The Caretaker wins Emmy

Rediffusion Television’s production of ‘The Caretaker’ earlier this year won an International Emmy award for the best entertainment programme made outside the United States. In this article director marc miller talks about the problems of production. Obvious congratulations are due to Harold Pinter for writing it, Marc Miller for directing it, Peter Willes for producing it, and Roy,Dotrice, Ian McShane and John Rees for acting in it. Congratulations are also due to all those who had a hand in the production and their names are listed at the end of the article.

Making ‘The Caretaker’ into a television play created one or two unusual problems the solution of which added, I think, to the production’s effectiveness.

I felt that we should make no concessions towards accepted studio practice; that the play should only be broken where Pinter had originally made scenes end; that the actors must only work in one area; and that I should be able to shoot from every side of the room.

Designer Fred Pusey solved the last two problems brilliantly by splitting the four walls of the room into six trucks and putting the whole set on a 2 ft high rostrum. This created some problems concerning camera movement but it gave the cast a working area quite independent of the machinery. This independence added to the confidence of their work as they did not have to compete for floor space with pedestals, etc. Bill Lee, lighting supervisor, saw the designer’s rough plan and quietly pointed out that he could not light a 360 degree area but he would do his best to illuminate it. Bill’s concept of lighting and illumination is his own affair, but I have made a point of asking for the illumination technique several times since ‘The Caretaker’. Jeff Shepherd (senior cameraman) and Alan Evans (sound balancer) gave a qualified blessing to the early plans and the play was ready to start rehearsal.

To lessen the break caused by moving from the rehearsal room to the studio, Fred Pusey set up the entire rostrum area in the room, filling the spare space with junk to build into the play as it was needed. Michael Baldwin, costume design, arrived on the first day with cases full of old clothes which were sorted out to provide Roy Dotrice with his rags and John Rees with his doubtful, mid-forties pin-stripe suit. Ian McShane elected to provide his own wardrobe.

From here on, at the start of each day, ‘Pet’ Wilcox, stage manager, and Michael Mollan, assistant stage manager, had a full props setting job to do while Roy Dotrice and John Rees had to change into full costume. In this way each day’s work was done in the conditions of a final dress run and the transition to the studio was a natural extension of the rehearsal.

Rehearsals were watched at every stage by practically everyone who was to be concerned in the studio operation. This resulted in a complete understanding of exactly what we were trying to achieve.

All of which should indicate the sort of total unity and teamwork that backed the production. Perhaps the point could be more emphatically made by saying that the play, which ran for 92 minutes, was recorded in one take. Further the whole period of the recording had an incredible ‘first night’ feeling that I have never experienced to that extent before or since.

It is unnecessary to talk more about the play and the performances. They were seen and judged. Pinter is a great writer and Dotrice is a great actor. But these talents could not have fused without the teamwork and dedication of all concerned.

Those involved are listed below. There is no significance in the order.

Designer: Fred Pusey; production assistant; Anne Taylor; stage manager: Pet Wilcox; assistant stage manager: Michael Mollan; costume design: Michael Baldwin; casting director: Muriel Cole; senior cameraman: Jeff Shepherd; camera crew: Colin Hopkins, Sid Turrell, Peter Wickstead, Peter Bond, Andrew Vale, David Taylor, Vernon Layton; sound balancer: Alan Evans; grams operator: Tim Jaggard; sound crew: Mac McLoughlin, John Hoare, Fred Varley, Don Hawkins, Tom McIntyre; lighting director: Bill Lee; electrician chargehand: Bob Burns; console operators: Alf Lilley, Harold Titmus, Mike Sutton; vision mixer: Kaye Stromqvist; make-up: Mary McDonough, Lilia Lennox; senior engineer, control: Peter Hart; assistant engineers: Ray Nicholson, Brian Aylard; floor manager: Eric Cooper; assistant floor manager: Nigel Warwick; setting assistant: Pat Benson.