toured it with great success in Australia, playing it in repertory with the Terence Rattigan drama The Deep Blue Sea. Film There was a 1955 film version. Cast Peter Finch – Simon Foster Kay Kendall – Laura Foster Muriel Pavlow – Janet Honeyman Hubert Gregg – Bertie Burton Maurice Denham – Wilson Ian Carmichael – David Prentice Richard Wattis – Controller of Television Drama Thora Hird – Jessie Terence Longdon – Barney Clive Parritt – Timothy Alan Wheatley – Adrian Lee Beverley Brooks – Mabel Tom Gill – TV producer Nicholas Parsons – TV producer David Morrell – TV producer Joan Hickson – barmaid Charles Hawtrey – railway porter Cyril Chamberlain – Bert Philip Gilbert – Joe Julia Arnall – make-up girl (Miss Mills) Gilbert Harding – himself Isobel Barnett – herself Peter Haigh – himself George Cansdale – himself Production It was Finch's first leading role in a British film. Melville's original was adapted by Peter Blackmore, author of the successful play and film Miranda. With Finch and Kendall in the leads, the titular couple became significantly younger (though dialogue referring to them as theatrical veterans remained). Their agent, a German-accented character called Wolfstein in the play, became a very English one called Bertie Burton; their Canadian scriptwriter, Janet Honeyman, became plain English too. Where the play made reference to such celebrities of the day as film magnate Sir Alexander Korda, actors Peter Cushing and Michael Wilding and comedian Wee Georgie Wood, the film was able to incorporate appearances by TV personalities Gilbert Harding, Isobel Barnett, Peter Haigh and George Cansdale. The film version went into production at Pinewood in the first week of June 1955, immediately after the play's closure at the Apollo. It opened at the Gaumont Haymarket on 24 November (on a bill with On Such a Night), with general release following on 26 December. Muriel Box saw Ian Carmichael play his role on stage "and I thought he would be wonderful in the film, so I insisted on having him even though Rank didn’t want him. They wanted a more established ‘star’ name. I knew the cast I wanted — Kay Kendall, Peter Finch and Thora Hird. Normally the casting is left to the director but Rank had no hesitation in saying if they disagreed with you. But, with Ian Carmichael, I really dug in my heels because I knew he would be excellent in