Wicked Is the Vine

In 1918, two sisters, Sarah and Ellie Vinson, come into conflict. It results in murder..

Elliott wrote the play in Australia for Lux Radio Theatre. It was one of the few original plays they had commissioned. He wrote it while trying to emigrate to the US.

The original production aired in 1947 and starred Brenda Dunrich and Neva Carr Glyn.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article229699444 |title=George Hart's Radio Round-Up |newspaper=The Sun |issue=11,704 |location=Sydney |date=31 July 1947 |accessdate=18 July 2017 |page=6|edition=LATE FINAL EXTRA |via=National Library of Australia}}

One listener wrote in complaining saying the show was "well acted and well produced, we grant, but what a thing to inflict on people trying to escape for one brief hour from the real life tragedies of these troubled times. Open any newspaper any day and you can get your callous murders and your shootings and your wicked people without having to go to the radio plays for it. Wicked Is the Vine gave us two murders and one attempted murder, complete with the horrible sounds of blows on a human head, shots, screams, gaspings for breath, and groans... Truly wicked is the man who chose Wicked Is the Vine."{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article22447175 |title=THIS WEEK'S RADIO REVIEW Listeners do a little solid hating |newspaper=The Argus |issue=31,494 |location=Melbourne|date=9 August 1947 |accessdate=18 July 2017 |page=43 |via=National Library of Australia}}

It received some bad reviews{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article234632604 |title=ON THE AIR |newspaper=Smith's Weekly |volume=XXIX |issue=25 |location=New South Wales|date=16 August 1947 |accessdate=18 July 2017 |page=20 |via=National Library of Australia}} but was also awarded Best Play by the Federation of Commercial Radio Stations.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article230243924 |title=GEORGE HART'S RADIO NEWS |newspaper=The Sun |issue=12,173 |location=Sydney |date=1 February 1949 |accessdate=18 July 2017 |page=10|edition=LATE FINAL EXTRA |via=National Library of Australia}}

It was presented again in 1952.

{{Infobox television episode

| series = Kraft Television Theatre

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| season = 2

| series_no =

| episode = 28

| director = Stanley Quin

| writer = Sumner Locke Elliott

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| based_on = radio play by Elliott

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| airdate = {{Start date|1949|03|30}}

| length = 30 mins

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It was adapted for US television making it the first Australian play to be screened on American television.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18091672 |title=Australian Play To Be Televised. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=27 October 1948 |accessdate=24 March 2013 |page=1 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28666009 |title=Australians In Television. |newspaper=The Sunday Herald |location=Sydney |date=19 June 1949 |accessdate=24 March 2013 |page=8 Supplement: Features |via=National Library of Australia}} Elliott sold it to Kraft Television in November 1948.{{cite magazine|magazine=Variety|title=Bugles offered Broadway|url=https://archive.org/details/variety172-1948-11/page/n12/mode/1up?|date=3 November 1948|page=13}}

It aired on 30 March 1949 and was directed by Stanley Quin.[http://ctva.biz/US/Anthology/KraftTelevisionTheatre_NBC_02_(1948-49).htm Kraft Television Theatre Season 2] at CTVA It starred Ron Randell, an Australian-born actor.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28666009 |title=Australians In Television |newspaper=The Sunday Herald |issue=22 |location=Sydney |date=19 June 1949 |accessdate=18 July 2017 |page=8 (Features) |via=National Library of Australia}}

The production was well received and launched Elliott's career in New York as a TV writer.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article18479948 |title=MUSIC AND THE THEATRE "Radio Is Doomed"As "Rusty Bugles" Author Sees It |newspaper=The Sunday Herald |issue=50 |location=Sydney |date=8 January 1950 |accessdate=18 July 2017 |page=6 (Features) |via=National Library of Australia}} It also led to Randell receiving a number of TV offers.

{{cite magazine|magazine=Filmink|first=Stephen|last=Vagg|url=https://www.filmink.com.au/unsung-aussie-actors-ron-randell-top-twenty/|title=Unsung Aussie Actors – Ron Randell: A Top Twenty|date=August 10, 2019}}

• Margaret Phillips as Sarah
• Joan Stanley as Ellie
• Ron Randell as Howard
• Ann Donaldson
• Michael Everett as Joe

A stage version of the play premiered in London in 1953 at the New Torch Theatre Club starring Maureen Pryor.{{cite news|newspaper=The Kensington News and West London Times|date=6 November 1953|page=2|title=American TV play at the Torch}} A review said "there is power in the drama... but the power would benefit by curbing; it is too uncouth."{{cite news|newspaper=The Kensington News and West London Times|date=20 November 1953|page=2|title=Wicked is the Vine}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|id=0622685}}
• [https://www-austlit-edu-au.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/austlit/page/6447141 Radio play] at AustLit
• [https://www-austlit-edu-au.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/austlit/page/6447517 1949 TV Version] at AustLit

{{Sumner Locke Elliott}}

Category:1947 in radio

Category:1947 Australian radio dramas

Category:Radio plays by Sumner Locke Elliott

Category:Kraft Television Theatre

Category:Works by Sumner Locke Elliott

Category:1949 television plays