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For this medieval period adventure series - with each episode heralded by the
insistent 'Come away, come away with William Tell...' title song - we are
transported to early 14th century Switzerland, a land suffering under the brutal
military occupation of Austria, and the bold efforts of its legendary hero
William Tell in resisting the tyranny.
As a bygone boys' adventure weekly, the series may be considered a success.
In its close narrative association with the earlier The Adventures of Robin Hood
(ITV, 1955-59) - a man is forced outside the law to avenge a personal wrong and
ultimately realises that he has a greater duty to society - William Tell moved
at such a breathless rate that many of its improbabilities went unremarked. The
action was sustained with furious chases, acrobatic leaps in the Fairbanks
manner and some vigorous swordplay.
The characters, however, were entirely stereotypical, with star Conrad
Phillips cast as a dashing saviour of the Swiss peasants who depend on his
expertise with a crossbow and superhumanly quick thinking to outwit the
Austrians. Jennifer Jayne, with startlingly blonde hair, played his resourceful
wife Hedda, while young Richard Rogers hovered around as their bemused son
Walter. Although Tell didn't muster any regular companions, he did earn the
loyal friendship of a colourful local robber known as 'The Bear', expertly
portrayed with booming zeal by Nigel Greene.
On the opposing side, as the blustering, outsize tyrant Landburgher Gessler,
Willoughby Goddard attacked his role with tremendous relish, charging about in
bewildered panic or in a savage fury when not thinking of ways to kill the hero.
Goddard's full-blown characterisation provided the necessary dimension and
colour seemingly lacking in the other characters.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of this juvenile-market series was the
chilling analogy made between the Austrian domination of Switzerland during the
Middle Ages and the Nazi subjugation of Europe during the Second World War.
The sadistic Hapsburg landburgher was clearly modelled on a Hitler-era
Gauleiter, or military governor. The writers extended the narrative beyond the
all-too-familiar shooting-the-apple-off-the-head fable to parallel Gessler's
methods of extracting taxes from the citizens, and his suppression of the
flare-ups of rebellion, with the Nazi barbarism of more modern history.
While The Adventures of Robin Hood served up its own mythology with a daring
socialist sub-text, William Tell drew on the more disturbing elements of modern
history to evoke the purpose of its defender of the underdog.
Tise Vahimagi
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1. Fantastic invention (3:17)
