I have the great pleasure today of welcoming a very special guest, screenwriter David Sale, to CINEMATIC REVELATIONS for an interview. David was the writer of both the big-screen version of NUMBER 96 [my review of the film can be found here] and the series, and creator of the serial. He also has credits in Australian television, particularly as writer and executive producer of The Mavis Bramston Show. In this interview David will be discussing his role as writer in the NUMBER 96 movie, screenwriting, and acting, and moviemaking.
Welcome to CINEMATIC REVELATIONS David!
Athan: Where did you learn the art of screenwriting?
David: My only lessons were from watching movies. I was a film fan from childhood. I believe that the ability to write is an in-born talent. Even in primary school, my little essays were read out to the class by our teacher. I loved thinking up stories then writing them down. Teaching courses can channel the ability to write into special fields such as books or screenwriting, but the basic talent has to be there. I had no training at all.
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Athan: Where did you study acting?
David: Again, I had no formal training. My parents and I were migrants from Manchester. I wanted to be a journalist, so started a cadetship with the ABC News Dept. in Melbourne. However, I drifted into acting with a suburban amateur group, then I graduated to the Melbourne Little Theatre where I part-wrote and performed in two hit revues. I decided to go back to England to become a professional actor where nobody could laugh at me if I failed. Almost immediately I did a summer season of weekly Rep in Bognor Regis, then played the murderer in Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap in a British Council tour to Malta. Back in London, I played Malcolm in Macbeth, various bits on TV and two “B” grade movies. I was up for a part in Coronation Street thanks to my dormant Lancashire accent, but that meant going back to live in Manchester where it was filmed and that seemed like a backward step. Homesickness for Australia won out and I came back to Melbourne, resuming and combining the writing for TV (In Melbourne Tonight etc.) with acting - more revues, a Melbourne Theatre Company tour of And the Big Men Fly, and a year understudying the King in a lavish production of The King and I. (I never got to go on, thankfully - I was under rehearsed and too young for the part). I was content playing his “secretary, Phra Alack. Then I switched to Sydney, just in time for The Mavis Bramston Show, and my career REALLY took off!!!
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Athan: NUMBER 96 was the top-rating show of the early 1970s in Australian television. How did the concept for a film version eventuate?
David: It seemed a logical step. The TV series was still in black and white. Film offered the opportunity of colour - and to producers Cash-Harmon the chance to make even more money by capitalising on the TV series’ phenomenal success.
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Athan: I found the intertwined stories of drama, and comedy entertaining in the NUMBER 96 movie. How did you select the stories which made their way to the screen? Were there stories proposed for the movie that could not be presented for reasons such as time constraints?
David: Script Editor Johnny Whyte and I collaborated on the screenplay. Over a week-end, we thought up individual; and entertaining plots that suited the characters and could all be resolved in two hours instead of being strung out over numerous episodes. Johnny and I then just took blocks of storyline to script and these dovetailed perfectly into the whole because we knew each other’s work - and our subjects - so well.
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Athan: What did you most enjoy about the experience of filming the NUMBER 96 movie?
David: I had little to do with the actual filming once our screenplay was handed over. The actual filming was a breeze for everyone involved. It was completed in two weeks by actors familiar with their parts, on the existing studio sets, A few outdoor scenes were included, it rained on two of the exterior filming days, but the film still came in on time and - reportedly - under budget.
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Athan: What were the main differences for you in the NUMBER 96 movie as compared to the television series?
David: There seemed little difference to me. I was writing for characters I’d created and knew off-by-heart. Except for when it hit the big screen of course, I was able to experience the incredible reaction of the live audiences first-hand, attending the various premieres. Not only were they seeing their favourite characters in colour, but as each character made his or her first appearance, there was a deafening wave of applause as if it were a stage show. I found that quite moving.
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Athan: What for you was the most demanding, but emotionally satisfying segment of writing the NUMBER 96 movie?
David: I don’t want to diminish the task of doing the movie, but really it was just like writing an extension of the series. The veteran Hollywood screenwriter, Casey Robinson, had come to live in Australia and became a friend. He’d been prolific at Warner Bros during Hollywood’s Golden Years and wrote many of the Bette Davis hits such as Now Voyager and Dark Victory. He was sitting nearby at the Sydney premiere, and I wondered apprehensively what he would think of our humble offering. He said: “Good work - you’re giving the people exactly what they want!”
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Athan: Have you kept in contact with any cast members and crew from NUMBER 96?
David: Sadly, many of the participants of Number 96 have passed on, but we survivors are like family. I’m still regularly in contact with Sheila Kennelly, Carol Raye, Lynnie Rainbow and others.
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Athan: NUMBER 96 was directed by Peter Benardos, who also directed the series version of Number 96, and was his only feature film. What was your experience working with Mr Benardos on the movie?
David: As I said, I had little to do with the actual filming, but Peter Benardos was the utter professional who had worked efficiently on countless episodes of the series as director, so I knew the movie was in safe hands.
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Athan: NUMBER 96 the movie was one of the top-grossing Australian films at the box office in 1974. How did it feel seeing the characters, and stories you created on the big screen?
David: Top grossing. Thereby hangs a murky tale! Our contracts stipulated that Johnny Whyte and I split the $10,000 for the screenplay into $5,000 each, but also that we were to receive a small percentage (I forget how much) of “the producer’s gross profit.” Thanks to some fancy manipulation in the world of accountancy, Johnny and I never received another cent! We were either so naïve or carried away by success, we let it pass.
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Athan: You had a bit part in the 1959 American movie ON THE BEACH, which was made in Australia by United Artists, and directed by Stanley Kramer. The film starred American screen actors Gregory Peck and Ava Gardner in major parts. What was it like making the movie, and meeting these luminaries?
David: I was still a cadet reporter on ABC radio News when I “took a sickie” to answer a casting call for a day’s ‘extra’ work in On the Beach. Every actor in Melbourne had put their name down, but ended up in street crowd scenes. I was fortunate enough - I know not why - to be called as a guest on a confined set - a great opportunity to see the four major stars work. It was actually Fred Astaire’s big scene, and he was a little withdrawn and worried about remembering his lines, but managed to lighten things up by doing a few incongruous tap steps. Watching off-camera, a hand clapped on my shoulder. I looked up and Gregory Peck smiled down at me. “I gather we’re all doomed”, he joked. Little did I know that in later years I’d be great friends with his ex-wife, Greta. Ava Gardner was also friendly. During a break, she flopped down in the chair next to me on the ‘veranda’ of the fake house the party was in. She was complaining to her hairdresser that she never got letters from friends at. home. Her hairdresser said: “But Ava, in order to GET letters, you also have to SEND them.” Ava turned to me. “I can’t write - I can’t even spell.” “Why don’t you use a dictionary?” I suggested. She patted my knee. “The words I wanna use aren’t IN a dictionary!” she replied with a naughty wink. It was a magical day for me.
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Athan: You also acted in two British films from 1960, JUST JOE and CROSSROADS TO CRIME. How did you feel in the capacity of actor in these movies?
David: I felt comfortable immediately and quickly learned the trick of blotting out the looming camera and about a dozen crew members crowding intently it seemed like just inches away…and instead I just concentrated on the person I was swapping dialogue with. In Just Joe the other person was Jon Pertwee, who was later to become one of the “Doctor No’s” or “Who’s” or whatever he was called. He was very kind and put me at ease in the six scenes we shared together. I played his assistant in a soap factory. And I was able to repay his kindness in a final scene when he had to stay completely submerged in a vat of soapy water until I had delivered the tongue-twisting line: “It’s the black speckles in “SQUIZZ” that make every day a white washday!” I did it in one take, for which Jon was truly grateful.
My bit (blink and you’ll miss me) in Crossroads to Crime led to a lifelong friendship with the wonderful Miriam Karlin. During a break, she motioned me over to where she was sitting and asked for my name and phone number. She thought I was just the type when replacements became necessary in the hit show she was starring in - Fings Ain't What They Used to Be. Nothing came of this kind gesture, but when she came to Australia she remembered me and when she heard of my writing she insisted on my doing all her special material in The Mavis Bramston Show.
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Athan: Do you have any upcoming projects of which you would like to tell readers?
David: I came to live in Queensland [Australia] to take it easy. but a writer never retires. There are always intriguing ideas and potential plots buzzing around in a writer's mind, so one never knows….
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Thank you so much today for your time David, and for the understanding you have provided into the art of screenwriting, acting, the NUMBER 96 movie, and moviemaking. It has been wonderful to have you on CINEMATIC REVELATIONS. You are welcome to return whenever you wish.
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David Sale links
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