Bertrand is a 1964 Australian television film. It aired on non-commercial ABC in a 60-minute time-slot. It was written by Romilly Cavan, and produced by Ken Hannam. The film aired on 27 May 1964 in Sydney 12 August 1964 in Melbourne and on 2 September 1964 in Brisbane.
Contents
Plot
Set in Sydney, the title character of the drama was a stray cat, who brings together three people, a teenager (Michael Thomas), a recluse (Ronald Morse) and an ex-suffragette (Eve Wynne).
Cast
Michael Thomas as Albert Watson
Ronald Morse as Tracey
Eve Wynne as Mrs Glover
Ben Gabriel as Mr Watson
Kit Taylor as Jacki
Production
It was originally written for British television and set in Britain.
The setting was relocated to Australia for this version. The designer was Geoffrey Wedlock. His neighbour, N Jenkins, owned a cat, Tim, who was cast in the lead role. "You'd have thought he'd been around TV studios all his life," said Mrs Jenkins. "He did everything... on cue."
Reception
The Sydney Morning Herald called it over long "and tedious" and felt adapting the story to Australia was a mistake.