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Pick a Box – Episode 170 (1963)

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clip ‘The money or the box?’

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

After contestant Raleigh Matthews wins the first round, host Bob Dyer offers him a choice between a sum of money and a numbered box. The box contains an unknown prize that could be anything from elastic bands to a new car. After picking the box, Raleigh has the choice of risking the prizes he has accumulated so far and playing on, or keeping the prizes and heading home.

Curator’s notes

Although simpler in presentation than many contemporary quiz shows, Pick a Box also boasts some by-now-familiar quiz show fixtures. It appeals to a gambler’s instinct (‘cut my losses now or risk everything for the chance to win more?’ – ‘take the money or find out what’s in the box?’) and Dyer ropes in the audience to egg the contestants on. The prize pool brings together an eclectic assortment of objects that it seems would only ever be mentioned in the same sentence on a quiz show – cake mixers, leather goods, fountain pens, cruise holidays. Part of the fun for the audience lies in seeing contestants who would love to win a cruise trying to act excited about the cake mixer they’ve won instead.

In-show advertising is a big part of Pick-a-Box and the presentation of prizes is one of the forms it takes. Another is Dyer’s constant mention of the product range of the show’s major sponsor at the time, oil company BP. Here he makes a casual segue into a curious documentary-style segment on the Lucas Heights nuclear reactor that, while ostensibly about nuclear power as the ‘power source of the future’, ultimately becomes a promotional spot for BP petrol.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

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  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

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ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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