Saki: The Improper Stories of H. H. Munro; 7

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Series
Saki: The Improper Stories of H. H. Munro
Episode Number
7
Producing Organization
Granada Television
Contributing Organization
Library of Congress (Washington, District of Columbia)
AAPB ID
cpb-aacip/512-d50ft8fd5b
NOLA Code
SAKI
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Description
Episode Description
The first segment in this episode is The Hen, in which Veronique simply cannot be in the house when Dora Bittholz arrives. The two women have quarreled violently over a prize hen that refused to lay, and their continuous battles are deafening. With the unknowing aid of a harmless butler, Clovis and Mary convince Veronique that she should leave. The butler, they say, has one idiosyncrasy he thinks Veronique is Anne Boleyn and he wants to cut off her head. The second segment is The Seven Cream Jugs. In this segment, Dora and Peter Pigeoncote have several cousins Wilfrid. One is a baronet, the other a kleptomaniac known as The Snatcher. When a cousin Wilfrid shows up for their wedding anniversary, theyre sure it must be the less respectable of the two. Theyre even more convinced when they think one of the silver gifts is missing. But this, it seems, is a third Wilfrid Wilfrid the attach on leave from his post at Dresden. The third segment is Filboid Studge: The Story of a Mouse that Helped, in which Duncan Dullamy has a marriageable daughter and an unmarketable breakfast food. He agrees to let Mark Spayley marry his daughter, and in a fit of gratitude, Mark conceives a magnificent advertising scheme that sells tons of the cereal and makes Dullamy a millionaire. The fourth segment is The Square Egg. In this segment, two more of Sakis master con artists square off and fight to a draw this time in the estaminet of the Fortunate Rabbit during a pause in World War I. The prize: a species of square egg with endless marketing possibilities. The final segment of this episode is The Secret Sin of Septimus Brope In this segment, an expert of Byzantine religion, Septimus does have a secret sin. But it is not, as Lady Bastable suspects, making love to her maid. Clovis investigates and discovers that Septimus writes lyrics for a particularly saccharine type of popular song. For a price, he helps the unhappy scholar complete a lyric and swears to keep his secret. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
Series Description
Connoisseurs of the short story have long considered Sakis (Hector Hugh Munro) minute masterpieces among the ultimate examples of the form. The idea of dramatizing them for television probably would have struck most Saki fanciers as insupportable heresy. Yet Granada Television of England has managed, with the help of some exceptionally able actors, to bring some of the stories to life. Each of the eight hour-long episodes contains several stories covering the range of Sakis imagination from driest wit to urbane horror to unbridled hilarity. A basic group of six characters are the nucleus around which the stories develop. These six either are involved in the action of the stories or introduce them as incidents that have happened to people they know. In order to tighten the series dramatically, these six have been substituted for the original characters in some of the stories. For instance, in the first episode Sir Hector (one of the six regulars) is substituted for Treddleford, the Club Liar in A Defensive Diamond. This has only been done in cases where the characters are so similar as to be interchangeable, and it in no way damages the plot or effect of the story. The six starring performers who appear throughout the series are: Martita Hunt as Lady Bastable; William Mervyn as Sir Hector; Mark Burns as Clovis Sangrail; Fenella Fielding as Mary Drakmanton; Richard Vernon as The Major; and Rosamund Greenwood as Veronique Brimley-Bomefield. Saki: The Improper Stories of H. H. Munro was originally recorded on film and produced in England by Granada Television. Producer: Philip Mackie. Stories adapted by Gerald Savory, Hugh Leonard, Edward Boyd. (Description adapted from documents in the NET Microfiche)
Broadcast Date
1963-00-00
Asset type
Episode
Genres
Drama
Topics
Humor
Media type
Moving Image
Credits
Actor: Vernon, Richard
Actor: Ward, Michael
Actor: Benson, George
Actor: Fortescue, Kenneth
Actor: Hunt, Martita
Actor: Greenwood, Rosamund
Actor: Beckwith, Reginald
Actor: Hardy, Betty
Actor: Mervyn, William
Actor: Burns, Mark
Actor: Allison, Bart
Actor: Fielding, Fenella
Actor: Philips, John
Actor: Newell, Joan
Actor: Deghy, Guy
Designer: Stonehouse, Roy
Director: Narizzano, Silvio
Producer: Mackie, Philip
Producing Organization: Granada Television
Writer: Savory, Gerald
Writer: Leonard, Hugh
Writer: Boyd, Edward
Writer: Saki, 1870-1916
AAPB Contributor Holdings
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2412769-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2412769-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2412769-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
Library of Congress
Identifier: 2412769-1 (MAVIS Item ID)
Format: 16mm film
Generation: Copy: Access
Color: B&W
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Citations
Chicago: “Saki: The Improper Stories of H. H. Munro; 7,” 1963-00-00, Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC, accessed July 16, 2025, http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-d50ft8fd5b.
MLA: “Saki: The Improper Stories of H. H. Munro; 7.” 1963-00-00. Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Web. July 16, 2025. <http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-d50ft8fd5b>.
APA: Saki: The Improper Stories of H. H. Munro; 7. Boston, MA: Library of Congress, American Archive of Public Broadcasting (GBH and the Library of Congress), Boston, MA and Washington, DC. Retrieved from http://americanarchive.org/catalog/cpb-aacip-512-d50ft8fd5b