magazine|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-tv-plays-reflections-in-dark-glasses/|magazine=Filmink|title=Forgotten Australian TV Plays: Reflections in Dark Glasses|first= Stephen|last= Vagg|date=March 20, 2021|access-date=August 2, 2024}}

=Reception=

The Australian Women's Weekly TV critic called it "Sorry, Wrong Number written for men. I thought it wasn't as good a play, nor as well done as Sorry, Wrong Number done by Channel 2 several months ago."{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46241138 |title=Maid Marian wants real romance with Robin |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly |location=Australia |date=15 October 1958 |access-date=26 January 2020 |page=82 |via=Trove }}

Helpmann reprised a section from the play in Half an Hour with Robert Helpmann (1964).{{cite magazine|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|magazine=Filmink|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/forgotten-australian-television-plays-half-an-hour-with-robert-helpmann/|title=Forgotten Australian Television Plays – Half an Hour with Robert Helpmann|year=2023|access-date=2 August 2024}}