Web Page 3095
19th January 2024
First Picture: William Tell
Second Picture; Gessler
Fourth Picture: With Crossbow
William Tell
One of the most popular television series in our teenage years was The Adventures of William Tell which was a British made a swashbuckling adventure series, first broadcast on the ITV network in 1958, and produced by ITC Entertainment. In the United States, the episodes aired on the syndicated NTA Film Network in 1958–1959.
William Tell is a folk hero of Switzerland, active in the early 14th century. He supposedly encouraged the population of the Old Swiss Confederacy to revolt against the regime of Albert I of Germany (reigned 1298–1308).
Conrad Phillips played William Tell
Jennifer Jayne played Hedda Tell (wife)
Richard Rogers was Walter Tell (son)
Willoughby Goddard player Landburgher Gessler
Nigel Green was The Bear
Jack Lambert the Judge Furst (Hedda's father)
Peter Hammond played Hofmanstahl
The series was produced by Ralph Smart, who wrote a number of stories for the series and also created and produced Danger Man. The show was made at the National Studios in Elstree.
The outdoor scenes were filmed around the mountains and lakes of Snowdonia in Wales. The film base and make-up were at a small farm in Cwm-y-glo in Snowdonia. This is beside Llyn Padarn, a lake which can be seen in many shots (as can cars on the A4086 road on the opposite side of the lake!). The crew used to walk up the mountain from their base, as there was no vehicle access, and brought work for at least three yearly shoots to a tiny corner of North Wales before tourism took off.
An accident early occurred to the star, Conrad Phillips, during filming in Snowdonia. He was asked to keep stepping back until he stepped off a 12-foot drop, injuring his knee – which eventually led to his retirement from acting. He had to wear support bandages during filming but sometimes forgot, causing him to struggle with some action scenes.
Daily rushes were viewed at the only cinema in the area, at Llanberis, which was taken over from 8.00 until noon every morning. The film was taken to Soho in London for developing and the rushes returned to Llanberis by 8.30 next morning.
Although all three series had location scenes, the third was more studio based and location scenes were mostly taken from unused and reused stock shots from the first and second series. A smaller crew went to Wales for this series and more money was saved by shooting without synchronised sound. In the days of enforced demarcation, this saved several technicians' wages.
Though in some ways the same as The Adventures of Robin Hood, a brave bowman fighting against a tyrant, this was a harder show with crossbow bolts killing people and Tell fighting hand-to-hand, which often resulted in the death of the bad guy. Unlike the courtly Sheriff of Nottingham, Gessler was a pig of a man, unshaven, often eating or drinking without manners and throwing his metaphorical as well as literal weight around.
Nevertheless, the interaction between the hero and the Sheriff and Land burger respectively, was a strong point in both series, bringing out the quality diction and crispness of both Alan Wheatley's and Willoughby Goddard's acting. The Adventures of William Tell series was repeated well into the 1960s. In June 2020 the series began a rerun on the British Talking Pictures TV channel.
The series featured a long-remembered theme song, with music based on the William Tell Overture by Gioachino Rossini. For the show, the song lyrics were by Harold Purcell and were sung by David Whitfield.
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Peter
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Second Picture; Gessler
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