The Case of Private Hamp

The Case of Private Hamp is a 1962 Australian television film which aired on the ABC. Despite the wiping of the era, a copy of the presentation exists as a kinescope recording.

It was based on a 1955 novel by James Lansdale Hodson which was turned into the 1964 film King and Country. The novel had been adapted for radio in Melbourne in 1957.

Plot
The court martial of Private Arthur Hamp who was accused of desertion in Passchendaele, France, 1917. He is defended by Hargreaves.

Cast

 * Edward Hepple as Private Hamp
 * John Llewellyn as Lt Webb
 * Ric Hutton as Captain Hargreaves
 * John Armstrong as Cpl Haslem
 * Donald Philps as Col Eckersley
 * Rhod Walker as court martial president
 * Richard Howe as Lt Midgeley
 * James Scullin as Cpl Barnes
 * Richard Parry as Captain O'Sullivan
 * Ron Haddrick as padre
 * John O'Sullivan as Johnson
 * Don Pascoe as sergeant major

Production
Designer Jack Montgomery created trenches by mixing bran with black earth. The cast was all male. Ric Hutton had just appeared in a TV production of Madam Butterfly.

Hepple called it "a marvelous play about what I consider to be legalised murder. It should bring tears to the eyes of anyone who watches it."

Reception
The TV critic for the Sydney Morning Herald said it featured "capable acting"

The Sunday Sydney Morning Herald critic called it "a first rate piece of drama, with a case and a quality of acting that was well-nigh flawless."

The Woman's Weekly called it "one of the strongest and most moving plays yet presented on TV."