In this live television play, a manipulative tutor’s devout possessiveness threatens the happiness of the family in his charge.
In a country house in south-west France, the pious and controlling tutor Blaise Lebel (Peter Cushing) exerts a powerful influence over the widowed Marcelle De Barthas (Eileen Peel) and her children. His carefully ordered world is disrupted by the arrival of a young Englishman, Harry Fanning (Michael Meacham). A romance quickly develops between Harry and Marcelle’s eldest daughter, Emmanuele (Elizabeth Henson). Blaise views this burgeoning love as a spiritual and carnal threat to the household he dominates. He begins to subtly manipulate events and emotions to drive the young couple apart.
This studio production was an adaptation of the 1937 stage play by Nobel laureate François Mauriac. The title is a direct reference to the biblical demon Asmodeus, a destroyer of families, which identifies the true function of the outwardly devout protagonist. The drama is a claustrophobic psychological study, using the confines of a provincial family home to dissect the destructive nature of possessive love and spiritual pride.
Live television broadcast was the perfect medium for such a dialogue-heavy piece, relying on the intensity of the performances to build tension. Peter Cushing’s role as the tormenting, self-righteous Blaise is a classic Mauriac creation: a man whose desire for control is indistinguishable from his faith.
Broadcast: BBC, 2 Performances, 9 December 1952 & 17 February 1953
Written by: François Mauriac
Translated by: Basil Bartlett
Designed by: Richard Wilmot
Produced and directed by: Harold Clayton
Main Cast: Eileen Peel (Marcelle De Barthas), Peter Cushing (Blaise Lebel), Elizabeth Henson (Emmanuele), Maureen Pryor (Mademoiselle), Michael Meacham (Harry Fanning), J. Leslie Frith (The Curé), Francis Drake (Jacques), Barbara Brown (Anne), Anthony Lang (Jean), Harry Hearne (Chauffeur)
