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A grand tour of Europe is realised in the studio in this ambitious Wednesday Play
from Australian playwright Alan Seymour. Seymour had a long career in
British television, but is best known in Australia for his controversial play
The One Day of the Year (1960), which used Anzac Day to explore generational
differences and national identity. Similar themes are employed in 'Auto Stop' as
the central character finds all of his preconceptions undermined by the people
he meets on his continental travels.
David Hemmings' Henry is a naïve, pretentious young man anxious to impress an
exotic older woman. Assigned a quest across Europe to win her respect and gain
some life experience, he reluctantly accepts on the promise that she will sleep
with him when he returns. He travels first to a Fellini-esque Rome before
sailing to Corfu, meeting a variety of sinister men and cynical women before his
journey takes a more serious turn in Germany. Each of the characters he meets on
the road offers a piece of state-of-the-nation advice about their country and
some English stereotypes they expect Henry to live up to. Between the ruins of
Greece and a visit to Auschwitz, 'Auto Stop' attempts to extol the virtues of
meeting people from other cultures while also exposing the hypocrisies and
absurdities of national pride.
Henry's travels are achieved through montages of stills showing Hemmings
thumbing a lift or walking, intertwined with images of monuments - an effective
way of moving the action on that also highlights the theme of countries as ideas
and constructs. Eileen Diss's design features a large number of sets, including
an impressive moonlit beach, but some implausible accents undermine the overall
illusion of Europe. Expressive camera work is used for Henry's descent into a
drunken brawl. Although his characterisation is a neat portrayal of callow
youth, the use of voiceover and Hemmings' performance make Henry a sympathetic
character. The frequent use of slang may have added to the contemporary feel of
the play at the time, and the sexual frankness of the script is often
surprising, most notably when Henry attends a party hosted by a gay film
producer in Rome.
Rediscovered in 2010 among a collection of British drama at the Library of Congress,
'Auto Stop' was broadcast in the US in January 1968, by which time
Hemmings' star had risen in Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow-Up (1966).
Lisa Kerrigan
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Production stills 
