Dwight D Eisenhower
TV in Australia
DLP formed TV in Australia Melbourne Olympics Poker machines introduced on NSW clubs
Introduction of Television
The Australian broadcasting industry was not quite as backward as it might seem from the late date of the first public television broadcasts in Australia (1956).
In fact, experimental broadcasts began as early as 1929 with the first broadcast licence being issued in 1934. Trial broadcasts were conducted in Brisbane but were curtailed with the outbreak of the Second World War.
Following the War, political wrangling over the type of television system (PAL or NTSC), whether there should be only a government service, only a commercial service or both and what restrictions there should be on the who could hold a broadcast licence, delayed its introduction for over a decade.
The catalyst which finally got television broadcasting off the ground in Australia was the staging of the Olympic Games in Melbourne in 1956. However, the Games were not the live television event we tend to imagine today. There were no satellite links, fibre optic cables or even co-axial cables linking Melbourne to anywhere else. Even in Melbourne, there were only about 10,000 TV sets. The vast majority of Australians saw the 1956 Olympics on the cinema newsreels, not in TV.
The 1960 and 1964 Olympics were seen on television. (There were over 600,000 TV sets in Australian homes by 1960,) But these were broadcasts of film taken a day or so before and flown to Australia. The first live Olympic broadcast in Australia was of the 1968 Games in Mexico City.
Melbourne Olympics
The Melbourne Olympic Games in 1956 are remembered as "The Friendly Games". Part of the reason for this was the contrast between the atmosphere in Australia and the Cold War which was at its height.
Early in November 1956, Soviet tanks crushed a democratic movement in Hungary. The Olympic Games commenced less than three weeks later. The Dutch and Spanish refused to attend the Olympics because the Soviets would be there. In October, the British and French commenced bombing Egypt in retaliation for annexing the Suez Canal. They ceased fire shortly after the Soviet action in Hungary. In the Americas, Castro's Communists invaded Cuba during the Olympic Games.
One of the most memorable events of the Games was the violent clash between Hungary and the USSR in water polo. The Hungarians eventually won the gold medal with the USSR getting the bronze. At the end of the Games, 56 Hungarian athletes from a team of 113 remained in Australia.
But the overall impression of the Games was the peaceful, open, friendly atmosphere of Australia focusing on sport in contrast to the Cold War atmosphere elsewhere.
| The Lone Ranger | 1949-61 | cast | |
| Dragnet | 1951-58 & 1967-69 | cast | |
| I Love Lucy | 1951-55 | cast | |
| The Cisco Kid (First TV series made in colour) |
1951-55 | ||
| Victory at Sea | 1952 | ||
| Our Miss Brooks | 1952-57 | cast | |
| The Nelsons | 1952-66 | cast | |
| The Adventures of Superman | 1953-55 | cast | |
| The Loretta Young Show | 1953-60 | ||
| Father Knows Best | 1954-63 | cast | |
| Lassie | 1954-72 | ||
| The Honeymooners | 1955-56 | cast | |
| Sergeant Preston of the Yukon | 1955-57 | ||
| The Mickey Mouse Club | 1955-59 | cast | |
| The Phil Silvers Show (Sgt Bilko) | 1955-59 | cast | |
| The Adventures of Robin Hood | 1955-59 | cast | |
| The Life & Legend of Wyatt Earp | 1955-60 | cast | |
| Cheyenne | 1955-62 | cast | |
| Gunsmoke | 1955-75 | cast | |
| Circus Boy | 1956-57 |
| Title | Cast | Academy Awards | Buy |
| Anything Goes directed by Robert Lewis | Bing Crosby Donald O'Connor Zizi Jeanmaire Mitzi Gaynor |
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| Around the World in 80 Days directed by Michael Anderson | David Niven Shirley Maclaine Cantinflas Robert Newton Marlene Deitchrich |
Best Picture Best Cinematography Best Editing Best Score Best Screenplay  |
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| Carousel directed by Henry King | Gordon MacRae Cameron Mitchell Shirley Jones |
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| The Eddie Duchin Story directed by George Sidney | Tyrone Power Kim Novak James Whitmore Victoria Shaw Shepperd Strudwick Frieda Innescourt |
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| High Society directed by Henry Cornelius | Bing Crosby Gene Kelly Frank Sinatra |
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| Invasion of the Body Snatchers (aka Sleep No More)< directed by Don Siegel |
Kevin McCarthy Dana Winter Larry Gates |
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| The King and I directed by Walter Lang | Yul Brynner Deborah Kerr Rita Moreno |
Best Actor Best Art & Set Direction Best Costume Design Best Score Best Sound |
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| The Man Who Knew Too Much directed by Alfred Hitchcock | James Stewart Doris Day Brenda de Banzie |
Best Song
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| Reach for the Sky directed by Lewis Gilbert | Kenneth More Muriel Pavlow London Brook Lee Patterson |
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| The Searchers directed by John Ford | John Wayne Jeffrey Hunter Vera Miles Ward Bond Natalie Wood John Qualen |
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| Teahouse of the August Moon directed by Daniel Mann | Marlon Brando Glenn Ford Eddie Albert Machiko Kyo Paul Ford Jun Negami |
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| The Ten Commandments directed by Cecil B. de Mille | Charlton Heston Yul Brynner Anne Baxter Edward G. Robinson Yvonne de Carlo Deborah Paget |
Best Special Effects |
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| To Catch a Thief directed by Alfred Hitchcock | Cary Grant Grace Kelly Jessie Royce Landis John Williams Charles Vanel Brigette Auber |
Best Cinematography |
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| A Town Like Alice (aka Rape of Malaya)  directed by Jack Lee |
Virginia McKenna Peter Finch Takagi Tran Van Khe |
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| Trapeze directed by Carol Reed | Burt Lancaster Tony Curtis Gina Lollobrigida Katy Jurado Thomas Gomez |
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| Title | Author | Buy |
| Peyton Place (banned in Australia) | Grace Metalious |  |
| The Tribe that Lost Its Head | Nicholas Monsarat | |
| Diamonds Are Forever a James Bond book | Ian Fleming | |
| Battle of the River Plate | Dudley Pope | |
| The Quare Fellow | Brendan Behan | |
| A Long Days Journey into Night | Eugene O'Neill | |
| Look Back in Anger | John Osborne | |
| History of the English Speaking Peoples | Winston Churchill | |