MONSARRAT, Nicholas.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

The Cruel Sea. First edition, signed by the author as well as the producer and eighteen key cast members of the novel's first radio adaptation. The drama was broadcast on Springbok Radio in 1953, the same year as the popular film, and was subsequently released in other countries such as New Zealand. The Cruel Sea radio drama ran to 26 episodes of 30 minutes each, taped over only 29 days in December 1951. It was adapted by the women's editor of the Johannesburg Star, Margot Bryant, and produced by Cedric Messina, who signed this copy on the half-title. Monsarrat was involved in the production, providing narration. He wrote in his autobiography, "it was the hardest piece of sustained work which had come by way for a long time... For some reason, whenever we made any sort of mistake, we had to go back to the beginning again... If anyone fluffed his lines on the 26th minute of the recording - as I did on one ghastly occasion in Episode 22... we all went back again to the introductory music" (p. 362).The cast members who signed this copy include Henry Howell (George Ericson), Margaret Inglis (Julie Hallam), and Hugh Rouse (Keith Lockhart).

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