Classic Portia Manning Radio Serials on CD
Portia Faces Life was one of the most popular daily ‘soap operas’ on Australian radio, running for 3544 gripping episodes from 1952 until 1970, and the character of Portia Manning would prove to be one of Grace Gibson’s most enduring franchises.
Right: The award winning actress Lyndall Barbour played Portia Manning in Portia Faces Life. She also starred in the 1959 TV series The Flying Doctor for the Associated British Pictures Corporation. Left: Portia Faces Life was sponsored by the Lever Brothers soap company and was a ratings hit for 3HA in Western Victoria and for 3TR Gippsland.
The serial had originated in America and Grace secured the rights to produce an Australian version, initially the American scripts were adapted to suit local tastes but as time went on her in-house writers began creating totally original material. The plot followed crusading lawyer Portia Manning as she tackled baffling cases and as she endeavoured to provide a stable home life for her family. Lyndall Barbour played the title role for the entire run apart from six months in 1959 when she took an extended holiday in England, during that time Diana Perryman (from The Story of Peter Grey and Autumn Affair) took over as her temporary replacement.
Diehard Portia fans and those of you that love classic ‘soap operas’ will be pleased to know that an episode of Portia Faces Life has been included on the Grace Gibson Radio Classics – 70th Anniversary Compilation. This CD collection features a number of other rare Grace Gibson gems from the 1940s and 1950s, many of which aren’t currently available anywhere else.
The Grace Gibson Radio Classics 70th Anniversary Compilation features many rare gems from the 1940s and 1950s. Copyright IRS Grace Gibson Productions.
I am particularly pleased that an episode of Danger in Paradise has made it onto this release as it features my old friend Gwen Plumb. Adapted from the world famous novel by Octavus Roy Cohen, we are introduced to life at a New York advertising agency where murder, romance and greed are on the agenda. Others in the cast include Alan White, Margaret Christensen, and Rod Taylor.
There’s an episode of Frenchman’s Creek, adapted from the best-selling novel by Daphne du Maurier, in which a bored English lady called Dona St. Colomb (Sheila Sewell) can’t resist the romantic overtures of a French smuggler who plies his illegal trade on the Cornish coast.
We have an episode of Out of the Night starring Lloyd Berrell, which features the whistling voice of the night wind telling unbelievable but true stories. This serial was researched and scripted by Rex Rienits who also wrote for British television hits such as Fabian of the Yard and Patrol Car.
You’ll hear an instalment of The Romance of Famous Jewels featuring tales of the mysteries, intrigues and crimes associated with precious gemstones and the part that they have played in men’s destinies. If you like spooky tales then you’ll enjoy the selected episode of Tales of the Supernatural which features weird, strange and uncanny stories from the twilight world beyond the shadows. There are plenty of other treats to discover on this compilation collection which is essential listening for all aficionados of early radio drama.
Right: Gwen Plumb became a household name as Ada Simmonds in The Young Doctors; her fans can now hear her in an episode of Danger in Paradise on the Grace Gibson Radio Classics 70th Anniversary Compilation. Top Left: Portia Manning fans won’t want to miss The Seed of Evil. Bottom Left: Portia Manning tackles another intriguing case in The Haverlock Affair. Copyright IRS Grace Gibson Productions.
Lyndall Barbour and her character Portia Manning proved so popular that they were featured in a number of spin-off serials and all of these have now been released on CD. In The Seed of Evil, Portia discovers that a brilliant scientist is on the verge of finding a cure for a dreadful disease, but that in the past he may have murdered a woman. She must find proof of his guilt or innocence, but is hindered by the daughter of the missing woman, and by a tycoon whose wife has contracted the deadly illness.
In The Haverlock Affair a woman called Sonia Haverlock has been accused of pushing a man to his death, when she is arrested she doesn’t deny her guilt and doesn’t seem to care about what becomes of her. Portia is intrigued by the woman’s reaction and by the behaviour of fellow lawyer Gregory Van Doren who has pushed the case onto her for his own ends. Portia begins to suspect that Sonia is just a pawn in the game of some very powerful political figures and that she has good cause not to reveal the truth about the situation if she wants to keep her life.
In The Silent Witness, Portia is approached by a distraught young woman called Liza Paradine (Lola Brooks) who wants to be taken into protective custody, for she fears that she will commit murder if left to her own devices. Portia advises the unfortunate woman that she needs a psychiatrist, but things turn ugly when Liza’s sister-in-law is found murdered and the police suspect that she is the culprit. Liza admits attacking the victim but denies murder, and Portia sets about doing some investigating of her own before deciding whether to defend the accused or not. Also appearing in this serial are Ted Hepple and Anne Haddy (from Neighbours).
Right: Lyndall Barbour in the recording studio playing Portia Manning. Left: In The Silent Witness, Portia Manning meets an unhinged woman who fears that she will commit murder. Copyright IRS Grace Gibson Productions.
Many lawyers eventually become interested in politics and Portia Manning was no exception. In the serial Partners in Jeopardy, Portia is flattered to be approached by some leading local citizens who want her to be their candidate at the next election. Unfortunately all is not as it appears, if she had known who was behind her nomination, and what the outcome would be, she most certainly would have refused! Joining Lyndall Barbour this time around are Georgie Sterling, Nigel Lovell, Amber Mae Cecil, Ric Hutton, Bob McDarra and Tom Farley.
Portia pops up in Clayton Place which was designed to combat the rising popularity of television ‘soaps’ such as Peyton Place. The action revolves around a wealthy and powerful mill owner called Jason Clay (Ric Hutton), a womaniser who uses females to achieve his goals and to satisfy his desires.
Long standing radio listeners who were used to a more sedate state of affairs were left gobsmacked as Clay deserted his pregnant fiancée to pursue the daughter of a man with useful political connections. There was passion, hate and murder as he ruined countless lives, fathered children by multiple women and struggled to keep control of his business empire. They say that the apple never falls far from the tree and we would find the sins of the father being repeated by a son born into a dynasty of hate. Jason Clay would end up living in the shadow of the women that he had done the dirty on and vengeance awaited him. Other cast members caught up in the action included Judi Farr (from A Place to Call Home) and Dinah Shearing (from The Sullivans).
Left: Anne Haddy played Helen Daniels in Neighbours; she can be heard in The Silent Witness. Middle: Partners in Jeopardy sees Portia Manning enter the murky world of politics. Right:New Zealand born Georgie Sterling studied radio techniques with the BBC in London and stars in Partners in Jeopardy. On television she has appeared in Taurus Rising, Sons & Daughters, and can be seen in the 1936 movie Rangle River on Ozflix.
Violets Are Blue was another serial featuring Portia Manning. This is the story of a violent crime which reaps retribution and horror on the innocent as well as the guilty. An army officer kills the man who apparently violated his wife, on the surface it appears to be an open and shut case, but is it? The court will need to decide if Betsy Aldrich was telling the truth about being molested, and if her husband was justified in taking the law into his own hands.
Last up we have Thirty Days Hath September, a serial which features Portia Manning as a Special Assisting Counsel. The plot involves a former model called Cynthia Hall who married a much older man for his money. When he is found poisoned, Cynthia is charged with the murder. Things are complicated further when her lawyer, Andrew MacFarlane Bishop (Alistair Duncan), falls in love with her and slants evidence to get her acquitted ensuring that an innocent man is sent down. This however is far from the end of the matter! Incidentally this was the first serial on Australian radio in which the use of serious foul language occurred raising more than a few eyebrows in the process.
All of these classic delights should keep Portia Manning fans entertained for a while but there are plenty of other gripping courtroom serials available from the Grace Gibson archives.
Right: Clayton Place shocked listeners with the antics of a man who used and abused women. Copyright IRS Grace Gibson Productions. Left: Ric Hutton appeared on British television in The Power Game (for ATV) and The Protectors, his fans can hear him playing a ruthless mill owner in Clayton Place.
Three CD volumes of the 1952 classic For The Defence are now available. This serial features fictionalised recreations of authentic criminal trials presented from the viewpoint of the defence. Each story stars the attorney, counsel or criminal lawyer telling of murder, espionage or another heinous criminal act. The writers studied trials from Australia, Britain, America, France, Germany and Canada, in order to bring the most fascinating cases to the wireless including a number from the files of the famous American lawyer Clarence Darrow. Starring John Saul, Lou Vernon, Harp McGuire and many others, we wonder which way the scales of justice will swing.
More sentences are handed down in the 1958 production Verdict. You’ll feel the turbulent currents of emotion as crimes are unravelled, testimony is given, and tension builds until justice is finally delivered to rich and poor alike following the fair and just findings of a jury of law abiding citizens. The writers working on this series sifted through court records from around the world, and present us with an array of intriguing cases, including a number from the early days of the Australian colony.
The complete series of the 1970 classic So Help Me God is also now available. This is a saga about the loopholes that exist in the law and how they are exploited on a daily basis by cunning members of the legal profession. We meet two lifelong friends, they are both brilliant lawyers, but become mortal enemies across the courtroom floor as they each fight for what they believe in – justice. They will utilise every trick in the book in order to obtain the outcome that they believe to be right. We are presented with some extremely baffling cases starring James Condon, Ron Haddrick, Richard Meikle, June Salter, Peter Whitford, Philippa Baker and many other well-known names.
Left: In Violets Are Blue, Portia Manning encounters a woman who claims to have been molested. Middle: Lyndall Barbour will forever be associated with the role of Portia Manning; her fans can now enjoy many of her adventures on CD. Right: Portia Manning appears in Thirty Days Hath September, has a gold digger murdered for money? Copyright IRS Grace Gibson Productions.
If you prefer a good medical drama then you’ll be pleased to know that the first volume of Medical File has been released. Produced during the 1950s this serial was based on actual medical files, and was written by Peter Yeldham who later wrote British television hits such as Love Story and Emergency – Ward 10 for ATV. We meet the men and women who dedicate their lives to bringing health to humanity, and go behind the scenes of various hospitals, research centres and surgeries where they care for the sick. The medics we meet are in a race against time to find cures for a myriad of complaints. The storylines are certainly diverse and in one episode we meet a bus passenger who returns to New York after a holiday in Mexico City suffering from smallpox. Medical File featured an impressive cast list during its run including Harp McGuire, Madge Ryan, Wynne Nelson, Gordon Chater, Lloyd Berrell and John Meillon.
If you’d like to hear a taster episode of Medical File before ordering the complete volume you’ll find one on the excellent Grace Gibson Radio Classics – Drama & Serials release. The selected edition involves a typhoid outbreak and a man being forced to refrain from handling or preparing food for the rest of his natural life. Rupert Chance appears in this episode, he had enjoyed a hugely successful career as a radio actor playing Ted Lawson in Blue Hills, Horatio Nelson in Romances of the World: The Private Life of Lady Hamilton, and appeared in other classics such as Mutiny on the Bounty, Dr Paul, Amazing Mr Malone, Reach for the Sky, The Lawsons, The Right to Happiness, Limelight and Shadow, Coronets of England, and Those We Love.
Left: Three volumes of For The Defence are now available, you’ll be hooked as justice is meted out to wrongdoers. Copyright IRS Grace Gibson Productions. Right: Victorian Car Services sponsored For The Defence on 3KZ in Melbourne.
When television arrived he decided that it wasn’t the medium for him so he became a lawyer. His son Jeremy Chance would also become an actor and will be remembered by television viewers for his starring role in Class of ’74. Jeremy says, “Dad and Peter Finch loved getting drunk together. One day, in the pouring rain, they turned up at my home, and my mother was so mad she threw a bucket of water over them at the front door. Since they were both wet from the rain anyway, they roared with laughter and went off to drink some more.”
The Grace Gibson Radio Classics – Drama & Serials release features a treasure trove of very rare gems which aren’t available anywhere else. The 1955 drama The Bigger They Come stars Leonard Teale as Primo Carnera, one of the biggest boxing stars of the 1930s. Primo was a child who was taunted and bullied by others due to his gigantic physical proportions, and we follow his remarkable story as he becomes a freak act in a circus before ending up as a vagrant living on the streets of France. Fortune would finally smile on this man when he was spotted by a manager (Allan Trevor) who knew that he had the physical ability to enter the boxing ring. Primo was a man who was destined to be crowned the World Heavyweight Champion in 1933, but a man who would be taken advantage of by unscrupulous individuals out for a quick buck. He would end his days with partial paralysis of the limbs after being taken down by a third rate bruiser.
Left: Three volumes of Verdict are now available in which criminals are brought to book. Middle: Radio star June Salter appeared in the film series The Scales of Justice here in the UK and was one of the big names to appear in So Help Me God. Right: Clever lawyers use every trick in the book in So Help Me God. Copyright IRS Grace Gibson Productions.
The Caltex Star Theatre brought the theatre into people’s lounge rooms and was Grace Gibson’s first major radio production when it launched in 1945. Each episode, introduced by compere Bob Pollard, featured different top line personalities and different stories which were recorded before a live audience. The very first edition, Till the Day I Die, is featured on the Drama & Serials compilation. We hear Peter Finch playing a hoodlum and career criminal who is on the run after killing a man whilst carrying out a robbery. His victim is almost identical in appearance and a chance meeting will see our felon encounter the poor man’s widow and son who think they’ve seen a ghost! A strange relationship will develop between these individuals, leading to another murder and to the shocking revelation that the dead man was actually the murderers estranged blood brother. Others in the cast include Irene Harper and Lyndall Barbour.
Other treats on this compilation release include an episode of Strange Wills from 1951 in which probate lawyer John Francis O’Connell (John Bushelle) introduces us to strange and unusual wills taken from actual cases held in the probate files. Line of Life starring Richard Meikle, Alistair Duncan and John Unicomb, was a serial based on actual cases from Lifeline. We follow the adventures of a lawyer, a doctor and a clergyman as they help those in need, and in the selected episode we encounter a very wealthy but disturbed woman who enjoys shoplifting just for the thrill of it.
Left: Doctors and skilled surgeons battle to save lives in Medical File. Middle: The American actor Harp McGuire appears in Medical File. He played the title role in the Australian radio version of Dick Tracy, and back in the USA he appeared on television in Perry Mason, Gunsmoke and Leave It to Beaver. Right: You’ll hear a sample episode of Medical File and many other delights on the Grace Gibson Radio Classics – Drama & Serials release. Copyright IRS Grace Gibson Productions.
I mentioned Gwen Plumb earlier in this report and she would be reunited with Grace Gibson on another project in 1958 but on this occasion Grace was to be on the other side of the microphone. Whilst in England Gwen and actress friend Thelma Scott had devised and produced a programme for BBC Radio called How to Manage Men. The format involved a panel of women discussing problems listeners were having with their menfolk and handing out advice in a light-hearted manner, a panel of males were permitted to present the other perspective. The programme was a huge success on both the Light Programme and the BBC Home Service, with the postman hardly being able to carry the bag of gripe filled postcards.
On returning to Australia, Gwen and Thelma successfully sold the format to the ABC. This time around Thelma was the chairwoman of the panel, whilst the ‘Cats’ (the female panel) consisted of Gwen, Grace Gibson and actress June Salter. The ‘Gay Dogs’ (the male panel) was comprised of Rudolf Bergmann and the actors John Meillon and Al Thomas (who had starred in the 1942 movie A Yank in Australia). Regrettably no episodes of How to Manage Men appear to survive in the archives.
Left: Blue Hills star Rupert Chance appears in an episode of Medical File on the Grace Gibson Radio Classics – Drama & Serials release. Middle: Listeners of 7HT in Hobart enjoyed a night at the theatre from the comfort of home with the Caltex Star Theatre. An episode is featured on the Grace Gibson Radio Classics – Drama & Serials collection. Right: The actor Bob Pollard was one of the top radio comperes in Australia and introduced each episode of the Caltex Star Theatre.
This was far from the only overseas format reproduced in Australia. It was natural that Grace Gibson would look to her native America when searching for daily ‘soap operas’ to adapt and produce Down Under, she had Portia Faces Life of course and many others including The Guiding Light starring Gwen Plumb which ran for 1040 episodes, Life Can Be Beautiful running for 1664 episodes, and Dr Paul which ran for an incredible 4634 episodes during its 22 year run! However it would be rival producer John Hickling who would turn to the UK and who secured the rights to make an Australian version of the BBC ‘soap’ Mrs Dale’s Diary in 1958 with Moira Carleton (from Bellbird) in the title role and Douglas Kelly as Dr Dale. I know that many ATV Today readers love their vintage ‘soap operas’ but it’s unlikely that you’ll ever get to hear Mrs Dale’s Diary because despite running three days a week for several years on 3DB in Melbourne no episodes survive in the archives.
Listeners worldwide can order a wealth of classic Australian radio serials exclusively from the Grace Gibson Productions website.
Exellent can’t wait to get hold of the 70 years disc.