Cinema Papers April 1982

Registered by Australia Post — publication no. VBP 2121

“B im and tape, have achieved the perfect marriage! ^

J**

“O ur new CTR-3 tri-optical telefilm rrecorder A m r has completed the film/video circle. Film conversion to tape has become common place, but we have long waited for a quality tape-to-film conversion.

The major feature of the CTR-3 is the high resolution three-tube display system with its associated dichroic optics. This assures the elimination of the raster line structure without any sacrifice to resolution. W hen this is combined with the quality of Eastmancolor film from Kodak, the color saturation and color balance are perfect.

The impact of all this is the coming together of the film and video laboratories.

Now a job can be shot on film, have all the optical and titles done on tape and be released on film.

The potential is unlimited and the time saving enormous. A t Videolab we are proud to be the first to introduce it to Australia.�

Peter Bowlay, General Manager, Videolab.

(A Division of the Colorfilm Group)

Kodak M otion Picture Film "KODAK (Australasia) PTY. LTD.

K7/9949RHP

Everybody says the Victorian film industry hasa com plex . You’d better believe it A couple of years ago the Victorian Film Corporation opened the Melbourne Film Studio.

To begin with, it was not much better than a huge soundproof box. But it has already seen nearly 12 million dollars in production pass through its doors.

It may have been crude, but what a relief to be able to work free from the weather, flight paths and the neighbourhood dog.

Time saved.

Money saved.

And a quality you just can't achieve on location.

Ask Simon Wincer, Roger Le Mesurier, Roger Simpson, Richard Franklin, John Lamond, Brian Kavanagh.Tom Burstail or Geoff Burrowes.

On April 1 1982, the VF.C. will open Phase 2.

Together with the existing sound stage, it will be the best plug-in production complex in this country.

Dressing rooms, producers offices, wardrobe, change rooms, stars' suites, showers, under-cover parking, water-tight security and a restaurant with a fully equipped kitchen where your caterer can have the morning tea scones hot before you've rolled the first shot The Victorian Rim Corporation underwrites this project so it is available at rates that won't break your budget. Book early before the new financial year scramble.

Call the Victorian Film Corporation on

(0 3 ) 3 2 9 703 3

NOW AVAILABLE FOR COMMERCIALS

Victorian Film Corporation Office: Studio:

4 0 9 KING STREET, MELBOURNE 117 ROUSE STREET, PORT MELBOURNE'

Agfa-Gevaert have just released a new color negative camera film, available in 16mm and 35mm, that will positively enhance the creation of any masterpiece.

New Gevacolor 682 negative camera film.

This film passes even the toughest of tests with flying colours (if you’ll forgive the pun), reproducing skin tones to perfection.

And it doesn’t just offer a wide latitude that compensates for even the most severe exposure variations, but delivers such a fine grain that every frame can be appreciated as a work of art in itself.

Better still, this new film can be processed without any of the problems created.by climatic conditions. And it’s compatible with the process employed by most major

Australian laboratories.

So in summary, all we can say is that if you’ve got the creative know-how, and the will, we’ve got the way. New Gevacolor Type 682.

A G F A - G E V A E R T L IM IT E D

Head Office, EO. Box 48, Nunawading, VIC. 3131.

Melbourne 8788000, Sydney 8881444, Brisbane 3916833, Adelaide 425703, Perth 3615399.

T h e N ew South W ales Film Corporation is devoting increasing funds to script . and project developm ent.

W e are also in the business of in vesting in and arranging finance to r motio n ^ picture production. this up, we offer a full range of m arketing services, including a strategically-placed office in Los Angeles.

So, if you w ant to develop or m ake a movie, now ’s the right tim e to get in touch with us.

New South Wales Film Corporation 45 Macquarie Street. Svdnev, Australia 2000 Telephone (02) 27 5575 Telex FILCOR AA23298

Tolley &

Gardner

Insurance Brokers is proud to have been associated with the production of

THE i u B MAN n u u iFROM r n u n flÂŤ

SNOWY R IV E R ------- -

R H Tolley & Gardner Pty Ltd Insurance Brokers to the Film and Entertainment Industry Melbourne 628 630 Bourke Street Melbourne 3000 Telephone (03) 67 5112 Telex 35127 Sydney 56 Berry Street North Sydney 2060 Telephone (02) 929 4166 Telex 21923

ISSN 0311-3639

Articles and Interviews Stephen MacLean: Interview Scott Murray Jacki Weaver: Interview Tom Ryan Carlos Saura Susan Tate Peter Ustinov: Interview Brian McFarlane Women in Drama: Meg Stewart Rivka Hartman Clytie Jessop Mark Stiles Film Production Design: Part Two Jon Dowding

Starstruck Scriptwriter interviewed: 110

110

120 125 128 136 138 140 143

Monkey Grip Picture Preview: 117

Features The Quarter Obituary Picture Preview: Monkey Grip London Film Festival, 1981 Mari Kuttna, Phil Taylor Rim Censorship Listings New Products and Processes Fred Harden Production Survey Picture Preview: Freedom Picture Preview: Fighting Back

108 109 117 131 147 149 153 173 178

Film Reviews Jacki Weaver Interview: 120

Heatwave Geoff Gardner Reds Keith Connolly Starstruck Debi Enker Priest of Love John Tittensor Duet for Four Sam Rohdie Body Heat Dave Nash Best of Friends Jim Murphy Rich and Famous Brian McFarlane

163 164

Women in Drama Meg Stewart: 136

166 167 169 170 171 171

Book Reviews Reds Review: 164

Government and Film Sam Rohdie Recent Releases Merv Binns

Managing Editor: Scott Murray. Associate Editor: Peter Beilby. Contributing Editors: Tom Ryan, Ian Baillieu, Brian McFarlane, Fred Harden. Editorial Consultant: Maurice Perera. Proof-reading: Arthur Salton. Design and Layout: ARTetc. Business Consultant. Robert Le Tet. Office Administration: Patricia Amad. Secretary: Anne Sinclair. Office Assistant: Jackie Town.

Advertising: Peggy Nicholls (03) 830 1097 or (03) 329 5983. Printing: Eastern Suburbs News­ papers, 140 Joynton Ave., Waterloo, 2017. Telephone: (02)662 8888. Typesetting: B-P Typesetting, 7-17 Geddes St, Mulgrave, 3170. Telephone: (03) 561 2111. Distributors: NSW, Vic., Qld, WA, SA: Consolidated Press Pty Ltd, 168 Castlereagh St, Sydney, 2000. Telephone: (02) 2 0666. ACT, Tas.: Cinema Papers Pty Ltd. U.S.: T. B. Clarke Overseas Pty Ltd. •Recommended price only.

175 175

Heatwave Review: 163

Cinema Papers is produced with financial assistance from the Australian Film Commission.

Articles represent the views of their authors and not necessarily those of the editors. While every care is taken with manuscripts and materials supplied for this magazine, neither the Editors nor the Publishers accept any liability for loss or damage which may arise. This magazine may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of the copyright owner. Cinema Papers is published every two months by Cinema Papers Pty Ltd, Head Office, 644 Victoria St, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3051. Telephone: (03) 329 5983. © Copyright Cinema Papers Pty Ltd, No. 37, April 1982.

Cover: Jo Kennedy as Jackie Mullens in Gillian Armstrong's Starstruck (see review p.165).

CINEMA PAPERS April - 107

1

1982 Awgie Awards

g H 9

The A u s tra lia n W rite rs ’ G u ild ’s 15th A n n u a l A w g ie A w a rd s , s p o n s o re d b y A m p o l, w e re a n n o u n c e d on M a rc h 4 in A d e la id e . P e te r W elch re p o rts :

3 9 ■ B g |

9 1 9 n

9 9 9 9 9 g

The awards were presented by the State Minister for the Arts, Murray Hill, and the guest of honor, Professor Manning Clark, A.C., to writers in 13 categories, with the winner for an Original Work for the Stage, Ron Elisha for E in s te in , also winning the major Awgie Award for Outstanding Work.

The awards were announced after the dinner in the opulent Victorian surroundings of Edmund Wright House with the Musica de Camera Quartet (harpsichord, two recorders and viola da gamba) playing baroque music throughout the evening.

Master of ceremonies was Adelaide playwright Rob George, whose latest work, P e rc y a n d Rose, centred on the relationship of Australian composer Percy Grainger and his mother, starring Dennis Olsen and Daphne Grey, was premiered at the 1982 Adelaide Festival of Arts.

Names of the winners in each category, together with brief biographical details and some of their other writing credits (where known), follow: Original Work for the Stage and winner of the major Awgie Award: Ron Elisha, E in ste in .

E in ste in is Ron's second produced play. It was presented by the Mel­ bourne Theatre Company in 1981 and has just completed a season at the

Seymour Centre in Sydney. Seasons of E in s te in have also been licensed to Queensland, A.C.T., Western Aus­ tralia, New Zealand and the Lyric Theatre, London. Faber and Faber (London) have made an offer to publish the play.

Ron Elisha’s other produced play was In D u ty B o u n d , presented by the Melbourne Theatre Company in two seasons in 1979-80.

Ron Elisha was born in Israel in 1951 and emigrated to Australia with his family in 1953. He graduated in medi­ cine from Melbourne University in 1975, completed his residency in Sydney and is now practising in Melbourne. His interest in writing dates from 1967.

Awards Fracas M a jo r c h a n g e s to the A u s tra lia n F ilm A w a rd s w ere re c e n tly a n n o u n c e d b y the o rg a n iz in g b o d y, the A u s tra lia n F ilm In stitu te . The in d u s try has n o t a c ­ c e p te d th e m q u ie tly . S c o tt M u r r a y re p o rts :

The AFI could have had little idea what shock waves it would send through the film industry with its announcement of the rules governing the 1982 Awards. The controversy centres on changes to the judging of feature film entries by the introduction of a pre-selection jury.

The Issues In 1976, the then executive director David Roe abandoned the long-held

Category:

Writer:

Children’s Adaptation

Roger Dunn

Come M idnight Monday

Documentary

John Patterson

So You’re Getting a Divorce

Title:

jury system in preference for industry voting. All eligible features were screened in Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide (and in later years in Perth, Brisbane and Hobart) and accredited film professionals viewed each film before voting in the category or cate­ gories of their expertise (e.g., editing or sound). They also voted with AFI members (full and associate) for the Best Film Award.

Some years later, the procedure was changed and all voters had to be members of the AFI, which now has an open membership.

This year, with no forewarning, the judging system was changed again.

Due to what the AFI feared would be an avalanche of entries (35 being the figure quoted), it decided to pre-select the features down to a “ manageable” level. The proposal was that a “committee of eminent film industry profes­ sionals” select four “ nominations” in each of 13 categories, which would then be voted on by all interested AFI members. This raised several queries: (i) Four films in 13 categories means that up to 52 different films c o u ld be pre-selected (assuming that number of films was ever pro­ duced in one year). So, such a pre-selection procedure does not in itself mean the final number of films up for voting will be less than the number of features entered. Of course, some films may be of such a low standard th a t alm ost anybody would pre-select them out. But what if one of those films had the best sound editing in years: the jury would be obliged to nominate that film for category voting. It is not, th e re fo re , Some Other Details and Credits:

Has written documentaries for several years with the Tasmanian Film Corporation and Film Australia. Writing Pals, a children’s television series for the TFC.

Original Works for Children

Dorothy Hewitt

Golden Valley

Chapel Perilous, Man from Mukinupin. Her latest play is in the Perth Festival.

Radio Adaptation

Bob Herbet

No Names No Pack Drill

Adapted from his stage play which was produced by the Sydney Theatre Company in 1980.

Original Work for Radio

Elizabeth Jolley

Two Men Running

A radio writer for many years.

Among her other radio credits are: Night Report, The Performance, Sheperd on the Roof and Woman in a Lampshade.

Television Serial Episode

David Stevens

9

The Sullivans (episodes 907/8)

David was co-writer of the feature film Breaker Morant and directed the television series A Town Like Alice.

Television Series Episode:

Luis Bayonas

9

Bellamy (episode 26)

9

Television Adaptation

Eleanor Witcombe

Jonah

Writer of screenplays for My Brilliant Career and The Getting of Wisdom, plus the television series- Water Under the Bridge.

9 ■

Original Work for Television

Laura Jones

Every Man for Himself

Previous writing credits include Cass, a feature for Film Australia, plus Sporting Chance and Cold Comfort for television. Working on another feature script, Turtle Beach.

g 9

Feature Film Adaptation

Ken Cameron

Monkey Grip

Best remembered for his onehour television dramas, including Temperament Unsuited, starring Steve Speers.

9

Original Feature

John Duigan

Winter of Our Dreams

Wrote and directed the feature film Mouth to Mouth, directed Dimbooia and has just finished directing the feature Far East, starring Bryan Brown.

9

Monte Miller Award for an Unproduced Script by an Associate of the Guild: Shared by Julia Britton for her stage play Exits and Entrances and Christopher Kennedy for his original teleplay The End of the Course.

The Quarter unreasonable to suppose that not all that many films would be eliminated. (ii) Given this, one can speculate w hether some unannounced guideline might be invoked, whereby the jury would be instruc­ ted to keep the total number of nominated films below a limit — say 10. If this is so, the jury may be forced to ignore the best candi­ date for a specific category and go for the second or third best. For example, a certain film A may have the best sound but is so poor in all other respects it is not being considered for any other award. If, say, 10 films have already been chosen for other categories, there could be a temptation to ignore film A and put one of the other 10 films in its place (i.e., in the sound category). (iii) There is also the problem, seen at many past Awards, of landsliding one film at the expense of others.

Because one film is so superior to the rest in many ways, there is a tendency among voters — and critics — to assume it is superior in all ways. Thus a film like Breaker Morant (in 1980) or Galli­ poli (in 1981), however deser­ vedly, sweeps the pool. This has happened in open voting, and it is conceivable it could happen even more so in pre-selection — especially if a limit is set. (iv) Perhaps most important, how­ ever, is the problem of choosing a jury. Given a very active industry, it will be hard to find many “eminent” people who do not have a vested interest. It is the old film board argument: if a person is talented enough to make judg­ ments about someone else’s work, he will be too busy working himself to make those judgments.

Even if a jury can be found, there is the question of prejudice. Will it favor mainstream commercial cinema over low-budget features?

Would, for instance, last year’s Wron& Side of the Road make it past a pre-selection jury? If it didn’t, it would be the AFI’s — and the industry’s — loss, to say nothing of the filmmaker’s.

In short, the arguments against a pre-selection seem overwhelming. The only argument in its defence is that the number of films to be screened will be unmanageable. But it is a false argument.

The closing date for finished prints is, as of writing, May 21. This was the date all producers and industry people have been working to, and the one on the application forms.

The number of films eligible for entry appears to be about 28. Now, at least five of these will be in release around screening time, or have had a major release (three weeks or more). This means the maximum number of films needing a screening is 23. In 1977, the AFI showed 20 films.1 Screening three m o r e f i l m s s e e ms h a r d l y an unmanageable exercise.

Also, not showing films already in release, and which are easily viewable, is a needed change in regulations. At present, too many AFI members wait until the Awards screenings before seeing a film (free). Surely, AFI members should be encouraged to see Australian films in their correct environ­ ment — at a cinema with a paying audience.

The Furore When the 1982 application forms were mailed and news of the changes reached the industry, there was a sudden, almost violent, reaction..Three days later, on March 3, at a meeting of

Continued on p. 192 1. Two were later withdrawn from voting, but 20 were screened.

R

Chris Maudson

Chris Maudson

The untimely death of assistant director Chris Maudson, 36, from a brain tumor saddened the Australian feature film industry. Chris had worked on some 12 feature films1 in the capacity of assistant director, special­ izing in the difficult area of organizing actors for their appearance before the cameras. His special quality was to give actors the feeling that he cared about them as people, and that he would make every effort to put them at ease as they prepared to appear before the cameras.

Chris was the link between the often slow progress on the set and the impa­ tient performers psyched up and ready to do their part, often getting irritable about waiting. But Chris was the kind of person with whom it was very difficult to get irritated. So, when he brought news to so many makeshift green rooms of yet more delays, even the emotional grandstanders found it hard to vent their spleen on him and the production he represented.

Chris was likewise given the often onerous task of ringing the production office and giving producers and production managers the news that the day’s shooting was going into over­ time. His voice had a slight stammer, a disarming weapon that brought the news about the complicated shot that was just about to be completed and the couple of quick close-ups to follow up in no time at all and wrap up the day.

Even when you knew he was talking about three hours overtime you wanted to believe him.

Chris was a film buff with an overall love for all types of films and a particu­ lar passion for Jean-Luc Godard. Just a few weeks ago I was talking to Chris about my new film Undercover and how I wanted to look at films which fea­ tured spirited female leads. He dived upstairs into Richard Brennan’s attic, which houses a legendary collection of videos, and emerged with films starring Judy Holliday, Jean Arthur and Carole Lombard, and went on to give me plot summaries of the likes of Easy Living and Born Yesterday.

The last job Chris worked on was casting for the forthcoming television series on the Whitlam years. His know­ ledge of actors and cinema gave Chris the perfect qualifications for the job of casting, and I believe that had he lived Chris would have found this to be his perfect position in the film industry.

About 400 people attended Chris’ 1. Chris M audson’s credits: The Tres­ passers, Newsfront, A Town Like Alice, Long Weekend, Heatwave, Starstruck, Hoodwink, Fighting Back, Touch and Go, Barney, The Chain Reaction and Stir.

funeral. The line-up included directors Phil Noyce, Gill Armstrong, Mark Turn­ bull, Esben Storm and Stephen Wallace; producers Margaret Fink, Richard Brennan, Mike Thornhill, Errol Sullivan and Richard Mason; . stars Wendy Hughes, Kris McQuade, Arna-Maria Winchester, Lorna Leslie, Jo Kennedy, John Hargreaves and Bryan Brown; industry chiefs Joe Skrzynski, John Daniell and Jenny Woods; agents Hilary Linstead, Jane Cameron and Lidia Livingstone; and crew members Lynn Gailey, Stuart Green, Norma Moriceau, Cheryl Williams and Melody Cooper.

Bryan Brown delivered the funeral oration, which began: “ In December 1976, I met Chris Maudson and Richard Brennan, and was introduced to 161 Victoria St. Over the next five years, I partici­ pated in countless discussions, mostly about film, around a certain round table in their kitchen. Many people here today, I know, share a similar experience. “ The hospitality and camaraderie existing at Chris and Richard’s helped many an unfinancial pro­ ducer, unemployable actor, job ­ hunting technician, unappreciated writer or directionless director through a bad stretch.

“To walk up the stairs and be faced by Chris sitting at the table always beaming and saying ‘Hi’ made you sure there was at least one person in this world who was glad to see you ... and he always was. His enthusiasm to be around people never waned.”

On the set of Far East, work stopped and cast and crew stood on the roof of the ageing Supreme Studios where associate producer John Mason held a service for Chris.

I believe Chris Maudson maintained the balance between actors and tech­ nicians better than anyone else in the industry. I appreciate the contribution that he made to my three features and I wish so much that we had him on the next one. Chris is survived by his 10year-old daughter Samantha, who has appeared in many of the films he worked on. _ David Elllck

the occasional light drama. In 1962, he moved to Britain where he was invited to direct an episode of Harpers W1 for ATV. This was followed by episodes of The Avengers, Callan, Public Eye, The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes and Enemy at the Door.

He had also directed the feature What Became of Jack and Jill and several television plays, including The Importance of Being Earnest, Pretty Polly, The Listener and Father’s Help.

Bain returned briefly to Australia in 1978 to work at the Australian Film and Television School. His role was that of guiding 12 third-year students through their television projects. In an inter­ view in Cinema Papers' he said: “One of the nice things about the AFTS is that all the people I know in the industry would have liked to come here. We all had a baptism by fire and are still pretending we know more about the technical side than we do. So I think that the more of us who can make a contribution to this place the better. “ Maybe I am idealistic, but I came out gladly to do this job. I believe in the potential talent this country has, though what it needs is focusing and discipline — also a place like this where people can make mistakes on the quiet and not have them thrown up on the television or film screen for all of us to think, ‘Jesus, isn’t that awful.’ ” Bill Bain was unquestionably one of the world’s finest television directors.

His episodes of Upstairs, Downstairs and Callan stand with the best tele­ vision drama ever produced.

One of the pleasures, in fact, of a series like Upstairs, Downstairs was picking whether a particular episode was directed by Bill Bain. If the show evoked genuine emotion without being sentimental, if it managed to turn the simplest linking scenes into magicallycharged moments, then Bain was probably the director. “ One’s concern is always to find the reality of a script, to sniff out what the dangers are likely to be. One must ride very carefully over emotional passages if you don’t want your characters to go soggy on you . . . “ It is also a caring on the part of the people who are working on a program. If you do something indif­ ferently it will come out as an indif­ ferent-looking piece. But if you can get a caringness going — a love for the thing itself — then you will trans­ mit some of that feeling.”

Bill Bain transmitted that love. His presence in world filmmaking will be greatly missed. _ Scott Murray 1.

Cinema Papers, No. 17, p. 79.

Bill Bain For many, Upstairs, Downstairs and The Duchess of Duke Street typify excellence in British television drama.

The leading director for both series was Bill Bain, an Australian. On February 22, Bain died of cancer in London.

Trained as a school teacher, Bain soon turned to acting and then direc­ tion at the Australian Broadcasting Commission, where he handled child­ ren’s programs, sheep dog trials and

Bill Bain

CINEMA PAPERS April - 109

Scott Murraytalksto scriptwriter

tepiien M a clea n characters I wish to depict. If they are major characters, I have to feel a love for them, because I am going I just started writing down to sit with them every day for sketches of characters I knew from God knows how long. Otherwise, it this pub where my mother used to would be like sharing a flat with work. I never start with plot; I start someone you don’t like. with characters. I think people I see the character, then I hear most reveal themselves with their the character, and what I hear is the style and form of speech. So I jot spur to write. Most things are funny down things people say, and they simply because a particular person lay the seed for the scenes. says them. Think of Marilyn Once I have the rough arch­ Monroe: she walks into a ship’s itecture for a few scenes, I begin to cabin in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes evolve a plot to accommodate the and says, “ Look — round windows!” That is not particularly funny, but, when she says it, it’s a Main photograph: Jo Kennedy as Jackie Mullens. Inset photographs, from left: Robbie scream. In fact, it was so right for (Ned Lander); Jackie; cousin Angus (Ross her that Billy Wilder used a varia­ O'Donovan); Jackie; scriptwriter Stephen tion of the same gag in Some Like Mac Lean and director Gillian Armstrong It Hot. make some on-the-spot script alterations.

Where did you get the idea for “Starstruck”?

CINEMA PAPERS April - 111

Stephen MacLean

Inspiration comes from the oddest quarters. One night in London I went to a perfect produc­ tion of Chekhov’s Cherry Orchard at the Riverside and he immed­ iately became my favorite writer.

Those people losing their cherry orchard and their entire way of life reminded me of the real pub people I knew. They lost their pub, and the loss of true location left them ghost-like.

I can remember when the first A ustralian films came out in London, somebody said to me, “The thing about you Australians is you should stick to being funny.”

That’s a crazy generalization, but I do think there is a strain of Aus­ tra lia n thinking which leans towards morbidity. That’s okay, but it’s often expressed in a preten­ tious, middle-class way — Toorak ‘quality’ culture at one end, Carlton ‘alternative’ at the other.

Perhaps our sense of isolation gives us a morbid strain, but the work seldom has the patches of levity the Russians bring to their morbid books or plays — you know, that terrific manic quality.

In our case there has been too much striving for intellectual superiority, and it has produced a lot of dull, boring works — more so in theatre than in film.

One film that does really hit its mark on this score is Paul Cox’s new Australian feature Lonely Hearts, which is bleak and sad, but funny! That’s the thing: whenever tragic things are happening in life, s o m e th in g zany is u s u a lly happening simultaneously. I’d like to see more Australian black comedy.

Given that many Australian films of the early 1970s were comedies, why did they stop being made? “Star­ struck” is the first comic film in a while, except for “The Club” . . .

Well, to me, Don’s Party is one of the best Australian films ever. In that one David Williamson was funny and serious.

Is comic writing in Australia under­ valued?

Yes, because of the pretensions I have been banging on about. The Australian public has a highly developed sense of comedy. We are the only country which takes it from all over the world, on tele­ vision. And yet the powers which run en tertain m en t (and th a t includes the government) accord it the kind of status you would give junk food.

It happens in every arm of the media. A great Aussie writer, Ross Campbell, just died. He labored for many years doing columns for the Packer press. He wrote real things, like the humiliation a father feels when his kiddie says, “ Daddy, why doesn’t our fridge have a light in it like everyone else’s?” And, of course, all those middle-brows 112 - April CINEMA PAPERS

aspiring to seriousness just don’t have the brains to attach value to real talent like that. It doesn’t hide behind a cause, but has the con­ fidence to be itself; it isn’t phoney.

But comedy will once again gain prestige, as it had in the 1930s, with columnists like Dorothy Parker and Robert Benchley in journal­ ism, and Ben Hecht and Billy Wilder in film. They were very friv­ olous but they dealt with serious things — and isn’t that black comedy? And these people were very highly regarded — and still are.

We are getting out of that post­ World War 2 period when comedy, and it happened here also, became a very lowly-prized commodity. The 1970s brought back more apprecia­ tion for the craftsman. I’m glad.

Australia has a bit of money in the kitty, so it tried to buy ‘art’ and ‘culture’, which is a prime example of a middle class getting cultureobsessed and getting it all wrong.

So I loved Don’s Party because it was serious without being doggedly heavy or doggedly intellectual. But that is a very rare work. I suppose Alvin Purple and the early comedies were sort of awful; there was some great stuff in the Barry McKenzie films, but it was more spot burlesque comedy. And the public loved them.

I respect the real public, not the culture vultures, because they dare to like what they really like, which is more than you can say for a lot of critics.

We should value comedy. Our most remembered Australian talent since Melba will be Barry Hum­ phries, and it wasn’t an arts grant system that fostered him, was it? In developing talent, the culture

Stephen MacLean

vultures reign, and there seem to be a few films about having affaires with Frank Moorhouse, don’t there? In writing, there is too much false value placed on well-inten­ tioned but obscure pieces, when those very writers often have the talent to be encouraged out into the open, to drop all the references only they find interesting. In those circles, you can be frivolous or flip­ pant, but only if you throw in wooden ‘serious’ stuff.

Australians seem compelled to act out the role of ‘the artist’, French-style. And the industry itself hangs naive labels. For instance, when Starstruck got going, some people said to me, “ Gill A rm strong doing Star­ struck? She is far too serious. She could not have the sense of humor to do Starstruck.” Can’t you be serious and have a sense of humor too — or even a sense of comedy?

People could not comprehend that a woman (and I emphasise the sex)

only $5 for a ticket. People in the every Film which tries to represent forced to be strong and tough, like industry are concerned with their real life fails. Film is synthetic.

Pearl (Margo Lee) who runs the future. ..

Starstruck was written straight­ pub in Starstruck. Edna is an forwardly as a theatrical exper­ extreme of that type — “Aus­ If you are rolling $5 or $5 ience rather than real life. And Gill tra lia ’s answer to the Jewish million, you are still rolling it, so Armstrong has struck the right note momma” , as Barry Humphries why be conservative? The basic here, whereby the people are billed himself in New York. principle of rolling it is against that. heightened, are leaning towards And as for being concerned about caricatu re , but nevertheless Actually, I found Pearl a rather sad, your future, you don’t have one demand to be taken seriously. The almost tragic, figure . . . unless you take risks. characters disengage themselves from their backgrounds.

Sad? “Starstruck” has a surreal or I relate Edna Everage to this, the heightened quality about it, par­ fine line between character and Look at the way she is used by Lou ticularly in the pub scenes, which are caricature. Edna started out as a (Dennis Miller). .. perhaps closer to most people’s satirical character within the I can only think that Lou was a sense of reality than the pop culture dramatic framework of Moonee scenes. Was that the sort of style Ponds. As the years went by, people good root and Pearl liked a good . began to think of Edna as a real root. you were going for? person.

This is tied to the sense of reality Even given that, she still has to Yes. That sub-plot about a pub and its people is about a dis­ Australian women bring to trans­ accept him robbing the safe . . . appearing species. I am talking vestism. We have all met an Edna, Oh, she is not prepared to accept about the Australians who had a so you almost believe she is a real that at all. That just happened in a sniff of the Depression. They have a soap opera plot twist — though I actually grafted that in from a reallife memory. I think Australian women are used to covering for men, in one way or another.

The heightened realism of the pop sequences touches on styles used in pop clips: for example, the ‘I Don’t Like Mondays’ clip of The Boomtown Rats. Was that a deliberate influence?

The Starstruck theme song takes place in a schoolroom because Angus (Ross O’Donovan) goes to school and much of the potential audience will, too. The schoolroom as a setting for pop might seem an overworked location, but it is all relative to the amount of time kids actually have to spend in them.

Is there a risk that an audience will bring to “Starstruck” the expecta­ tion of being thrilled in the way, say, a Devo clip thrills them?

Top right: Robbie and Jackie sing “Body and Soul” in the Harbour View Hotel. Right: Angus, in the schoolroom, sings “Starstruck”.

Above: Jackie leads Angus, disguised as a kangaroo to hide his youth, to the Lizard Lounge. Starstruck.

could be serious about her work and have a sense of humor.

As for myself, I have suffered the reverse of that; because I might crack a few gags wherever I go, people often think I’m not serious about my work. That’s the Aus­ tralian culture climate, love.

I Find the Australian public is far more adventurous than the people who develop talent.

But the public has less at risk —

Those thrilling Devo-type clips rely almost wholly on cutting. You can use cutting to communicate rhythm for the length of a clip, but you have to use it sparingly in a feature because it’s tiring — which person. Les Girls at Kings Cross is what Gill has done. I think she’s has been running 20 years for a right.

But I think any of those songs different point of view to anyone basically female audience from the born 10 years later. They are basi­ suburbs, and they go and watch could lift from the Film. This is how cally a working people with a these guys so rt of rid icu le I think an audience responds to Film clips of musicals on television. special kind of wit and a theat­ femininity.

Patrick White wrote in his First, they get to like the song. ricality about them which is very Australian. They are people like my memoirs that Australian women Second, they get to like someone in mother and stepmother. But they are far more interesting than Aus­ the clip. They get to thinking about are disappearing; we have been so tralian men because of this male maybe buying the record. Then element in their make-up. He wrote they want to go to Grease or what­ colonized by the U.S. Starstruck is an odd form of that Australian men do not possess ever so they can see John and Olivia Americana syphoned through the a corresponding feminine element do the songs bigger and louder than caustic A ustralian eye. Star- in their make-up, and are con­ on television. struck’s form was created by many sequently less interesting.

White went on to despair about a So, with “Starstruck”, you have to American Films before it. It is the type of film which falls somewhere certain type of woman who stifles get people hooked on the music that wonderful feminine part to ape first . . . between reality and pantomime.

A lot of people go to films the worst kind of male qualities.

Absolutely. We have to get that expecting them to represent real They are often very witty and put life. Well, there is nothing like real people in their places with their music out there and expose people life except real life. And almost tongues — women who have been to tne clips. Their response to the CINEMA PAPERS April - 113

Stephen MacLean

film as a whole will be another story.

How involved were you in the choice of musical numbers? Did you include directives in the script?

Instinct told me where to place them . When the songs were obviously necessary to the plot, I wrote them in first go. But I also went over the script afterwards and wrote in “ song” in the sections which would gain energy from the mere infusion of a song. Even a dramatic script can be likened to a popular song in structure: there is the opening chorus, the bridge, the melody, the climax. It is the bridge that most often lets a song down — and a script, too.

For someone who likes musicals, I often find them a laborsome experience to sit through. Some­ body is talking, then they turn to sing in another voice, which always worried me and sent me running for the popcorn. The only one like that which really works is The Band­ wagon, largely because of the con­ ception of writers Adolf Green and Betty Comden.

A Star Is Born was the first musical I believed. Every musical number happened within a realistic context. So at first I put Starstruck’s songs in a strictly realistic context, such as a band performing on stage. But Gill said, “No, let’s just do what we feel like.” Take the scene in the bar where Jackie (Jo Kennedy) just starts singing “ It’s Not Enough” . I had always wanted a ballad in the bar, because I just loved it when Judy Garland was jamming with the musos in her film, and the James Mason charac­ ter comes in and sees her. That was realistic, whereas Gill has our girl start singing. I think it works well, in the end.

Did “A Star Is Born” influence the structure of the film?

It would be great if Jackie walked up and said: “This is Mrs Norman Main.” No, I do not think it influenced the structure, just the feeling.

I took the advice that writers get: if you want to write a book, write the kind of book that you would want to read. But people are not honest about films they really like because they do not want to look dumb, I thought I would get down to the kind of film I really love — and it was A Star Is Born, which I saw at 12 and really blew me out. I reasoned that if I could keep the magic of that film with me while I wrote Starstruck it would keep me going.

So, Jackie became the Judy Garland character on the way up.

The pub background became the N orm an Main character: the alcoholic on the slide down whose time had passed, who was of another era. That pub became a person to me.

1 1 4 - A p r i l CINEMA PAPERS

In A Star Is Born Norman dies and in Starstruck, which is a much more simplistic piece, Jackie saves the pub. That is the pantomime aspect of it. I think pantomime fits the form by the very nature of pop music. I thought Breaking Glass was a hideously bad film, and it was serious. .

“Starstruck” reminds me greatly of the pop musicals of the 1960s . . .

We are in the midst of a 1960s revival, but it is more subtle than most, and pre-hippy. New Wave is a pre-hippy 1960s term.

When I first wrote Starstruck, I was working in London on a Fox short about the mod revival. So I set Starstruck in the 1960s mod style, which was a mistake because you should always remember fashion is a wheel and the wheel turns too quickly for films. David Elfick [co-producer] then came up with the shrewd and tough notion that the period setting might be seen as a crutch for the film. Aus­ tralians tend to art direct their films rather than give them a good story.

So David thought the script had to be made contemporary.

There is a feeling to Starstruck I connect with British style pieces of the 1960s: Smashing Time, Morgan: A Suitable Case for Treat­ ment, Here We Go Round The Mul­ berry Bush.

I had dinner with Diana Melley, and she m entioned th a t her husband George wrote the dread­ ful Smashing Time, “which looked so old-fashioned when it finally came out in London.” And I said, “Oh but we teenagers in Mel­ bourne loved it, because of the time-gap between us and London.”

We all went and saw those films in la rg e r num bers th an o th er countries. They had a sense of optimism and glossiness which Australia still feels. Relative to the rest of the world, we have more to be optimistic about. Those films had a kind of screwball fun which suited the Australian sensibility, and, even if they maybe weren’t the greatest films in the world, Aus­ tralians were quick to pick up the satire.

Look at Can’t Stop The Music.

That film did no business anywhere in the world whatsoever. It is a terrible film, but it is pure anarchy and a big joke on The Gang’s All Here and all those Twentieth C entury-Fox m usicals. A us­ tralians, apart from the clever sell that Alan Carr gave it here, got the joke, whereas the Americans did not have the sense of humor to get it. We got the joke about the Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush­ type of films better than anybody.

A ustralians have a highlyattuned sense of humor. That comes from being a combination of Scots, Irish and English, who are the funniest races of people in exis­ tence, one way or another.

Top: Jackie and Robbie, leader o f The Wombats. Above: Jackie and her homosexual friend, Terry (John O ’May), in the pool sequence. Starstruck.

Given that at times the film gets into areas where some could accuse it of sending up minority groups — e.g., homosexuals and fat women — did you feel the need to hold back, to be tentative . . .

Stephen MacLean

I did not write Nana fat. She was not fat in the script. But Pat Evison is great; she uses her size to great, comic effect.

What about the scene where Jackie is disappointed because her golden­ haired boy is homosexual? When Angus appears to put him down for being homosexual, Jackie snaps back with, “What’s wrong with that?” Given Jackie’s obvious dis­ appointment, the line has the ring of trying to play fair .. .

Almost every woman, however sophisticated, instinctively does not like finding out that the man of her affections is gay. That person being gay cuts her out on the sexual level, which is a very large level to be cut out on.

That is why Jackie’s line seems out of character . . .

Yes. I might have failed there; it is all a bit murky. I got edgy because that whole gay sequence was re-written and changed into a

good for them. Mae West is one of the few in the history of show­ business who knew everything about what she should do. And anyone who is a big star has some capacity for that. That is why there are a lot of brilliantly-talented people around about whom every­ one says, “ Why aren’t they stars?

They are so talented.” But they do not have that conception of iden­ tity which is what being a star is.

And Jackie did not have it for herself; she just had the ambition.

You will find that relationship through the history of show­ business from time immemorial, and it is almost like a pimp/hooker set-up — Barbra Streisand has a hairdresser, Judy Garland has her thug.

Basically, I saw the script as a love story between Angus and Jackie, a kind of Les enfants terribles. The way the film played is different, because, quite naturally, it took on a life of its own. Now, it is not Angus’ story — it is Jackie’s story.

I don’t know if you have ever hung around with an older girl when you were 14. It is okay when you are 10 and she is 14, but when you are 14 and she 18, she is going out and living her own life. You are a minor, and there comes a chopoff point. You feel betrayed. And Jackie, because she is older, is just zooming ahead. Angus only has his brains with which to hang on to her.

Gill came up with the idea that Angus should mature at the end and find his own girl; he is about to go off on his own tangent of maturity. I can remember going, “ Oohhh!” , because I thought of Saturday Night Fever, the story of which I loathed. John Travolta treats all the girls like slobs, then we are supposed to believe he has of a television station where Jackie opted for ‘maturity’ at the end tells her band that she is performing because he aspires to a half-assed, pool party instead of a leather bar, without them. She gives a great middle-class bourgeois world where as I had originally written it, be­ speech about how she has to make everyone will now treat him as a cause we felt leather bars had her own life, etc. It is a bit like a slob. already been done. But I did not Sybylla speech in “My Brilliant But our ending doesn’t have quite keep track of the re-writes, Career”. But the disaster of the those social implications — and it and the actor playing the part, John show teaches her the importance of works.

O’May, who had seen an earlier other people in her life. Were you draft, said, “ I am really disap­ commenting on the problems of per­ You wrote in ‘Penthouse’1 that Gill pointed. This was a good part and a sonal independence? wanted to be sure it was her pro­ chance to say something. Now they ject, not yours, David Elfick’s or kind of dump on him when they Starstruck is just meant to be Richard Brennan’s . . . find out he is gay.”

I never wanted that to happen entertainment. That is not to deny Directors are very suspicious of and neither did Gill. So, I took his that entertainment films can’t be writers and expect the worst from point and had a last-minute fiddle serious. But Starstruck is not meant them. But I am not by nature a to be taken terrifically seriously. writer — in that sense. Having gone on location.

Actually, I don’t think her line is Seventeen-year-old girls and boys through that whole showbiz mill, I out of character. Angus says, “ He are usually pretty selfish. know it is a collaborative thing and can’t be gay!” , and she says, “ Why you do have to hand things over. I can’t he?” — meaning, “ Look But the structure does lead people to know there is no point going ber­ assume she has been taught a lesson. serk, because for every point you around, a lot of people are.”

It was one of those situations Was it not intended that way? win you lose one. where I did the re-write to accom­ Gill came into the piece quite modate a different situation. When If Jackie is taught a lesson, then late, but she hardly changed the it was a period script, the kids went it was that her cousin Angus, who script. She did fix a hole, however, to The Purple Onion, which was a was also her manager, actually and add the finishing touch of famous club in Sydney, and they knew what was professionally Angus meeting the gum-chewing met this fantastic drag queen, who better for her, what was ‘right’ for girl. looks exactly like Pearl. her character as presented to the public.

1. Australian Penthouse, March 1980, There is a scene in the dressing room p. 222.

Performers rarely know what is CINEMA PAPERS April - 115

Stephen MacLean

When you are someone like Gill or Phil Noyce, and are quite famous even though you have only made one feature, I guess you are all that much more suspicious. You have to hold on to whatever attracted you to the project.

Richard Brennan said to me, “ You make the film when you write it, then somebody takes it and makes it again.”

And that is what happens. If I had known that somehow the film would come out being Jackie’s story more than Angus’, I would have been in a quandary. I would not have thought it could work.

Every other film is about a girl who wants to be a star. But because of the em otional q u alities Gill invested in the film, Starstruck works. But there was no way I could know that until I saw it.

What was your role as associate producer? “ I was the only person who’d associate with the producers.”

Sorry it’s an old gag.

Initially, I did things like solicit­ ing songs. I sent out music break­ downs, had lunch with publishers, put the net out. I’d talk to the Art

Above: Jackie and The Wombats steal the show at the New Year’s Eve concert. Right: Jackie goes tightrope walking above a Sydney street to attract publicity. Starstruck.

Department about heroes Angus might paste to his walls, that type of thing. I also did a few quick fiddles during shooting.

I didn’t get to rehearsals, but I would have liked to, because I would have altered some of Angus’ dialogue. I wrote his stuff in short, staccato sentences — the Jewish kind of talking. Ross O’Donovan naturally speaks in long, rambling sentences with a nasal accent. It was his first part; I would have liked to have adapted the lines to him.

But when you hit upon a director, you just have to go with that decision. It is at that point you have either won or made a mistake. And it was no mistake with Gill.

What sort of audience did you have in mind?

From nine to 18. If the film takes, it may then wash into the broader audience that in the old days used to trot along and see My Fair Lady. Starstruck has a form that an older audience would recog­ nize and appreciate, and maybe get a giggle out of.

1 1 6 - A p r i l CINEMA PAPERS

But, I am always suspicious when people tell you who their audience is; I don’t think they know.

What projects are you working on?

I am doing The Lee Gordon Story about the eccentric Amer­ ican promoter who sort of colon­ ized Australia during the 1950s.

But that is tough; I haven’t for­ mulated a true angle yet. I want those people to breathe. So, mean­ while, I’m writing a script I call “ Eddie and Katoots” . The two leads are a kid, because I like writing about them, and an overthe-hill model who suddenly has to do something with her life because the beauty ideal has changed to 16year-olds like Brooke Shields. She is 32 and never had to do a thing in her life; now she has to.

Then there is a book I have long been connected to, Intermission, by Anne Baxter. She is the actress who won a few Oscars, then went “ B” .

It is basically a love story, about her four years spent in the Austra­ lian bush. Harry M. Miller now owns the rights to it.

I saw Anne Baxter in New York and talked to her about it. I think it could be one of the few genuine opportunities one has to show Aus­ tralia to the American perspective.

Our tie with the U.S. on every level, intrigues and disturbs me. ★

Nora (Noni H a z l e h u r s t ) , 33, a single mother li loosely-constructed commune, wants a love with “no fade from distance in it”. What she gets is Javo (Colin Friels), a 23-year-old actor, whose life is “a messy holiday o f living o ff his friends”, He is a junkie, hut it is Nora who is addicted. Smack habit, love habit — what’s the difference; they can both k ill you.

Monkey Grip is directed by Ken Cameron, fo r producer Patricia Lovell, and is based on the novel by Helen Garner.

N on i Hazlehurst as N ora in Ken C am eron ’s

Monkey Grip.

CINEMA PAPERS April - 117

Clockwise fro m top left: Javo (Colin F riels) and G rade (Alice Garner); N ora and Lillian (Candy Raymond); Juliet (Pearl Christie), Rita (Lisa Peers) and Nora; N ora an d G erald (Don M iller­ R obinson); A n gela (Christina A m phlett). Opposite: N ora and Clive (Michael Cayton). Monkey

Riy

V

Interviewed by Tom Ryan Perhaps, more than any other Aus­ tralian performer, you have had extensive experience on stage, in film and on television. When you began your career did you envisage that kind of breadth?

opera. The ABC used to do operas with actors miming opera singers’ voices. It was Hansel and GreteL the full H um perdinck opera.

Marilyn Richardson was my voice.

It took me a whole term — an hour every day after school — to learn In 1962, when I was still at how to mime it properly. This school, my foremost ambition was helped me a lot when I did Band­ to become a “ serious” actor. My stand, because you used to sing to parents had insisted that I should pre-recorded tapes — of your own matriculate, and I was planning to voice, of course. be a social worker. I was offered a I always wanted to be a singer, television play and an opera for but I did not have to think too hard television, and I started to learn to realize that I was a much better about cameras. At the same time, I actress than I was a singer. Acting was doing children’s plays in school was what I cared about, passion­ holidays and that kept me in there ately, but singing was still good fun. as far as stage work went.

I sang in a pantomime which led to The thing that was the turning me being offered a recording point in my life, that brought it all contract at the same time as Billy together, happened in 1965. I had Thorpe. He recorded Poison Ivy just left high school, and was about and sold 65,000 and I recorded to go on to university, when the Something’s Got a Hold on You ABC offered me a part in a tele­ and sold 159! vision serial that was going to be shot on film, which was really What is your attitude to formal unusual for those days. It was being training for actors? shot at Broken Hill and directed by Ken Hannam, for whom I had I am all for it. I did not have the already worked in a television play. reg u latio n two y ears at the I was only 18, and to go away on National Institute of Dramatic location to do something like that Artists (NIDA), but I probably had was too good an opportunity to as much tuition as any of my con­ pass up. Fortunately, my parents temporaries who went there — like were understanding, and I did Helen Morse, Kate Fitzpatrick and Wandjina. It was a seven-part series Judy Morris. I fluked some work at for children, which was later sold to the Old Tote and found myself with the BBC, which repeated it a couple the same actors and workshops and of years ago. As a result, I am now classes that they had, for in those getting love-letters from 18-year- days the NIDA students used to be old boys. understudies for all the produc­ tions at the Old Tote.

Kate Fitzpatrick always reminds Did the opera provide you with the inspiration to go on to “Band­ me that the first time she went on stage she was my understudy. I had stand”? lost my voice when I was doing I did not actually sing in the Peter Pan in the daytime, and The

School Mistress at night, and Katie went on for me.

that audiences are sometimes giving and sometimes not.

Why didn’t you just mime her voice?

Yes, but in theatre they, generally anyway, observe a decorum that one does not get in cinemas. How do they communicate to you?

Because it was the same day that a broken rope made me fall five metres to the floor. That was awful, but it gave me one of my better ad libs. I dragged myself to my feet and told the world, “ Even fairy dust isn’t foolproof.”

Do you have a preference for stage work over the other areas of performance?

No, because film is still a com­ parative novelty for me. I have only done a handful of films, whereas I have done dozens of plays. But I would hate to think I was never going to be on stage again. There is something fantastic about playing in front of an audience. I sang for 25,000 people at the Myer Music Bowl earlier this year — it was wonderful. You don’t often get that, but the 1700 at Her Majesty’s for They’re Playing Our Song was fair enough, too.

I think you are really missing out on something if you don’t play before an audience now and again.

It is a very levelling experience.

Audiences really let you know where you are working properly or not just by their response.

I was brought up to believe that there isn’t any such thing as a bad audience. And, essentially, that is a great way for an actor to be trained.

But I have learned from seeing my films several times over with different audiences that responses vary so much, even though the performance remains constant. I think that is a certain indication

You can hear every gasp and sigh — you can feel the tensions. Don’t tell me I am imagining it.

No. I am trying to find out what it is like. Is it like sitting in a living room, relating to one person and trying to identify their response?

It is a bit like that. But with an en masse thing, it is tricky to describe because you cannot see their faces; but you can feel that huge presence.

And yet I can tell when there is one person out there who is unsym­ pathetic. Sometimes I feel just like a radar.

As one primarily bred in theatre, how important for you is the limita­ tion on rehearsal time in television?

Trial by Marriage is unusual, in that it was done with a live audience and in a very regimented way. We started rehearsals on the Monday, and went through to Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day. On the Saturday we rehearsed all day, and then the audience came in and we recorded it that night.

It is true that for a Crawfords kind of production conditions are more rushed, and that you do have to develop a certain facility for coping. Having done dozens of H om icides, D ivision 4s and Matlocks in the early stages of my career, I have developed a certain facility for that kind of thing. I CINEMA PAPERS April - 121

imagine people who have only had the luxury of working on film, or in subsidized theatre, would find it fairly frustrating. But, in a way, it is a good training ground.

I haven’t done a soapie like The Restless Years or The Young Doctors, but I have heard that they can be incredibly hectic, even more so than Crawfords, for whom I must say 1 have a lot of admiration.

Crawfords have done so much.

They have trained some of our best people technically: cameramen and directors and so on. And I even hesitate to put soapies down, because I have such a lot of respect for the people who work behind the scenes on them. But that is not the kind of work I want to go into now.

Can you identify any particular sources of inspiration or models that have influenced you as an actress?

When you are heavily involved in your own work, you are, to a large extent, cut off from what you can learn from others. That kind of learning seems to occur between heavy jobs. But one of the biggest influences on me was Judi Dench, who is just about my favorite actress, playing Perdita in The Winter’s Tale. It was in 1970, in a performance by the Royal Shake­ speare Company, for whom she had also played Viola in Twelfth Night.

Despite the fact that I had been an actress for eight years, it was a great revelation to see a great classical actress use herself to a much greater degree than I thought would have been possible.

I had always tried to hide my personality in a part, submerge it completely, like Alec Guinness does. But the example that Judi Dench set provided a great turning point for me. And even when I let my own persona come out, I still think I am able to diversify.

Have you ever found yourself copying somebody’s mannerisms or style of performance?

If I could, I am sure I would, but that is one thing I have never been able to do. I can do most accents, if I work hard at them and do a lot of research, but, when it comes to imitating other people, I cannot do it. I know other people do with me, and I never realize it until it is pointed out.

Do you have preferences for different types of characters or roles?

Clockwise from above: Jacki Weaver and Ernie Sigley on Adelaide Tonight, publicizing Stork; Weaver as Masha in the Nimrod’s production of “The Seagull”; Jack Allen, Sean Scully, Weaver and Gordon Glenwright in the ABC’s Be Our Guest!; Weaver and Little Pattie sing “Let’s Get Together” on Bandstand in 1966; Weaver in One and One Makes Two; Weaver interviews Burt Lancaster for Wiilesee; Weaver and Peter Sumner in Trial By Marriage.

No. I never want to either, because to me one of the best things about my work is doing as many different things as possible. On tele­ vision^ for example, guesting on series is far more to my taste than being a regular, because you can do six different characters in a year, rather than being stuck in the one.

Your ability to take and make a

Jachi Weaver

character your own appears to be very easy for you . . .

Oh no. It’s so hard!

How do you go about preparing a character?

It is the usual obvious things that you learn at drama school. I still write down who am I, how old am I, what I did yesterday, what I did today, what others say about me. It is a painstaking process. I do that with everything; I am very ordered that way.

How important are the lines as they have been written?

been playing for two years now,^ Sonya in They’re Playing Our Song, is definitely neurotic. There is no doubt about it.

But this is not a fundamental thing that I bring to every charac­ ter. Someone like Josie in Caddie isn’t at all neurotic. She is very well balanced. She falls in love with a sailor who makes her pregnant; it is the 1930s and the poor girl has to get an abortion. She has such an inner strength that she can say to -her friend, “Well, there’s no use crying over it. Life’s a bugger. But life goes on.”

She laughs and she keeps going. I think Josie has great strength of character; no neurosis there. I only wish I were that well-balanced.

I would rather be given beauti­ fully-written lines than clumsy, Perhaps then she belongs to another banal lines. But I think a lot of category of characters you seem to actors use that as a cop-out. I think play: that of the victim. Like the most actors can make beautifully- wives in “Do I Have to Kill My written lines sound reasonable, but Child?” and “Petersen” . . . only a good actor can make a badly-written line sound good. I see You are right, I think. There is a bad script as a challenge. The an aspect of me, a kind of vulner­ script is something you can get ability, I cannot help bringing to around, I think, if you have a lot of nearly every character I play, even truth. when I try to hold it down. What I was urged to give Diane in Do I What does having “truth” mean?

Have to Kill My Child? was that vulnerable girl-next-door thing that I mean, you can get around a would help people to identify with script if you can act. her, to sympathize with the kind of hostility a woman (or a man, too) Do you ever dislike the characters can feel towards her baby. I found you play, or do you always have to that part really draining, because I find something to like about them? love babies — there is no way I could do anything to a baby. It was I usually end up liking them very a great ordeal. much. And that comes naturally. A I really love the wife in Petersen. lot of drama teachers say you I styled her on someone very close should try to like the person you’re to me, though I have never told her, playing. That is often difficult, but and that character rang very true to not impossible. When Sybil Thorn­ me. Yet, I still have the occasional dike played Lady Macbeth, she said woman coming up and saying I she managed to find her sym­ have done a great damage to the pathetic: Lady Macbeth loved her cause of feminism by playing a husband very much, and any woman who is downtrodden like woman who did that must have that. I think that is very stupid. something right about her.

Are you conscious of being used in Initially, I thought it would be fairly particular roles because you have easy to summarize your persona as certain characteristics that are seen that of a girl every mother would as appropriate to those roles? like to have as a daughter, forever cheerful and able to perk others up Probably, yes — the “vulner­ in a crisis . . . able, lovable thing” . I think I am given parts to soften them some­ I don’t know about the tuck-shop times. I believe that is why they mothers. A tuck-shop mother at gave me Trial by Marriage, and school used to say, “ Look at her. they would say that too. They She’s allowed to wear lipstick and wanted people to like her but, if the go out with boys and she’s only 15. woman had been a bit less sym­ Wait till she’s 20; she’ll be so hard.” pathetic, the character balance And they were right. My mother would have been off. If she had used to say, “That one, she’s as been tougher, it might not have cute as a hatful of razor blades.” been as entertaining, but because I seem soft and I am small . . .

Outside the tuck-shop and your Actually I am quite tall; I am just pram, though, I think my first sitting down. impression isn’t altogether false.

I think that is what the appeal But I also think it is more com­ was. I know that the scene in the plicated. There is a kind of neurosis first series in the restaurant where I that seems to hover around many of beat up the waiter is very funny: the characters you play, like Joan in suddenly two grown men who are “Trial by Marriage” . .. more than six feet tall are terrified of me. That is pretty funny.

I think with Joan it is more a psychosis. But the character I have I don’t think I have ever seen you

play, or heard of you playing, a traditional romantic heroine. Your persona seems too aggressive for that, too strong for the males you would have to play opposite?

Really? That’s great! I am told that one of the most appealing things about me is that I am so boyish. A lot of people laugh at that, but, when I think about it, it is true, isn’t it? And I have always wanted to play Viola in Twelfth Night, which of course is the one where she is disguised as a boy.

I guess I have been and will always be a character actor.

Do you feel trapped by your image?

I would like to believe that I am not. I do know th at when I normally go somewhere where people don’t know me, I am fairly quiet. People who do not know me will say, “Cheer up, what’s wrong?” But I am only being perfectly normal. They expect something vivacious and brilliant, and I am not that.

The press is not all that bad, but I still get idiot reporters saying, “ Don’t you get sick of playing dumb blondes?” I don’t play dumb blondes. They have worked out an image for me that is far removed from the truth.

I think it would be great not to care whether people like you. That is the best way to deal with the press when you are an actor, I think, because then it will never get in the way of your work.

But the press has been, in one sense, very kind to you . . .

It has been just as unkind as kind. I can remember every nasty, unjust or bad review I have had, every time I have been misquoted.

But the articles that were written about you while you were in Mel­ bourne were all positive . . .

Yes, but they were all deserved.

Of course . . .

But there is a terrible thing to consider here. When a reviewer whom you think is a fool, because everything you have read by him about other people makes you think he is insane, tells you that you are brilliant, it really tempers your feelings about him. You think maybe he is brighter than you’d thought. On the other hand, more soberingly, comes the thought that perhaps he is wrong, after all.

The advertising industry generally seems to find your image eminently exploitable. Do you ever feel that it has got out of your control?

Not altogether. I always have the power to say no, and I do knock back a couple of television advertisements a week. But if some­ thing seems interesting to me, I will

do it — like the Mad Max 2 advertisement. I think they asked me to do that because they believed that a lot of young women (my age!) would think, “ There’s a normal, sane, cheerful, pleasantnatured mother of one who likes a film I thought was just a ruffian’s film about bikies. So maybe I’ll give it a try.”

I generally avoid television advertisements. In fact, I hate them. But I don’t think the Mad Max 2 one will do me any harm. I defy anyone to take me to the Trade Practices people and claim that what I said was misleading.

So, it is the product that controls your choice here . . .

Yes. I have turned down offers that would have meant a lot of money. In Melbourne Cup Week last year, I was offered unbounded riches to do a national campaign, but it was for a product that did not appeal to me at all, so I said no. I hate that kind of exposure. Money matters to me, but it does not matter that much. I really don’t do many television advertisements, though.

But you do a lot of voice-overs, and one is forever hearing you on radio advertisements . . .

That is a different question. I don’t count voice-overs because there is now an industry in my voice. God knows why. I think I have a terrible bloody voice. There are two girls in Melbourne and a girl in Sydney who sound more like me than I do. I listen to them and say, “ I can’t remember doing that.” And my son, Dylan, will say, “ No, it’s not you. It’s so and sol” A couple of years ago, I went into a radio studio to do a job and was handed a script which said, “Girl (with a Jacki Weaver voice)” .

I said, “ Why did you put this in the script?” and they said, “ We thought you wouldn’t be available.

We were told at the last minute you were, and that was the script we were going to use.”

We had just started recording, when they stopped the tape and said, “ No, no, no! That’s not it.”

And I said, “ What do you mean — that’s not it? This is it. This is the Jacki Weaver voice.” We got by, but what they were expecting obviously wasn’t what they got.

I have also done quite a lot of putting voices to models, though I changed my voice a little bit, made it deeper. I used to do a lot of child­ ren’s voices, too, and quite a few character voices. I can sound different. I have quite a range within me, but it is not imitative.

You must come under a lot of pres­ sure to promote the film you are in . . .

Yes. It is really hard work — harder than making the actual film.

You really have to be pleasant all CINEMA PAPERS April - 123

Jacki Weaver

the time. You press a button and then you become a charming, interesting person. That is the best sort of publicity the film can get, and you want the film to do well because it means more work for you later.

But even apart from that, I think it is your duty to help sell it when you have been connected with it, unless of course you are just com­ pletely incapable of doing so.

On the other hand, the press often uses situations like that to get at you and find out things that you do not want to tell about your private life. It is something that has been happening to me for so long, I really have given up caring. There are a couple of days every so often when I want to get under the blankets and just stay there, but generally speaking I can cope. I fend them off.

I had 14 interviews in one day recently and every one of them broached the subject of my personal life. If you are in a suffi­ ciently anaesthetized frame of mind, you can cope with that. But I have been an interviewer myself.

For a year I worked on the Wil­ lesee program, and learned a lot from that about being an inter­ viewee. I think I have always been fairly generous as an interviewee, but it really brought home to me how important that is, how it helps you to make it work for you rather than against you.

I sometimes ventured into that I thought were really good. When Susannah Y ork found herself telling me what her worst roles were and why, she said, “ I never tell anyone these things, and I think I am only telling you because you are an actress.”

We were getting into some really interesting areas that might have been good for Cinema Papers, but for television, in prim e time, nobody wanted to know. They cut it all out.

Do you find any problems being a woman in what is still essentially a male industry?

Caddie (Helen Morse) and Josie (Jacki Weaver) in Donald Crombie’s Caddie.

less of how good an interviewer you might have been, you would not have got that job . . .

I would like to think they gave me that job because they thought I would be a good interviewer, but the only way they could have known that was because I had once been interviewed by Willesee in connection with Caddie. After­ wards they said they would like me to work for them because I had personality, not because I was wellknown or an actress.

I did some really good inter­ But even that job was exploiting your image as an actress. If you views, I think. But I got a lot of flak hadn’t been Jacki Weaver, regard­ from the press for that too, because

a lot of them jealously guard their domain. They like to create a certain mystique about it. It is entirely false, because most people writing in newspapers nowadays are practically illiterate; they are terrible.

What kind of strategy did you use for interviews?

I knew that I had to be light and, because most of the people I inter­ viewed were charming, pleasant and agreeable and I was giving them the same sort of feedback, it made for an interesting sort of parlor discussion. There were areas Dolly (Jacki Weaver), the brothel madame, and Piggott (Michael Long), the puritan cop.

Squizzy Taylor, directed by Kevin Dobson.

No. I only look on men as sex objects. That is all they’re good for.

Anyway, how can it affect me? I don’t want to play men’s parts. If I were, say, a businesswoman in advertising, my being a woman might well hold me back. But in my particular work, I haven’t been conscious of it as a problem.

In your experience in film, have there been any particular working environments which you found notably stimulating?

I found Picnic at Hanging Rock a fantastic experience, even though it appears that I did so little in it. I did lots more than the release print shows.

A lot of my stuff hit the floor, and Peter Weir, who is such a kind soul, said to me, “The reason your stuff isn’t there is not because it wasn’t good; it’s because it was funny.” I don’t know how true that was, but it did not matter to me because I got six fantastic weeks of watching Peter work and being in Clare, which is a wonderful place.

That is a film I most enjoyed just for the atmosphere, just for being in it.

I like working with Tim Bur­ stall. There was a fantastic camar­ aderie on Stork, and Petersen was good, too. I have a favorite story connected to the opening scene in Petersen, which people who have only seen it on television would not have seen. There is a shot that follows Jack Thompson’s finger going down my arm and then on to my stomach to a close-up of my caesarian scar, and then there is a cut to an aerial shot. It was a closed set and a mute shot, because Tim only wanted to lay music over it.

He was calling down from the camera encouraging me: “ All right darling, c’mon darling, give him a hug, c’mon! Let’s see some of that old suburban ecstasy. C’mon sweet­ heart. Show us your face, show us your face.” And I am saying, “ I can’t get my face over Jack’s bloody shoulder.”

And even though I was only on Squizzy Taylor for three weeks, I liked working with Kevin Dobson who gives you a lot of freedom.

Concluded on p. 185

124 - April CINEMA PAPERS

ONE HUNDRED Susan Tate arlos Saura was born in Huesca, Spain, in 1932. Seven years later, General Franco’s Falangist army defeated the Republican armies, ending the Spanish Civil War and beginning nearly 40 years of repressive, military government in Spain and entirely changing its cultural life. Spain has always had a history of repressive government, with the establishment of the infamous tribunal of the Spanish Inquisition in 1480, a body which functioned spasmodically into the 1800s, after its initial burst of purges, eliminating religious heretics and generally seeing to the morals of the country.

Likewise, the Junta Superior de Censura Cinematografica (Supreme Board of Film Censorship), which was established in 1937 by rebel troops even before Franco came to power, served after the victory as a way of supervising the morals and attitudes of the country. It recog­ nized the potential power of the nascent Film industry and set to work to use it as a vehicle to consolidate the victory by producing national­ istic, reactionary and propagandist cinema.

Typical of Films produced at the time was Raza (Race), made in 1940, directed by Jose Luis Saenz de Heredia (who was to become the chief director for the Franquist regime) and written by Franco under a pseudonym.

During this period, many intellectuals and artists fled the country, rather than stay and try to work under its repressive laws. Saura was one of those who grew up under them. The years of the Republic from 1931-1936 had seen the rapid growth of the Spanish film industrv. with the CINEMA PApgftS A prii - 12S

Gomez). Carlos Saura’s Mama

His return to the position from 1963-67 saw a new liberalism creep back into the film industry, when he created a new category for subsidy, that of “special interest” which replaced the old cate­ gory of “ national interest” . He also formed the experimental art cinemas where such Films could be shown. Before that, in 1952, films were class­ iFied from 1A to 3. A film’s position on the scale usually reflected its “ national” interest and would be financed or refused release in Madrid and Barcelona according to it.

Saura’s first feature film, Los golfos (The Hooligans), made in 1959 and generally con­ sidered to be the first of the New Wave of Spanish Cinema, thus beginning Saura’s career as one of the First Spanish auteur directors, was originally classified as a 2B, banning it from release and dooming it to failure. It was not until Escudero resumed his position as Under­ secretary in 1963 that the film could be released.

The film concerns a group of young delin­ quents and their nefarious attempts to get money. It is typical of films of the period in its use of youth as a way of expressing ideas that otherwise would not have got past the censors.

This was the First of many feature films Saura was to make, after a period of experimenting with documentaries, that used filmmaking tech­ niques other than directly narrative and linear ones, up until he made Mama cumple dios anos (Mama Turns One Hundred), in 1979. It also dealt with themes that interested Saura on a per­ sonal level: those of childhood and the oneiric

Fernando (Fernando Fernán , v,7i i and the would-be flyer, Mama (RafaelaApanao) and me Turns One Hundred.

creation of the first film studios, and the pro­ duction of the first talkies.

Censorship laws and other prohibitive measures taken by governmental bodies under Franco were responsible for the cessation of this growth, the stagnation of any creativity and guaranteed empty cinemas. Not only were film­ makers obliged to make Films that glorified the Franquist state, but, as Germany had strong commercial interests in Spain and many theatres were German-controlled, in the early years after the Fascist victory they could not afford to be critical of the Führer either.

A typically repressive government move was the blacklist drawn up in 1940, which listed North American actors who had openly supported the Republic during the war. Their names could not be used or mentioned publicly.

Ironically, included on the list was Charles Chaplin, to whom Saura was later to give his familial allegiance and whose daughter, Geral­ dine Chaplin, was to become his ‘muse’ and the leading actress in his films.

F

basis of the quality of their own films, meaning those which most gratified the regime. Not to be left out, in 1950 the Catholic Church created its own National Board of Classification of Spec­ tacles, which introduced a notorious color coding for Films that ranged from red to white.

Red was accorded to those that would place the viewer in danger of mortal sin.

It was not until the Spanish government recognized the importance of creating a more internationally credible cinema that filmmakers were given more Financial assistance and free­ dom in their work. Spain received its First jolt to its esteem in the eyes of the rest of the world when it was refused admission to the United Nations in 1946. However, films whose produc­ tion was encouraged by the Government, with a view to overseas release and its attendant pres­ tige, were often not released in Spain and only found overseas markets.

Spain saw the establishment of its First official school for film studies in 1947: the IIEC (Insti­ tuto Investigaciones y Experimentaciones Cinematografica), which became in 1962 the EOC (Escuela Oficial de Cinematografica). Its existence meant that for the first time students of film could be exposed to foreign films. It was at the Italian Cinema Week, held in Madrid in 1949, that they had their first taste of neo­ realism, via the Italian films shown there.

rom 1939 until 1976, filmmakers also faced an “ advance script censorship” , which meant that the script had to be shown by the filmmaker to a board of censors which could refuse permis­ sion to make the film on the basis of it, or carve arlos Saura graduated from the IIEC large chunks out of it. Filmmakers virtually six years .after its establishment, in became hirelings of the state.

1952. His film m ak in g owes The first films produced in Allied countries something to his exposure to neo­ were not allowed into Spain until 1943. These realism at the college. A year before, were then dubbed in Spanish. (For linguistic uni­ three films appeared which also showed the formity, all Spanish and foreign films were influence of neo-realism in Spanish film, as dubbed in Castilian; other national languages introduced at the college. They were Surcos such as Basque were not allowed.) The plots of (Furrows) by J. A. Nieves Conde, Esa pareja foreign films were subject to dramatic changes. feliz (That Happy Couple) by Bardem and The married couple in John Ford’s Mogambo Beralnga and Dias tras dias (Day After Day) by was given a brother and sister relationship to Antonio del Amo. Surcos is significant as it was excuse the wife’s illicit affaire with another man. his approval of it which had the relatively Commercially necessary import and dubbing progressive Garcia Escudero removed from his licences were given to Spanish producers on the position as Under-Secretary for Cinema.

126 - April CINEMA PAPERS

C

Saura, Spain and Mama

world in which it is encompassed in later adult life, concerns which are still present in Mama. It is typical of the way in which he uses his subject matter as political symbols and as reflections of his individual interests, as is also evident in Mama. ama Turns One Hundred was Saura’s entry in the 1979 San Sebastian Film Festival in Spain. It was also a highlyacclaimed entrant in the 1981 Melbourne and Sydney film festivals. The film was made four years after Franco’s death and many filmmakers were enjoying the new freedom that the change of leadership allowed, making politically-explicit films such as El deputao (The Congressman) by Eloy de la Iglesias, which deals with the persecution suffered by a member of the Socialist-Marxist party from Fascist party members because of his homosexuality.

Saura, however, continues to use oblique film­ making techniques as these are what he learnt during his seminal filmmaking days under Fran­ quismo, and because his films are a blend of

M

ideas not entirely political, which are best expressed by abstract methods. He also incor­ porates surrealist touches, which openly express a debt to Luis Buñuel.

Saura talked about his aims in making Mama to a reporter at the San Sebastian Festival and stated that after making Cria cuervos (Raise Ravens, 1975), Elsia vida mia (Elisa My Love, 1977) and Los ojos vendados (Blindfolded, 1978) he felt a need “to work on something larger, something that could be geared more towards the outside” .' He decided to pick up the charac­ ters of a previous film Anna y los lobos (Anna and the Wolves, 1972) and “see what had happened to them” .2 In it he worked with the same producer, Elias Querejeta^ photographer Teo Escamilla, and actors Geraldine Chaplin and Norman Briski, whom he has always used.

In these terms, as well as in thematic ones, there is a continuity and interweaving between all Saura’s films. This film, like previous ones, is as much concerned with making a political allegory through the characters as in dealing 1. Program of 1979 San Sebastian Film Festival.

2. Ibid.

with the characters as individuals with separate and private worlds. Anna (Geraldine Chaplin), of Anna and the Wolves, was the British governess for the children of a once-wealthy Spanish family which lives fractiously in a large, rambling country house in Spain. She returns to that family with her husband on the occasion of the Mama’s (Rafaela Aparicio) 100th birthday.

Through setting up this situation, Saura pro­ vides for the occurrence of the elements of memory and reminiscence in the film, partic­ ularly through Anna, for whom the occasion is very sentimental, and the Mama, for whom life in general is laced with sentiment. Anna fondly remembers the young women as children, for whom she was governess, and responds to them accordingly. She also remembers the now deceased Jose and his military museum, crammed with uniforms and guns, a more external reference to the passing of Franco’s military regime. The reality is that Natalia (Amparo Munoz) has become a beautiful seductress, who lasciviously accepts the joint offered her by Anna’s husband Antonio (Norman Briski), when, soon after his arrival, he contemplates the strangeness of the situation he has walked into.

her chair. Mama Turns One as Family and friends Hundred.

Mama (off-screen) descends from

ceiling

olitically, Natalia represents the new liberalism of Spain and greater sexual freedom created by changes in divorce laws after Franco’s death.

On an individual level, she becomes a vehicle for escape and fantasy, the importance o which, during childhood and in adulthood, is one of Saura’s fascinations. Natalia seduces Antonio in her fantastic bedroom, a virtual sultan’s tent of silks and hashish. Anna’s other ward has grown into a militaristic viper, who, along with her mother, Luchi (Charo Soriano), plots against the Mama and anticipates her death with relish. She blatantly asks the Mama at dinner what she plans to do with the house and the estate after her death. Already she and Luchi are mentally subdividing the land with an eye to selling it to developers.

A scene which highlights the natures of the two revolves around the family’s “memory box” , a trunk where old clothes and bric-a-brac have been stored. Natalia dips in and finds a transparent black dress which she wears and parades in front of Antonio, consolidating the effect of his seduction the night before. Her sister instead struts in a military outfit, tapping a swagger stick in a feisty manner.

Juan (Jose Vivo), one of the Mama’s sons and Luchi’s husband, has left the household since the time of Anna and the Wolves, with Amelia the cook. His departure is also reflective of the loosening of marital ties after Franco’s death and the rush to the divorce courts which ensued.

His affaire with Amelia, especially as she is not introduced in the film, is another reference to adult fantasy worlds and the outlet they provide from domesticity. Antonio’s seduction by Natalia is preceded by a typically domestic scene when he cannot sleep and Anna keeps pulling the blankets away from him, grunting contentedly in her sleep. This scene accentuates the eroticism and exotic element of the scene which follows.

With Juan’s departure, and Jose’s death, there is only one son at home: the pathetic Fernando (Fernando Fernan Gomez), who lives in a world of unrealized fantasy. Anna’s return to the house evokes that period of time for Fernando and the two eras fuse together in his mind. He recalls his love for her and is ashamed that he still feels it, frustrated that he cannot express it. Man’s dreams of flying are always used to represent a yearning for the impossible and it is Fernando who, in some of the most humorous scenes in Concluded on p. 181

P

CINEMA PAPERS April - 1 2 7

■

Is there anything you have not yet done in the arts that you would like to do?

No, I don’t think so. Very often, I only do things because I am asked to do them. In fact, I have to turn things down.

Human nature being what it is, people have it in their minds that I can do all sorts of things, which I very o ften c a n n o t. O nce I conducted a children’s perfor­ mance of the New York Sym­ phony Orchestra extremely badly — not nearly as well as Danny Kaye or other qualified con­ ductors. Then the Minneapolis Symphony Orchestra asked me to conduct a whole season. I thought

The a w a rd -w in n in g a c to r -w r ite r -d ir e c to r ta lk s a b o u t h is film m a k in g career w ith B rian M cFarlane.

Peter Ustinov as Hercule Poirot.

128 - April CINEMA PAPERS

the joke had gone far enough, and I told them that I loved music too much for that.

However, in parenthesis, I did conduct the Philharmonia Orches­ tra in a film, and the first violin came up and said, “We have been

Peter Ustinov

man who was a kind of Sancho Panza to J. Arthur Rank’s Don “I have a lw a ys f e lt th a t art, i f it is o f su f­ Quixote. They did not get on ter­ well and I knew it could not fic ie n t q u a lity a n d is n a tio n a l enough, ribly last. But at one time he was tre­ mendously important. It was he w ill becom e in tern a tio n a l You can n ot who gave me that chance, although I did School for Secrets, which was com prom ise w ith it. ” a big success, for the Air Ministry really. They wanted to have some­ thing about radar which was on the same lines as In Which We Serve conducted by many worse” , which I were asking me, “Where are we or The Way Ahead. thought was one of the most flat­ going now?” , they were asking me They were such extraordinary tering things ever said to me. as the skipper as much as the days that you can hardly believe it director. Also, their visual imagina­ today. We stopped shooting for a The first violin’s comment is a tion was automatically stunted by day to allow me to get out of the guarded compliment, really . . . the narrow possibilities which were army. I had to go to Olympia and imposed by the fact that we were on a nasty suit thrown at me by a Well, if you are not used to it, it the ship. In other words, if Bach get sergeant, which was my compensa­ has an extraordinary compliment were suddenly given a romantic tion for having been in there for about it. It satisfied all my Walter orchestra to play with, he would not four-and-a-half years and now Mitty dreams. know where to begin because he did facing civvy street. I had to have a not live in the same time as Tchai­ medical and all the things you do You have often made more than one kovsky. But if he were reduced to when you get out of the army. And contribution to a film. Which do you Bach, he would know better what they actually stopped shooting for a generally find more satisfying: he was doing than Tchaikovsky day which cost us a lot of money. acting, producing, writing or would if confined to a chamber They were forced to; there was no directing? orchestra. way round it because I had started I, therefore, feel that probably I I think acting is intrinsically lave more to contribute as an actor Peter Ustinov in uniform fo r Private easier than writing; I enjoy it very because I am the type of which Angelo, which he co-directed with Michael much. It is a sort of tactical excite­ :here is not a tremendous amount Anderson. ment; it does not give you the strat­ about. It means also that I do not egic pleasure of writing something work terribly consistently because people have a more conventional which is accepted.

I have never regarded myself as a sense of casting. Poirot has been professional director, in the sense very helpful to me because it has that I know how to deal with certain ly found me a niche, actors. I know what I want, but I although I do other things. And I do not have a very developed visual would hate to spend the rest of my sense in the case of moving time doing nothing but Poirot. At pictures. I know what can be done, the same time, I hope I have a but I have to stimulate myself in wider range than that. I have played King Lear twice in the last that sort of way.

I don’t think you can be in two two years with some success.

As for writing, I am always places at once. You always betray where you came from and the film drawn towards the theatre or to director is rather like a cabinet pure literature, more than to films minister: it is a vague profession. for roughly the same reasons, Anybody who sets out to be a film although I have written screen­ director must start somewhere else. plays, usually for myself.

He is either an assistant or a writer or a cutter. One can see, if one is You do not find writing screenplays very perspicacious, that even at his an especially satisfying activity? best, David Lean is a cutter by No, though it can be. I think a nature, or that someone else is a cameraman by nature. They may writer is much more important than have grown to directing, but they he is given credit for, just as the never lose the traces of where they teacher is much more important in society than he is given credit for. A have come from.

I suppose my path has been a teacher is tremendously important more literary one and therefore, in and his remuneration is never high the last analysis, I trust a verbal enough. imagination more than a visual one.

I never believe th at a visual You directed your first film, imagination can tell a story ade­ “School for Secrets”, at the age of quately until I see somebody else do 25, and in a film industry that must it brilliantly. Then I realize what be one of the most precarious in the world. I am interested in how, at 25, can be done.

So, I have never really thought of you got to be directing Ralph Rich­ myself as a professional director ardson, Pamela Matthews and who is waiting for material. It is a Richard Attenborough . . . matter of getting something which At 25 I thought they had left it really fires my enthusiasm and I am rather late to ask me. I felt I had capable of doing.

Billy Budd is probably my most practically missed the bus when 24 successful film as a director and it arrived and nothing happened.

School for Secrets really hap­ was extremely rigorous because we were all on board ship. The role of a pened because of Felippo del captain of a ship and that of a Giudice, an Italian who had played director of a film are practically an important part in the British interchangeable. So, when actors film industry. He was an ebullient

shooting when I was still a private but out on temporary leave.

I had to do all my research in uniform at RAF stations, often get­ ting rooms which were reserved for visiting air marshals and having WAC corporals do my shoes, and I was dressed as a private. It was a very peculiar situation, but then the military is very odd. I hated every minute of it, but I never regretted it because it taught me a great deal. I knew it would be hysterically funny in retrospect, even if atrocious at the time.

It is surprising you have not direc­ ted more films. The three films you did direct in the 1940s, “School for S ecrets” , “ Vice V ersa” and “Private Angelo”, showed a quirky individual talent that British films could have made a lot more of. Why did you limit yourself in this way?

Because I felt the British film industry was barking up the wrong tree. They were trying to get advice from the U.S. — or from Ameri­ cans — on how to break into the American market. This meant they got hold of some very third-rate American advisers to tell us how to

CINEMA PAPERS April - 129

Peter Ustinov

Quo Vadis said: “ Why don’t you bring Priscilla and the kids over for the weekend?’’, but that is pre­ cisely what a Roman of those times would have said.

What differences did you find working for LeRoy, Curtiz and Kubrick?

Kubrick I cannot really speak about because it was one of his first films. He- had done two brilliant films before, but they were on a pretty small scale and he was sud­ denly launched into this world of super productions. So he was rather subdued.

I said in my book that at that moment he had none of the virtues but also none of the vices of youth.

One did not know how old he was.

He was an extremely powerful personality, but self-effacing and detached. I am sure he would be quite different since. I got on with him quite well and I liked him very much.

As for LeRoy, I was able to tell him the other day that the French had just had a retrospective of his films at the Cinematheque in Paris and that several eminent French critics had praised him for his style.

He took his cigar out of his mouth and said, “ What style, for Christ sake?”

He no doubt prefers to regard himself as just a craftsman . ..

Absolutely. He thought that it was almost an insult to have himself loaded with style.

The crowning film of your career, and indeed almost the crowning experience of films in its decade, was Max Ophuls’ “Lola Montes”.

What can you say about working with Ophuls? do it, like how to develop mid­ Top: Nero (Peter Ustinovj eats while Chris­ The first night of the film was an Atlantic accents so we could be tians die. M ervyn LeRoy’s Quo Vadis. absolute disaster: the film broke understood. This was precisely the A bove: Batiatus (Peter Ustinov) and twice. But Ophuls rather enjoyed it.

Varinia (Jean Simmons) prepare to leave wrong way of going about it.

He started giggling because it I opposed the tendency of trying Rome. Stanley K ubrick’s Spartacus. Right: to enter the American market with The Ringmaster (Peter Ustinov) and Lola an amorphous, hybrid product. I M ontes (Martine Carole) in M ax Ophuls’ have always felt that art, if it is of Lola Montes. sufficient quality and is national enough, will become international. LeRoy, “ The Egyptian” for You cannot compromise with it. Michael Curtiz, and “Spartacus” Gallipoli would have been horrible for Stanley Kubrick . .. if everybody had been trying to I think the Americans are the speak American in order for the people in Peoria to understand. The only people who can do ancient Beatles proved that when they Roman films for the simple reason broke into the U.S. market. They they are like the ancient Romans. If did not make any compromise on you go into the Chase National their accents. They were under­ Bank to get a loan you are taken stood because they were very into a room with columns of gor­ gonzola and, in the middle of all interesting and clever.

So, I thought it was a very this, a furled flag and an eagle unfruitful procedure. Then, for behind him, his feet on the table, some reason my career as an actor the bank manager is saying, “Why developed very quickly. I was asked don’t we go home and continue this to do Quo Vadis and suddenly there conversation by the atrium and kick this idea around.” It is the was no looking back in that line. mixture of extreme relaxation and In fact, you worked in three more or formality and majesty which Amer­ less ‘sandal and toga’ films in the icans do terribly well. Everybody 1960s: “Quo Vadis” for Mervyn got riled when Robert Taylor in 130 - April CINEMA PAPERS

seemed almost too good to be true.

I wrote the obituary for The Guardian on Ophuls and in it I said he was a man of such perversity that he was capable of making the smallest wristwatch in the world and then hanging it on a cathedral so that passers-by could see the time. He was a mischievous and delightful man. I got on awfully well with him.

O p h u ls had C in e m a sc o p e imposed on him in that film and he did not like it because he loved the incredible intimacy — I mean almost embarrassing intimacy — of the screen. He said to me with a mischievous look, “ Peter, I have found a way of defeating Cinema­ scope today.” I thought, my God, what has he done now. He then made a gesture with his hands and brought them closer together and said: “Two pieces of black welwet!”

He was an astonishing fellow and I liked him a great deal.

On Lola Montes, I had to do my scenes in French, German and English. People forget Lola Montes was done in three separate ver­ sions, one after the other, so there was no possibility of only doing one take; there had to be a minimum of three. It was ridiculous, because Martine Carrol could not speak German and she had to read a board behind my head. I had to move my head according to the direction of her eyes so she could see the board. I asked her to make a slight gesture when she had finished talking because I could not recog­ nize it [the way she spoke].

One day, Ophuls had me do a four-and-a-half minute take. I was the ringmaster and had to shout as all sorts of horses and things and a dwarf moved past. In the middle of one of the many takes I suddenly got hoarse, and I sent the dwarf for a glass of water. He was surprised as it was not in text, but he went away and got it. At the end, Ophuls came to me with a slightly resent­ ful look and said, “ I regret that I did not tell you to do that.” ★

LONDONHLMFESTInL

1981

Mari Kuttna, Phil Taylor

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitiiiiiiiiiiiiiiim iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii The glittering occasion of the London Film Festival’s 25th jubilee brought a singular honor to the Australian cinema: Gallipoli was chosen for the gala open­ ing, in the presence of the Prince and Princess of Wales, five weeks before the film was to open in London’s West End. British critics, predictably bemused by the sprinting sequences, keep compar­ ing Gallipoli to Hugh Hudson’s Chariots of Fire, but it is closer to All Quiet on the Western Front. Of course, the script takes the easy (though historically ac­ curate) option of blaming the British commander for the battle’s tragedy; had he been less stupid, the Anzacs may have survived, and won. The ethics of winning — that is, the ethics of war — are never even questioned.

With the period setting, the attitudes of the period dominate the film's emotional world. But Gallipoli leaves a memory of Russell Boyd’s fine camerawork flatter­ ing the handsome horses and men, flashing smiles and sunny skies; and of one heart-rending moment as the soldiers festoon the sandbags along their trench with personal possessions which, at the sound of the attack, sldvfiy )j|rn into treasured mementoes of the dead.

Peter Weir’s London Film Festival triumph was backed by four more Australian films: John Duigan’s nostalgic yet quizzical Winter of Our Dreams; Michael Blakemore’s disarmingly candid Personal History of the Australian Surf, where he establishes himself as the perennial “ straight poofter” ; Gillian Armstrong’s 14’s Good 18’s Better, which was paired off with my favorite film of the year, David Bradbury’s Public Enemy Number One (see Berlin Film Festival report, Cinema Papers, No. 32, P- 142).

Gratifyingly, the best of the films New Zealand showed at Cannes, Smash Palace by Roger Donaldson, was also shown at London, and all who caught its single screening liked it.

In common with every other festival, the London Film Festival receives a great deal of criticism from various quarters.

With apparent and disarming humility, Festival director Ken Wlaschin and his team seem to have listened to all their critics and tried to rectify everything that could possibly be faulted in connection with their programming. Too many bigname, well-established directors? Well, there is a section of the Festival devoted to New Directors. Too many films which reflect the taste of the middle-class, middle-aged Establishment? Answer: create a new section called Controversy.

Not enough avant-garde works? Well, try to separate all the British and all the American films into mainstream and In­ dependent cinema, and keep one’s fingers crossed that enough of the in­ dependents should turn out to be avant­ garde as well.

Above all, never let it be said that the Festival neglects the Third World. This year it had six films from Africa — of these, Trances, directed by Ahmed El Maanouni, was the most praised — and 12 from Asia. After all, they make more films in Asia than in the rest of the world put together, and with two new films by

Mrinal Sen, a Lester Peries from Sri Lanka, a new Shohei Imamura from Japan and Lino Brocka’s Bona, they may even sell tickets. Also, there were six films from Latin America — never mind the quality, just feel the revolutionary fer­ vor.

Of course, the Controversy section consists of films difficult to classify, and easy to misconstrue. It may be a practical way of labelling, like the “ Miscellaneous” drawer of any filing clerk. And yet, how can such disparate works as Andrzej Zulawski’s sex-horror, Possession, be lumped together with a tense television panel discussion by British steel workers and trade union leaders, called A Ques­ tion of Leadership and directed by Ken Loach?

Also, not everything to do with atom bombs is necessarily controversial: The Day After Trinity, by John Else, about the work of J. Robert Oppenheimer and his team, Is history by now. But then, Shuji Terayama’s The Fruits of Passion, perhaps because a semi-Western cast including Klaus Kinski and a French co­ producer disqualified it from being listed as Asian, is also grouped under Controversy. To accommodate such

films as The Fruits of Passion, Mauro Bolognini’s The Lady of the Camellias, Bertrand Blier’s Beau pere or Frank Perry’s Mommie Dearest, the London Film Festival will need to invent yet another category. Perhaps it could be, simply, Moneyspinners!

British — Best o f

... ?

When the London Film Festival began, its avowed aim was to bring the best foreign films, particularly winners from international festivals, to London. But when the British cinema lurched from crisis to crisis, the Festival has increas­ ingly accepted the provision of a show­ case for new British films as its duty and included them in the program, whether they reached the highest international standards or not.

Some British productions can qf course stand up to any comparison, and cannot be overshadowed by big reputa­ tions or talents which have broken through international barriers; but the only feature film of this class had already been seen at Cannes: Ken Loach’s Looks and Smiles. But neither the critical esteem it achieved in Cannes, nor its

success in Londo-n, has achieved cinema distribution for it. Like two other films made for television — Adrina, directed

by Bill Forsyth, with the supernatural element so dear to BBC-Scotland, and Life After Death, directed by Anthony Simmons from a Rachel Billington screenplay — Looks and Sm iles too is going back on the shelf, awaiting its television broadcast.

Two films by new directors, M aeve and Burning an Illusion, had been shown at Edinburgh in August. They were aided by the BFI Production Board, whose finances are on a much smaller scale than the Australian Film Commission’s; the result is that their films look as if they were made to order for the “alternative festival circuit” of Edinburgh, Mannheim, Rotterdam and so on, and tend to look shabby against most London Film Festival films.

M ae v e , by Pat Murphy and John Davies, has a minority viewpoint, a feminist bias and a complicated timestructure to avoid that bugbear of “the b o u rg e o is c in e m a ” , plain lin e a r narrative. Nonetheless, M aeve has finer points, even apart from its worthy ideology of drawing parallels between Irish rule in Ulster and the male domina­ tion endured by Irish women.

There are some excellent scenes, mostly location shooting (in more than one sense of the word) in Belfast, and, towards the end, the family relationships emerge with increasing sensitivity. But it has many faults as well, which all stem from the script. The photography is more than competent throughout, and some of the acting catches the-mood, as well as the intonation, of militantly Irish speech patterns.

By contrast, Burning an Illusion, by Meneiik Shabazz, another first-time writer and director, contrives to present a radical subject in a conventional, almost soap-opera format. The heroine, a British-born colored girl, starts with the morality and expectations of middleclass British society, only to find that these attitudes and aspirations are not shared by the young men of her world.

Firstly, circumstances force her to look for her roots in African culture and racial consciousness, which develops her dignity and strength.

In spite of slight faults, Burning an Illu ­ sion brings out the relevant emotional and social issues without overt comment or proselytizing.

The British premiere given special prominence, by being chosen to close the Festival, was Priest of Love, directed

by Christopher Miles from Alan Plater’s screenplay, based in turn on Harry T. Moore’s biography of D. H. Lawrence. As with so many British productions, the cast of established theatrical stars (Ian McKellen, Janet Suzman, Penelope Keith) do their utmost, but the script has a numbing banality, in spite of the juicy literary scandals of Lawrence's life, and the direction has all the verve of a metronome.

As shown in Ken Russell’s Women in Love, Lawrence is the one writer whose works can sustain an imaginative, even outrageous, treatment, and probably

CINEMA PAPERS April - 131

1981 London Film Festival

Russell could have handled his life as well. Instead, the passions of Lawrence’s life and the tragedy of his death, at the age of 45, are all presented in the golden glow of an aperitif commercial.

The documentaries, however, were of a remarkably high standard. Even though it may have been better suited under the heading of Controversy, The Animals Film, written and directed by Victor Schonfeld, is outstanding in every way. It covers one of the most debated is­ sues in Britain: the treatment accorded by people to the other animals. The film first shows the misuse of animals as pets, then their abuse in factory farming, their torture in laboratory experiments, and the deliberate encouragement of cruelty in such traditional sports as foxhunting, deer shooting and hare-coursing. Wellstructured and thoroughly researched, the film is as good as its footage, some of it shot in secret, possibly allows. While it may help the Animal Liberation Front, whose campaign the film supports, it is also good cinema.

Another documentary, So That You Can Live, made by the Cinema Action collective, follows the life of a Welsh family through five years of economic and political change. Another dimension is added by linking the family’s attitudes to those of the 19th Century Welsh work­ ing class, and the Evening Institute and W orker’s Library movement which characterized the previous generations.

In spite of occasionally confusing flashbacks, and its rather random inter­ cutting of the general with the intimate, So That You Can Live is a remarkable experiment, testing to the limit the honesty possible in a documentary, and accepting the process of filmmaking as a factor of change in the family’s life.

A last-minute addition came from Lutz Becker, whose The Double-headed Eagle, shown in 1973, established him as one of the major figures in the historic documentary. (Becker had also co­ operated with Philippe Mora on Swastika.) His latest film, Lion of Judah, also took several years to research, collage, edit and provide with a commen­

tary. Becker’s basic technique is still the same: he uses the original, contem­ porary newsreels and propaganda films to show events; but junking the original soundtracks. Instead, he adds commen­ tary in which he is not ashamed to show hindsight, as well as music, to deepen the meaning of his images.

In Lion of Judah, he uses the recordings that an anthropologist friend made of Ethiopian folk music in the 1960s. Mussolini’s campaign to annex Ethiopia in 1936 is shown as an at­ tempted genocide of unmitigated cruelty.

The newsreels showing the Italian ad­ vance are actually seen from the point of view of their victims, and fascinating footage which seems to come from Haile Selassie’s private records illustrates the Emperor’s brave but doomed resistance.

The most moving moment of the dis­ cussion, and possibly of the entire Festival, came when a member of the audience thanked Lutz Becker for the compassion and dignity his film dis­ played towards the people of Ethiopia.

Even apart from B ecker’s co­ production, German films appeared to advantage in each Festival section.

Volker S chlondorff’s The Forgery, another last-minute addition, aroused the most interest: it examines a German journalist’s confusion in the civil war of Lebanon — it hardly matters whether a few years ago, or in the present.

Among the New Directors section, Percy Adlon's Celeste, which many critics call their greatest find at Cannes, continued to receive unstinted praise.

Unfortunately, Grabbe’s Last Summer,

by Sohrab Shahid Saless, came on video only. It is the most visually ambitious of Saless’ films so far, and as he has already collected a solid corps of British admirers, a large-screen showing would have generated great interest.

Another matter for regret is that Reinhard Hauffs Endstation freiheit lost even the pun of the title in the translation (in English, it is called Slow Attack) and the sub-titles lack the subtlety of dialogue which, in German, establishes the complex characters. The London

One o f the finds o f Cannes 1981: Percy Aldon’s Celeste.

audience was left with an above-average popular thriller, without the philosophical undertones.

The Controversy section also included Frank Ripploh’s Taxi zum klo and Die beruhrte (No Mercy No Future) by Helma Sanders-Brahms: the latter won the BFI Film Award for 1981 as “the most original and imaginative film introduced by the National Film Theatre during the year” .

This is the first time since the Award’s in­ auguration that it was won by a woman.

The jury described Die beruhrte as “ a daring, imaginative and moving portrait of a schizophrenic woman, which questions society’s definitions of madness and exposes its intolerance towards those beyond Its under­ standing” .

M ultiple Choices

The history o f a Welsh fam ily through five years o f economic and political change: So That You Can Live.

132 - April CINEMA PAPERS

In keeping with the London Film Festival tradition, most foreign films came via other festivals, where they were selected by Ken Wlaschin, or by British critics. Some critics would be happier to choose more than one film, but, all the same, it adds a pleasant, personal note to be responsible for a film before, during and after its screening — and for the director, should he choose to come.

Had I seen Miklos Jancso’s The Tyrant’s Heart, I may have chosen it, if only because there is always more to a Jancso film than a first viewing reveals, and this is his most complex and emblematic in a long time. However, my nominee, Duty Free Marriage, a FinnishHungarian co-production has charm and wide contemporary relevance: bad laws

1981 London Film Festival

Miklos Jancso’s latest film, A Tyrant's Heart. about visas and regulations about citizenship blur the borderline between right and wrong for their victims. Janos Zsombolyai Is a director who can handle serious subjects lightly.

Apart From The Films All in all, the Festival should not be criticized for any of its programming, as it would only result in 20 more films being added to an already overcrowded schedule. Any criticism should be (or must be) directed at its venue. The National Film Theatre is far too small for a festival for the 10 million inhabitants of London: not only its auditoria, but the foyers, bars and other facilities all become squalid half-way through the day.

The present system of a few (eight, to be precise) forays into Leicester Square on Sunday mornings, or up the stairs to the Queen Elizabeth Hall, may relieve the congestion a little, but without adding glamor. A foyer with flags and posters, with enough space for celebrities to arrive and to be photographed, would bring enough additional publicity to justify some investment from the film industry or the distributors; a larger theatre would make it possible to accommodate the larger public which is frustrated by the present system of preferential booking for British Film Institute members.

Then, there may be room in the NFT — even if only in the smaller NFT-2 — for press conferences. Now, directors who are invited for three days to accompany their films find that their only contact with their audience or the press is limited to a discussion after the screening. This is sometimes cut to 10 or even five minutes, which usually ends by Ken Wlaschin or his deputy saying: “We must leave now, but you can continue the discussion in the foyer” — that is, in the middle of hundreds trying to get in or out, queue­ ing at three box-offices and four toilets.

Any discussion in such a place creates a traffic jam rather than a more subtle understanding of a director’s work. A skilled journalist can always detach a celebrity and shepherd him away for a private interview, but that is no substi­ tute for a director who wants to get an audience reaction to a new work. So, even if the idea of moving to the heart of London continues to meet resistance, it

should be possible to make time for proper press conferences in London, as at any other proper festival.

Even if two hours were set aside each day, in the smaller of the two theatres, it would only mean a reduction of 19 films.

Out of more than 130, this does not seem to be an irredeemable loss; and perhaps the Festival would be less like a factory with films processed through like sausages, on day and night shifts.

Mari Kuttna

Animation The Festival’s Animation section continued its tradition of cramming into two program s an adm irable and numerically limited selection of “the best of” world and British output. Forty films were screened, ranging in length from 13 30-second British commercials to two 15-minute entries: Christopher James’ After Beardsley and Frederic Back’s Crac.

A few others were slotted elsewhere as shorts with feature entries. These included Stephen French’s technically accomplished but labored Storm from Swinburne, programmed with Gillian Armstrong’s 14’s Good, 18’s Better; and Michael Mills’ delightful and deceptively simple Canadian film History of the World in Three Minutes Flat — proving that it is breathlessly possible. A prize­ winner at Ottawa 1980, Mills’ mad-cap rush from the Beginning to the End was warmly received by the audience attending the gala opening of Peter Weir’s Gallipoli.

At the 1980 Zagreb Festival the Inter­ national Association of Animated Film­ makers (ASIFA) agreed on a redefinition of “ animation” — from the old “frame-by­ frame” to “the creation of moving images through the manipulation of all varieties of techniques apart from live-action methods” . This was designed to accom­ modate such new techniques as com­ puter animation. The 11 films in the world program, selected from entries in the 1981 Annecy Festival, included a Polish film which offended animation purists and inspired the Annecy Jury to award it the Grand Prix: Zbigniew Rybczynski’s eight-minute Tango. It pushes ASIFA’s definition to the limits.

Rybczynski uses individual photo­ graphs painstaking ly matted and optically printed to create pixillated, but not quite, live-action. The film opens on a room. A ball bounces through the window and a boy climbs through to retrieve it. A woman enters cradling a baby, then sits at the table and nurses it.

As she stands and leaves, a man enters by a side door carrying a package. While he is placing the package on top of the wardrobe, the ball bounces through the window and the boy climbs through to retrieve it. When the man leaves by another door, a thief lurking at the window steals the package. As he is leaving, the woman cradling the baby returns . . . until some 36 characters crowd into the room, wordlessly perform some private motion, then leave — only to return almost immediately and repeat the same action exactly: a naked woman dressing; a man replacing a light globe is electrocuted; a man lifts weights and flexes his muscles; a couple makes love on the bed; a baby’s nappy is changed; an old woman rests for a moment.

A rhythmic tango melody by Janusz Hajduk provides the metre for this superb, surreal dance of everyday life.

The State-room scene in A Night at the Opera is similar; but Tango is not played for laughs.

At the Zagreb Festival, the emerging Josko Marusic, from the Zagreb Film Studio, won second prize for Fisheye. At Annecy he won a Special Jury Prize for his latest film Neboder (Skyscraper).

Marusic’s inventive and hyperactive cartoon recounts yet another day of life in a tower block. Little figures scurry about the cross-section of the building — the main communication channels being the lift and the sewer.

The activities are depressingly routine and occasionally repetitive, like the naked girl lying on the bed waiting for a man who peels away layer upon layer of clothing. Some are blissfully ironic, like the man who deviously conceals his money in an open wall-safe behind a painting, only to have a gaggle of chortling thieves pitter-patter away with the painting. And some are tinged with despair: a tenant who fails to wake up is rushed away in a coffin by the squad; a character paces in a room and bleeds into the toilet; a man threatens to jump and does so; a child searches for its mother. Toward evening the workers return and pack into the lift. At night, all except one sit isolated in their rooms watching the same television program.

The loner locks himself In the lift and screams.

Two films touched upon the subject of

the aged. The fir s t, fro m The Netherlands, was Paul Driessen’s dis­ passionate and fatalistic Het treinhuisje (Home on the Rails), a black comedy about two pensioners taking tea in a room. Every hour, when the cuckoo strikes, their routine is interrupted by a frantic thumping on the door. The woman opens it and a squirrel leaps in and flattens itself against the wall. When the opposite door is opened, a train roars through the house. Driessen’s finelylined figures, cool pastel colors and wry humor are contrasted with the lumpy characters, some running gags with the cuckoo clock and a mute tragedy when the old man lies across the rails after his sackful of gold has been stolen by claim­ jumpers.

The second film, Birgltta Jansson’s Semesterhemmet (The Summer Camp), won public and critics’ prizes at Annecy and was the Festival program’s sole clay animation film. It creates a day at a summer camp for aged and handi­ capped guests who quietly chat, read, play cards and hold an impromptu singalong. Jansson’s eye for character is sensitively realized in the figurines’ modelling, movement and gesture, and is charmingly enhanced by the idea of providing her characters with actual voices recorded at a Swedish summer camp in 1980.

Although the Festival was not provided with a subtitled print, the documentary technique is sufficiently atmospheric to raise the issue of verisimilitude — an issue which is succinctly and plausibly resolved.

Ferenc Rofusz’s A legy (The Fly), from Hungary’s renowned Pannonia Film Studio, is already being described as a masterpiece. Told subjectively and drenched in golden monochrome, the artwork effectively simulating wide-angle distortion, it is about a fly which senses the approach of autumn and, seeking refuge, buzzes into a farmhouse. Almost immediately an irritated and unseen human pursuer launches the fly on a frantic bid for escape and survival.

The film e x c ite d sp on tan e ou s applause and won the Best Film Award at Ottawa 1980, then went on to win the Oscar for the Best Animated Short Film of 1981. While these are early days for its inclusion in an Animation Pantheon, A legy is nevertheless technically brilliant, short (three minutes!) and engagingly witty.

Compared with these films, the six selections from North America were mostly parochial and nostalgic. In George Griffin's Flying Fur, a strike by the mice at ACME Film Productions

Simulated wide-angle distortion: Ferenc R ofusz’s The Fly.

CINEMA PAPERS April - 133

1981 London Film Festival

provokes a chase by their colleagues, the cats. The film unintentionally captures the drift of the North American entries since, as a homage, it uses the soundtrack of the 1944 Hanna-Barbera cartoon for MGM Putting on the Dog. The other American entry, Barrie Nel­ son’s Opens W ednesday, wasn’t any more promising. It turns on the idea of a theatre producer rehearsing his cast of shapes and characters to a colorful floral finale and was haunted by such lines as, “ Excuse me, have you heard of Stanis­ lavsky or Woody Allen?” from the theatre’s interfering cleaning lady.

Opens W ednesday was awarded the jury prize at Ottawa ’80 and the Grand Prix at the 1981 ASIFA Festival in New York.

The four Canadian entries were better.

Winning a Special Jury Prize at Annecy, Frederic Back’s C rac is the story of a handcrafted rocking chair from the moment the carpenter fells a tree (hence the onomatopoeic title) in a small farming community in 19th Century Cuebec, through succeeding generat­ ions as urbanization encroaches fields and lifestyles, to its last resting place in the city’s Museum of Modern Art where it is used by one of the attendants. The set­ piece rural wedding reception, where the blue-shadow ed revellers swirl to Quebecoise folk music, is joyfully repeated in the darkened museum. The rocking chair is once again the centre of attraction and it whirls the sterile abstracts back to a richer, more un­ equivocal, time.

Mary Newland’s Sing Beast Sing, from International Rocketship Ltd, won the prize for a Film for Children at Annecy.

Burrowed away behind the razor-sharp lines and flat color areas of conventional cartooning is a surreal behind-thescenes look at showbusiness. Toledo Mung Beast, half-man half-cephalopod, lazily performs the laid-back Willie Mabon blues number, “ I'm Mad” , on a baby grand for Vern and his pet cactus.

In an adjacent, modishly-furnished loungeroom, a chicken roasts a chicken over a candle, Black Ear the Dog sits frozen with his scotch and a poodle leaps about blowing a cool sax. When Toledo finishes and tosses the question, “What do you think?” , the room does a Dali by obligingly melting.

Crac and S i n g B e a s t S i n g demonstrate the capabilities of Canada’s em erging independent anim ation industry, though the National Film Board continued to reinforce its solid reputation with two superbly-crafted films. Sheldon Cohen’s The Sw eater, from a story by Roch Carrier, is a charming reminisc­ ence about how, in the winter of 1946 in the small Cuebec community of Ste Justine, a 10-year-old boy faces his life’s

134 - April CINEMA PAPERS

first crisis. His red, white and blue French Canadian hockey sweater, with the famous Number 9 on the back, becomes threadbare and his mother buys a new one by mail-order. When the sweater arrives, the boy finds it is not the familiar French Canadian Number 9, but the blue of the rival Toronto Maple Leaf team. He throws a tantrum, to little avail. The boy is doomed to go down to the village rink in his new Toronto Maple Leaf sweater and be rejected by all his friends wearing the French Canadian Number 9. The village curate pronounces him a rebel and sends him to church to repent. “ I asked God” , recalls the older and wiser narrator, “to send a hundred million moths to eat up my Toronto Maple Leaf sweater.”

Clearly the best of the North American entries, however, was Clorinda Warny’s Prem iers jours (Beginnings), completed after her sudden death by two fellow animators at the NFB, Lina Gagnon and Suzanne Gervais. It is a film of simple, mutable beauty. Lines like vapor trails, pulsating with a life of their own, swirl in constant flux against a background of pastel shades to momentarily suggest an image — a landscape at sunrise, a man and a woman, the birth of a child — before dissolving in a melange of rippling line and soft hues, thus unfolding the idea of perpetual creation. Merging with these transitory images is a simple melody for piano and violin by Denis Larochelle.

Prem ier jours was awarded a Special Jury Prize at Annecy and, together with Tango and A legy, was the highlight of London’s World Program.

The influence of the peace movement and the concern of the Committee for Nuclear Disarmament were evident in the Festival’s British Program. Of the 15 films and 13 advertisements screened to an audience composed largely of members of the local Industry, four films were pessimistic about the present, while another four dealt specifically with the coming holocaust. And, while British animation continues to maintain high standards for its sponsored films, it was encouraging to view resourceful and competent work by newcomers. For the first time for two years, however, the work of Bob Godfrey (Dream Doll in 1979 and Instant Sex in 1980) was sadly absent.

Russell J. Brooke’s The C om ic Story is an oblique and light-hearted frame story set in that vague land where reality and fantasy converge. A boy buys a horror comic and walks home through a graveyard where an assortment of ghouls scheme to distract him with a few transmogrification tricks. The boy is oblivious to their antics (including a disastrous attempt by one character to

Change into a bat, succeeding the second time only after colliding with a tombstone wicket) because the comic c h a ra c te rs are m ore h o rrific a lly compelling. Which comic characters?

Which comic? As with a matryoshka doll, it is difficult to determine which was first.

Sheila Graber’s Face to Face takes the idea of metamorphosis into more familiar territory. Using the simple technique of animating a paint and crayon sketch, she ages a child’s face until a skull grins into eternity.

Unfortunately, there were no prizes for ta n g e n tia l p re te n s io n , o the rw ise Christopher James’ After Beardsley, with artwork ghosted in the artist’s style suggesting how he would have postered the modern world, including The Bomb, if he hadn’t died of consumption at the age of 25, and the Brothers Quaij’s Ein bruderm ord (A Fratricide), a puppet film where Kafka’s assassin/assassinated are viewed as two insects, would have won pens down.

As the opening titles came up for the latter film, one scornful member of the suddenly restless audience cried out, "What is a German film doing in a British Animation Festival?”

The four films which presented a nuclear Armageddon as their theme were understandably far more relevant and poignant — although their indul­ gence was regrettable. They were introduced with the well-known “The Babel Fish” episode from Douglas Adams’ H itc h -h ik e r’s G u id e to the Galaxy, animated by Rod Lord, for the BBC. It was followed by Pretend You’ll Survive, a scream for nuclear disarma­ ment from Leeds Animation Workshop.

Using shock techniques, not far removed from World War I propaganda films about the ravaging Hun, it achieved image overkill as it follows Ms Everyperson attempting to live each day as if Hiroshima victims and megatons existed only on her television screen. “ It could happen today” , but the day passes uneventfully: “ It didn’t happen today.” “ It could happen tomorrow” , but tranquillity prevails. Then it happens. After a long night of street cries and civil unrest, she emerges from the ruins of her home to find the landscape devastated, her body ravaged by radiation and the air swarming with bloated flies. “ Don't Pretend to Protest” warns the grim end­ title.

Robin Whiteman’s sequential and p essim istic T h e W a y of th e F o o l presented, but hardly developed, a novel idea: Tarot cards for the nuclear age.

Moving from C re a to r/ln v e n to r —

th ro u g h such o p p o s ite s as The Cycle/The Wheel, Revelation/Explosion and The Star/The Blast — to Wholeness/Extinction, each card depicted a rapid, multicolored pattern of images: from the sea and the land, to missiles and The Bomb.

The best of the peace films, however, was John Halas’ Dilem m a, an 11-minute computer-animated film dedicated “to creation, NOT destruction” . Fatalistic and profoundly cynical about civilizaation’s acknowledged achievements, combined with a pessimism about man’s destiny bordering on the grotesque, D ilem m a is a grand parade of familiar and cherished icons fragmenting to reveal tableaux of apocalyptic potential. The mask of Tutankhamun becomes an Egyptian war chariot, Greek and Roman busts of philosophers easily change into phalanxes and legions, an Aztec idol becomes an army — as does the bene­ ficent image of the Buddha, and Leonardo da V in c i’s c o n trib u tio n included designs for military machines.

Although the intent behind succeeding c iv iliz a tio n s ’ re s o rt to war was concomitant with their development rather than sinisterly bellicose, the game was always up. But now the development of microchip technology provides improved missile delivery systems, as well as furthering education. Sleek spaceships become larger, swallowing smaller versions, in a cosmic and technological version of the survival of the fittest. Frequently these images revert to the bland, changeless icon of man. Impassive throughout history, blinded by today’s media, ignorant about the consequences of conventional and nuclear armament, man is about as secure as a light globe target for a rifle.

The remaining films were a jumble of varying styles and particular interests.

They included Nick Lever’s orthodox John Barleycorn, the song with pictures; Stuart Wynn Jones’ elaborately supple experimental film O rganic C anonic Icon, in which tu bu lar shapes flo urish lu x u ria n tly around an onrushing vanishing point to the soothing strains of Pachelbel’s “Canon” ; Neil Thomson's suspenseful extrapolation of a Max Klinger etching entitled In Flagrenti; Alex Brychta’s Flo ra D a n c e , where wildflo w e rs are used as c o n v e n ie n t instrum ents in a live-actio n day­ dreaming youth’s ‘brass’ band — the notes being cleverly improvized by Vivian Fisher’s voice, then mixed; John J. Miller’s accomplished cartoon Act V, the G raveyard Scene from Haml et , characterized by alien, ectomorphic

1981 London Film Festival figures for Hamlet and Horatio, and round rumbustious gravediggers; and Timothy Forder’s sympathetic little cartoon about the platonic love-life of an ugly little man, with a heart of gold, named Marun Buchstansangur, who lives alone in a crack between the kitchen floor and the cupboard.

Overall, the 13 commercials demon­ strated the British industry’s search for a narrative format following its two-year flirtation with musical interpretations.

And, while the work of Richard Taylor and Vera Linnecar was absent, Geoff Dunbar and Paul Vestor returned with three commercials, each following their successes at Ottawa ’80. Dunbar was awarded the Grand Prix for Ubu and Vestor received a Special Jury Prize for his four-minute Sunbeam.

Other industry leaders continued to be well-represented. Ian Eames provided two more commercials for Alka Seltzer, and the p ro lific Ian Moo-Young presented his Magoo-like Norman Normal character in a gaudy and fluent ad for Trebor’s ‘Dandies’. Richard Williams Animation returned, fresh from picking up a Clio Award for 1980’s Washington Post: Landscape, with two lively commercials by Eric Goldberg, Nairn Arena Cushion Floor and the anti­ smoking Nick-O-Teen, and the lyrical Tempest ad for Shell by Russell Hall.

The final film on the British program, Richard Wolffs Still Life, is a bright and ingeniously-scripted satire on the life and aesthetics of the egocentric Scottish a rtis t Lawrence Angus M a c C o n i, renowned for his dining and vehicle pictures. Lawrence, the narrator Gary Bond tells us, tried most schools of painting — Cubist, Surrealist (witness his “ Closely Observed Planes” ) and Action — before settling down to paint his incomprehensible vehicles. He once said, “ Have you seen a bird with one wing trying to fly? It makes you cry. It cries also.” On his deathbed, after filming his last drive along a suburban street, he intoned, "If I didn’t exist, it would be necessary to invent me” , and with his final breath he misquoted, “ I see, therefore, I am.” Since Lawrence once stated that his paintings could be understood in one second, his bio­ graphers take him at his word and screen his life’s work. With a script as taut and witty as this, the visuals become complementary: “ In one moment he became older. One moment. Older.” The moments in this intelligent and hilarious spoof of the art world and films on art are rich and many.

Jazz The Jazz Program consisted of shorts and feature-length documentaries, mostly from the U.S. The Festival audience was touched, not only by the music and the cloying sense of nostalgia, but also with gratitude for the concern of sympathetic filmmakers who managed to retrieve some moments and memories of past musicians which would otherwise have been lost forever.

It is jazz cornetist Leon Bix Beider­ becke’s gin-soaked latter years, before he died of pneumonia in New York on August 6, 1931, that many people remember. The drink — and his music.

The tone he achieved was difficult for his contemporaries to'describe: “ like a girl saying yes” , “a mallet hitting a chime” , “ a teardrop” . Imitators, like Red Nichols, copied his style, but that unique tone eluded them. To Charlie Davis, Artie Shaw and Hoagy Carmichael, Bix’s music was “somethin’ else” . As Louis Armstrong was to say later on in the 1930s, “Ain’t none of them play like him yet.”

Armstrong’s comment still stands and forms the subtitle to Bix, a labor of love by CBC-TV producer Brigitte Berman. For four years, in her spare time, she criss­ crossed the U.S. visiting anyone who

knew Bix. She found that “ all who knew him, if only for a brief period of time, had not been able to forget him after 50 years.”

In this comprehensive film biography, narrated by Richard Basehart and illustrated with photographs, period posters and Edward Hopper paintings (no film exists today of Bix playing), Berman has assembled as rounded a portrait as we will possibly ever have of the jazz musician who, along with Armstrong, was the heart of jazz in the 1920s. She has also collated an enviable collection of Bix’s work: “Jazz Me Blues” , “ Royal Garden Blues” , “ Riverboat Shuffle” and “Tiger Rag” by The Wolverines; “ Davenport Blues” by Bix and his Rhythm Jugglers; as well as numbers recorded when Bix was with Goldkette and Whiteman. Charlie Davis plays Bix’s composition “Cloudy” from memory, demonstrating Bix’s skill as a pianist. And although Berman goes a little too lyrical when she provides some cool and lingering seascapes for the recording of Bix playing his piano composition “ In a Mist” , it is a reminder of the theme throughout — that Bix Beiderbecke was a private individual who, as Hoagy Carmichael explains, talked through his music “straight from the heart and told you what he was thinking” .

B e rm a n ’s s y m p a th e tic film is enjoyable and timely, and it sets in high relief the realization that Bix Beider­ becke, the “ born genius” who opened up new avenues of harmony and melody for jazz, died at the age of 28.

Fortunately for the audience at Sun Ra: A Joyful Noise, frozen aghast like their compatriots in The Producers, director Robert Mugge surfaced to give them what they desperately needed: perspective. “Sun Ra” , Magge explained, “was born in Birmingham, Alabama, in

1915 and not, as he claims, on Saturn.” It needed to be said. For although Sun Ra and his Arkestra have been together since 1955 and recorded more than 150 albums, his eclectic music and personal philosophy is accessible to just a few.

Here, in 60 kaleidoscopic minutes, Mugge provides the gaudy, robeapparelled Sun Ra every opportunity to perform, philosophize and dead-pan his way toward some communion with an audience he couldn’t care is there or not.

The experience is not altogether incomprehensible, at least in the short term. As a jazz iconoclast this key­ boardist, composer and arranger is beyond category, but he has attracted such talented musicians as saxophonist John Gilmore ("Sun Ra is more stretched out than Monk . . . He’s h ig hly advanced” ) and drummer James Jacson (“Sun Ra, of course, showed me a whole — another idea about drumming” ) to his band — one which is, incidentally, Sun Ra’s communal family. Sun Ra revels in his role as a visionary, linking Egyptian mythology with space-age cosmology.

“Some call me Mr Ra,” he says, “others call me mystery.”

Mugge has assembled a liberal selection of Sun Ra’s music, interviews with band members and Sun Ra’s lectures straight into the camera: “ One day a voice from another dimension will speak to Earth. You may as well practise and be prepared for it” , “ In my music I speak of unknown things” , "They say that history repeats itself. But that’s history, not my story. Nature never repeats itself.

Why should / repeat myself?” , “What’s wrong with today’s youth is they’ve been fed freedom, not discipline” , “ Better to deal with people who have intuition because they don’t know what they’re doing. The people who do know what they’re doing haven’t proven anything” , “ I’m not human. I’m a catalyst. I’m

looking for people to make Judgment Day a reality” , “ I want people to become part of the magic myth and the magic to uch of the m y th o c ra c y — not theocracy, or any of your other ‘ocracies’ ” , and “They say that history repeats itself. They say that history repeats itself. Repeats itself. Repeats itself. But that’s not my story. What’s your story?” Sun Ra lives in Philadelphia.

What Michelle Parkerson’s .. But Then, She’s Betty Carter” lacks in technique is saved by its subject’s enthusiasm. The bebop singer’s commit­ ment to her music and her zest for life is Infectious. Parkerson began her film in 1976, but only managed to complete it shortly before the Festival: two of those intervening years were spent searching for finance. Together with her editor, Jim Brown, she has intercut a freewheeling conversation with Carter with material filmed in a concert at the Cranston Auditorium.

Betty Carter reveals herself as playful and impish offstage as she is on, a theme taken up by Parkerson and Brown as they cut from, say, Betty discussing her housework to “ My Favourite Things” , or when she discusses the album she recorded with Ray Charles to “ The Trolley Song” . Gladly the cuts are relatively unobtrusive, allowing Betty to scat offstage about a variety of subjects: her scorn for black musicians who abandoned jazz “ to make a million dollars” out of Motown and Soul, her concern that black educators should be helping black children learn from the black singers of the ’20s and ’30s, and the pride she has in her career — “Today, if you’re a man, you’ve got a ‘jo b ’ . If y o u ’ re a woman y o u ’ re ‘independent’ . . . In the old days it was just ‘working hard’.”

Her reminiscences of the early days of bebop in Detroit, hanging out with Charlie Parker, Miles Davis and John Coltrane, experimenting with the flatted fifth and the scat, are as lively and as anecdotal as if they were yesterday. An interview with Lionel Hampton, who gave her her first break, is followed up with him appearing onstage with her at the Cranston, tinkering on treble.

But Parkerson's film is clearly not a biography, nor does it unravel the “ mysteries and innuendoes” about Betty Carter which first attracted Parkerson to her subject. It is a relaxed view of a modest singer who, after a quarter of a century of being in the vanguard of bebop, can still say, “ I think I am a jazz singer.”

Maxwell Street Blues, a first film by Linda Williams and Raul Zaritsky and co­ produced by Sandra Lieb, is a reverent documentary about Chicago's Maxwell St market, for more than 60 years the venue for sidewalk blues musicians. The color and sound of the musicians e m e rg e s fro m b la c k -a n d -w h ite photographs of the area when it was established as a market by Russian and Polish immigrants in the early 1900s.

Then, with film clips from the '50s, stills and a roving camera, the film gradually charts the change from the time when the only music heard was the cash register to today when Jim Brewer, Playboy Venson, John Henry Davis, Little Pat Rushing, Floyd Jones, Carrie Robinson, The Clarksdale Blues Band and many more can be found.

Much of the flavor of the ’20s and the years since is recalled by the crusty raconteur and blues musician Blind Arvella Gray (who had his eyes shot out in 1930 in an argument over a woman) remembering how Charlie Jackson, Big Bill Broonzy, Robert Nighthawk and Muddy Waters among others have all played on Maxwell St. The filmmakers have also used clips from Gray’s home movies, taken on Maxwell St in the ’50s, and dedicated the film to him. Blind

Continued on p. 188 CINEMA PAPERS April - 135

Your first films were all docu­ mentaries. . . .

I loved the the­ atre as a c h ild . We had an English teacher who, in­ stead of our English lessons, allowed us to produce whatever Shake­ speare play we were doing used to at the moment, direct those.

Then I did my Arts degree, majoring in drama and English.

When I finished, I just thought about films. I had done acting lessons at university and gone to the Independent, but I found the th e a tre m o re a n d m o re claustrophobic and interior, so the idea of making documentary films became very exciting.

I was quite naive going into it, in a way. Even little news clips on television seemed so interesting, because it was much wider, out in the open, and not that theatre experience of going into musty theatres in the daytime to rehearse..

The trap with documentaries is that when you find a good story you want to make reality fit the story; you try to rearrange reality, consciously or unconsciously. You tell yourself you have found these people and they would be terrific to make a film about. You then try and make the people be what the idea is, which is unfair to the people. But it is also unfair to the good story if you can’t do it justice.

It seems better to have elements that you can manipulate, if you want to.

Documentary really works when you have a lot of freedom and a lot of footage, and you go in to find the truth. But then the same thing happens, because you get a.lot of footage and start making up the story in the editing. On the two films I most enjoyed making, She’s

136 - April CINEMA PAPERS

If you ask me for an interview, that’s all right because I am making a film and you want to talk to me about that. But if you are just sitting having afternoon tea and someone asks, “Can I come into your life?” , that is different.

Is that why you want to work with actors now?

That is what actors have chosen to do, and that is their skill. It is fascinating working with actors b e c a u se you r e a lly c r e a te something. You pool maybe three people’s experiences — yours and the two actors’ — and then create something more than just the script. It is not using people.

I don’t think all documentaries do that, but that’s one of the reasons I wanted to work in drama.

When did production start on “Happy Endings”?

We started rehearsals in the last week in October and shooting in November. My plan was to have it finished by the end of last year, but obviously we are a bit over that now. I felt that if I didn’t shoot it before the end of the year I wasn’t going to make it. It has been going on so long it would have been silly.

I have lots of other things to do.

Where did you start making films?

Someone said there was a place that made docum entary films called the Commonwealth Film Unit, and that I might get a job there as a production assistant; also that they would teach me to be a film director. I wrote them a letter and they had a vacancy. They had an arrangement about a certain percentage of women — like about two girls to 10 boys — and a girl had just left, so I got the job.

It doesn’t seem acceptable now, but when I first started doing it I liked the adventurous life. It seemed great, constantly finding out things and meeting people and getting into situations that you normally wouldn’t get into.

The other thing that appealed to me about film was the combination of visual and intellectual elements.

My mother is an artist and my father writes, so it was a really good blending. And drama might have something to do with that as well. I thought the theatre was wonderful and I always really liked watching television. I can watch television or go to films all the time.

My Sister and Slipway Dreaming, I arranged the material to my own vision. But you can’t arrange people to a vision.

Documentaries are also an imposition on people. You knock on their doors and ask if you can make a film about them. First, it inconveniences them a lot because you are in their house for more than they had ever realized, and, second, you have this terrible thing about how you present them.

If you are working, say, with an average Australian family, there are things they don’t realize are exploitable, and you have to either resist exploiting or know that someone else is going to pick them up. If they speak with very Aust­ ralian accents, you think it is terrific, because they are so typical.

But they don’t see themselves as being typical. All these things come into documentaries and make it a hassle.

Where did the idea for the film come from?

Meg Stewart.

It sort of started as a joke and just expanded. I wrote the scene in the middle to begin with, and then wrote out from it. The scene is in a motel room where two people are watching Jean-Luc Godard’s Contempt on television. I had once done that myself. It is a great combination of images. There is something about a motel room and that film Contempt, because it is about filmmaking anyway.

I really enjoyed writing that scene, so I started building on from it, working outwards, which I often do when editing. In fact, I quite often don’t start at the beginning.

As soon as I start using scissors and cutting up, I feel happier. I really like making things. I suppose that’s why I like films. I don’t like writing as such, but I like sticking together and making patterns, and working like that.

Meg Stewart

I

John Hargreaves and Penne Hackforth-Jones in the motel bedroom. Meg Stewart’s Happy Endings.

How do you feel about directing a film directors appear to be. I am drama for the first time? not interested in having to control vast amounts of people. I can’t even bear the notion of being a The work I did as a continuity ringmaster. girl was useful because I worked on I can see the fascination of a lot of dramas in one capacity or saying, “ Let’s shoot the procession another. So the actual form of it is and let’s have three crews and a not too terrifying. The good thing is helicopter” and all that stuff, but I you can get actors to do it again, feel the good thing about drama is which you can’t in documentaries. that you can have a first assistant You coax actors in the same way who can shout at people. I have no you coax people to give a good desire to shout at people and if the interview; you start relating to them first assistant is really good, he/she and putting your energy into them. can do all that. Then I can devote It is almost as though you are my time to the actors and the getting them to perform for you. cameraperson.

Then it is not such an amazing But the responsibility always jump to be able to communicate comes back to the director, because with actors. everybody wants to know, and you I found doing the test scenes with have to be able to tell them. But it is the actors very stimulating and very time-consuming. To make a d e m a n d in g . W hen we w ere film like that means your whole life rehearsing we went through every is taken over, and the end product line, and they would ask, “ What may not be as you wanted it to be. does this line mean?” And I didn’t I can’t imagine spending all my write the script going into great life wheeling and dealing getting explanations of every line, I just massive projects underway. It wrote it thinking: if so-and-so says would be good to write a feature this, then Angela’s going to say film, and it would possibly be good that. I became very careful — to direct one, but I wouldn’t want because it is very much between two to be directing one feature film people — of how you can shift the after another. The other thing is, in balance. Stephen would come out everything I have done, in radio on top in the dialogue in one scene, programs and in the sort of writing but, if you added one more line of that I would like to do, I draw on dialogue, Angela would come out living experiences. And if you are on top. Then it can change with the working all the time, you can’t performers — the intonation or the have any living experiences. I strength of the actors changes it suppose you do [while making again. The thing I was conscious of films], but that gets back to the in the script was trying to get that unreality of theatre. balance between them.

The next thing I would want to do as far as drama goes is write a Do you see yourself directing scripts feature script, rather than direct written by other people? one. The difficult thing about drama and films is that I don’t need I would consider something to be the general in feature filmmaking. This means that I am offered to me by someone else to do not as dedicated as a lot of male — I would alw ays consider

anything, and also money — but the thing about directing that is hard is I would want to be very confident about my knowledge of the script. I don’t think I would be able to direct an episode of Cop Shop at the moment, though if I were shut in a room and told to direct Cop Shop I suppose I probably could. I guess I could tell the criminals how they should be interpreting the role. I’d feel uneasy about directing the action se­ quences or choreographing fights, but I guess I would get someone in to choreograph the fight for me. I guess it would depend on whether I liked the script and how confident I felt about the characters.

If I had an ideal, if I were going to have a career as a Hollywood­ style director, it would be to make non-mainstream films, experi­ mental films that were commercial but were just slightly more true to a sort of artistic intent. I think Bob Rafelson is a good director. I used to watch Five Easy Pieces again and again. And then I thought John Huston’s Fat City was my favorite film. And then there are even funny films like I Walk the Line, with Tuesday Weld and Gregory Peck, films that have something differ­ ent.

Lots of small films can be really good. I do like the extravaganza things, straight adventure if you want to get lost on an afternoon.

Filmography: Meg Stewart 1975 She’s My Sister 1976 Slipway Dreaming 1977 Hal Porter Remembers Eve Langley They Reckon a Woman’s World’s Just It and a Bit 1978 Not Just the Object Joining the Mouse Race 1979 The Thompsons 1982 Happy Endings

But a lot of films that are success­ ful seem quite small in terms of actors and controllability.

I am not that obsessed with drama. I can be really interested in whatever project I am doing.

Veronica Soul stayed with me for a couple of days and I got really inspired by her. I wanted to make a film using the sorts of things she did; a documentary, but using animation techniques.

If I decided to do that, it would absorb me as thoroughly as making a feature film. But perhaps once I have made a feature film it is something I would want to keep doing. Perhaps it is the ultimate sort of media exposure, which I don’t even think about that much.

To entertain a cinema full of people is probably quite an extraordinary experience. If I did it every night for six weeks it is probably even more extraordinary. *

Penne Hackforth-Jones and John Hargreaves: shades o f Jean-Luc Godard. Happy Endings.

CINEMA PAPERS April - 137

RIVKA HARTMAN You were an play but it is only 40 minutes long actress before you — not a commercial length. I wrote it when I was 21 and now I have an started writing . . . active dislike for this kind of From 1969 to 1974, chaotic, emotional archaeology. It I was an actress at La was workshopped successfully at Mama in Carlton. I was the National Playwrights’ Confer­ lucky to be a part of that scene. ence in 1977.

While the actors at the Melbourne Theatre Company were still speak­ How did you get into film? ing with British accents and calling My only experience in Film up each other “darling” , we were hypercritically and overtly Aus­ until 1974 was small roles in local tralian. The First plays of Jack Hib- productions like Brakefluid. I cut berd, John Romeril, Alex Buzo and my first workprint around that time David Williamson were performed — a 200 ft (60 m) film which por­ at La Mama, and I acted in the trayed a woman’s thoughts by a original productions of Dimboola succession of jum p cuts and and The Coming o f Stork. increasing close-ups. It worked well During this time I started direct­ ing plays and devised my own drama workshops. When I was doing fifth-year medicine, I ran drama workshops with the inmates of Larundel Psychiatric Hospital. I had the courage to try anything. By 8 a.m. I had to be in the operating theatre assisting the anaesthetist.

My lunchtimes were spent per­ forming at schools and factories with the Portable Players. At night, I directed rehearsals at La Mama.

It was an active, if undirected, time.

though, even though I didn’t think of moving the camera. The effect was like one of those cartoon book­ lets which, when you flip the pages, create a continuous movement.

Why did you go into film after medi­ cine, rather than the theatre?

I always loved film, but it was a matter of not having the oppor­ tunity. Although I acted in several Films and made one short comedy, it wasn’t until 1975 that I got my First scriptwriting job.

How would you describe the kinds of films you have made and the sort of things you want to make?

How did you make the transition from acting to writing?

I was always an analytical person and I was friendly with other writers. This and a tendency for depression made me a natural candidate.

Improvization was a big part of our rehearsals and street theatre, and we were encouraged to write our own dialogue and this de­ mystified the written word for me.

This was the time you wrote ‘Dream Girl’ . . . ?

Dream Girl was a play that came directly from my em otional memory. Scenes from my child­ hood and adolescence came tumb­ ling out of me with amazingly accurate recall. It is a funny, honest

138 - April CINEMA PAPERS

Rivka Hartman and actors in Hartman's Consolation Prize.

Consolation Prize is a slapstick comedy which I made as a vehicle to act in. There was only one other professional actor in the entire cast of hundreds. On A Most Attractive Man, I worked with professional actors and sync-sound on someone else’s script. I am particularly interested in comedy, but I feel open to any sort of Film.

Is there comedy in “ A Most Attractive Man”?

Yes, it is a witty black comedy.

How did you find the script for it?

Through a chance meeting with

Rivka Hartman

I

N

D

the writer in Darling St, Balmain. Did your theatre background help in At least two other people had tried film directing? to get funding for the project, but it was the team of Gilly Coote and Directing film is totally different myself which finally got the film off from directing for stage. I think the ground. film actors should consider them­ selves filmmakers and be familiar Would you again direct another with the camera and understand the person’s script? reason for each shot. Dialogue in film is more naturalistic than in Yes. I am looking for scripts at theatre where conventions allow the moment. On A Most Attractive you to use poetic speech or even Man, I enjoyed interpreting some­ didactic argument. Theatricality in one else’s work. You always learn film is strange and usually doesn’t something when you approach a work. subject from someone else’s point Perhaps film can’t be as power­ of view. ful as a strong live performance, but it is more able to communicate In preference to writing and a closeness and identification with directing your own work . . . characters. I think my acting and writing and everything I did in I don’t want to write, but I would theatre has been valuable exper­ like to be involved in the writing ience. Consolation Prize proved process. It would be ideal to work this, but it is a primitive film. A on a day-to-day basis with two or Most Attractive Man is much more three writers. Initially, I would act advanced. as a script editor and later as a director.

Who influences you?

When you say two or three writers, do you mean on the same project?

My mother and grandmother were devoted film buffs, and my Yes. Writing is the first stage in brother and I were regulars at the filmmaking, which is a collabora­ local Saturday matinees. I thrived tive process. Writing with two on a diet of serials and B-grade people is more than twice as easy as films on television. My grand­ writing alone. This is especially true mother and I would watch this of comedy. sentimental trash and we would What about the integrity of the always have a good sob at the romantic parts. Now I love Fed­ writer? erico Fellini’s La strada, Marcel The work of the writer and Carne’s Les enfants du paradis and director overlap to some extent. It the Marx Brothers. is best for the integrity of the film When I made Consolation Prize, when director and writer have a I studied the early silent comedies good understanding; but at some of people like Buster Keaton and stage the director takes over.

Charlie Chaplin. They had years of

Carole Skinner, Grigor Taylor and Julie McGregor during a break in filming o f Hartman’s A

Most Attractive Man.

R

A

experience in vaudeville which gave them immaculate timing and a great knowledge of how to make people laugh. It is a pity that Mabel Normand, who taught them both about film, never achieved the fame or the opportunity to direct.

They were total filmmakers — like other writer-director-actor-come­ dians like Mae West, Jacques Tati and Woody Allen, all of whom have influenced me. Billy Wilder is a director with the greatest sense of humor. His films like Some Like It Hot and One Two Three are the funniest of all.

Have you met any resistance as a woman working in film?

Film is dominated by men, like the rest of society. I have had assessors patronize me and lab technicians trea t me like an imbecile. In each case it happened because I am a woman. In general, women are better to work with.

Their conditioning has trained them to consider others, and that’s the basis of working on a film.

Would you employ women on a film in preference to men?

I have never been put in that position. I think I’d treat each case as it comes.

M

A

Rivka Hartman Filmography 1975 1978 1979 1981

Fantasy Sequence The Battle of Mice and Frogs Consolation Prize A Most Attractive Man

fited from this. However, the person who did our lighting, Paul Tate, is fantastic to work with. Our art director is a man, too.

What do you think about the films Australians are making at the moment?

I think it’s an exciting time for Australian films. I admire people like Gill Armstrong, Steve Wal­ lace and Phil Noyce. I’d like to see more contemporary stories about real people set in the city — films like Love Letters From Teralba Road, Mouth To Mouth and Pure S . ... I love the Italian neo-realist films like Bicycle Thieves, because they are simple, emotional stories of people in the city. I’d love to make an Australian Midnight Cowboy.

What sort of films would you consider directing?

It is a delicate balance between being open and discriminating. I Was it accidental that most of the crew for “A Most Attractive Man” don’t much like neurotic films. I am interested in stories about were women? survival.

Yes; we simply chose the best If you were asked to direct “Mad people for the job. It’s true that Max 3”, what would you say? these turned out to be mostly women, and I think the shoot bene­ I’d say I’d read the script. ★

Dorian (Grigor Taylor) and Frances (Carole Skinner): A

Most Attractive Man.

CLYTIE JE S S O P I

think women directors have a dif­ ferent way of depicting charac­ ters and scenes in a film. Even with a gutsy director like Gillian Arm­ strong one can still tell the film has been directed by a woman. They seem to bring more intimacy to scenes — maybe it’s just a way of handling sensory things. Certain male directors have this ability too, but generally women seem to have it more.

Also, female characters in their films come across stronger. Many male writers are not good at depict­ ing women. They are usually all right when it comes to old women, but the young ones are very often stereotypes. Even Dostoyevsky’s and Shakespeare’s heroines are mostly insipid, sweet nothings, aren’t they?

How do you feel about the por­ trayal of women in Australian films?

I don’t think many contem­ porary roles have shown women in any depth. Very often the actresses have nothing to get their teeth into.

Ed like to see more scripts written by women. I think this could be the answer. We could do some really good things.

There seem to be more roles for women in theatre . . .

Even then there are very few really great roles, for great act­ resses. And whether they like to admit it or not, most actresses would like to be great. But they really need a very strong part to achieve this.

Is there a common theme in your work?

The subjects very much dictate what I do. Until now, the docu­ mentaries I have done have been on artists. I am totally influenced by the artists I try to represent. In a sense, this feature film I am doing [Emma’s War] will be the same. It’s dictated by the characters and

Last year I took the third draft to children, very lonely — so she London with me and showed it to drinks too much.

Alan Seymour and asked him what he thought of it. He wrote me a And will it be made this year? . . . two-page criticism which was very constructive and helped with ideas Yes, we hope so. about how to make it stronger, without losing its integrity. I also Does this depend on the money showed the draft to Sandy Lieber- arriving in time? son who said he thought it was a You have written the script. Will well-written, imaginative script, Yes. I have people who will put you direct it? and that was encouraging. money in providing the AFC come to the party. I’ll know in the next Yes. I wrote it with my husband, Was Lieberson still with Warner couple of weeks where I stand there.

Peter Smalley, and at the moment Bros? it looks as though I will be pro­ Yes, but he is now with the Ladd It appears you will be using a small ducing it, too. The producers I have approached here have all been too Company. He liked it, but he didn’t crew . . . busy to even read it. So, because I think it would interest an inter­ wanted to get on with it, I just had national audience because it was A very small crew; the absolute to go out and get cracking. too Australian. At this point it was minimum. I think that is going to I started writing it as a book very gentle, so I doubt if it would be better for working with children, about four years ago, and I took hav e re a c h e d an a u d ie n c e and getting performances out of what I had written in to Peter’s anywhere, really. them. editor at Andre Deutsch, who I then took the draft to Greg thought it would make a good film. Coote at Roadshow and he said How confident are you about We came home to Australia [from much the same sort of thing: it was directing actors?

Britain] and I sent an outline to the too gentle, not dramatic enough for A ustralian Film Commission. a feature, more suitable for tele­ Well, I was an actress myself, Steve W allace and the other vision. He suggested putting more and I worked with some marvel­ assessors said they liked the idea sex into it! lous directors. I worked with Jack and gave me a little bit of money — Clayton on The Innocents; I played I think $300 — to develop the treat­ What was your reaction to that? the part of Miss Jessel, the ghost. ment. I thought that was very One of the things he did when we At one point I thought, “God, we had a difficult scene — where he encouraging! Ridiculous, actually, but anyway . . . are changing the whole concept of had to do a close-up of me crying the script and I will end up with this — was to clear the set. There were psychological dram a about a only Jack and Freddie Francis, the How did you go about writing it? teenage girl.” But I didn’t want to lighting cameraman,, and about When we discussed the project, I do a Margarethe von Trotta-type eight people instead of 80.

I think a lot of directors and had talked about the idea of using drama about the psychological dis­ improvizations with the actors. But turbances of two sisters. It’s meant actors would work better that way. when I started the treatment, I real­ to be a film about the celebration of Thrat scene ended being cut, ized I was never really going to get life as seen by an adolescent, a film anyway. Truman Capote, who a script together if the whole thing which will try to point out, in a wrote the script along with John were only going to be set out as subtle way, the stupidity of war.

Mortimer and Jack, thought all the Actually, I was able to take some close-ups of the ghost were too guidelines for improvizations. I thought I would have to — at some of the suggestions people made and point — sit down and write a script, develop them without changing my feeling for the script. We devel­ so I started.

A few months later I went back oped a sensory scene for the mother to the AFC and the assessors (a which will give the actors a chance different lot, of course) thought the to do interesting things. So I did script was lousy, more like a novel take their advice and it’s much than a script. I was pretty dis­ better now, because it’s become tressed about it. I came home to my much stronger. husband, who is a scriptwriter and novelist, and because he hated to Who have you thought of casting in see me so upset he said, “ I don’t it? want to have much to do with it, because it’s not my sort of thing — I gave the script to Michele Fawit’s all about women and adoles­ don, who’s reading it. I want her to cent girls — but I will edit it for play the part of the mother; it’s a you.” So he started to edit it and lovely part for her. She has to be a began to see possibilities in it which lush and still retain the audience’s he hadn’t observed before. Then we sympathy. She is a warm, sensual Michele Fawdon (in Cathy’s Child): to star decided to work on it together. woman, very protective of her in E m m a’s War. by the time they live in. There is a certain mood I want to get, of the 1940s, the war. I don’t want it to be a heavy psychological drama.

I want it to be a film that portrays the period and gives you some insight into the characters of the woman and her two children, and what the war does to them.

Clyde Jessop

earthy, so out they went.

I had very good training in New York at the Theatre Studio with Curt Conway and Lonnie Chap­ man, and I have worked with people like Dustin Hoffman. So I am not at all worried about direct­ ing actors. There are certain things that are going to worry me — keep­ ing the camera fluid and so on — but once I start the first scene and am into it, anything that looks w rong w ill q u ic k ly becom e apparent and can be corrected. A very low budget doesn’t give much margin for error, though.

Will you have someone to handle production things during the shoot?

budget and work within it. I did that with Flamingo Park and it’s very satisfying knowing that it can be done. That one pulled it off.

This will be your first drama . . .

People ask me why I haven’t done a short film first. Well, the answer is that it is so difficult to get them shown and it seems an awful waste of time, money and hard work to do a film that is probably doomed to sit on a shelf. By attempting a feature length, one can at least have a go on the market place.

How did the 85-minute length arrive?

Yes, I am going to have a very good production assistant. I’ll be Well, I was aiming at 90. It’s a directing, but I’ll have a lot to do fairly spare sort of script and it with the art direction, too. I have a definite idea about the look of the film. I’ll have a design co-ordinator working with me and looking for props and everything, but the overall decisions about the look of the film will be mine. Brian Probyn w ill be d o in g s o m e t e s t s and then we will decide which of two very different kinds of period look we will go for — either a soft, warm, velvety look, or a strong decorative look where the patterns th e sh a d o w s m a k e w ill be emphasized.

How long will the shoot be?

Four weeks, with four weeks’ pre-production and 12 weeks’ editing. It is very quick — I just hope it doesn’t look like a quickie.

might take another five minutes either way, depending on how much time we devote to filming the land­ Filmography: Clyde Jessop scape, which is an important part of the film. It was originally con­ ceived as an hour-long film, but I 1970 The Stolen Child 1977 David Boyd: Return to Sfumato couldn’t achieve the slow kind of 1978 Conrad Martens: 1801-1878 dramatic build-up I wanted at that 1979 Flamingo Park 1982 Emma’s War (in preparation) length; it seems to sit right at its present length. There are some very good sad moments and some very happy ones which one wouldn’t have been able to get into a shorter script without cluttering it. It ends have always felt that budgets for on a high note, which is good: films are ridiculously high. It is just Armistice Day in Martin Place. It a shocking waste of money. Even will be news footage because of our with marvellous directors like Jack Clayton, I was always aware of the low budget. horrible waste of money; it just Do you think we should be making didn’t seem necessary.

I think it is quite good to try and more low-budget films? , stick to low budgets. A lot of the Yes. I feel that quite strongly. I world’s greatest directors made their best films on low budgets. The flops usually occur when they have too much money.

I find it a bit alarming to hear people discussing their films in terms of millions instead of con­ tent. And in certain areas one isn’t taken seriously if one admits to working on a low budget. It’s dotty.

Still, I have to admit that, every now and then, when I see an expen­ sive production with anamorphic — Panavision, Steadicam , Dolby sound . . . the works — then I would love to have a go at some­ thing like that. I’d love to do a really expensive thriller — not for the money, but just to be able to use this marvellous technology.

Can you tell me a bit about “Flam­ ingo Park”, particularly about the way you have sold it?

What gauge will you be using?

We will probably use Super 16 and blow it up. Peter Butt’s film No Such A Place looked great blown up and so did Flamingo Park. It’s going to be easier using a 16mm camera, and we will also have to do a fair amount of hiking up and down mountains — a lot of it is being shot in a valley in the Blue Mountains — so we don’t want to carry heavy equipment anyway.

What will you do with the film when it is finished?

The script at the moment is with Roadshow, but I really see it more as an art-house type film, maybe showing somewhere like the Dendy in Sydney. I don’t see with that kind of budget it is going to be the sort of film that Warners would be in terested in d is trib u tin g . It depends . . . if the acting really takes off and it moves people, then I think it might. But we are really going to be up against it with such a low budget. I like to settle on a

C olum bia-E M I-W arner paid 3000 pounds ($5100) for the rights for three years. That was just for the British rights, but compared to what Roadshow paid me — $500 for five years’ Australian rights — it seemed very good for a short.

The AFC had loaned me the money for the 35mm blow-up and Roadshow and Columbia-EM IWarner used the 35mm negative.

Columbia-EMI-Warner must have spent four times as much as I spent making the film on the 100 prints they had done. I wanted the film to be seen by as wide an audience as possible, so I was pleased with both those sales, although in retrospect I don’t think the money paid was adequate. It has also been sold to W NET-TV in New York for $5000. Apparently it’s a good station — what they call a “highclass station” ! I’ve had a lot of print sales locally: the National Gallery in Canberra, the Art Gal­ lery of New South Wales and the State film libraries have all bought it. ★

CINEMA PAPERS April - 141

. . an invaluable reference for anyone with an in terest — vested or alt ru is tic — in the co n tin u in g film renaissance down under . . . ” VARIETY “ The m o s t useful reference book for me in the past y e a r . . . ” Ray Stanley SCREEN INTERNATIONAL “ The Australian M otio n Picture Yearbook is a great asset to the film in d u stry in this country. We at Kodak find it invaluable as a reference aid for the in d u s try .”

David Wells Manager Motion Picture and Audio Visual Markets Division KODAK “ . . . one has to admire the detail and e ffo rt which has gone in to the yearbook.

It covers alm os t every conceivable facet o f the film in dustry and the p u b lis h e r ’s cla im that it is ‘the only comprehensive ye llo w page guide to the film in d u s t r y ’ is irre fu ta b le .”

THE AUSTRALIAN “ Anyone intere sted in Australian films, whether in the in d u stry or who ju s t enjoys watchin g them, will find ple nty to in tere st him in this b o o k . ” THE SUN-HERALD (Sydney) “ This s ig n ific a n t p u b lic a tio n is valuable no t only to pro fe ssio n a ls but everyone intere sted in Australian f ilm . ” THE HERALD (Melbourne) “ May I co ngra tu la te you on your Australia n M otio n Picture Yearbook. It is a s p le n d id ly use ful p u b lic a tio n to us, and I ’m sure to m os t people in, and outside, the b u s in e s s .”

Mike Walsh HAYDEN PRICE PRODUCTIONS “ The 1981 version o f the Australian M o tio n Picture Yearbook is not only bigger, i t ’s better — as g lo ssy on the ou tsid e as too m any Australia n film s try to be and as pack ed with c o ntent as m any more Australian film s ought to be THE SYDNEY MORNING HERALD “ I have been receiving the Cinema Papers M otio n Picture Yearbook for the p ast tw o years, and always find it to be full o f intere stin g and use ful inform atio n and facts. It is easy to read and the form at is set out in such a way that in fo rm a tio n is easy to find. I consid er the Yearbook to be an asset to the o f f ic e . ” Bill Gooley COLORFILM . . another good effort from the Cinema Papers team, and essential as a desk-top reference for anybody in tere sted in our feature film in d u s try .”

THE ADELAIDE ADVERTISER “ An in d ispensable reference for anyone w orkin g in or dealin g with the Australian film in d u s try .”

David White BROOKS WHITE ORGANIZATION Publicists ” . . . a ca re fully researched and co mprehensiv e directory of show-biz Australia n style, the M otio n Picture Yearbook is an indispensa ble guide — an encyclopaedia of one of the m ost progress ive and excit in g film in dustrie s to emerge this c e n tu r y ."

CLEO

The

Third

(1 9 8

The Third E d itio n o f the M o tio n P ic tu re Y earbook w ill b e to ta lly revis ed a n d u p d a te d .

A s in th e p a st, all e n tra n ts w ill be c o n ta c te d to c h e c k th e a c c u ra c y o f e n trie s, a n d m a n y n e w c a te g o rie s w ill be a d d e d to th e Y ellow P a g es d ire c to ry a n d film p e rs o n n e l c h e c k lis ts .

The Yearbook w ill a g a in ta k e a d e ta ile d lo o k at w h a t ’s b e e n h a p p e n in g in all s e c tio n s o f the A u s tra lia n film s c e n e over th e p a s t year, in c lu d in g fin a n c in g , d is trib u tio n a n d e x h ib itio n , telev is io n , film festiva ls , m e d ia , c e n s o rs h ip a n d aw ard s.

A n e w s e rie s o f p ro file s is als o u n d e rw a y a n d w ill h ig h lig h t th e c a re e rs o f d ire c to r P e te r Weir, c o m p o s e r Brian M ay , d is trib u to r /e x h ib ito r D a v id W illiam s , e d ito r Bill A n d e rs o n a n d a c to r M e l G ib s o n .

A n e w a ttra c tio n in the 1983 e d itio n w ill be an e x te n s iv e e d ito ria l s e c tio n c o m p ris in g th re e fe a tu re a rtic le s on a s p e c ts o f A u s tra lia n a n d in te rn a tio n a l c in e m a , in c lu d in g film fin a n c in g , s p e c ia l e ffe c ts , a n d a su rv ey o f th e im p a c t our film s are h a ving in th e U.S. Specifications

Schedule f t

Size Extent Printing

B5 (240 x 180mm) 480 pp (approx.)

Cover: 260 gsm s/sided art board, laminated one side, printed 4-color throughout.

Text: 242 1-color. 150 pp on colored stock, 8 pp 4-color.

Design

Price

Extensively illustrated editorial text in mono, 2 and 4-color. Directory chapters color-coded. Detailed section identification on tops and sides of pages. $19.95 (approx.)

For release in September 1982.

Deadlines for advertising m aterial on applica tion.

For in fo rm a tio n ab ou t ra te s a n d d e a d lin e s , c o n ta c t P e g g y N ic h o lls on (03) 830 1097

rt was never of great interest to the masses, and certainly wasn’t enter­ taining when it was a tool to present them with icons for worship in the golden age of Christianity, or when paintings were commissioned to inflate importance of officialdom through portraiture.

Before the 1800s, art had only been the property of the people when artists made personal state­ ments or observations, which seemed to be the privilege of the Dutch painters from Hieronymous Bosch through Bruegel and Sons to Rembrandt, while all other image making and music was produced within religious or monarchic requirements: for the glorification of man in the eyes of man, or man in the eyes of his gods. The social/political illustrators of the 17th and 18th centuries in Britain prove an exception to this general rule (Hogarth, Rowlandson, Gillray), but art was not freed from the hold of the cogniscenti until the mid-19th Century.

Conversely, art cannot exist in a world of its own; it must be broadcast, shared and discussed.

The man sitting alone in a room of his house, giggling uncontrollably, is not a comedian until he bothers to go out and make other people laugh, either with him or at him. Similarly, a film cannot realize its potential without being made public. Consequently, it is worth a look at the state of the arts in general — at a few prevalent attitudes to it, and its relationship with the rest of the outside world. It seems to be pretty difficult for film to be accepted as an art­ form — the subject is badly taught at schools, and only considered from the point of view of criticism (after the event), or as a potential trade. Peter Wollen makes this point in his book Signs and Meanings in the Cinema (1969): “ . . . universities still continue to parade a phantom of aesthetics, robbed of immediacy and failing in energy, paralysed by the enormity of the challenge that has been thrown down (at the feet of aesthetics by cinema).”

Yet it remains as simple as this: films, like books, are messages that people leave behind when they go. The theoretical study of film is no more complicated than the study of painting or music — the picmises are the same as they always have been — and, as the photographer

A

ue to its visual nature and its roots, one has to face the fact that cinema is a contemporary artform. What is more, it is a popular artform: like all artforms of today, for the first time in the history of western man, it belongs to the people rather than being the sole prop­ erty of the monk, recluse, dilettante, idiot king or the church.

CINEMA PAPERS April - 143

Film Production Design/Part Two

and painter Man Ray observed, “There is no progress in art any more than there is in love­ making.”

All the arts in the 20th Century are open slather for anyone. Every aspect of mainstream work that has developed since World War 2 has been the result of innovation, experimentation, writing and discussion, leaving one a freedom never enjoyed before, and consequently no clear signposts to follow. Yet, art still adheres to principles and strictures that are as old as the hills that some of the earliest western pictures were carved into.

The creative world is richer and busier than ever. Dozens of objects are tossed into orbit around the earth each year. There are people walking about with synthetic organs inside them, but the artist acts like a gourmet standing in an exotic delicatessen at a loss for what to buy for his supper; whereas, in fact, we now have the entire history of mankind, and his leftovers (or “ art” , if you like), as our palette and visual vocabulary, to be used in any combination to express whatever we feel in painting, music, film or sculpture. What a splendid opportunity. Why, then, do we live in such a creatively-sterile climate? • Some established artworks are as popular as ever: deliver a bundle of Blue Boy re­ productions to a supermarket, and they will be out the door as fast as electric drills in the week before Father’s Day. The image is well established — very obviously, a picture of a young man dressed in New Romantic style — and it is uncontroversial. Why?

had not realized that Melbourne was capable of this kind of genius.

The poet Paul Éluard had something to say on this subject when he described the work of the Marquis de Sade: “ Written almost entirely in prison, the work seems to be for ever in disgrace and banned.

The price that must be paid for its appearance in the light of day is the disappearance of a world where stupidity and cowardice bring with them all of our misery.”

In a world where anything goes, we still try to arrange everything into an order. Each new art movement or fashion that emerges is swiftly

ut how about the commissioning, designing and erection of that bright yellow sculpture for the city square in Melbourne? The piece is actually called Vault, referring to the curved, leaping pieces and the enclosed vault below them. The piece was commissioned (by the city council that was uprooted only shortly before the sculpture was uprooted) to grace the bare Blue Boy — supermarket sales by the hundred. floor of the new city square. The reaction by the Above: press and public was strikingly similar to that of Vault, now in its new home o f Batman Park. a pack of hyenas, accustomed to having the vast wastes of a desert to itself, coming across an archaeology expedition encamped for the night, setting upon them and eating every last soul. Melbourne’s citizens ate all the more ravenously when that “ moral whore” and champion of free thought and speech, the press, disclosed the price that had been paid for the sculpture.

The piece in question had to suffer the indignity of being used as a graffiti board and to wear its popular and bigoted title of the “yellow peril” , before being moved to a small park by the Yarra.

The council which ordered the piece from Donald Swan must surely have approved the design and costing of this inanimate object on which so many people have vented their aggression against the Asians and asserted their determination not to look at anything that exists without apparent function; yet the council did not defend its democratic decision to com­ mission the work. Despite the fact that Vault is by modern standards a conservative sculpture, Swan will probably not enjoy any acclaim for it until he is safely dead and buried, the rarity of the piece then increasing its value out of all pro­ portion to its worth.

I saw the commissioning, erection, dis­ mantling and resiting of Vault as one extended “ happening” , an almost perfect example of that artform. I recognized the concept of collective artworks (as a filmmaker must), and that the function and duty of the artist is to reflect and demonstrate the state of society of the time. I

B

144 - April CINEMA PAPERS

Below:

categorized, and attem pts are made to rationalize the new as being a progression of its precursor. However, it is impossible to think in this linear manner without severe cerebral hemorrhage, because man, and his creations, exist in a continuum, not in separate, sequential time capsules, like an evening’s television programming. e live with an ongoing de­ velopment of past ideas, helped and hindered as we go by genuinely new inventions or discoveries, while the issues under discussion remain the same: how ensure eternal life?; the good-evil dialogue; what is life?; who am 1?; what am I doing here?’; what is love?; can men and women live together in peace?; what is reality?; and when do we get paid?, etc.

This continuum of previous ideas being constantly re-developed leads to some confusion between image and concept. Stylistic labels that have derived from innovative movements of the past are easily recognized when directly referred to graphically, but the concepts encapsulated within those images have already been passed into our collective consciousness. This is clearly illustrated by the work of the surrealist movement, whose main body of work under that group heading was done between the two world wars. “ Surreal” and “surrealist” are words now used, often carelessly, to attempt to explain an image or a mood created by an unusual lighting effect or that shows an object out of its normal context (but not necessarily stating anything as a result). In other words, the contemporary view of surrealist ideas is linked with the paintings, objects and photographs by the group — the images they created — rather than with the poetry, writing and films which show clearly that it was a movement of ideas and thoughts and jokes rather than a visual movement, such as the Post Impressionist school had been. However, these ideas were expressed articulately in a visual way, giving yet another frame of reference.

W

Film Production Design/Part Two

Above: The bridge “illuminated by night like a fairground”.

Francis C oppola’s Apocalypse Now. Right: Vincente Minnelli’s An American in Paris with its painted backdrops.

But are we taught how to look at pictures? I suspect that a small child would be able to understand most paintings and images better than many adults, who consider that there is some mysterious secret to “ interpreting” visual images.

Now surrealist notions still persist and will continue to do so, although their physical expression may not be in the particular styles with which we are familiar. A painting does not need to have drooping watches in it to belong to this school of thought. In film, the absurdities and horror of a ghastly wartime situation were expressed as a surrealist notion by Francis Coppola in Apocalypse Now at the point where Willard comes across the bridge illuminated by night like a fairground, the attendant soldiers stoned off their faces as if they were at Mardi Gras. The juxtaposition of these two concepts (a battle and a street party) is,, in essence, a surrealist device to heighten what is a watershed incident that leaves Willard alone for the remainder of his journey up the river to Kurtz’ camp. The imagery cannot be found in the art history books, but the notion can.

P

ast styles of art, and references to them, are famiiiar to many film­ makers, but to quote from the past makes no sense unless the essential meaning of the original image is conveyed. Quotation is a kind of method of expressing a whole idea by showing an image that stands for, or symbolizes, that idea.

I have seen mentioned about a recent Australian Film that such and such a scene was based on the work of painters Rupert Bunny and Hans Heysen, say, and the final outcome of that scene may well have been a photographic inter­ pretation of something that either of those two artists once created. But unless this use of their work im parted som ething extra to the atmosphere of the period, or unless the whole film had been constructed around their images, little has been gained.

Judging from my experience of “ borrowing” from painters, and it is always helpful to look back to other visual media, I would suggest that to mention it in the first place was a mistake, as visual research usually only serves to provide inspiration to help the approach to mood or lighting, for instance. On the other hand, an entire sequence that was based on the work of painters from the Impressionist school (e.g., the Final ballet in Vincente Minnelli’s An American In Paris), works because it combines the visions of 10 artists, who had been working in Paris early

in the century, with the Film’s ability to move the dancers in and out of tableaux and scenes, making the painted images even more expressive by bringing them to life. That sounds rather distasteful, but the effect is pure magic.

Designed by Irene Scharaff (previously Minnelli’s costume designer), these well-known paintings, bouncing with life, do not seem overly bold or outrageous. What is shown quite clearly is that they were originally made from isolated, deep-frozen moments in real life, but we are allowed to enjoy the chorus girls kicking their legs, and the custom ers frolicking in a reconstruction of one of Toulouse-Lautrec’s haunts, that shows both the life of the cafe and the artists’ interpretations at once.

This is, perhaps, quite an involved concept to explain verbally to anyone who is not familiar with cafe society, but understandable to the most naive of audiences once explained on film. In this way, even the most abstract notions can be shorthand communicated to vast sections of the public; by integrating various familiar images and activi­ ties, in this case the atmosphere that generated the original paintings is recreated, thereby also promoting a better understanding of the work of art itself.

This perhaps illustrates an earlier point about advancing the cause of art and thought by use of well-designed film images. Film is one of the few forums available to the artist to promote new concepts — not to a select few peers or to the academic world, but to almost the whole English-speaking world. Take for example music written for film, which might be a sequence of sound effects and musical notes that, were they to be performed in a concert hall, would cause most of the audience to walk out, denouncing the music as modern garbage, having no form and meaning nothing. The critics would label it as avant-garde, daring, modern jazz, or concrete music, using these tags to discuss the work, instead of listening to it and enjoying its free flight.

However, in the context of the film for which the piece was composed, the music may have the most extraordinary effect of raising the

audience’s emotions of fear, sorrow, suspense or laughter because the music is as much illustrated by the accompanying images on the screen as those images are substantiated by the music. The film has been strengthened by the sounds, and the sounds made understandable. The sounds which would have caused so much distress in a concert have been accepted, and it is quite possible that many people will buy a recording of the music to play at home, being able to visualize the images from the film as they listen to it again.

he ability of most people to conceive ideas visually is amazingly restricted, unless it is done for them, despite the fact that anyone can be taught to draw, or play music, or fix a motor car. It is just a matter of being show-n how t process is done with the tools, and (more importantly) the principles of the concepts behind these activities. Yet, there is an innate fear of new ideas, as though they are conceived to throw over old or established concepts: the “ stupidity and cowardice” of which Paul Éluard spoke. Bringing an awareness of ideas, and giving them visual form, is the role and duty of the artist in society.

The artist looks at himself and his sur­ roundings in a critical manner, seeing the ironies, injustices, shames and joys of life with mixed feelings of scepticism, anger, laughter and happiness, and then has to be bold enough to present a visual image of this in public. This relatively harmless member of society has tradi­ tionally been given a hard time by those who pull strings and have any clout with the established order. There is an awful fear that the people will be upset by innovation. If, however, the joy of the creator were shared by the patron of his art, then that spirit would be automatically passed on to the public. This obviously relates to the fine arts as much as to film production.

It is often said of history that it is after the event and not at the time that historians can look back and see truly what has been happening.

T

CINEMA PAPERS April - 145

Film Production DesignJPart Two

“ What will the historians say about us in 50 years?” is not an unusual query, an assumption that by being too close to an event one cannot put it in a proper perspective, which is true to an extent. I see the on-the-spot historian of all ages to be the artist in all his different guises, reflecting and showing the state of society of the time; and sometimes even prophesying events to come, as Da Vinci did so authoritatively. , Man, a conservative animal, does not like to be told that he is thought to differ from his own image of himself, and is quickly distressed by such a suggestion. Modernism of all ages has been consistently abused, misunderstood and misrepresented throughout history; and we can now enjoy laughing at examples from the past.

The music of Mozart was abused because it was seen to be too busy — there were thought to be far too many notes in each piece. But we now see Mozart as one of the fathers of latter-day musical form. The Impressionist painters were shouted down, because, ironically at the time of the advent of photography, their work was not truly a photographic representation of nature.

They were painting light, not reproducing past modes of seeing the world. My grandfather had the opportunity at the beginning of the century to buy works of Paul Cezanne at very reasonable prices when he visited Paris, but declined

I

can distinctly remember, as a child in Britain — perhaps about 10 years old — seeing an interview with an Australian artist or intellectual on our grainy black and white television set. I never knew his name, and I have not seen his haggard since. Against a rough interior wall lit by one splash of weak light, showing the gaunt face with its tousle of short hair, sat a forlorn but determined character wearing a pair of wirerimmed sunglasses and a dark collarless sweater, speaking in a low, hoarse voice. He said something to the effect that Australia is “ no place for a thinking person or artist; the people there have no appreciation of anything . . . it’s hell.”

In the eight years I have lived here now, I have often wondered about this chap: had he ever returned to Australia? Perhaps he is one of our celebrated expatriates, or perhaps he was thrown to the sharks by his own despair, or that of his public. In many ways what he said was wrong: 146 - April CINEMA PAPERS

because he considered the paintings incomplete.

While that conservatism makes us smile today, how often is it happening right under our noses, right r ow?

The Impressionists’ simple but beautiful paintings are now an important part of our visual language. The work of Pablo Picasso has enabled us to recognize a few brisk pencil lines as a poetic rendering of a dove in flight, giving us yet more shorthand devices, including the everyday understanding of forms such as the newspaper cartoon drawing, in all its different characters. The attention by these artists of the early 20th Century to the art of other more primitive cultures has given us an understanding of images from all over the world. Perhaps their appreciation of New Guinea carvings triggers our primordial instincts, reminding us how simple life really is.

But this is the late 20th Century; there will be more to follow after us. There will always be a continuum of creativity and invention. There may be fewer people around on the planet, but the people calling themselves artists will con­ tinue to turn their elders and more reactionary peers apoplectic in the attempt to understand life rather than force a meaning upon it. Maybe there will eventually be some progress in love­ making, who knows?

Australia is really a wonderful place for artists and thinking people — there is a freedom that allows one to think and dream to one’s heart’s content, and then to realize those dreams without too much trouble. Australia has become an adult member of the western world during the past face 20 years; we share our mutual achievements with other countries through the excellent communications systems that we all take for granted. People are taking notice of us: what we have to export in the arts is quite acceptable.

But that hoarse black and white prophet was also quite right in his own way: there is so little conviction that anything but the tried and tested concepts are worthy of consideration. Where is the adventure that gave rise to the country’s growth in the first place? What has happened in the arts, and particularly in filmmaking, is that we are producing a stylistic facsimile of the outside world’s product in the very same way that the civilization of Australia has emulated and reproduced the comforts and safety of western civilization. I do not intend to belittle

A sketch o f a giant crossbow by Leonardo da Vinci, an artist who not only reflected his time but prophesied events to come.

our achievements, but it is important to keep moving on — straight ahead.

After many years of hard work by some dedicated men and women, Australia now has a healthy young film industry. We have made films against all odds, sometimes working for days on end without sleep to make up for lack of funds and to get things done within ridiculouslytight shooting schedules. The technical quality of our work in most areas is of world standard, but it seems that too few filmmakers really know what to do with this wonderful facility; that often the initiators and producers are not up to the standard of their technical crew. .

Until recently the subject matter of films made in Australia was safely devoted to period pieces — ideas safely ensconced in the past — where stories perhaps more relevant to the present day had their edges softened and their messages tempered and lost in the froth of bygone periods and their lush trappings, giving the distinct impression that these filmmakers did not want to be seen to be saying anything of consequence in the first place. There is also a school of thought that to gain acceptance on the international market we must lose our identity in copying customs, accents and traits of the customer countries. Are the Americans going to respect us any more for pretending that we drive on the right-hand side of the road, or for trying to make Sydney look like New York?

here is a generally accepted feeling that if production companies are to promote the development of artists and film form in this country, then they must be prepared to accept the consequent financial losses. If this is a real fear — I have seen a similar phrase in print several times — then it only serves to show that the producers in question are not intimately familiar with the true nature of their professed medium.

It smacks of the medieval attitudes I mentioned earlier. The answer to anyone who wants to sell something new is that it should be packaged in a fresh, compelling manner that reinforces and underscores the idea; and there are people in the film industry — creative people within Australia

T

Concluded on p. 183

HLM CENSORSHIP LISTINGS October 1981

Films examined in terms of the Customs (Cinematograph Films) Regulations and States’ film censorship legislation are listed below.

An explanatory key to reasons for classifying non-“ G” films appears hereunder: Frequency

Films Registered Without Eliminations For General Exhibition (G) The Contract: R. Chow, Hong Kong, 2605m, P. Chan Hardly Working: 20th Century-Fox, U.S., 2441.27m, Fox Columbia Film Dist.

Image Before My Eye« (16mm): J. Waletzky, U.S., 987m, Sharmill Films Kings of the Square Ring (videotape): Y. Kawan, Japan, 102 mins, Landmark Films Madder than Mad (16mm): Not shown, Greece, 987.30m, The Castellorizian Club On Any Sunday II: R. Riddell/D. Shoemaker, U.S., 2454.14m, Harris Robinson Courtenay Advertising Part Time Job: F. Chia, Hong Kong, 2550m, M. Louey Poverty, The Hustler (16mm): Pergantis Film, Greece, 987m, The Castellorizian Club Vanuatu — Struggle to Freedom: Film Australia, Australia, 828m, Film Australia

Not Recommended for Children (NRC) Continental Divine: Universal, U.S., 2743m, Cinema Int’l Corp., L(f-l-j), Ofsexual innuendo) Coward Bastard: Shaw Bros, Hong Kong, 2301.82m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., V(f-l-i) Errant Love: Not shown, Hong Kong, 2268m, Joe Siu Int'l Film Co., Ofemotional stress) The Foreign Student: First Films, Hong Kong, 2414m, Comfort Film Enterprises, Ofadult concepts) The Great Cheat: Hwa Liang Movie Co., Hong Kong, 2475m, Golden Reel Films, Vfi-l-j) Hero at Large (16mm): MGM, U.S., 1042.15m, Amalgamated 16mm Film Dist., Lfl-l-j) Kalyug: S. Kapoor, India, 4224.22m, SKD Film Dist., V(i-N) La cage aux folles II (English dubbed version) (a): United Artists, France/ltaly, 2720.93m, United Artists (A’sia), Vfi-l-j), L(i-l-i) Love Conies from the Sea: C. Ling, Hong Kong, 2797m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Ofadult theme) Maang bharo sajan: Lakshmi Prods, India, 4200m, SKD Film Dist., 0(adult concepts) My Cape of Many Dreams: Not shown, Hong Kong, 2935m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., V(i-l-i) Once Again With Love: L. Shan, Hong Kong, 2490m, Joe Siu Int'l Film Co., Ofemotional stress) - The Prince Love Story: First Films, Hong Kong, 2610m, Comfort Film Enterprises, Vfi-l-j) The Private Eyes (b): R. Chow, Hong Kong, 2578m, P. Chan, Vfi-l-i) Race to the Yankee Zephyr: Hemdale, New Zealand, 2962.44m, GUO Film Dist., Vfi-l-j), Lfi-m-j) Return from Metopo (16mm): Greece, 987m, The Castellorizian Club, Vfi-l-j) Robot Monster: P. Tucker, U.S., 1673m, Valhalla Films, Vfi-l-i) Spring In Autumn: C. Lin, Hong Kong, 2285m, Joe Siu Int'l Film Co., Ofadult theme) The Story of the Green House: Elegant Films Co., Hong Kong, 2602m, Lilond, Ofemotional stress) Trishna: Sippy Films, India, 4200m, SKD Film Dist., Vfi-l-j) (a) English subtitled version shown on March 1981 list, fb) Not identical with Private Eyes (June 1981 list).

For Mature Audiences (M) The Boxer from the Temple: Shaw Bros, Hong Kong, 2642m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Vff-m-g) The Convict Killer: Shaw Bros, Hong Kong, 2726.97m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Vfi-m-j) The Devil’s Men (16mm): Getty Picture Corp., Britain/Greece, 987.30m, Anjohn Int’l, Sfi-l-g), Vfi-m-j) El Salvador el pueblo vencera (16mm): Institute Cinemato-Grafico Del Salvador Revolucionaio, El Salvador, 877m, Le Clezio Films, Vfi-m-j) An Eye for an Eye: Avco Embassy, U.S., 2872.46m, Hoyts Dist., Vff-m-g) From Riches to Rags: Not shown, Hong Kong, 2989m, P. Chan, Vff-m-g) The King and the Eunuch: T. Lung, Hong Kong, 2454.14m, Comfort Film Enterprises, Vfi-m-g) Legend of Feng Hsui: Shaw Bros, Hong Kong, 2610m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Ofnudity) Les heritleres: Gaumont, Hungary/France, 2844.58m, Sharmill Films, Ofadult theme) Love Between the Raindrops: Filmove Studio Barrandov, Czechoslovakia, 3458m, Roadshow Dist., Sfi-m-j) Mission for the Dragon: Asso Asia Film, Hong Kong, 2219m, Eupo Film Co., Vff-m-g) The Mortal Storm: Golden Harvest, Hong Kong, 2605.85m, Dynasty Film Dist., Vfi-m-g) The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia: Avco Em­ bassy, U.S., 2989.87m, Hoyts Dist., Lfi-l-g) Ofsexual innuendo) Paternity: L. Gordon/H. Moonjean, U.S., 2496.13m, Cinema Int’l Corp., Ofadult theme) The Patriot Game (16mm): Iskra, France, 1020m, Australian Film Institute, Vff-m-j) Prince of the City: B. Harris, U.S., 4418m, Warner Bros (Aust.), Vfi-l-j), Lff-m-j) Quartet: I. Merchant, Britain/France, 2760.91m, Fox Columbia Film Dist., Sfi-l-j), Ofadult concepts) The Shaolin Invincibles: Elegant Films Co., Hong Kong, 2545m, Lilond, Vff-m-g) The Snake Man: Dararoath Film, Hong Kong, 2743m, Lilond, Vfi-m-g) So Fine: M. Hobell, U.S., 2482.03m, Roadshow Dist., Sfi-l-g), Lff-m-g) Thunderground (16mm): Barry Cross Prods, Australia, 833.87m, Barry Cross Prods, Lfi-m-g), Ofsexual innuendo) To Sir With Trouble: Kays Prod., Hong Kong, 2513.09m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Ofsexual innuendo) Wolfen: Orion Pictures, U.S., 3123m, Warner Bros (Aust.), Vff-m-j) Writing Kung Fu: Y. Kang, Hong Kong, 2428.89m, Lilond, Vff-m-g)

Explicitness/lntensity

Infrequent

Frequent

i i i i

f f f f

S (Sex) ............................

V (Violence)......................

L (Language) ...................

0 (Other) .........................

For Restricted Exhibition (R)

Behind the Green Door (modified British version) (videotape): Mitchell Bros, U.S., 64 mins, Hollywood House Video, Sff-m-g) Bye Bye Brazil: L. Barreto, Brazil/France, 2700m, Pan American Prods, Sfi-m-j) Candy Goes to Hollywood (reconstructed pre-censor cut version) (a): G. Palmer, U.S., 1952.16m, Cinerama Films, Sff-m-g) Carnal Games (reconstructed versions) (b): B. Gripe, U.S., 1261.78m, A.Z. Associated Theatres, Sff-m-g) Endstatlon freihelt (Slow Attack): M. Held, W. Ger­ many, 3095.57m, Rota Films, Sfi-m-j) Fear No Evil: Laloggia Prod., U.S., 2705m, Hoyts Dist., Vff-m-g) High Finance (pre-censor cut version) (16mm): S. Cohen, U.S., 559.47m, 14th Mandolin, Sft-m-g) Lady Chatterley’s Lover: A. Djaoui/C. Pierce, Britain, 2844.58m, Fox Columbia Film Dist., Sfm-j) Memoirs of a Survivor: EMI, Britain, 3127.02m, GUO Film Dist., Sfi-m-g) Monique (pre-censor cut version) (16mm) (c): JadranCroatia Film, Yugoslavia, 3101.26m, Valhalla Films, Vfi-h-j) Occupation in 26 Pictures: Jadran-Croatia Film, Yugoslavia, 3101.26m, Valhalla Films, Vfi-h-j) Paul Raymond’s Erotica: J. Clarke, Britain, 2331.55m, Seven Keys, Sff-m-g) The Professional Killer: Progressive Training Co., Hong Kong, 2478m, Golden Reel Films, Vff-m-g) Red Tape 3 (videotape): Red Tape Prods, Britain, 58 mins, Electric Blue (A'asia), Sff-m-g) Return of the Deadly Blade: New Century Film, Hong Kong, 2668m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Vff-m-g) Shaolin Hand Lock: Shaw Bros, Hong Kong, 2557.32m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Vff-m-g) Southern Comfort (d): Phoenix Film, U.S., 2900m, GUO Film Dist., Vfi-m-j), Lff-m-j) The Stewardesses (original 3D version) (e): Louis K. Sher Prods, U.S., 2522.82m, G.L. Film Enterprises Sff-m-g) The Thorn: Framemorgen Prods, U.S., 1978.39m, G.L. Film Enterprises, Sfi-m-g), Ofreligious satire) To nisi tls amartias (f): Nitta Films, Greece, 2413m, Apollon Films, Sfi-m-j) Two Champions of Shaolin: Shaw Bros, Hong Kong, 2886.28m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Vff-m-g) A Very Small Case of Rape (pre-censor cut version): T. Rotor, U.S., 2057.24m, Cinerama Films, Sff-m-g) (a) Previously shown on July 1981 list. (b) Previously shown on August 1981 list. (c) Not identical with Monique shown on March 1972 list. (d) Not identical with Southern Comforts (May 1981 list). (e) Previously shown on July 1974 list; reconstructed “flat” version shown on March 1975 list. (f) Previously shown on August 1976 list.

Films Registered With Eliminations For Restricted Exhibition (R) City of the Living Dead (pre-censor cut Version): G. Masini, Italy, 2459.62m, Hoyts Dist., Ofhorror) Deletions: 9m (20 secs) Reason for deletions: Vfi-h-g) Foxy Ladies: Golden Harvest, Hong Kong, 2753.70m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Vff-m-g) Deletions: 4m (9 secs) Reason for deletions: Vff-h-g) Lucifer’s Lust (16mm): Not shown, U.S., 427.83m, 14th Mandolin, Sff-m-g) Deletions: 8m (44 secs) Reason for deletions: Sfi-h-g) The Young Hitchhikers (pre-censor cut version) (16mm): Not shown, U.S., 548.50m, 14th Mandolin, Sff-m-g) Deletions: 2.5m (14 secs) Reason for deletions: Sfi-h-g)

Films Refused Registration Eruption (videotape) (a): S. Kurlan, U.S., 78 mins, Videolink, Sff-h-g) Grimy’s Tales (videotape): Love Prods, U.S., 31 mins, Hollywood House Video, Sff-h-g) Oriental Blue (pre-censor cut version): L. Chiang, U.S., 2057.50m, A.Z. Associated Theatres, Sff-h-g) The Other Side of Julie (videotape) (b): C. Gifford, U.S. 83 mins, Videolink, Sff-h-g) Temptations (pre-censor cut version): D. Eagle, U.S., 2190.20m, A.Z. Associated Theatres, Sff-h-g) Tendres couslnes: V. Belmont, France, 2476.20m, Roadshow Dist., Ofsexual exploitation of minor) 3 A.M. (videotape) (c): R. McCallum, U.S., 77 mins, Videolink, Sff-h-g) (a) Previously shown on March 1978 list. (b) Previously shown on September 1978 list. (c) Previously shown on September 1978 list.

Films Board of Review Smokey Bites the Dust (a): New World Pictures, U.S., 2352m, Roadshow Dist.

Decision reviewed: Classify “ R” by the Film Censorship Board.

Decision of the Board: Uphold the decision of the Film Censorship Board.

Low

I I I I

Medium

m m m m

(a) Previously shown on September 1981 list.

Note: Length of the film Body Heat shown as 2770.43m (September 1981 list) should read 3095.57m.

Length of the film Full Moon shown as 2286.82m (July 1981 list) should read 2523.56m.

Title of film shown as Partners (September 1981 list) has been altered to Duet for Four.

November 1981

Films Registered Without Eliminations For General Exhibition (G) The Cheat (16mm): Paramount, U.S., 1593m, National Library of Australia Dance Craze: Chrysalis, Britain, 2379.41m, Rock Film Dist.

Doctors and Nurses: Universal Entertainment, Australia, 2454.14m, Universal Entertainment The Headless Horseman (16mm): Paul Killiam Film Classics, U.S., 943m, National Library of Australia Little Adventures (16mm): Y. Yuuki/T. Nishiguchi, Japan, 1031.18m, Japan Information Service Na h eykaipia: C. Carajopoulos, Greece, 2700m, Apollon Films Play Con Game: Not shown, Hong Kong, 2676m, Com­ fort Film Enterprises The Tinder Box (16mm): Advance Films, Denmark, 735m, Blake Films Vic.

Not Recommended for Children (NRC) Burnout: Sonrisa, U.S., 2272.47m, Reid & Puskar, Lfi-l-g) Carmen de la ronda: Arofilms Mexico, Spain, 2673.50m, Spanish Films, Vfi-l-j) Chasing Girls: Cinema City and Films, Hong Kong, 2709m, Golden Reel Films, Vfi-l-g) Father and Son: F. Huang, Hong Kong, 2633.28m, Eupo Film, Ofemotional stress) Five Superfighters: Shaw Bros., Hong Kong, 2746m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Vfi-m-g) 14’s Good 18’s Better (videotape): Film Australia, Australia, 50 mins, Film Australia, Ofadolescent theme) St Helens: Davis/Panzer Prod., U.S., 2566.56m, Hoyts Dist., Vfi-l-g), Lff-l-g) Soldadu unnehe (Old Soldier): Saranga Films, Sri Lanka, 2314m, D. Pathiraja, Ofadult concepts) Time Bandits: Handmade Films, Britain, 3151.30m, Guo Film Dist., Vff-l-j) Urghl — A Music War (reduced version) (a): Lorimar, U.S./Britain/France, 2895m, Roadshow Dist., Sfi-l-g) Who Finds A Friend Finds A Treasure: Columbia/Warner, U.S./Italy, 2984.02m, Fox Columbia Film Dist., Vff-l-j) Winter Wind (16mm): Grove Press, Hungary, 867.45m, National Library of Australia, Vfi-l-j), Ofnudity) (a) Reduced by producer’s cuts from 3374.45m (August 1981 list).

For Mature Audiences (M) All the Wrong Clues (For the Right Solution): Cinema City and Films, Hong Kong, 2739m, Golden Reel Films, Sfi-m-g), Vfi-m-g) The Amateur: Michael Drabinsky Prod./Pan Canadian Films, U.S./Britain/Canada, 3039.79m, Fox Columbia Film Dist., Vfi-m-j) Carry On Wise Guy: Lau Bros Film Co., Hong Kong, 2875.30m, Joe Siu int’l Film Co., Vff-m-g) Death Machines: R. Marchini, U.S., 2523.56m, Reid & Puskar, Vff-m-g) Die verlobte (The Fiancee): Defa, E. Germany, 2984.02m, Quality Films, Sfi-l-j), Ofemotional stress) Fantasies: Casselman/McMullan Prod., U.S./Greece, 2221.83m, The House of Dare, Ofnudity) Flag of Iron: Shaw Bros, Hong Kong, 3146m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Vff-m-g) Galaxy of Terror: R. Corman, Britain, 2231.04m, United Artists (A’asia), Vff-m-g) The Ghostly Face: S. Tan, Hong Kong/lndonesia, 2536m, Lilond, Vff-m-g) La citta delle donne: Opera Film Prod./Gaumont S.A., Italy/France, 3793m, A.Z. Associated Theatres, Sfi-m-j), Lff-m-j) Looker: H. Jeffrey, U.S., 2565.70m, Warner Bros (Aust.), Vfi-m-g) Man of Iron: Film Polski, Poland, 3922.49m, Contai, Ofadult theme), Lfi-m-j) Mommie Dearest: Paramount, U.S., 3456.18m, Cinema Int’l, Ofemotional stress) My Sonl My Sonl (16mm): K. Klnoshita, Japan, 1371m, Japan Information Service, Vfi-m-j) Nomugi Pass (16mm): Shinnihon, Japan, 1678m, Japan Information Service, Ofemotional stress) No U-Turn: Cinema City Films, Hong Kong, 2541m, Golden Reel Films, Vff-m-g), Ofadult con­ cepts) Rich and Famous: MGM, U.S., 3179m, Cinema Int’l, Sfi-l-j), Lfi-m-j)

Purpose

High

h h h h

Justified

Gratuitous

j j j j

g g g g

Rivals of the Silver Fox: Asso Asia Film, HOng Kong, 2352.68m, Eupo Film Co., Vff-m-j) A Rumour of War: D. Manson, U.S., 2860.64m, F.G. Film Prods, Vff-m-j) They All Laughed: 20th Century-Fox, U.S., 3151.34m, Roadshow Dist., Ofadult concepts) The Tigress of Shaolin: R. Shaw, Hong Kong, 2717.38m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Vfi-m-j) White Jasmine: Hwa Liang Movie Co., Taiwan, 2499m, Golden Reel Films, Vff-m-g) F o r Restricted Exhibition (R) Big Brother First Fllms/Yang Film Co., Hong Kong, 2806m, Comfort Film Enterprises, Vff-m-g) The Captives (VI fangnl) (reconstructed version) (a): B. Kobenhaven, Denmark, 1561.73m, Cinerama Films, Sft-m-g) The Confession of a Nymphomaniac: A. Brummer, W. Germany, 2245m, A.Z. Associated Theatres, Sfi-m-g), Ofnudity) Cruel Passion (British version) (videotape) (b): C. Boger, Britain, 92 mins, Meridien Electronics, Sff-m-g) Emmanuelle (subtitled version) (c): Trinacra Films, France, 2580.20m, The House of Dare, Sff-m-g) Evflspeak (reduced version) (d): Warner Bros, U.S., 2509.92m, Warner Bros (Aust.), Vff-m-g) The Happiest Moment: Shaw Bros, Hong Kong, 2592.40m, Joe Siu int’l Film Co., Sfi-m-g), Ofadult con­ cepts) Hex: Shaw Bros, Hong Kong, 2660.71m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Vfi-m-g), Ofnudity) Horror Hospital (16mm): R. Gordon, Britain, 987.55m, Blake Films Vic., Vff-m-g) Human Experiments: Brown & Goodell, U.S., 2286m, Reid & Puskar, Vfi-m-g), Ofemotional stress) Invincible Enforcer: Shaw Bros, Hong Kong, 3122.87m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Vff-m-g) The Losers (16mm): Fan Fare Films, U.S., 1053.38m, Blake Films Vic., Vff-m-g) The Midnight Jogger (16mm): Fleetan Films, U.S., 592.38m, 14th Mandolin, Sff-m-g) The New Adventures of Snow White (videotape): J. Cross W. Germany, 72 mins, L & M Imports, Vfi-m-j), Ofnudity) Sweet Savage (pre-censor cut version): Evolution, U.S., 1645.80m, A.Z. Associated Theatres, Sff-m-g) Switchblade Sisters (videotape): J. Prlzer, U.S., 90 mins, K & C Video, Vff-m-g) Tom and Jill (pre-censor cut version) (16mm): I. Grozney, U.S., 449.77m, G.L. Film Enterprises, Sff-m-g) Tower of Evil: Grenadier Films, Britain, 2468.88m, Blake Films Vic., Sfi-m-g), Vff-m-g) The Worst of the Los Angeles Erotic Film Festival (16mm): P. Gregory, U.S., 581.41m, G.L. Film Enterprises, Sff-m-g) (a) Previously shown on August 1981 list. (b) Previously shown on August 1981 list. (c) English-dubbed version shown on December 1974 list. (d) Reduced by producer’s cuts from 2844.58m (July 1981 list).

Films Registered With Eliminations For Restricted Exhibition (R) Cannibal Apocalypse: M & S Amatl, Italy/U.S., 2649.40m, Roadshow Dist., Vff-m-g) Deletions: 26.5m (58 secs) Reasons for deletions: Vfi-h-g) Execution: Hai Lock Bros, Hong Kong, 2523.56m, Comfort Film Enterprises, Vff-m-g) Deletions: 19m (42 secs) Reason for deletions: Vfi-h-g), Ofimitable gunmaking) Night of the Warlock (16mm) (pre-censor cut version) (a): Satanic Films, U.S., 559m, 14th Mandolin, Sff-m-g) Deletions: 1m (5 secs) Reason for deletions: Sfi-h-g) Secret Fantasies (16mm) (pre-censor cut version): Leo Rising Prods, U.S., 493.65m, 14th Mandolin, Sff-m-g) Deletions: 1.6m (8 secs) Reason for deletions: Sfi-h-g) Separate Vacations (16mm) (pre-censor cut version): Not shown, U.S., 416.86m, 14th Mandolin, Sff-m-g) Deletions: 1m (5 secs) Reason for deletions: Sfi-h-g) Super Vixens (reconstructed version) (b): R. Meyer, U.S., 2858.20m, Regent Trading Enterprises, Sff-m-g), Vff-m-g) Deletions: 8m (17 secs) .

Reason for deletions: Vfi-h-g) (a) Previously shown on November 1980 list. (b) Previously shown on April 1981 list.

Films Refused Registration Alice In Wonderland (videotape) (a): W. Osco, U.S., 76 mins, Video Classics, Sfi-h-g) Alice In Wonderland (videotape) (a): W. Osco, U.S., 76 mins, Meridien Electronics, Sfi-h-g) Black Deep Throat (videotape): D. Randall/Spectacular Film Prod., Italy, 86 mins, Meridien Elec­ tronics, Sff-h-g)

Concluded on p. 183 CINEMA PAPERS April - 147

□□□GOG

m a i i'iiii l1I»1

T ELEV IS IO N PACKAGE LIKE NO ONE ELSE □ □ □ G O G Australia's only specialist film and television art, design and concept service. □ □ □ G O G clients include Cinema Papers, The Australian Motion Picture Yearbook, Channels TV-Video Magazine, The Australian Music Direc­ tory, the Victorian Film Corporation, the Australian Film Commission, FGH Film Consortium, The Age Good Food Guide and the Melbourne Film Festival. □ □ □ G O G will join your production, post-production or marketing team to create, explore and realize your design needs under the direction of award-winning designer Keith Robertson. □ O D G O G

specializes in g sales and promotional brochures g design and paste-up of ads for trade and consumer press g stationery, stick-ons, matches, T-shirts and packaging g press kit design and produc­ tion g books based on film and television productions g posters and lobby cards.

For more information call Keith Robertson on (0 3 ) 3 2 8 4 7 6 1 .

Publicationsfrom CINEMA PAPERS ORDER NOW

SOON FOR R ELEASE

The Documentary Film I _.

f *1

_

ftps??

Ivi:

m Aa Each case study examines, in detail, the steps iikthe production of the documentary, and features interviews with the key production, creative and technical personnel involved.

' _1

Documentary films occupy a special place in the history and development of Australian filmmaking. From the pioneering efforts of Baldwin Spencer to Damien Parer's Academy Award winning Kokoda Front Line, to Chris Noonan's Stepping Out and David Bradbury's Frontline, Australia's documentary filmmakers have been acclaimed world-wide.

The documentary film is also the mainstay of the Australian film industry.

More time, more money and more effort goes into making documentaries in this country than any other film form — features, shorts or animation.

In this, the first comprehensive publication on Australian documentary film, 50 researchers, authors and filmmakers have combined to examine the evolution of documentary filmmaking in Australia, and the state of the art today.

T 7o/iV» poco pI ii/Iat ûv<iminûo

Australia

An examination of the themes, pre-occupations and film forms used by Australian documentary producers and directors. .

Repositories and Preservation Documentary Producers

A survey of the practices surrounding the storage and preservation of documentary films in Australia.

Comparisons of procedures here and abroad.

An examination, of the various types of documentaries made in Australia, and who produces them. A study of government and independent production. The aims behind the production of documentaries, and the various film forms adopted to achieve the desired ends. This part surveys the sources of finance for documentary film here and abroad.

A look at the future for documentary films. The impact of new technology as it affects production, distribution and marketing. A forward look at the marketplace and the changing role of the documentary.

The Marketplace

Producers and Directors Checklist

The market for Australian documentary films, here and abroad. This section examines broadcast television, pay television, theatrical distribution, video sales and hire, box-office performances and ratings.

A checklist of documentary producers and directors currently working in Australia.

Making a Documentary L

The Australian Documentary: Themes and Concerns

A series of case studies examining the making of documentaries. Examples include large budget documentary series for television; one-off documentaries for television and theatrical release; and educational and instructional documentaries.

The Future

Useful Information Reference information for those dealing with, or interested in, the documentary film. This section will include listings of documentary buyers, distributors, . libraries, festivals, etc.

Published by Cinema Papers in association with the Victorian Film Corporation.

ORDER FORM Please send me I__ I copies of The Documentary Film in Australia Cheques, money orders dr Bankcard only.

Contents The History of the Documentary: A World View

$9.95.

Name Address Postcode

International landmarks, key figures, major movements.

Bankcard No. Expires

/

DDD D D D □ □ D D D D D D

/

Signature

The Development of the Documentary in Australia

Total amount enclosed: $

A general history of the evolution of the documentary film in Australia, highlighting key films, personalities and events.

Make cheques or money orders payable to Cinema Papers, 644 Victoria Street, North Melbourne, 3051.

Telephone: (03) 329 5983.

Allow 4 weeks for processing.

1

AUSTRALIAN

MOTION PICTURE YEARBOOK

“It contains just about everything the Australian film industry one could ever wish to know.

National Times “A must for anyone interested in the local film industry.

A ustralian Playboy ”

Everything one could possibly want to know about the Australian film industry seems to be contained in the Australian Motion Picture Yearbook. . . a reference book no one seeking information about the film industry Down Under can afford to be without. ç, j . * Screen International ”

Cinema Papers

AUSTRALIAN

MOTION PICTURE YEARBOOK

Cdorftlm Pers

19 8 1/ 8 2

Edited by Peter Beilby

Cinema Papers is pleased to announce that the 19 8 1/8 2 edition of the Australian Motion Picture Yearbook can now be ordered.

The enlarged, updated 19 8 1/8 2 edition contains many new features, including: • Comprehensive filmographies of feature film scriptwriters, directors of photography, composers, designers, editors and sound recordists • Monographs on the work of director Bruce Beresford, producer Matt Carroll and scriptwriter David Williamson • A round-up of films in production in 1981 • Actors, technicians and casting agencies • An expanded list of services and facilities, including equipment suppliers and marketing services

C on ten ts

PART 2: Feature Rims 1 9 8 0 and 1981

PART 1 : Australian Rim Industry Round-up Local Production; Distribution and Exhibition; Government and the Film Industry; Film Organizations; Festivals; Awards and Competitions; Visitors; Television; Censorship; Technology; The Media.

Overseas Introduction; Sales and Releases; Festivals, Awards and Competitions; Overseas Media.

PART 3: Profiles Bruce Beresford, Matt Carroll and David Williamson.

PART 4: Feature Film Personnel Producers, Directors, Screenwriters, Directors of Photography, Editors, Production Designers and Art Directors, Composers, Sound Recordists.

PART 5: Directory

PART 6: Media

Organizations Services and Facilities

Print, Radio, Television, Overseas Media Representatives, Film Bookshops and Record Shops.

Film Stock, Sound Stock, Equipment Suppliers, Equipment Rental, Lighting .

Rental, Actors and Actresses’ Agencies, Technicians' Agencies, Casting Consultants, Laboratories, Film Studios and Sound Stages, Editing and Post-Production Facilities, Preview Theatres, Recording and Mixing Studios, Animation,Titles.and Graphics, Special Effects, Negative Matching, Edge-numbering, Film Production and Re-dimension, Publicists, Marketing Services, Caterers, Insurance, Customs and Shipping Agents, Car and Truck Rental, Media Research.

Production Companies Distributors and Exhibitors

PART 7: R eference Film and Television Awards Film Festivals Legislation Tax, Copyright, Export Incentives, Censorship.

Statistics Bibliography Feature Film Checklist: 1 9 7 0 ­ 1980 Capital City Maps Advertisers’ Index

Fill out order form fo r the 1980 and 1981/82 Editions on page 8 o f this special insert 2

CINEMA PAPERS in association with Thomas Nelson

AUSTRALIAN TV The firs t 25 years records, year by year, all the important television events. Over 600 photographs, some in full color, recall forgotten images and preserve memories of programmes long since wiped from the tapes.

The book covers every facet of television programming — light entertainment, quizzes, news and documentaries, kids’ programmes, sport, drama, movies, commercials... Contributors include Jim Murphy, Brian Courtis, Garrie Hutchinson, Andrew McKay, Christopher Day, Ivan Hutchinson.

AUSTRALIAN TV takes you back to the time when television for most Australians was a curiosity — a shadowy, often soundless, picture in the window of the local electricity store. The quality of the early programmes was at best unpredictable, but still people would gather to watch the Melbourne Olympics, Chuck Faulkner reading the news, or even the test pattern!

At first imported series were the order of the day. Only Graham Kennedy and Bob Dyer could challenge the ratings of the westerns and situation comedies from America and Britain.

$ 14.95 Then came The Mavis Bramston Show. With the popularity of that rude and irreverent show, Australian television came into its own.

Programmes like Number 96, The Box, Against the Wind, Sale of the Century have achieved ratings that are by world standards remarkable.

AUSTRALIAN TV is an entertainment, a delight, and a commemoration of a lively, fast­ growing industry.

Fill out orderform fo r Australian TV on page 8 o f this special insert.

3

208 pps, 28cm x 20.5cm (ii" x 8 ")

In this major work on the Australian film industryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dramatic rebirth, 12 leading film writers combine to provide a lively and entertaining critique. Illustrated with 265 stills, including $5 in full color, this book is an invaluable record for all those interested in the N ew Australian Cinema.

The chapters: The Past (Andrew Pike), Social Realism (Keith Connolly), Comedy (Geoff Mayer), Horror and Suspense (Brian McFarlane), Action and Adventure (Susan Dermody), Fantasy (Adrian Martin), Historical Films (Tom Ryan), Personal Relationships and Sexuality (Meaghan Morris), Loneliness and Alienation (Rod Bishop and Fiona Mackie), Childrenâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Films (Virginia Duigan), Avant-garde (Sam Rohdie).

4

Fe a tu re Film s on videotape

A comprehensive guide Behind the screen

AUSTRALIAN

MOTION PICTURE YEARBOOK 1 9

S 3

THE SENSATIONAL INTERVISION VIDEO MOVIES W

E

’ V

E

G

O

T

I

T

.

.

.

ACTION/ADVENTURE — CHILDREN — COMEDY — DOCUMENTARY — FAMILY — FEATURE FILMS — HORROR — MARTIAL ARTS — SCIENCE FICTION — SPORT — WESTERN — ADULT — MUSIC.

The first name in Video, the last word in Entertainment

MOVIES ON VIDEO lf you want to know more about our full ränge of titles contact your local Video störe or contact Intervision at: 871 Pacific Hwy Chatswood 2067 NSW Tel: (02) 419 7588 (3 lines)

The stars up front need solid support

If your needs include word processing for text manipulation, accounts and budgeting control, filing and sorting, or even direct mailing, feel secure with the knowledge that, with hundreds of installations behind us, our team of professionals will train your staff on easy to use programs and leave you to concentrate on matters of a higher nature.

Q Cromemeo INFORMATIVE SYSTEMS P T Y LTD 337 M oray Street, South M elbourne. P h o n e (0 3 ) 6 9 0 2899. Telex AA 30458.

Sydney (02) 680 2161. Hobart (002 ) 72 8622. Perth (09) 322 6497

News 5

The Video C ensorship M ess: W hat You Should K no w Damien McClelland 14 Tron: Video Invades D isneyland John Salkin and Julie Stone 20

Editors: Peter Beilby, John Pruzanski.

Sub-Editors: Maurice Perera, John Tittensor. Proof-reading: Arthur Salton. Design and Production: ARTetc.

Advertising: John Pruzanski (03) 329 5983, Peggy Nicholls (03) 830 1097. Printing: Eastern Suburbs Newspapers, 140 Joynton Ave., Waterloo, 2017. Telephone: (02) 622 8888. Typesetting: B-P Typesetting, 7-17 G eddes St, M ulgrave, 3170.

Telephone: (03) 561 2111. Distributors: NSW, Vic., Qld, WA, SA: Consolidated Press Pty Ltd, 168 Castlereagh St, Sydney, 2000. Telephone: (02) 2 0666.

ACT, Tas.: Cinema Papers Pty Ltd. U.S.: T.B. Clarke Overseas Pty Ltd. While every care is taken with manu­ scripts and materials supplied for this magazine, neither the Editors nor the Publishers accept any liability for loss or damage which may arise. This magazine may not be reproduced in whole or in part without the permission of the copyright owner. Channels is published by Cinema Papers Pty Ltd, 644 Victoria St, North Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 3051.

Telephone: (03) 329 5983. Telex: AA30625 ME230.

Feature F ilm s on Videotape Introduction 29 Checklist and Reviews 32

Products an d P rocesses Fred Harden 40

The editors would like to thank the follow­ ing for their help and co-operation: Road­ show Distributors (the stills from Alvin Purple); Australian Film Institute Research and Information Department; and Canberra Times (for permission to reprint the photo of Gough Whitlam). © Copyright Cinema Papers Pty Ltd, April 1982.

Cover: Walt Disney Productions’ Tron (see p.20).

Video-C assette R ecorders 43 Video C am eras 45 C H A N N E L S April 1982 — 3

AUSTRALIAN TV The firs t 25 years records, year by year, all the important television events. Over 600 photographs, some in full color, recall forgotten images and preserve memories of programmes long since wiped from the tapes.

The book covers every facet of television programming — light entertainment, quizzes, news and documentaries, kids’ programmes, sport, drama, movies, commercials... Contributors include Jim Murphy, Brian Courtis, Garrie Hutchinson, Andrew McKay, Christopher Day, Ivan Hutchinson.

AUSTRALIAN TV takes you back to the time when television for most Australians was a curiosity — a shadowy, often soundless, picture in the window of the local electricity store. The quality of the early programmes was at best unpredictable, but still people would gather to watch the Melbourne Olympics, Chuck Faulkner reading the news, or even the test pattern!

At first imported series were the order of the day. Only Graham Kennedy and Bob Dyer could ;challenge the ratings of the westerns and situation comedies from America and Britain.

Then came The Mavis Bramston Show. With the popularity of that rude and irreverent show, Australian television came into its own.

Programmes like Number 96, The Box, Against the Wind, Sale of the Century have achieved ratings that are by world standards remarkable.

AUSTRALIAN TV is an entertainment, a I delight, and a commemoration of a lively, fast­ growing industry. i

M etro Television, g earing up for the even tual introduction of public television in Sydney, offers its fa c ilitie s for video and T V production a t com p etitive rates.

Metro Television Limited Paddington Town Hall P0 Box 299 Paddington, 2021, Australia Telephone (02) 33 5318

The Betamax Case

Breaker Morant: reportedly sold on video

cassette.

Jolly Roger Lowered in New castle An illegal video-cassette racket was broken by Federal police in New­ castle, New South Wales, in January, it was alleged that the organizers were operating a legitimate video cassette club through which they rented and sold pirated copies of films not yet released on video cassette. Titles seized were reported to include Dr Zhivago, Gone With the Wind, Picnic at Hanging Rock and Breaker Morant, with a retail value of up to $100,000.

In February, police struck again in the West Australian mining town of Port Hedland.

Hopefully, the incidence of video piracy will be curtailed with the announcement of stiffer penalties.

The previous fines were $10 a cassette, up to a maximum of $200, while present legislation provides a fine of $1 500 for first offenders and up to $10,000 or six months’ gaol or both for second offences.

Universal and Disney Studios have won the latest round in the ‘Betamax’ case in the U.S. In 1979, Universal, together with Walt Disney Studios, sued for damages over breach of copyright. The defendants were an individual owner of a Betamax video­ cassette recorder and the Sony Corporation of the U.S. The case centred on the right of the individual to record programs for his own use. Sony won the first round and the video industry heaved a sigh of relief. But the judgment was later overturned by a Federal Appeals Court in California.

Universal, however, modified its original demand — that all Betamaxes be recalled and Sony restrained from selling any more video-cassette recorders — in favor of a “ fair and reasonable royalty” from manu­ facturers. After winning the court decision, MCA (Universal’s parent company) took similar legal action against every known manufacturer and distributor of video recorders in the U.S. Sony now has two courses open to it: to wait until the Supreme Court can hear the case, or to call for Federal legalization of home-taping. In working for the latter, Sony has spent $2 million in newspaper advertise­ ments urging the public to let their legislators know how they feel about the Appeals Court decision. In the advertisements, Sony claims the VCR is only a device to beat the constraints of time.

The decision in the U.S. has no bearing on Australian copyright law, which has not yet been tested in rela­ tion to videotaping, but could easily influence the outcome here. The Aus­ tralian Audio-Video Tape Association believes consumers are likely to be forced to pay a levy on all audio and video-cassettes if proposals from representatives of the Australian Copyright Council get government approval.

Aunty Roars “ ABC Australia is probably the second most active television pro­ ducer in the world” , says Wynn Nathan, the president of Lionheart Television International, now exclu­ sive distributors of ABC programs in the U.S., Canada and South America.

The ABC’s previous distributor, Don Taffner, was also distributor for the Canadian Broadcasting System and Thames Television.

Nathan says with less product he has more time to promote ABC programs effectively. The Alvin Purple series is a natural for “ R”rated cable, he says, while other programs are perfect for subscription television, syndication, network prime time or Public Broadcasting.

Lionheart is also a co-producer with the ABC, the first production being the seven-hour mini-series,

1915

Coming Soon — CBS/ Fox? When oil billionaire Marvin Davis bought the Twentieth Century-Fox Corporation, it was rumored that he wanted to sell part of the Fox lot to raise capital. The precedent had been set when the highly-priced luxury suburb, Century City, was carved out of the original back lot.

It now seems Davis will sell all Fox property in Westwood. Davis has vir­ tually signed a deal to buy a 50 per cent interest in Studio Center from the U.S. broadcasting giant CBS. The Studio Center lot in the San Fernando Valley section of Los Angeles houses CBS, Mary Tyler Moore Enterprises and other production companies. Fox has also signed a licensing deal with CBS to release their product on CED videodiscs.

Then came the announcement of Twentieth Century-Fox Video and CBS Video Enterprises forming a $100 million joint venture to create, market and distribute home video products. This new agreement throws into doubt the old agreement CBS had with MGM. CBS has also resur­ rected CBS theatrical films and has many productions in various stages of development.

Record Fee For Rights The Los Angeles Olympic Com­ mittee accepted a $9.2 million bid for the exclusive Australian rights to tele­ vise the 1984 Summer Olympic Games. The winner was, unexpec­ tedly, the Ten Network. To put this figure into perspective, the European Broadcasting Union, an association of European national broadcasters, is reported to be paying $1 7,8 million for those same rights.

Com m ercial-free Television

Beam Us Up, Scotty!

Another major copyright case was settled last June when a U.S. District Court found in favor of Paramount Pictures in an alleged infringement over episodes of the successful tele­ vision series Star Trek. The cult status of the series made it a major seller in video; pirated copies of episodes were being marketed openly. Paramount Pictures failed to put copyright notices on the films, but the court has decreed that copyright applied nonetheless.

The much-publicized Dix Report on funding of the ABC suggested that the Commission should use some of the revenue-raising methods of the Public Broadcasting System in the U.S, This commercial-free network raises money from government sources, private donations and cor­ porate underwriting of programs.

Contributing corporations get only a credit at the beginning and end of programs. Defenders of the Dix Report consistently denied that corporate underwriting would lead to corporate commercial breaks, but it now seems that 10 PBS network stations in the U.S. are preparing to broadcast commercials. Meanwhile, the ABC will seek to save another $1.7 million as it has run out of money for this financial year.

CHANNELS

April 1982 - 5

Win and Place Only

Up, Up and Aw ay

After six years of rating the ‘best’ and ‘worst’ shows on television, the National Parents and Teachers Association in the U.S. has aban­ doned the practice.

The NPTA, still unhappy with the quality of programming, has adopted the approach of positive reinforce­ ment, through publicity and approval, for programs that its judging panel believes have proper ‘quality of life’ values, high artistic and technical qualities, and the absence of grat­ uitous sex and violence. Programs that do not meet with the organiza­ tion’s approval will not be publicized.

Under the old system, it seems, the list of ‘worst’ programs received most of the publicity.

Sales figures show that for the first time more than a million VCRs were sold last year in the U.S. According to the Electronic Industries Associa­ tion’s Consumer Electronics Group, this represents an increase in sales of 69.1 per cent over the previous year. There are more than 3 million VCRs in use in the U.S. Meanwhile, according to the Elec­ tronics Industries Association of Japan, VCR production and export doubled for the second year in a row.

Output shot up 1 14 per cent to 9.5 million units, while exports also surged by 114 per cent reaching 7.4 million units. Jack Sauter, group vice­ president and general manager of RCA, predicted, at the Consumer Electronics Show, that the sales of video hardware and software would grow to $10 billion this year and more than $15 billion by 1985.

Shortage W ithin Boom As the extent of the video market in the PAL format hits home, the blank­ tape suppliers are finding it difficult to meet the demand. This shortfall is due to an under-estimate of the size of the market as the suppliers geared for production two years ago. It seems in Britain and Europe demand is running 50 per cent over supply.

Another factor is the impact of the demand for pre-recorded material on the blank-cassette market, with dis­ tributors clamoring for quality blank tapes.

The RCA Capacitance Electronic DiscSelectavision, whose poor first year sales have prompted huge retail discounts.

Fluctuating Fortunes at RCA In 1980, Thornton Bradshaw was appointed RCA's fourth chairman in six years. The New York-based corporation — which manufactures in d u s try and consum er video products, designs and owns satel­ lites, and owns and runs the NBC television network — lost U.S.$1 09.3 million in the first three quarters of 1981.

Bradshaw, however, has instilled new confidence into the corporation.

He dismissed Fred Silverman as head of NBC-TV and appointed Grant Tinker of Mary Tyler Moore Enter­ prises, acknowledged as producing the highest-quality products on U.S. television.

B radshaw , d ra w in g upon a management style honed during 17 years as president of the Los Angeles-based Atlantic Richfield Oil Company, has some important deci­ sions facing him. After poor results of the first year’s sales of RCA’s Selectavision videodisc — and dis­ missing 400 of its 4000 workers — the whole future of videodisc, where RCA has large sums invested, is clouded.

The Press and The Third World Bruce Gyngell, the G from GC Produc­ tions.

New Talent Show Undaunted by the recent failure of ATV-10’s Search For a Star, the Ten Network is still trying to beat the highly-successful New Faces on Nine. It commissioned a new program from GC Television Productions — headed by Bruce Gyngell and John Collins — called You’re A Star, hosted by Tim Webster. There will be cash prizes and the chance to win a two-week engagement at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas.

Actors Settle After a two-year dispute, an agree­ ment between Actors Equity and the Film and Television Production Association has been signed. The agreem ent guarantees actors employed in serials, mini-series and telefilms a larger slice of the pro­ ceeds from international sales. The agreement is valid for two years.

6 — C H A N N ELS April 1982

An under-reported major news story, and one whose outcome could affect all the news read and seen on television, concerns the efforts of the Third World to sponsor a “ new world information and communications order’’.

Third World countries claim they are being misrepresented by the wes­ tern media and are demanding “ posi­ tive” coverage and help in expanding their communications facilities.

Western newsmen see “ world information order” as a code for control, and believe that no matter how valid the criticisms of their coverage, government control of the media is not the answer.

At a conference in Tallories, France, in May, where represen­ tatives of the leading western news organizations gathered, UNESCO director-general Amandou M’Bow angrily denied charges of Soviet manipulation in the debate, but it was noted by the eminent defender of the free press, Leonard Sussman, that most of UNESCO’s 150-member governments believed in and prac­ tised control of the press by government.

W rok On To date, commercial television has failed to find a program to match the success of ABC’s Countdown. The Ten Network and Michael Gudinski, of Mushroom Records, are set to change all that. Wired Productions, headed by Gudinski, has been com­ missioned to produce a number of pop/rock programs for national airing.

There are three initial programs, all produced out of Melbourne. Radio simulcasts play an important role in all three.

Wrok (pronounced rock) is a five nights a week half-hour program pro­ bably set in the 5 p.m.-7 p.m. time­ slot. it will be simulcast with Top-40 stations around the country (3XY in Melbourne and 2SM in Sydney).

Nightmoves has been resurrected with format changes, still hosted by Lee Simon and simulcasted with leading FM stations throughout Aus­ tralia. In addition, a new concept called Stereo Home Box Office will be aired on the last Wednesday of every month. It will feature a local or overseas artist, produced in stereo and also simulcast in stereo on FM stations.

Michael Gudinski of Mushroom Records

has formed Wired Productions to put music back on television.

Opening Up

View ers Complain

In February, Melbourne and Sydney had their first taste of Public Broadcasting, when Open Channel, a com m unity-orientated television production and aspiring broadcast group, began test transmissions.

Broadcast on Channel 0/28 over two weekend afternoons, Open Channel's programming ranged from first-hand accounts of what it is like to be an Aboriginal in white Australia, to explorations in the arts.

Open Channel would like public television to be part of any pay tele­ vision service that eventuates from the Australian Broadcasting Tri­ bunal’s inquiry into pay television’s introduction into Australia.

Statistics recently released by the Australian Broadcasting Tribunal suggest that either Australians are becoming blase about the quality of their television, or that the channels are getting closer to an ideal pro­ gramming formula.

The ABT’s 1980-81 annual report includes a three-year comparison of written complaints covering television advertising, general and children’s programming.

Complaints about general program­ ming totalled 291 last year, down from 320 in 1979-80 and 371 in 1978- 79. Allegations of bad taste (sex, violence and lapses of moral standards) in entertainment and news programs continue to be the main cause for complaint. The next most common reasons are specific allegations of sex, indecency or violence.

Other concerns come and go.

In 1 9 7 8 -7 9 , for example, 64 correspondents complained about the televising of R-rated films. Last year, by comparison, only eight people were moved to make the same complaint.

The number of repeats and poor programs drew 46 complaints in 1979- 80, but only 21 last year.

More surprising is that of the 291 complaints about general pro­ gramming last year 31 concerned a single episode of The Don Lane Show. The viewers put pen to paper after Lane interviewed James Randi.

(Randi criticized various psychics, including Doris Stokes.) Twenty-eight wrote to the Tribunal objecting to Lane’s attitude in the interview. Three expressed support for Lane.

Television advertising drew 157 written complaints in 1980-81 com­ pared to 278 the year, before. Most writers were concerned about the number of advertisements on their screens, the taste and safety aspects of some commercials or the adver­ tisement of intimate products. Last year, for the first time, a few people also wrote in complaining about sexism in advertising.

But the largest number of com­ plaints about any single issue was when 116 people wrote to the ABT during 1979-80 to question the high sound level of advertisements — an issue that barely drew comment any other year.

Last year, the ABT’s mail contained 37 complaints about the use of children’s and family television time.

Once again there were fewer com­ plaints than in years past, but major concerns remain the unsuitability of some programs and the promotion of adult shows during children’s viewing time, m m **,..

Jim Waley (left) and Steve Leibman.

News is Big Spearheaded by Sixty Minutes, the Australian version of the U.S. program of the same name, the national Nine Network has become the premier news and current affairs network in Australia.

Making use of 24-hours-a-day satellite links with the U.S., and rights to the news services of the American ABC and CBS television networks as well as United Press International Television News and the British News At Ten the Nine Network now has three other news and current affairs programs supplementing its regular news services.

Sunday is an Australian version of the CBS Sunday edition of their morning news programs, and is designed as a telemagazine with cover stories, features and regular departments.

The World Tonight, hosted by Sunday’s Jim Waley, is based on the American ABC network’s World News Tonight and Nightline. The new format program, broadcast in a la te -n ig h t tim eslot, has been welcomed by those interested in increased international content, and by viewers who cannot catch the early evening news broadcast.

The much-awaited morning news program The National Today Show, quietly slipped into Nine’s schedule in late February. It began as an hourlong hard news program, but may change when Sue Kellaway joins Steve Leibman as co-host.

The credit for all this activity must be partly inspired by the increased international content of Channel 0/28 news and current affairs programs.

One episode of The Don Lane Show at­ tracted over 10 per cent of all the com­ plaints about general programming last year.

The ABT report says that 20 per cent of complaints received during 1980-81 involved a possible breach of the ABT’s standards; however, only 11 per cent of all complaints were found to be justified.

The report also notes that since July 1980 stations have been required to schedule programs classified “C” for children between the hours 4-5 p.m., Monday to Friday (although they are allowed to re­ schedule these programs to accom­ modate sports telecasts). In 1980-81, Flipper was the most popular program in this timeslot, drawing an audience of 142,000 five- to 12-yearolds in Sydney and Melbourne.

The next four most popular after­ noon programs among the pre-teens were Mouse Factory, Shirl’s Neigh­ bourhood, Skippy and Simon Town­ send’s Wonder World (although their ratings varied between the two state capitals).

But the most popular show among five- to 12-year-olds was not shown in “ C” program time. Sale of the Century, aired at 7 p.m., pulled in 301,000 pre-teen viewers in Sydney and Melbourne last year (out of a total audience in those two cities of close to two million). Ford Superquiz ran a close second-choice among the children.

The same breakdown shows that more under-1 2-year-olds were glued to re-runs of the 1960s U.S. sit-com, I Dream of Jeannie, or stayed up to watch That’s Incredible, The Dukes of Hazzard, CHiPS and Prisoner, than tuned in to any of the classification “C” programs.1 Elsewhere in its 250 pages, the report also contains the good news that Australian content on Australian te le v is io n has been s te a d ily increasing. In the five years surveyed, the percentage of Australian pro­ grams has increased from 39.5 per cent in 1976-77 to 49.9 per cent in 1980-81.

The bad news is that the profitability of the Australian com­ mercial networks dropped 10 per cent in the 1979-80 financial year.

Even though political advertising for the 1 979 elections added $2,21 4,043 to the stations’ revenues, after tax, the net profit dropped from $46,838,956 to $42,114,857. The 15 metropolitan stations earned $28,687,805 or 68 per cent of the total profit, while the 35 country stations earned $13,427,052 or 32 per cent of the total. i 1. Figures for Sydney and Melbourne only.

Survey taken February to June, 1981.

CH A N N ELS April 1982 — 7

Television management, says Mike Walsh, looks in the wrong places for personalities ana producers. times

they

give

jobs

to

Some­ people

because they were so entertaining over dinner.

Walsh, lian

(12a

as, genial host o f Au stra ­

television's channels)

can a fford with

to

most

penetrating

talk-variety look a t

a jaundiced

eye.

show,

his medium His involve­

ment in television and theatre pro­ duction, his ownership o f cinemas in Richmond and Penrith,

New South

Wales, and his intention to become a producer o f feature films one day, make him a fascinating personality.

His on-camera talent is matched by an entrepreneurial ze s t th a t makes him egually a t home as performer or executive. in

th is

Your production company, Hayden Price, in which you are partnered by David Price, joined forces with Channel 10 in Melbourne to produce “Together Tonight”. Was that a significant step towards your greater involvement in the executive area of television?

Not p a rticu la rly fo r me, a p a rt from seeing the tapes, passing co m m e n t on them and talking a b o ut things. But I left that one to David and I took m ore re sp o n sib ility fo r The Mike Walsh Show. David and I liaise on things, but basically my a ttitu d e was; “ Run away and do that, m ate, and I’ll do this on e .”

W ould you see Hayden Price becoming more involved in pro­ duction . . .

Yes, d efinitely.

Is there any conflict with Nine over w hether you should, how ever indirectly, have any involvement in the programming of 10 or any other network?

No, they have bo u gh t M ike Walsh as a personality. They know I am an in d e p e n d e n t p ro d u c e r. T hey are good ab o ut that.

You package your own show for Nine.

What is there to stop you taking that package to 10 or any other network when your contract expires?

We have done it before!

When is your contract up with Nine?

in te rvie w ,

Christmas break,

he

during took

the

time

to

reflect on his work, his beginnings, his philosophies and his ambitions.

The end of this year.

Do you feel any personal conflict over the dual roles of personality and executive . . .

No, I love it. I like w earing d iffe re n t

CH ANN ELS April 1982 — 9

hats. I am w earing a fa rm e r hat at the m om ent, and I have been w earing p ro p e rty d e ve lo pe r and cinem a hats fo r the past few m onths, as well as The Mike Walsh Show hat.

Is what is good for the growth of the production company necessarily best for Mike Walsh the performer?

Can you separate the two?

O bviously I look after M ike Walsh the p e rfo rm e r because he has been a good p ro d u c t fo r us. I am fie rce about lo o kin g after m y own ta le n t and being p rotected by the people around me. I th in k ta le n t h a n d lin g is a n o th e r aspect that we are p retty good at. We have developed a lot of people, such as Jade Hurley, Jeanne Little, Dr Jam es W right, M ike W illiam s, Sim on G allaher, etc.

iW ieA '#’

How far back does your involvement with television go?

My firs t television show was in 1965, a thing called Ten on the Town on T E N -1 0 . It w as n o m in a lly a teenage pro g ra m , with a few pop stars and a ballet. We used to record half of it at the stu d io and the other half on location.

Do you remember what your reaction was about going into television?

M uch as I loved rad io and was good at it, I always wanted to do s o m e th in g v is u a l. I w as te r r ib ly enthusiastic.

Why did you go into radio first, instead of going straight for tele­ vision?

I was highly available fo r television; it was ju s t that the d em and was less than e nthusiastic. I th o u g h t I w o uld go into the p ro d u c tio n side of television, and I w anted, desperately, to be a cam eram an. I used to go down and haunt Bert Newton when he was do in g The Late Show at HSV-7.

Philip Brady, who is another friend, was a booth a n n ou n ce r at GTV-9, and Pete S m ith was at the ABC. So I knew a lot of people around; I ju st d id n 't know any d ire c t way of getting in.

Then I tho ug h t, if I w ent to radio and m ade a nam e there, I w o uld learn a lot a b o u t tim in g and how to h o ld a p ro g ra m together. I always knew the typ e of p ro g ra m I w anted to do, w hich is basically the one I do now. It was only later I realized that variety in a solid talk fo rm a t was really my best bag.

When you were doing “Ten on the Town”, and later “66 And All That” for TEN-10, did you give up radio?

No, I stayed at 2SM all the way th ro u g h . But 2SM w ent th ro u g h a few fo r m a t c h a n g e s a n d its r a tin g s slip p e d badly. It decid e d to go for ta lk -b a c k radio, w hich no one had d o n e in th is country, o fficially. There had been som e e xp e rim e n ta tio n with it before — 3AK M elbo u rn e had done it on a tw o -h o u r delay or som ething —

10 — CH ANN ELS April 1982

"I

was

manager

advised th a t

l

by

my

should

then

give

up

radio as l would be in television instantly. I followed his advice and w as

out

of

w o rn

fo r

th r e e

m onths." but th is was the real thing, with the legal seven-second delay. So in 1967 I becam e the firs t ta lk -b a c k radio an n ou n ce r on air.

In the m eantim e. Jack Neary from NLT and Bill Harm on had asked me to h e lp o u t w ith Don Lane on the interview s on The Tonight Show at TCN-9 — som ew here between the job o f a n n o u n c e r a n d a s s is ta n t interview er. And th e re are still som e m a rv e llo u s ly e m b a rra s s in g k in e ­ scopes of those days of m yself and Don Lane.

T h e n , w h e n D o n w a s o ff a ir because of the alleged m arijuana ch a rg e , I c o m p e re d tw o Tonight shows. TCN-9 fe lt they were very good, and I was advised by my then m anager that I should give up radio as I w ould be in te levision instantly. I follow ed his advice and was out of

w o rk fo r th re e m onths.

Eventually, I rang Nigel Dick at G TV-9 in M e lb o u rn e and said I was com ing down to see him . At that tim e G raham Kennedy was ta kin g som e tim e off and Nine w ere using assorted people fo r o n e -o ffs on In Melbourne Tonight; so, I did one. It m u s tn ’t have been very good, because I heard n othing. But when they d e cid e d to go ahead w ith the Today p ro g ra m , at the be g in ning of 1968, I g o t that.

Had you heard they were planning a morning program and applied for it?

No, I had done a b o ut fo u r gam es show pilots, none of w hich w ent to air, and then I was o ffe re d Today. It m eant m oving back to M elbourne, but I agreed and d id it fo r 12 m onths.

T hat was the real tu rn in g point. A fter

Far le ft: Walsh poses for a pub licity shot with his then secretary Pam Peters in 1970, th e year o f th e M ik e Walsh Show on HSV-7 in Melbourne.

Left: Compere of 66 and All That, an early TEN-10 comedy revue show. gone. Bruce G yngell g o t involved again and de cid e d he d id n ’t w ant a va riety show out of M elbo u rn e . He w anted a ch e a pe r show. So, I was tu rn e d in to a s o rt of clip b o a rd , c a rry ­ ing David Frost fo r the b e g in ning of 1971; th a t lasted a b o u t six m onths.

Iron ica lly, by the tim e we cam e off, we w ere rating up in the 17s and 18s, w h ich was sta rtin g to get resp e cta b le .

What about the gap between that show finishing during 1971 and the start of the new “Mike Walsh Show” on Channel 10?

I stayed a ro u n d A u stra lia until the end of 1972 and then w ent to B ritain fo r a b o u t 10 m onths, w h e re I fre e ­ lanced, doing in te rvie w s fo r the BBC and te le visio n co m m e rcia ls.

Who were the people you inter­ viewed?

O b v io u s ly m y m o s t im p re s s iv e in te rvie w — it is th e only one in the BBC a rch ive s — was the one w ith M alcolm M u g g e rid g e . A p p a re n tly it is — not w ishing the m an any ill-h e a lth — in his o b itu a ry re p o rt on sta n d b y at the BBC. I a ls o d id P e te r S e lle rs , a n d in te re stin g o ff-b e a t p e o ple like M iklo s Rozsa, the film co m p o se r. Then th e re w e re s o m e in t e r m in a b ly b o rin g in t e r v ie w s , s u c h a s w it h th e W e dgw ood ch in a people.

12 months, they decided my ap­ proach was too lig h t-h e a rte d , and our ra tin g s w e re n ’t to o g ood. So, they put in T ony C h a rlto n . The ra tin g s w ent fro m a nine to a one, and later to an a ste risk.

T o m y m in d , th e m is ta k e was p u ttin g it u n d e r th e news d e p a rt­ m ent. I had B obo Faulkner, w ho was a g o o d fo il. But th e y to ld her to stop being a foil and they w anted me to s to p being lig h t-h e a rte d . T h a t’s w here it s ta rte d to fall ap a rt. The firs t six m o n th s w e re g re a t fun; the last six m o n th s w ere a b it h o rrific .

A m on th b e fo re m y c o n tra c t was up, I w e n t to see Nigel Dick and said, “ I’m not h a p p y w ith th e way th in g s are g o in g .” I th o u g h t he w o u ld say, “ Oh dear, w e ’ll o ffe r you s o m e th in g e lse .”

But he said, “ I’m a bit in clin e d to agree, s o n .” By th a t tim e, I th in k he w a s u n d e r p re s s u re fro m B ru ce G yngell in S ydney to ch a n ge the n a ture of the p ro g ra m and m ake it m o re re sp e cta b le . M y a p p ro a ch to a n yth in g is to p a cka ge m eat in the m id d le o f e n te rta in m e n t so th a t p e o p le will ta ke n o tice of it. Pack p ure in fo rm a tio n to anyone, and they ca n 't c o p e w ith to o m uch of it, e sp e cia lly at th a t tim e of m o rn in g . So, I w a lked out of his o ffic e w ith o u t a jo b . T hat was in 1969.

H aving left G TV-9, I was co n tacte d im m e d ia te ly by Kevin Lewis, who said

I had a chance of getting a Tonighttyp e show on HSV-7. Then there was a b o u t a s ix -w e e k p e rio d , d u rin g w h ic h The Today Show g o t in to te rrib le tro u b le , and G TV-9 nicely tu rn e d a ro u n d and o ffe re d it back to me. I said, “ No thanks, I have been th ro u g h th a t.” HSV-7 gave me the T hu rsd a y night, Mike Walsh Show.

Which did very w e ll. . .

The firs t th re e m on th s w e re n ’t too go o d, but, as the iro ny of the business w o uld have it, Nigel Dick cam e over fro m G TV -9 to HSV-7 to sta rt the S even R e v o lu tio n . He s ta rte d it, d e sp ite cla im s to the co n tra ry by o th e r people.

Nigel backed me trem e n d ou sly, and tu rn e d it into a fu ll-sca le variety show. It had Frank Rich, M ary Hardy a n d S u e D o n o v a n as th e b a s ic c o m e d y team , Jo h n -M ich a e l Howson as c o m e d y w rite r and Joe Latona as p ro d u c e r/c h o re o g ra p h e r.

Kevin Lew is’ J a rd in e P ro d u ctio n s lo s t th e sh o w , and it b e ca m e a d o m e s t ic H S V -7 p r o d u c t io n . It eve n tu a lly kn o cke d off the T hu rsd a y n ig h t In Melbourne Tonight, which had been an in stitu tio n in M elbo u rn e .

G TV -9 th re w eve ryo n e in — Jim m y H annan, B ert Newton — everyone e xce p t G raham . A nd we won the year.

A t the end of that year, Nigel had

Did TEN-10 bring you back from London for the afternoon show?

S creen G em s had p u t up a p ro ­ po sitio n to TEN-10 fo r a ta lk-va rie ty show in the m id d le of the day. It had n o thing to d o w ith w hat we are doing now. Ian H olm es, w ho was the boss of 10, had been at Nine d u rin g my Today Show days and m y w hack at IMT, and o b vio u sly had re sp e ct fo r me. He said, if you can g e t M ike W alsh, you have a ch ance at the fo rm a t. Screen G em s had th ro w n up all sorts of nam es because everyone in the w o rld th in k s they can do a ta lk -v a rie ty show.

They had in te rvie w e d a w hole lot of d u n d e rh e a d s. It’s a w o n d e rfu l list, som e of w hom now have tre n d y little food co lu m n s and o cca sio n a lly have a g re a t blast at me, in w h ich I take a wry interest. They p id d le along with t h e ir a d v e r tis in g c a r e e r s o r so m e th in g like that.

Anyway, they sent so m e o n e o ve r to see me and, indeed, I never looked b e tter because I had been p o u nd in g th e s t r e e t s o f L o n d o n d o in g in te rvie w s and living on m in ce meat.

So I cam e back to do the show fo r th re e m on th s only, as th in g s had sta rte d to p ick up fo r me in London, and I looked iike I w o uld have a ca re e r over th e re after all.

Even as a freelance . . .

C H A N N ELS April 1982 — 1 1

§mmmm iiliS y

Y e s , e s p e c ia lly as t e le v is io n c o m m e rc ia ls can be ve ry lu cra tive o ve r th e re . The last one I d id b e fore leaving was fo r BO AC; th a t was w o rth £10,000. So. you d id n ’t need to get to o m any of th o se c o m m e rc ia ls to be living well in L o n d o n in 1972.

m o rn in g . A n d we w ere ta p in g so far ahead th a t the a u d ie n ce s h a d n ’t even heard of o u r show . They had no idea w hat the p ro g ra m w as about.

th in g — w a s w h e n th e W o m e n ’s E le cto ra l L o b b y p ra ise d o u r p ro g ra m and said it was th e firs t p ro g ra m th a t had tre a te d w o m e n in te llig e n tly .

Did you have much opposition over going live?

With interviews, do you think people only notice technique when it is badly done?

You came back just for three months and then “shut the door” . . .

Yes, and it was th re e o r fo u r years b e fo re M e lb o u rn e was live. In fact, M e lb o u rn e w a sn 't live un til we took the show to Nine; w h ich was one of the reasons fo r m oving . W e had been tw o days b e hind in M elbo u rn e .

Yes, a lth o ug h th e re w e re a lot of c h a n g e s b e fo r e th e s h o w h it a w o rk a b le fo rm a t. Som e of the o rig in a l r u n - d o w n s w e re h ila r io u s . T h e y w o u ld have tw o s in g e rs and one guest, and I was s u p p o se d to fill an h o u r and a half o u t of that. You w o u ld ask th e m if they like d d ia b e tic pizza or s o m e th in g rea lly rive tin g like that, w h ich w o u ld ta ke half an hour, and then so m e o n e w o u ld p op up and co o k th e ir fa v o rite dish — the s o rt of ru b b is h th a t w o u ld never rate here.

A m e ric a n ta lk show s are fu ll of that.

I knew th a t w o u ld n ’t w o rk fo r the A u s tra lia n p u b lic, w h ich has a sh o rt a tte n tio n th re s h o ld . So I sta rte d going m ore fo r in te rvie w s and th a t caused a rucku s.

I ca lle d in David Price, w ho was ru n n in g a s e rvice sta tio n. David had had the sam e fe e lin g a b o u t the state of the in d u s try . He cam e in to d ire c t th e p r o g r a m a n d im m e d ia t e ly reco g n ize d th e p ro b le m s we had. I said. “ T hank G od th e re ’s so m e o n e w ho can ta lk m y language. B ut what are we go in g to d o ? ” “ W e ll,” he said, “Number 96 is being sh o t in the s tu d io next do o r. T he re are som e in te re s tin g p e o ple in that. We will d rag them in and do in te rvie w s w ith th e m .”

We w e n t ba ck to m a n a g e m e n t and to ld th e m th a t was the new way the show was go in g . A nd they said, “ But a re n ’t you go in g to in te rvie w the s in g e rs ? ” A nd I said, “ They are th e re to sing, a re n ’t th e y ? ” A t the b e g in ning we w e re ta p in g six s h o w s o v e r th re e d a y s — tw o a

You e s ta b lis h e d a success in daytime, which had not been a very productive area. Larry Nixon had done “Lady for a Day” in Melbourne, and Tommy Hanlon’s “It Could Be You”, had been very successful nationally, but that was only half an hour a d a y . .

T he re w ere a lot of h a lf-h o u r show s th a t w o rke d , and T ony B a rb e r had T e m p t a t i o n w h ic h h a d b e e n su cce ssful, but it was p u re fo rm u la qu iz show. In fact, T ony B a rb e r said to m e the firs t n ig h t he w e n t to the Logies, “ I wish you luck, but you ha ve n't a hope a g a in st m y p ro g ra m .”

He was rig h t fo r two years.

Do you think daytime had been under-exploited for many years?

T e rrib ly. P eople alw ays pa tro n ize d it, and th e re is still a fa ir a m o u n t of p a tro n izin g today. I still have to cop th e “ King of D aytim e TV" and “ D arling of the Blue Rinse S e t” and all th a t ru b b ish .

I knew o u r a u d ie n ce was th e re to be got, but I had to give them a te le visio n p ro g ra m w h ich w a sn 't a soap op e ra or yet a n o th e r m in dless quiz show or to o k the a p p ro a ch of the c o m p e re w ho says, “ Now M um s . . .”

O u r p ro g ra m has a lw a ys been a im ed at peo ple, and one of the firs t nice th in g s th a t cam e o u r way — and th is was in th e day of all th a t a ctivist

T h a t’s p ro b a b ly tru e . Y ou a re e x p e c te d to be re lia b le , so th a t vie w e rs can tu rn you on and you w ill d e liv e r a rea lly g re a t p ro g ra m . But I often w ish I w a sn 't p e rfo rm in g so I co u ld ju s t o cca sio n a lly w rite a really go o d ‘crit' on so m e of th a t ru b b is h th a t is p u t on air, on so m e of the soca lle d ‘p e rso n a litie s' w h o are given a go on tele visio n .

M a n a g e m e n t lo o ks in the w ro n g p la ce s fo r p e rso n a litie s; they lo o k in the w ro ng area fo r p ro d u c e rs , too.

S o m e tim e s, they give p e o p le jo b s b e ca use they have all g o n e o u t fo r a m eal w ith the new g e n era l m a n a g e r o r s o m e o n e , a n d th e y w e re so e n te rta in in g . I k id yo u n o t! T h a t h a p pe n s m ore often than you w o u ld believe. I co u ld ra ttle off a se ries of n a m e s th a t im m e d ia te ly c o m e to m in d, but I w o n 't. I w o u ld ju s t love to s it d o w n a n d d o a c o m p le t e d e va sta tio n on the s tu p id ity , fro m m a n a g e ria l level dow n, of th a t s o rt of co n ce p t.

Part of th e p ro b le m co u ld be put d ow n to the ease w ith w h ich fam e ca m e in the 1960s — and I s u p p o s e I can put m yself d ow n th e re , too. It was a p e rio d w h e re you had so m e p e o ple w ho w e re ve ry g o o d, and an aw ful lot w ho ro d e on th e ir ba cks b e ca use the 1960s dem anded so m any p e rso n a litie s. The w o rd “ s ta r" lost its m ea n in g then. By 1963, e ve ryo n e was a s ta r, a n d th e y h a d to in v e n t “ s u p e rs ta r” , w h ich is ju s t rid ic u lo u s .

W h a te v e r h a p p e n e d to M a ria n n e F aithfull? W h a te ver h a p p e n e d to . . .?

You can go th ro u g h th e m all.

A n d y W a rho l said it w o u ld get to the stage w h e re e ve ryo n e w o u ld be f a m o u s f o r 2 0 s e c o n d s , T h is , fo rtu n a te ly, has p ro ve d to be a b o u t as a ccu ra te as A lvin T o ffle r's F uture S h o c k , w h ic h I fo u n d a m o s t fa scin a tin g b ook at one stage.

When did your involvement as a producer in live theatre start?

The firs t one was B a rry H u m p h rie s.

Then you did ‘The Kingfisher’ and you brought Chris Langham out here . . .

C h ris Lan gh a m , L illia n G ish . . . No. I d o n ’t like g o in g th ro u g h th e m all b e ca use th e re are m o re flo p s than th e re are hits. M ost p ro d u c e rs d o n 't a d m it to flo p s, so I’ll o n ly say th a t we h a ve p re s e n te d a n u m b e r o f su cce ssfu l a ttra ctio n s.

And there has been some talk of an original Australian m usical. . .

Left: Mike Walsh wearing his “ farmer hat". Right: Interviewing Vanessa Redgrave. Walsh does not shy from controversial figures.

1 'B u t l often wish l w asn't tierformins so ¡ could ju s t occasionally write a really good 'crit' on some o f th a t rubbish th a t is g u t on a ir ."

W ell, that is a fa ir way down the line. The co n ce p t looks very good, and we have had very good reactions from people we have spoken to about it. It m ay get o ff the g ro u n d next year.

I d o n ’t w ant to rush it though, because it is too valuable. Robyn A rc h e r’s A S ta r Is Torn was an o rigina l p ro p e rty fo r w hich we w ere resp o n sib le as p ro d u c e rs and this is ano th e r one. In su ch p ro je c ts yo u have to tre a d ca re fu lly because you d o n ’t have the lu xu ry of o u t-o f-to w n tryo u ts in this country.

Your cinema interest began in your youth . . .

Yes — all my interests began in my youth. I really haven’t changed at all; I h a v e ju s t m a d e e v e r y th in g professional.

When did you get involved with films?

W hen I was a kid. i ca n ’t rem e m be r a tim e since I could talk when I d id n ’t have a p ro je c to r and w asn’t showing film s to people.

When you bought the Regent in Richmond, NSW, was that initially a sort of indulgence by someone who had always wanted to run a theatre?

No, never. I ju s t had at the back of m y m ind that, if te levision died fo r me, I co u ld always run the local p ictu re theatre and have a fa rm . I th o ug h t

that would be a pretty good life.

And you are involved in the day-to­ day operation of the Regent?

Yes. I have a general m anager for the co m p a n y now because it has grow n co n sid e ra b ly. But, I still get in v o lv e d w it h p r o g r a m m i n g decisions, and policy d e cisions are always checked with me. I have found that I am good at allow ing people to fly. People w o rkin g fo r me a re n ’t ham strung with a boss who ju m p s on them all the tim e. There are often tim es when I w ould like to have my say a little m ore, but I find that if you do that all the tim e you stifle p e o ple ’s c re a tiv ity . So, J o h n C h a p m a n is basically the creative force on The Mike Walsh Show these days, and Paul Dravet looks after the theatres. I am in it every step of the way, but as chairm an of the board rather than op e ra tio n s m anager.

I have m y own c o n c e p t of som ething and I set the house style and em ploy the people who can w ork that way. I’ll back them to the hilt, but, obviously, I keep a close inspection on it. I d o n ’t ju st e m ploy people and say let me know what the p ro fit or loss is at the end of the year. I in itiate the p ro je cts and they w ork on the basis I w ant them to w ork on. I expect the style to be follow ed and if it gets off th e ra ils, w ell, I’ll in te rfe re . But, otherw ise, I’ll ju st let them fire in their own way.

T he rea l a m b itio n is to g e t a co n g lo m e ra te to g eth e r w hich is big enough, but not too big. If you get too

big, you tend to start employing

people who have no enthusiasm . I would like to get all my activities and co m p a n ie s to the level w here I can m ove people from one to another.

S om eone m ig ht be w o rkin g on a television show and they m ig ht want to do som ething else, such as a film o r a s t a g e s h o w . T h e w h o le p h ilo so p hy of what I have been doing is to get a bunch of creative people to g e th e r and g ive th e m ro o m to move, go from one a ctivity to another . . . c ro s s -p o llin a te to sto p th e m getting bored.

About the only pie in which you don’t have a finger is producing feature films yourself. Does film production interest you?

Oh, very m uch. But I want to see the dust settle. I am a bit bored with all the used car salesm en and shonky d o ctors and e verybody else putting in th e ir tax m oney. T his d oes g ive m oney to the industry, but it has also m e a n t a t r e m e n d o u s r u s h on p ro d u ctio n facilities. I ju st w ant to see som e rationale, as I am sure a lot of people do, before I get in there.

Are there any particular types of film in which you would like to be involved?

No, not really.

Money-making ones?

Yes. I think everything should be m oney-m aking. I think the m om ent you get away from the co m m e rcia l ya rd stick or b o x-o ffice ya rd stick or rating ya rd stick is the m om e n t you get into w anking, and I d o n ’t really believe that anyone has a rig h t to do that in a big way. It should be done in a theatre that seats a bout a hundred people. ^

Damien McClelland

THE VIDEO CENSORSHIP MESS what you should know trange as it may seem, today’s booming video­ cassette industry got its start with pornography.

Pirated cassettes of banned films began to find their way into Australia and one no longer had to join the “raincoat brigade” to see them. One could also indulge one’s taste for particular scenes or sequences via the freeze-frames, the fast and slow motion and the repeated viewings that cassettes offered —options not available in often sleazy “adult” cinemas.

Now the triple X-rated video-cassette —the voyeur’s dream — has been joined in the market by mainstream films. It is out of this development that a whole new set of problems has arisen.

Puzzlingly, the video-cassette revolution has been allowed to grow without any legislative responses at federal or state levels. The industry itself — importers, suppliers and distributors — seems for the present content to operate according to a gentleman’s agree­ ment based on outmoded and inappropriate legislation.

At present the industry is — in theory at least — regu­ lated by the Film Censorship Board. This raises the question of whether a government body has the right to censor what people do in their own homes; and there is no doubt that the home market is the one cassettes are aimed at.

The problem is, in part, historical. The Common­ wealth Film Censorship Board was set up in 191 7, but

S

Advertising material for triple X-rated video cassettes — a booming business.

12. Advert... _

'

Custom*» u n til it fu s been p.<

.ioni (he control of the \dicmw ith lhi> P a rt.

nunein

13. ( I ) Subject to the next succeeding sub-regulation, a film shall not be registered and advertising matter shall not be passed, under this Part ■r passine if. in the opinion of the Board (a) the him or advertising matter is blasphemous, indecent or obscene; (b) the film or advertising matter is likely to be injurious to mora!it\. or to encourage or incite to crime; (c) the film or advertising matter is likely to be offensive to the people of a friendly nation or to the people of a part of the Queen s dominions; or (d) the film or advertising matter depicts any matter the exhibition of which is undesirable in the public interest.

(2) Where application is made to the Board of Review under regu­ lation 39 of these Regulations to review a decision of the Censorship Board in relation to a tilm or advertising matter, the film shall not be registered, or the advertising matter shall not be;.;;;:?.ssed. under this Part if .••VteTx^.rd Review confirms, on the gr." ' •' J.m or advertising . ••• '-x.xÿ.^.'.kind referred to in par ■ '* f the last

An extract from the Customs A ct, monwealth Censorship is exercised.

th ro u g h

w h ic h

Com -

it was not until 1949 that the states began, one by one, to go along with its decisions. The Board’s role, however, remains a purely advisory one: it has no actual control over the states in matters of film and videotape censorship. “The states guard their legis­ lation very, very jealously,” says Chief Censor Janet Strickland. “All I can do is propose and nothing more.”

There is a further complication, in that the Board registers and classifies films and videotapes f o r p u b l i c e x h i b i t i o n ; and each state has its own legislative view of what constitutes a public or private showing. In New South Wales, for example, the Theatre and Public Halls Act provides a fairly clear guide, but South Australian legislation is not even remotely equivalent.

The interstate legislative jumble has made for some strange situations. In Victoria, it is an offence to sell — but not to advertise - triple X-rated material. Queens­ land and Western Australia seem to follow Censorship Board decisions only when it suits them, and Western Australia even has separate classifications for different parts of the state — what goes in the fertile south is too strong for the dry north. There is also the Sydney phenomenon of “adult” cinemas showing unregistered and unclassified films, in open breach of Common­ wealth and State laws. he burgeoning of the video-cassette market caught the Classification Board off its guard. In last year’s report - the first such report in the Board’s history — Strickland acknowledged the strain on staff and resources caused by the ever-increasing use of videotape.

“Looking ahead,” she says, “one can foresee video­ tape possibly displacing celluloid as the predominant

T

visual medium. Some cinemas even now display their product not on conventional screens, but on giant video panels. Once picture quality in this format has improved, the practice will undoubtedly spread.

“The widespread domestic application of video­ tape poses an even greater threat to the continued viability of the cinema as we know it. One symptom of the threat is the recently-initiated practice of some major motion picture companies of simultaneously releasing their new product in videotape and standard celluloid formats.

“A major concern for film censorship is the ease with which films and videotapes can be duplicated.

This will be a continuing problem, despite the fact that some commercial videotapes have encoded devices preventing duplication. Effecting deletions to videotapes creates difficulties, as the Board lacks the necessary equipment. It is thus obliged to rely on the importer’s written confirmation that the deletions have been made.

“Videodiscs will present different problems, as it is not presently possible to delete any of the informa­ tion contained in their grooves. Their importation will necessitate the purchase of additional equipment by the Board, the training of staff in its use and appropri­ ate legislative amendments.”

Chief Censor Janet Strickland: "All I can do is propose and nothing more. ”

The Board’s classification is designed to tell the public what sort of film is up for display, and Strickland says the Board aims at reflecting the plurality of com­ munity standards in Australia today.

“Within the limits of the legislation, the Board tries Top: John Travolta in Rigby-CIC’s R-rated version of Saturday Night Fever. Above: Video C lassics’ Walter Lehne. to implement a censorship policy based on the philosophy that adults have the right to make their own decision regarding the material read, heard or Video Classics’ Walter Lehne says: “We accept the seen; but that people generally should be protected same classification for company products as the from exposure to material that may be offensive - or theatre. Of course, there has been talk of a separate in the case of children, harmful — to them.” censorship for video and we would welcome it.”

Video Classics, in common with most other distribu­ hat the censorship debacle boils down to for tors, is careful to cover itself by displaying the Board’s the video-cassette industry, says Douglas rating on all its cassette boxes, although nobody is sure Long, then spokesman of the Australian Video whether this is legally necessary.

Association, is “tremendous problems for the distribu­ Questioned on these issues, Strickland told tors, the retailers and possibly the people who are C h a n n e l s she had tried to get the states to formulate buying.” some sort of unified legislation regarding the video­ Many of the distributors do not seem to care. They cassette industry last August. Her proposal was “put in simply meet the Board’s requirements and leave it at the too-hard basket,” she says, but she expects the that. Rigby-CIC’s Ken Chapman says his company states to reconsider it later this year. She sees the goes with whatever classification the censor decides, censorship arrangement for literature as a “workable but this attitude is open to being influenced by the alternative” which might prove appropriate to axiom that sex sells: of the two versions, M and R, of cassettes.

Saturday Night Fever, Rigby offers the R for video­ C o n tin u e d o n p . 18 cassettes.

W

C H A N N ELS April 1982 — 15

Thousands of films have suffered at the hands of the Film Censorship Board since its formation in 1917. The Censor’s demands have ranged from small deletions to outright bannings. The following stills have been taken from films affected by cen­ sorship. None has been seen uncut at a commercial screening. Nobody knows in what versions these films will ultimately be released on video-cassettes.

One can be sure, however, it will not be the film­ maker’s. Clearly the right of people to view uncen­ sored films — and the use of home video cir­ cumvents the social problems — has still not been met.

Above and below: Mario Bava’s Baron Blood and Paul Morrissey’s Flesh for Frankenstein had censorship cuts to the gory and violent sequences. Right: Tinto Brass’ Caligula was cut by the distributor after being banned by the censor.

A LVIN URPLE

The fate of Tim Burstall’s film highlights the inconsistencies of censorship decisions made for broadcast television. The theatrically-released version was heavily cut for commercial television, while the Alvin Pur­ ple television series on the ABC showed much more.

From le ft to right: Debbie Nankervis in the uncut theatrical version. The same scene at the point where commercial television decided to cut. This shot of Debbie Nankervis and Graeme Blundell was cut from the version released on commercial television. This shot with Peta Peters was allowed in the ABC series.

16 ~ CH ANN ELS April 1982

Above left: Michelangelo A n to n io n i’s Blow Up had parts of this sequence cut. Above right: Lewis G ilb e rt’s The Adventurers had deletions made due to sex and violence. Below left: Clockwork Bananas was a French hardcore film that had its sex sequences shortened un til it became softcore. Below right: Pier Paolo Pasolini’s last film, Salo, was banned.

CH A N N ELS April 1 982 -

17

And then there is the continuing saga of Electric nother major area of dissatisfaction among Blue. A sort of British audio-visual rendition of C lu b distributors is that of the delays experienced while a film or videotape made its way through I n t e r n a t io n a l and P la y b o y , the Electric Blue video­ the Board’s administrative machinery. Not manytapes are distributed by Peter Southwell out of Mel­ distributors will go on the record about this, but Walter bourne.

Lehne is openly critical. Video Classics, he claims, has He has managed to put out seven editions since some 80 films awaiting classification, some of which early 1980. Electric Blue 001 took some four months have been at the Board’s Sydney headquarters for to get a classification, according to Southwell; 002 had three months. “The video industry is a whole new a few beeps and cuts; 003, 004 and 005 went through industry in this country,” he says, “and the Board just easily, but 006 went back and forth to Sydney three does not seem capable of doing the job.” times in three-and-a-half months before passing muster. He claims it cost him $20,000 in lost revenue.

When Electric Blue 007 fronted the censors on December 17, 1981, it was cleared by December 28. To Southwell’s practised eye, 007 was “much hotter than 006. But that is the thing. If the Board gives you a hard time on one, they go easy on the next.” Ironically, a clip from the film Straw Dogs which ran unabashedly in Australia’s cinemas, was deemed unsuitable when included in Electric Blue.

The size of the video-cassette industry is difficult to ascertain. The move by the big media groups into the area is an indication that there is a lot of money to be made from cassettes, but just how much is anybody’s guess. A N e w Y o rk T im e s article claimed recently that cassette sales and rentals totalled IJ.S.$1 billion last year. Australia is not in that league, but if American estimates of market shares correlate here, video pornography claimed between 20 and 50 per cent of the market last year.

The article quoted S c r e w magazine publisher Al Goldstein as saying that American retailers could be underestimating sales by focusing on hardcore films. In the past, X-rated films were seen and judged almost

A

Left: Peter Southwell of Electric Blue, Below: Susan George and Dustin Hoffman in Straw Dogs: cut by the censors for release on Electric Blue.

Top: At Goldstein, publisher of Screw magazine: the p ublic wants “real film s with se x’’. Above: Malcolm McDowell and Adrienne Corri in A Clockwork Orange: different versions for different markets.

few complaints, but purchasers of pornography are unlikely to express their dissatisfaction at this level.

One relevant consideration, however, is that there is no obligation on distributors to state which version of a film is being offered for sale. Clockwork Orange, for example, was made in a number of different versions for different territories; The Godfather was made in dif­ ferent versions for cinema and television; Woodstock is reported to have had 40 minutes of sexual and drugrelated activity excised from the American version before release in Australia and the gap plugged with more music; nobody seems to know which version will eventually appear on cassette, but the version used on television here is the Australian one.

Most distributors are content to offer product that was screened locally in a Board-classified version and in Strickland’s view this more than meets consumer requirements.

Television remains a grey area as far as censorship is concerned. The Australian Broadcasting Tribunal and the Australian Broadcasting Commission allow the Board to examine and classify imported programs.

Thus the Government and commercial stations come under the Board’s umbrella.

Interestingly, commercial television seems to welcome the Board’s embrace. When the Government tried to sever the connection last year, the Federation of Australian Commercial Television Stations said no, claiming the Board was in a better position to draw a “fine line” between the demands of vocal minority groups.

In addition, the commercial stations seem to have a higher sense of propriety: when the ABC-produced Alvin Purple series made its channel crossing to the Seven Network, much was missing.

The Special Broadcasting Service, on the other hand, is not obliged to observe the ABT’s program standards.

Most weeks, SBS programming runs to nudity and explicit language, though sometimes SBS gestures in the Board's direction by running a questionable program after prime time.

Perhaps the main point about censorship in 1982 is that it has lost much of its status as an issue. A glance through the censorship file in any newspaper office reveals the decline: the fat files of the early 1970s shrink steadily as the years go by. Society seems to have become less anxious about individual behaviour in private; and because of the video cassette, filmed material that would have been unthinkable in Aus­ tralian living rooms a decade ago is now hardly out of the ordinary.

■

exclusively by men. "The product is changing today because more couples are seeing it,” he said. “Now they are actually trying to introduce plots and charac­ ters with real problems — real films with sex.”

Douglas Long is adamant that no realistic figure exists on Australia’s video-cassette consumption. "His­ torically, it’s been an industry that was founded on sex films,” he says. “ But we have no idea how big it is. Sex sells, it’s as simple as that. But how much is anyone's guess. The whole area is further complicated by the fact that much of the Triple X stuff is pirated anyhow.” eanwhile consumers seem unaware of how vulnerable the uncontrolled growth of the W oodstock: the A u s tra lia n video-cassette market has left them. Con­ ed. The ve rsion s relea se d sumer affairs bureaus in Melbourne and Sydney report

M

had 40 minutes replaced.

record album had songs excis­ theatrically and on television

VIDEO INVADES

DISNEYLAND Disney hallmark. Gone with Tron are the days of fairy dust, Jiminy Cricket and lisping ducks.

Computer animation from Disney might seem to go he sweeping changes now underway at the against the handcrafted sensibility of the studio, yet Disney studios represent a radical departure Disney’s moral and political conservatism always from the conservative image fostered by Disney disguised a creative liberalism bordering on the revolu­ for so many years. Due for release in the middle of thistionary. The early Disney animated films broke new year, Tron, with its spectacular effects and state-ofground in color, believability and story development, the-art techniques, is aimed at capturing the imagina­ and set the standards for everyone else in those early tion of children and adults today as surely as those days. early Disney films did years ago.

Disney himself had a basic instinct for American A feature-length combination of animation and live taste and for new tools that would help him provide action, Tron heralds a new age of computer-generated entertainment the public would welcome. In the same film and video graphics. There are new faces and a new spirit, Wilhite is banking $13.5 million on being able to creative spirit at Disney: they belong to 29-year-old combine the Disney tradition of the well-told story with Tom Wilhite and his assistants, a group of young live action and animated characters co-existing in a animators who are about to reshape drastically the computer-generated landscape. tradition of cute hand-animation that has been the He is doing this in collaboration with a few old-school animators and a gaggle of whiz-kids recently out of Cal Arts (California Institute of Art; Valencia), the animation Donald Duck, one of the many popular characters created by Walt and film school set up by Disney. Since graduation Disney, the pioneer of high quality single-frame animation. these new-breed animators have been honing their skills at the Disney studio on the corner of Dopey Drive and Mickey Avenue; and now those skills are to be tested on Tron, a story conceived by Steven Lisberger, visualized and storyboarded by futuristic industrial designer Syd Mead, comic artist Jean “ Moebius” Giraud and high-tech commercial artist Peter Lloyd.

Whiz-kid animators, animation choreographers and technobrats include Jerry Reese, Bill Croyer, Rick Heinrichs and Tim Burton — to name a few among hundreds.

John Salkin and Julie Stone

T

LICORICE

he action of Tron centres on the premise that computer games house real people in another dimension which is controlled by a single malevolent program. The protagonist, Flynn (Jeff Bridges), who begins as a flesh-and-blood character, is blasted into electronic particles and awakes in a fourth-dimensional world whose overlord is the evil Dillinger (David Warner).

The saga is played out in a setting where the life force is electricity, where computer programs are the alter egos of the programmers and where electronic

T

Above: Tron a rtist Peter Lloyd, producer Donald Kushner and writer/director Steven Lisberger. Right: Cast members (from left) Bruce Boxleitner, Je ff Bridges and Cindy Morgan.

gladiators do battle. Flynn is sentenced to die on the video game grid, where the amusements found in arcades become life and death realities.

Tron represents the most extensive use yet of computer-generated video animation, with resultant massive reductions in the amount of time needed and the production costs that make conventional animation so prohibitively expensive now. The bulk of the film’s graphics are being generated by Magi, of New York State, and Information International, of California. Their computers create a picture by delivering messages to individual points of light, called “pixels”, on a video monitor, with programmers encoding information about color and intensity for each pixel. “It’s a bit like putting a picture on the big billboard in Times Square,” a graphics expert explains; except that where the Times Square billboard has 8000 light bulbs, a computer image has millions of pixels, each of which must be programmed for each frame of film.

CH A N N ELS April 1982 — 21

ore than five million calculations are needed to create one frame of computer animation.

Multiply that by the 1,240 frames needed to make one minute of film and the immensity of the task is apparent.

An additional group of computers is used to control exposure and camera moves, and to provide a weekly “Pert” (Program Evaluation and Review Technique) readout indicating where the film stands in relation to its post-production schedule.

All this cuts out a lot of jobs. No longer, for example, is it necessary to have model makers construct three­ dimensional figures that the animators can touch and turn as they strive for an exact rendering; now the com­ puter does this, on screen. Gone too are the hundreds of inbetweeners, those custodians of the art who so carefully made the transitional drawings connecting one pose to the next.

In addition, any single scene, or “cel” can be recalled at any time: once a character’s movement or expres­

M

22 — CHANNELS April 1982

Tron’s integrated live-action footage and computer-generated video animation.

sion has been programmed it remains available for use in any later scenes or for adaptation in subsequent films.

What has to be remembered, though, is that it was the humanity of the Disney animated films — not the technology behind them — that gave them their near­ universal appeal. Whether the new computer tech­ niques can match the original films in terms of story, character development, tension, conflict and audience involvement remains to be seen. But Disney will be doing their best to maximize that involvement: Bally, the largest maker of video games in the U.S., is creating the Tron video game for its nationwide chain of arcades and for installation in theatres a month before the film is released. It’s hard to see Tron not catching on.

■

C H A N N E L S April 1982 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; 23

Winds of War Production com pany Producer Director S criptw riter Cast Synopsis Length Format Progress

Paramount P ictures Dan Curtis Dan Curtis Herman W ouk (based on his novel) Robert Mitchum, Ali MacGraw, Jan-M ichael Vincent, John Houseman The story of the events that befall the Henry fam ily at the beginning of World War 2.

1 6 x 1 hour Film P ost-production

lolanthe

The Gilbert and Sullivan Operas Production com pany Producer Directors Cast Synopsis Format Progress

A George W alker Presentation for Brent W alker Judith de Paul Rodney Greenberg, David Heather Keith Michell, Eric Shilling, Peter Allen, Peter Marshall, Frankie Howerd, William Conrad, Derek Hammond-Stroud, Thomas Hemsley 1 2 Gilbert and Sullivan light operas.

Videotape Production

The Jewel in the Crown Production com pany Producer Directors S criptw riter Cast Synopsis Length Format Progress

Granada Television Christopher Morahan Christopher Morahan, Jim O’Brien Ken Taylor Peggy Ashcroft, Anna Cropper, W endy Morgan, Saeed Jaffrey Based on Paul S cott’s aw ard-w inning novels — “ The Raj Q uartet” , the story is set in the last days of the Raj in India.

1 4 hours Film Production

Wagner Production com pany Producer Director S criptw riter Cast Synopsis Length Format Progress Scheduled release

London T rustC ultu ral Production/RM P roductions/M agyar Televizio Alan W right Tony Palmer Charles Wood Richard Burton, Vanessa Redgrave, John Gielgud, Joan Plowright The life of the controversial 1 9th Century German composer, Richard Wagner.

8 hours Film Production February 1983

A Woman Called Golda — Ingrid Bergman.

A Woman Called Golda Production com pany Producer Director S criptw riter Cast Synopsis Length Format Progress

Paramount Television Gene Corman Alan Gibson Harold Gast Ingrid Bergman, Judy Davis, Ann Jackson, Leonard Nimoy, Ned Beatty, Jose Ferrer, Jack Thompson Based on the biography of the former Prime M inister of Israel, Golda Meir.

4 x 1 hour Film P ost-production

Local Carson’s Law (Working title) Production com pany Crawford Productions Producer John Barningham S criptw riter Terry Stapleton Cast Lorraine Bayly Synopsis Based on the life of a female barrister and her fam ily in the 1 920s.

Length 52 x 1 hour — proposed Integrated film and videotape Format P re-production Progress

For the Term of His Natural Life

Winds of War — Ralph Bellamy and Howard Lang.

24 — CH ANN ELS April 1982

Production com pany Minton Investments Producer Patricia Payne Director Rob Stewart S criptw riters Patricia Payne, W ilton S chiller Cast Anthony Perkins, P atrick Macnee, Rod Mullinar, Robert Coleby Synopsis An adaptation of Marcus C larke’s classic novel of the same name.

Length 6 hours Format Film Progress P ost-production

Home Production company Producer Directors ■ Scriptwriters Cast Synopsis

Length Format Progress Scheduled release

Australian Broadcasting Commission (Exec) Noel Price Noel Price, Doug Sharp, Craig Collie Graeme Farmer, Kate Legge, Magda de la Pesca, N. McFadyen Darren Sole, Leah Steventon, Bill Garner, C hristine Amour, V ikki Blanche, Tim Blake, Ross O'Donovan A series about contem porary young A ustralians w hich reflects the ir values, ideals and am bitions.

Set among the residents of a com m unity welfare home.

22 x 'k hour Integrated film and videotape P roduction Late June 1982

November 1 1 ,1 9 7 5 (Working title) Production com pany Byron Kennedy and George Miller Producer Terry Hayes Directors George Miller, Phil Noyce, George Ogilvie, Carl Schultz, John Power Cast .

Max Phipps, John Stanton, John Meillon, Bill Hunter, John Hargreaves, Stewart Faichney Synopsis The events leading up to and including the dism issal of the W hitlam government.

Length 6 x 1 hour Film Format Progress Production

Return to Eden Production com pany Hanna Barbera (A ustralia)/M cElroy and McElroy Producer Hal McElroy S criptw riter Michael Laurence Synopsis A s to ryo f passion, intrigue, murder, vengeance and the obsession of two women for the same man.

Length 6 x 1 hour Progress P re-production

MPSIB — Barry Quin, Mike Preston and Peta Toppano.

MPSIB Production com pany Australian B roadcasting Comm ission John Croyston P roducer Eric Tayler, Russel Webb, Keith Wilkes, Peter Directors Fisk, Brian Lennane, Craig Collie Colin Free, Robert Caswell, Patricia Johnson, S criptw riters Janis Balodis, John Dingwall, Ginny Lowndes M ike Preston, Peta Toppano, Barry Quin Cast Based on the exploits of the Missing Persons S ynopsis S pecial Investigation Branch.

1 0 x 1 hour Length Videotape Format Production Progress

1915 P roduction com pany Lionhart Television International/Australian B roadcasting Commission Ray Allchin P roducer Chris Thomson, Di Drew Directors Peter Yeldham (based on Roger M cD onald’s S criptw riter novel) S cott McGregor, S cott Burgess, Sigrid Thornton, Cast Jackie W oodburne, Lorraine Bayly, Bill Hunter S to ry o f two young men w h o g ro w up in rural Synopsis NSW and go off to W orld War 1.

7 x 1 hour Length Film Format Production Progress M id -1982 S cheduled release

Runaway Island — Aido Sambrell, Miles Buchanan, Simone Buchanan and John Hamblin.

Runaway Island Production com pany Grundy Organization Producer Roger Mirams Director David Stevens S criptw riter Paul W heelahan Miles Buchanan, Simone Buchanan, Julie Tyler Cast The children of a wealthy landow ner try to get Synopsis evidence of a corrupt governor’s guilt. Set in the 1830s.

Length 1 x 2 hour and 8 x V? hour Film Format P ost-production Progress

Secret Valley Production com pany Grundy Organization Roger Mirams Producer Terry Bourke, Howard Rubie, Rick Birch, Julian Directors Pringle, Alan Coleman. John McRae S criptw riter Terry Bourke Cast Max Cullen, Sheila Ken nelly, Tom Farley, Miles Buchanan Synopsis A group of children turn an old ghost town into a profitable weekend holiday cam p — without any adult assistance.

Length 1 x 1 V? hour and 26 x '/? hour Film Format Production Progress

Winner Take All

November 11, 1975 — The Whitlam governm ent’s dismissal.

Production com pany A ustralian B roadcasting Commission Producer C hristopher Muir Mark Callan, Robin W ischusen, Kevin Dobson, Directors Peter Fisk S criptw riters Bill Garner, Michael Harvey, Barbara Gliddon, Garrie H utchinson Ronald Falk, Diana McLean, Tina Bursill, Briony Cast Behets Synopsis A series portraying the lives of the people behind an Australian corporation facing today's econom ic and political climate.

Length 9 x 1 hour Videotape Format Production Progress Late 1982 ■ S cheduled release

C H A N N ELS April 1982 -

25

Production Company Producer Directors Episode 1 Episode 2 Episode 3 Episode 4 Scriptwriters Scheduled release

Generation Films Bob Weis

Episode One: 1824-1830. Alinta (The Flame)

James Ricketson David Stevens Stephen Wallace Geoffrey Nottage Sonia Borg, Hylius Maris July 19 82 , Channel 0 /2 8

Episode Two: 1890s. Maydina (The Shadow)

Synopsis: Women of the Sun is an ambitious production, consisting of four self-contained episodes. Each part is set in a different period and recounts the events which occurred in the lives of four Aboriginal women, their immediate families and tribes between 1824 and 1981.

T he liv e s o f th e N y a ri p e o p le a re c o m p le te ly d is r u p te d w h e n th e y fin d tw o e s c a p e d w h ite c o n v ic ts w a s h e d u p o n th e b e a c h o f th e ir trib a l la n d s , a n e v e n t th a t w ill c h a n g e th e ir w a y s fo re ve r. (L e ft in s e t o p p o s ite ).

S e p a ra te d fro m h e r d a u g h te r, M a y d in a (M a w u y u l Y a n th a lu w u y ) c o n te m p la te s h e r a lie n c lo th e s a n d id e n tity , a n d th in k s o f e s c a p e fro m th e c h u rc h m is s io n s ta tio n .

(B a c k g ro u n d o p p o s ite ).

Episode Three: 1939. Nerida Anderson.

B a s e d o n th e C u m m e ra g u n g a W a lk o u t o f 1 9 3 9 , in w h ic h 6 0 0 A b o r ig in a l p e o p le w a lk e d o f f a V ic to ria n m is s io n s ta tio n , N e rid a A n d e rs o n (J u s tin e S a u n d e rs ), th e le a d e r o f th e d is s id e n ts , a n d h e r g ra n d m o th e r (M in n ie P a tto n ) fa re w e ll fa m ily o f f to war. (B elow ).

Episode Four: 1981. Lo-Arna.

A n n C u tle r (M ic h e lle L a n y o n ), w h o h a s b e e n b ro u g h t u p b e lie v in g s h e is P o ly n e s ia n a n d a d o p te d , is h a u n te d b y th e fir s t m is g iv in g s a b o u t h e r re a l A b o r ig in a l a n c e s try . (R ig h t in s e t o p p o s ite ).

I !

H

I I

H

I I

l

S

l

VIDEO LIBRARY

CHANNELS is pleased to announce the formation of Australia’s first library of quality films on videotape.

Drawing on the best of international cinema, the CHANNELS VIDEO LIBRARY will offer movie lovers an outstanding collection highlighting the work of the world’s best filmmakers.

To enable collectors to build up their own movie libraries CHANNELS will also offer special prices on packages of films by outstanding directors. The first in this series will highlight the work of Alfred Hitchcock.

C H A N N ELS VIDEO L IB R A R Y C A TA LO G U E 15. Kid, The

1. Allegro non troppo 2. Animal Crackers U.S. 1930. Dir. Victor Heerman. Star­ ring: The Marx Brothers. $59.95

16. King Kong

4. Blackmail

17. Knife in the Water Poland. 1962. Dir. Roman Polanski.

Starring: Leon Nienczyk. $59.95

Britain. 1929. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock.

Starring: Anny Ondra. $49.95

Britain. 1926. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock.

Starring: Ivor Novello. $59.95

Germany. 1930. Dir. Joseph Von Sternberg. Starring: Marlene Dietrich. $59.95 U.S. 1941. Dir. Orson Welles. Starring: Orson Welles. $59.95 U.S. 1929. Dir. Joseph Stanley. Star­ ring: The Marx Brothers. $59.95

U.S. 1940. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Star­ ring: Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine. $69.95

U.S 1978. Dir. Michael Cimino. Star­ ring : Robert De Niro, John Gazale. $79.95.

9. Don’t Look Now

28. Room Service U.S. 1938. Dir. William Seiter. Star­ ring: The Marx Brothers, Lucille Ball. $59.95

U.S. 1942. Dir. Orson Welles. Starring: Joseph Cotten, Anne Baxter. $59.95

21. Man Who Fell to Earth, The U.S. 1976. Dir. Nicolas Roeg. Starring: David Bowie. $79.95

22. Marriage of Maria Braun, The

8. Deer Hunter, The

W. Germany. 1979. Dir. Rainer Werner F a ssbinde r. S ta rrin g : Hanna Schygulla. $69.95

23. Nosferatu

Britain. 1973. Dir. Nicolas Roeg. Starr­ ing: Donald S utherland, J u lie Christie. $79.95 U.S. 1927. Dir. Buster Keaton. Star­ ring: Buster Keaton. $59.95

11. Godfather, The U.S. 1972. Dir. Francis Ford Coppola.

Starring: Marlon Brando, Al Pacino. $79.95

13. Halloween U.S. 1979. Dir. John Carpenter. Star­ ring: Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasance. $69.95

14. Hester Street U.S. 1975. Dir. Joan Mickl/n Silver.

Starring: Carol Kane, Steven Keats. $69.95 th re e o f th e f o llo w in g film s be o rd e re d fo r 10% o ff r e c o m m e n d e d r e t a il p r ic e s . o r d e r fo r m f o r d e ta ils .

Films by Alfred Hitchcock $49.95 $59.95 $79.95 $59.95 $59.95 $69.95 $59.95 $59.95

Britain. 1936. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock.

Starring: Oscar Homolka. $59.95

30. Secret Agent U.S. 1936. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Star­ ring: John Gielguld, Peter Lowe. $59.95 France. 1962. Dir. Francois Truffaut.

Starring: Charles Aznavor, Marie Dubois. $69.95_____________ ____

U.S. 1946. Dir. Robert Siodmak. Star­ ring: Dorothy McGuire, Kent Smith. $69.95

34. Star Trek U.S. 1979. Dir. Robert Wise. Starring: William Shatner. $79.95

35. Straw Dogs U.S. 1971. Dir. Sam Pekinpah. Star­ ring: Dustin Hoffman, Susan George. $79.95

36. Suspicion U.S. 1941. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Star­ ring: Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine. $59.95

37. Third Man, The U.S. 1949. Dir. Carol Reed. Starring: Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten. $69.96

38 Thirty Nine Steps, The Britain. 1935. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock.

Starring: Robert Donat. $59.95

39. Vengeance is Mine Japan. 1979. Dir. Shohei imamura.

Starring: Choko Mikayo. $69.95

Order Form N am e A d d re s s

12. Goldrush, The U.S. 1925. Dir. Charlie Chaplin. Star­ ring: Charlie Chaplin. $59.95

29. Sabotage

31. Shoot the Piano Player

W. Germany. 1922. Dir. F.W. Murnau.

Starring: Max Schrek. $59.95

10. General, The

Blackmail The Lodger Psycho Sabotage Secret Agent Spellbound Suspicion Thirty Nine Steps

27. Rebecca

20. Magnificent Ambersons

7. Coconuts

4.

18.

26.

29.

30.

32.

36.

38.

U.S. 1960. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Star­ ring: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh. $79.95

U.S. 1931. Dir. Fritz Lang. Starring: Peter Lorre. $59.95

6. Citizen Kane

Any can th e See

26. Psycho

19. M

U.S. 1945. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Star­ ring: Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck. $69.95

33. Spiral Staircase, The

U.S. 1975. Dir. Milos Forman. Star­ ring: Jack Nicholson, Louise Flet­ cher. $79.95

18. Lodger, The

5. Blue Angel, The

32. Spellbound

Nest

U.S. 1933. Dir. Merian C. Cooper. Star­ ring: Fay Wray. $59.95

3. Battleship Potemkin Soviet Union. 1925. Dir. Sergei Eins­ tein. Starring: Alexander Antonov. $59.95

24. Notorious

U.S. 1921. Dir. Charlie Chaplin. Star­ U.S. 1946. Dir. Alfred Hitchcock. Star­ ring: Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan. ring: Cary Grant. $69.95 $59.95 25. One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s

Italy. Dir. Bruno Bozzetto, animated. $69.95

__________________________ ______ P o s tc o d e .

P le a s e s e n d m e th e f o llo w in g f ilm s fr o m th e C h a n n e ls V id e o L ib r a r y

Film number (see catalogue)

Price

F ilm s fr o m th e A lf r e d H it c h c o c k package

□ □ □ □ □ □

Film number

Price

□

$....

□

$....

□

$. . .

Sub-total B $ less 10% Sub-total C $

Sub-total A $

EH

Format required

V.H.S.

EH

Beta

Total amount enclosed (add A and C)

$.

Make cheques payable to Cinema Papers Pty L td , 644 Victoria St, Nth Melbourne, Vic., 3051.

□ □ □

Bankcard No. Expires

/

/

Signature

Please allow 4 weeks for processing.

□ □

□ □ □

□ □ □ □ □ □

U.S., the writing was clearly on the wall. Film attend­ ances plummeted in cities with TV and theatres began to close.

Regrouping and Rethinking

John Pruzanski The Decline of the Studios and the Rise of Television In the 1950s, television really arrived as a mass medium in the U.S. and the Hollywood major studios watched in horror as their patrons and profits deserted them. Some studios folded, others survived by inviting corporate takeovers; but only recently have those sur­ vivors been able to wrest a degree of market control back from television.

When television came to Australia in 1956 the local film industry was dead and buried, with film distribution completely in the hands of U.S. and —to a lesser extent — British interests. The development of television here thus fell — in the commercial area —to the giant press interests, who had already invested substantially in radio. The American experience, given the size and influence of the film industry there when television began to assert itself, was very different.

Hollywood’s near-fatal error of judgment occurred in the early 1930s when General David Sarnoff, head of The Radio Corporation of America, decided to begin manufacturing television broadcasting and receiving equipment. Subsequently, disenchanted with the programs available from the few independent stations around the country, he set out to increase sales of receivers by creating quality programs, and his National Broadcasting Corporation expanded into tele­ vision production and distribution.

The film studios failed to grasp the implications of this new development. Louis B. Mayer turned down the offer of a share in NBC and even forbade his employees to watch TV, the attitude being that if it was ignored this upstart innovation would go away. Such was not to be the case. After peaking in 1946, cinema attendances began a steady decline and, in 1951, when there were 12.5 million TV receivers in use in the

At first, the film studios scrambled to repel the invader by offering innovations that television could not match: 3D, Odorama, a variety of widescreen pro­ cesses, enhanced sound quality and an increased use of color. But all that was to no avail.

So, the studios regrouped and rethought. Television had already made extensive and profitable use of film titles whose copyright had lapsed, or which had been bought up by farsighted middlemen. Many of these films were old and of poor quality, but their success with viewers was undeniable. So, in 1956, the studios bowed to the inevitable and began to sell their product to television.

A major factor in this decision had been the popular­ ity of the New York program Million Dollar Movie: the General Tire and Rubber Company had bought RKO, one of the Hollywood major studios, and was using the studio’s product to provide programming for TV stations the company owned in the major markets.

Alive now to the income that TV sales could generate, the cash-poor studios gave in; but they were clever enough to come up with a scheme that would maximize their profits on TV sales and give them enduring control over their product.

The name of the game was packages. A package comprised a few sought-after titles padded out with lesser-known or failed films and hedged about with stipulations concerning when and how often each title might be shown. (This is a practice now widely used in Australia by local film distributors and U.S.-based packaging syndicators.) Each individual title was assigned a value which was reflected in its programming and publicity; thus the major cinema success was assured of its aura and television ratings to match — a situation still slavishly imitated by Aus­ tralian television and its audiences today.

Hollywood on the Television Payroll This arrangement did not signify the signing of a peace treaty; it was more in the nature of an accommo­ dation that injected some badly-needed cash into studio coffers. But a second breakthrough had begun in 1954 when the Walt Disney Studios signed a deal for the Disneyland series with the fledgling American Broadcasting Company.

Left: RCA's David Sarnoff. Centre: Louis B. Mayer turned down the offer of a share in RCA. Right: The logo of the RKO corporation. The com pany’s inventory was sold to the General-Tire and Rubber company, and the studio complex to Lucille Ball and Desi Arnez.

C H A N N ELS April 1982 — 29

Left: Jack Warner. Centre: Steven Spielberg’s Duel was made for television, but deemed good enough to distribute theatrically — a common practice today. Right: Francis Ford Coppola re-edited The Godfather, integrating it with The Godfather, Part Two and unused footage to create an eight hour special event for television.

This was not considered a major coup for television as Disney was not regarded as one of the majors — even though time has shown Disney to be the most consistent and financially sound of all the Hollywood corporations. It did, however, alert Jack Warner of Warner Brothers — the man who frowned on any appearance of a television set in a home scene in a Warner feature — to the profit potential of providing original material for television, and Warner signed a deal with ABC to produce films for the 1955-56 season.

To defuse any theatre-owned animosity to these dealings with the enemy, Warner stipulated that in each one-hour film, a 10-minute segment, called Behind the Cameras, must be included. These segments depicted work on feature films soon to be released in theatres; in other words, they were free commercials for Warners’ features.

Thus, with television productions of Casablanca, King’s Row and Cheyenne, all broadcast under the umbrella title “Warner Brothers Presents", the first sig­ natory to the truce opened the floodgates. The other majors soon followed and this innovation saved many of them. Feature film attendances continued to decline and more and more studio resources were diverted to television programming. A symbiotic relationship developed between the studios and the networks. The networks began dropping the live dramatic presenta­ tions that spawned a new generation of actors and directors, and concentrated on telefilm programs.

The Changing Tide The studios were reasonably happy, with profits increasing as a steady new market of young patrons began to boost cinema attendances in the 1960s.

Feature films were taking up a smaller percentage of air time on television, but the major features were becoming more important for the ratings and, during the 1960s, the networks balked at paying what they thought were exorbitant prices. They decided instead to set up their own theatrical feature film production companies.

That was not a success, but their next move — to commission independent producers, working from studios, to create films for television distribution only — had a happier outcome. By feature standards these were low-budget films, using familiar television stars and occasionally enticing Hollywood greats for special roles. They provided some tremendous hits for the net­ works, ratings-wise, but also had the effect of increas­ ing the aura surrounding the ‘special event’, major feature film on television.

This relationship continued up to the 1970s. A Holly­ wood major studio release was premiered in the major cities, showcased around the country, then perhaps re­ issued a year or so later. Only then was it considered for television release. The studios judged the drawing power of a film in the theatres and when they thought few people would pay to see the film again, television would have its chance. This process could take any­ thing from two years up to, in the case of Gone With the Wind (1939), almost 40 years.

Again, in the mid-1970s, the networks were openly dissatisfied with the prices they had to pay. Sometimes a network pre-bought a film at a bargain price, taking a chance on its commercial success before it was theatrically released. Networks were paying in the low millions for these sales, rather than the US$15 million they paid for Jaws. Sometimes they made a good deal by buying a ‘sleeper’ (Rocky), sometimes they bought a disaster (The Sorcerer — known as Wages of Fear in

Left: Casablanca, the Warners’ classic, was one of the first features to be used as the basis for a television series CentreGone With the Wind waited for 40 years to be shown on television. Right: NBC paid a record price for Jaws, which w ill p ro ­ bably only be beaten by the television sale of Star Wars.

30 — £ H J Z M N G I S April 1982

Left: Satellite-delivered Home Box Office is the m ost successful cable program distributor. Centre le ft and centre right: M *A *S*H and Patton are two film s from the firs t package of Hollywood features to be released on video cassette. Right: Superman, The Movie was instrum ental in reversing the video-cassette release policies of the major Hollywood studios.

Australia). Now, as before, the networks have begun to tinker with the idea of producing their own material for theatrical release and other distribution systems.

Cable Cable television had been around in the U.S. from the early 1950s, when Community Access Television was developed to help communities improve their broad­ cast signals. A CATV or cable company set up a large receiving station in a poor-reception area and wired up individual homes to this aerial. Then, in 1975, Theta Cable in Los Angeles asked a crucial market research question: How many people would pay for an extra channel delivered by their cable, that carried uncut, commercial-free theatrical feature films into their homes? The answer dictated that they should try and Z-Channel was born.

Other entrepreneurs started similar pay networks (Home Box Office, Showtime) whose programs were sent via satellite to any cable operator — or individual — who had the necessary receiving equipment. Cable operators charged each consumer and then reim­ bursed the program originator.

These companies disrupted the studio releasing pat­ terns. Again, it took time for the majors to release their latest films to cable, but they eventually came to the party after returns increased. The new pattern squeezed a cable release between the theatrical and television releases. That eventually began to affect the television networks who had initially believed that cable release, with only a small percentage of the population wired up, would actually Improve a film’s aura and help the ratings. That was probably true until the proportion of homes wired grew to a point where television ratings were adversely affected. The net-

9 to 5 was one o f the firs t Twentieth Century-Fox film s to have sim ultaneous theatrical and video-cassette release.

works were forced to respond by offering bigger money for films, in an effort to outbid cable.

What the future holds for network policy on theatrical feature films remains to be seen. Cable now produces its own programming for a multitude of different net­ work types, and the feature film networks have to com­ pete against ‘narrowcasting’ channels featuring all news, all sport, children’s programs, culture and a great deal more.

Video Cassettes Another technological development which is poten­ tially much more important for the studios and again disrupts the releasing patterns of films is the video cassette. In 1975, the first successful half-inch video­ cassette recorder, the Sony Betamax, hit the U.S. market. The VHS system entered soon after, but the studios again were very wary of entering this market.

In 1976, a company called Magnetic Video secured the rights to release a package of early Twentieth Cen­ tury-Fox titles on video cassette. These films had done their theatrical and television runs and were deemed expendable enough to be used as guinea pigs. Mag­ netic Video were so successful that Twentieth CenturyFox bought the company in 1979 and released more films on cassette. Other companies sprang up, buying the rights to foreign films and packaging films whose rights had lapsed. The other studios were still reluctant to sell their products to home consumers and, for a time, pornography ruled the shelves of home video stores. The video cassette seemed the perfect means of distribution for sex.

Hollywood Cashes In The proliferation of video-cassette recorders and the ease of duplicating tapes created a major piracy prob­ lem. In 1978, it was possible to find pirated copies of Superman, The Movie in video retailer stores before the film had been released theatrically in the U.S. The stations took note of consumer demand for their pro­ duct and, to minimize losses through piracy, they slowly began to release their titles; now all the major studios distribute some of their product on cassette and video­ disc.

The relevant strategies — number of titles released, timing of release and sale versus rental policies — vary from studio to studio. Twentieth Century-Fox recently announced that theatrical and cassette release of many of their films will in future be simultaneous. They reason that with publicity costs so high, product identi­ fication might be extended to video cassettes and discs as well.

CH A N N ELS April 1982 — 31

On the other hand, Paramount Pictures announced that they will be releasing very few titles and concen­ trating on quality, not quantity. They aim to keep a respectable distance between the theatrical release and home video release. The other studios fall some­ where in between. There are now more than 3000 feature film titles released on cassette in the U.S., some so recent that they have not yet been released theatric­ ally in Australia.

The studios are in a strong enough position to vary release patterns to suit their own purposes. To show their dissatisfaction with the cable companies’ poor payments, Fox sold Breaking Away to NBC and released it on video cassette before it was released to cable television.

In Australia, the traditional pattern of distribution has not yet been markedly affected. We have no form of pay television and even though video-cassette recor­ ders have been on the market for some six years, the feature film software has only been generally released within the last three years. Outside of pornography and R-rated material, mainstream feature film distribution was initiated by Walter Lehne of Video Classics in 1979, although the market did not start moving until Magnetic Video (South Pacific) started in 1981.

The other major studios followed. Cinema Inter­ national Corporation, (CIC, who represent Universal Pictures, Paramount Pictures and others) joined the Rigby Publishing group to form Rigby-CIC. Publishing and Broadcasting, the Kerry Packer group of com­ panies, set up Star Video in 1980. They have no major studio ties and pick up ’free’ properties. Warner Home Video began late last year and is operated by the Warner subsidiary, Warner Elektra Asylum Records.

Thorn and EMI have started Thorn-EMI internationally

and distribute their own and ‘free’ properties. Inter­ vision began in Britain and exclusively marketed the United Artists library, which it lost in 1981 when United Artists changed hands and the library was bought by Magnetic Video. In Australia, Intervision is actively hunting for its own titles.

The situation in Australia has yet to be sorted out.

Other independent distributors (listed in the Distributor Key of the following Checklist) have bought the rights to various feature films and other programs such as video-music albums, packaged television programs, sports and ‘how to' cassettes. The next instalment of the Program Checklist will include further video­ cassette categories.

Consumer acceptance of video has expanded the market to unforeseen proportions and also made it far more complex. In the old days — which were not so long ago — film companies made theatrical films and television networks made video programs. Now film companies make video programs and television net­ works make theatrical films.

As for tomorrow — who knows? At present, feature films make up a major proportion of video-cassette and videodisc programming, and will clearly remain import­ ant for broadcast television, but everything is changing rapidly: broadcasting is shifting towards ‘narrow­ casting’; home-satellite receivers open up, quite liter­ ally, a whole new world of television; the screens we use for entertainment already have other applications in business, information and security.

As for distribution patterns of feature films, news, sport, newspapers, magazines and archivai material, there have already been big changes with more to come. In all of this video is going to play a major part.

Abe Lincoln in Illinois 1939/John Cromwell ★

Raymond Massey, Gene Lockhart. 110m bw

DRA NM $59.95 Acapulco Gold Bob Grosvenor ★ Marjoe Gortner.

Robert Lansing. (R) DOC VC $59.95 Adventures of a Private Eye * Suzy Kendall.

Harry H. Corbett. 90m (R) COM VC $69.95 Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, The 1939/ Richard Thorpe ★

HOW TO USE T H IS C H E C K L IS T This alphabetical list was com piled from inform ation supplied by distributors. A ddi­ tional reference material was gained from p u b lis h e d info rm atio n co n c e rn in g the theatrical versions of the films. Therefore, all listings of film lengths are approxim ate only, ow ing to variations in the length of distributed theatrical versions. The cen sor­ ship ratings listed are only those supplied and hence some titles not yet subm itted for censorship bear foreign ratings.^Ail films are in color unless otherw ise indicated.

Sample Entry 1951/John Huston ★ Humphrey Bogart. Katharine Hepburn. 101m (NRC) DRA MV $69.00

African Queen, The

African Queen, The

1951 /John Huston ★ Humphrey Bogart, Katharine Hepburn 101m (NRC) DRA MV

$69.00

title year of theatrical distribution director lead actor/s approximate running time in minutes censorship ratings as listed by distributor film type code (see key) distributor code (see key) distributorrecommended retail price

32 — CH A N N ELS April 1982

Mickey Rooney. Walter

Connolly. 90m (G) bw FAM VC $69.95 Adventures of Sherlock Holm es’ Sm arter Brother, The 1975/Gene Wilder * Gene Wilder, Madeline Khan. 87m (NRC) COM MV $69.00 African Queen, The 1951/John Huston ★ Humphrey Bogart. Katharine Hepburn. 101m

Film Types ACT ADT ADV ANM COM DOC DRA FAM HOR MUS SF THR WAR WST

action adult adventure animated comedy documentary drama family horror musical science fiction thriller war western

Distributors CIC HH INT KC KV MV NM SB SC SV TE VC VR VV

WD

Rigby-CIC Video GL Video (formerly Hollywood House Video) Intervision K and C Video King of Video 20th Century-Fox Video (formerly Magnetic Video) Nostalgia Merchant Star Base Video Videoscope Star Video Thorn EMI Video Video Classics GL Video (formerly Videorama) Vintage Video Walt Disney Home Video

(NRC) DRA MV $69.00 Airport '77 1977/Jerry Jameson * Jack Lemmon, Lee Grant. 116m ACT CIC $79.95 Aladdin’s Lamp 74m (G) FAM INT $69.95 VC $69.95 1978/Ridley Scott ★ Tom Skerritt, Sigourney Weaver. 116m (R) SF MV $69.00 Aliens from Spaceship Earth /Don Como. 87m DOC INT $69.95 Alison’s Birthday 1980/lan Coughlan * Joanne Samuel. Lou Brown. DRA VR $59.95 All About Eve 1950/Joseph L. Mankiewicz ★ Bette Davis, Ann Baxter. 133m (NRC) DRA MV $69.00 All About Gloria Leonard (R) ADT KV $69 95 All Mine to Give 1957/Allan Reisner * Cameron Mitchell, Glynis Johns. 102m DRA VV $59.95 All in a Night’s Work 1961/Joseph Anthony * Dean Martin, Shirley Maclaine. 91 m (NRC) COM MV $69.00 All in the Sex Family (R) ADT KV $69 95 All That Jazz 1979/Bob Fosse * Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange. 123m MUS MV $69.00 Allegro non troppo /Bruno Bozzetto. (NRC) ANM $69.95 Amazing Dobermans, The 1976/David and Byron Chudnow ★ Fred Astaire. Barbara Eden. 94m (NRC) FAM VC $69.95

Alien

Amazing World of Psychic Phenomena, The ★ Raymond Burr. 92m DOCO VC $69.95 American Nitro 1979. 75m (NRC) ACT VC $69.95 Analyse Your Sex (R) ADT KV $69.95 Animal Crackers 1930/Victor Heerman * Marx Bros. 98m bw HH $59.95 Animal Farm 1955/John Halas. 72m HH $59.95 Aphrodisians (R) ADT KV $69.95 Applause, Kitty Darling HH $59.95 Apple, The /Menahem Golan ★ Catherine Mary Stewart. Allan Love. 90m MUS VC $69 95

Around the World with Fanny Hill 101m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Assassination of Trotsky, The 1972/Joseph Losey ★ Richard Burton, Alain Delon. 103m (M) DRA VC $69.95 Astro Zombies (M) HOR KV $69.95 Auntie’s Secret Society (R) ADT KV $69 95 Au Pair Girls (R) ADT VR $59.95

All About Eve Director: Joseph L. Mankiewicz. Stars: Bette Davis, Ann Baxter, George Sanders.

Produced by Twentieth Century-Fox, 1950.

133 mins. Black and White. Released by Twentieth Century-Fox Video.

J o s e p h L. M a n k ie w ic z ’ s w itty , sophisticated com edy about Broadway backstage doings remains one of the brightest film s of its period. Released in 1950, the film gathered together a to p ­ line cast and gave them dialogue and characters that seem to have im proved with age.

All About Eve concerns the effect an am bitious young actress has on those around her. As these include an ageing Broadway star, a young director, a cynical critic, a dedicated playwright and his non-professional wife, the way is wide open for bitchy fun and games, and Mankiewicz never misses a trick.

G reat p e rfo rm a n c e s fro m Bette Davis, Anne Baxter (as Eve), Celeste H olm , T h e lm a R itte r and G e o rg e Sanders as a definitive dram a critic (he won a well-deserved Oscar). Marilyn M onroe plays a small, but telling role.

Excellent black and white re prod uc­ tion and first-class sound makes this a must for the collector.

Ivan Hutchinson

Baby Rosemary /Howard Perking ★ Sharon Thorpe, Leslie Bovee. 65m (R) ADT VC $69 95 KV $69.95 Back Seat Cabbie (R) ADT KV $69.95 Bad Georgia Road * Gary Lockwood. Carol Lynley 85m (NRC) ACT VC $69.95 Bait, The 1973/Leonard Horn ★ Donna Mills, Michael Constantine. 73m DRA SV $79.95 Bandits ★ Robert Conrad. Jan Michael Vincent.

88m ACT INT $69.95 Barbarella 1968/Roger Vadim * Jane Fonda, John Phillip Law. 97m SF CIC $79.95 Barmaid <R) ADT KV $69.95 Battleship Potemkin 1925/Sergei Eisenstein ★ Alexander Antonov, Vladimir Barsky. 65m bw HH

$59.95

Battlestar Galactica 1979/Richard A. Coola ★ Lome Greene, Richard Hatch. 125m SF CIC

S79.95

Beachcomber 1938/Erich Pommer ★

Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester 80m (G) bw KV $69.95 Beast Must Die, The 1974/Paul Annett ★ Peter Cushing, Calvin Lockhart. 93m (M) HOR VC $69.95 Bedspread, The (R) ADT KV $69.95 Behind Convent Walls Wallerian Borowczyk. 90m (R) ADT KC $69.95 Behind Locked Doors 1948/Budd Boetticher * Lucille Bremer, Richard Carlson. 62m (R) HOR KV $69.95 Behind Locked Doors ★ Joyce Denner. 80m (R) DRA SB $69.95 Below the Belt ★ John Tull, Buck Flower. 90m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Beneath the Planet of the Apes 1970/Ted Post ★ James Franciscus, Charlton Heston. 91m (NRC) SF MV $69.00 Benghazi 1955/John Brahm * Richard Conte, Richard Carlson. 78m bw DRA VV $59.95 Bermuda Triangle, The ★ John Huston. 125m (M) ACT KC $69.95 Bermuda Triangle, The /Richard Friedenberg.

95m DOC VC $69.95 Best of Walt Disney’s True Life Adventures (G) FAM WD $R.O. Beyond and Back /James L. Conway. 93m DOC VC $69.95 Beyond Death’s Door 90m DOC VC $69.95 Beyond the Door # 2 90m (R) HOR KC $69.95 Beyond the Poseidon Adventure 1979/lrwin Allen * Michael Caine. Sally Field. 122m WH

$R.O.

All that Jazz Director: Bob Fosse. Stars: Roy Scheider, Jessica Lange, Ann Reinking. Produced by Twentieth Century-Fox, 1979. 117 mins.

Color. Released by Twentieth Century-Fox Video.

One of the most successful attempts at musical biography ever made for cinema. Hamm ered by some critics w ho th in k it s e lf-in d u lg e n t, s e lf­ congratulatory and pretentious, All That Jazz stru c k this re vie w er as im a g in a tiv e , d y n a m ic and h ig h ly original. Bob Fosse may have used his own life as a basis for Joe Gideon, and if so, he is m ore critical of his own fail­ ings than m ost of us.

The musical has sequences that shock, dazzle, stimulate, but rarely bore. The spectacularly staged and edited open-heart surgery sequence becomes a song and dance routine full of m ordant wit. There are splendid per­ form ances from all, especially Roy S cheider as Joe Gideon.

Color ranges from excellent to fair, sound first-class.

Ivan Hutchinson

Beyond the Valley of the Dolls 1970/Russ Meyer * Dolly Read, Cynthia Myers. 109m MV $69.00 Bible, The 1966/John Huston * George C. Scott, Richard Harris. 151m (G) FAM MV $69.00 Big Bad Wolf 60m (G) ANM VC $69.95 Big Land, The 1957/Gordon Douglas ★ Alan Ladd, Virginia Mayo. 92m WST VV $59.95 Biggest Battle, The * Henry Fonda, Samantha Eggar. 97m (AO) WAR KC $69.95 Bilitis David Hamilton ★ Patti D’Arbanville, Mona Kristensen. 96m SV $79.95 Billy the Kid Returns (G) WST KV $69 95 Birds of Prey 1973/William Graham ★ David Janssen. 74m (NRC) ACT VC $69.95 Birthday Party, The 1968/William Friedkin ★ Robert Shaw, Dandy Nichols 126m COM SV

$79.95

Beauty 1978. 48m (G) ANM CIC $59.95 Deep Throat 90m (R) COM VC $69.95 Deep Throat (R) ADT KV $69.95 Hole, The 1979/Gary Nelson ★ Maximilian Schell, Anthony Perkins 97m (NRC) SF WD

Black Black Black Black

$R.O.

Black Panther /Ian Merrick ★ Donald Sumptor, Andrew Burt, 99m ACT INT $69.95 Black Veil for Lisa, A 1968/Massino Dallamano ★ John Mills, Luciana Paluzzi. 95m (M) DRA KC

$69.95

Blackbeard’s Ghost 1968/Robert Stevenson ★ Peter Ustinov, Dean Jones. 107m (G) FAM WD

$R.O.

■

Blackmail 1929/Alfred Hitchcock * Anny Ondra, Sara Allgood. 92m bw DRA TE $49.95 HH $59.95 KV $69.95 Blazing Flowers ★ Marc Porel, George Hilton.

90m ACT INT $69.95 Blazing Saddles 1974/Mel Brooks ★ Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder. 93m COM WH $R.O. Blob, The 1958/lrvin Yeaworth ★ Steve McQueen, Anita Corseaut. 85m (G) HOR KV $69.95 Blood and Sand 1941/Reuben Mamoulian ★ Tyrone Power, Linda Darnell. 123m ACT MV

$69.00 Blood Beast Terror, The ★ Peter Cushing, Robert Fleming. HOR VR $59.95 Blood Money 1980/ChrisFitchett ★ Bryan Brown, John Flaus. 72m DRA VR $59.95 Blood Money ★ Lee Van Cleef. 103m (M) WST VC $69.95 Bloodthirsty Butchers (M) HOR VC $59.95

Blue Angel, The 1930/Jose Van Sternberg ★ Marlene Dietrich, Emil Janning. 90m bw DRA HH

$59.95

Blue Belle

$69.95

* Annie Belle. 86m (R) DRA KC

Blue Fire Lady 1977/Ross Dimsey ★

Mark Holden, Cathryn Harrison. 96m (G) FAM VC $69.95 Blue Hawaii 1962/Norman Taurog * Elvis Presley, Angela Lansbury. 97m (G) MUS MV $69.00 Blue Max, The 1966/John Guillerman ★ George Peppard. 149m (NRC) ACT MV $69.00 Blues Brothers, The 1980/John Landis ★ John Belushi, Dan Aykroyd. 133m (M) MUS CIC $79.95 Bluff ★ Anthony Quinn, Capucine. 104m (AO) COM KC $69.95 Bobbie Jo and the Outlaw 1976/Mark L Lester ★ Lynda Carter, Marjoe Gortner. 85m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Body, The /Roy Battersby. 108m DOC TE $69.95 Boob Tube, The ★ John Alderman. 98m (R) COM KC $69.95 Boston Strangler, The 1968/Richard Fleischer ★ Tony Curtis, Henry Fonda. 110m (NRC) DRA MV $69.00 Bounty Man 1972/John Llewellyn * Clint Walker, Richard Basehart. 73m WST SV $79.95 Boys from Brazil, The 1978/Franklin Shaeffner ★ Gregory Peck, James Mason. 11 9m (M) DRA MV $69.00 Brain of Blood * Kent Taylor. 82m (M) HOR KC $69.95 Breaking Away 1979/Peter Yates ★ Dennis Christopher, Dennis Quaid. 100m DRA MV $69.00 Bremen Town Musicians 60m (G) FAM VC $49.90 Brief Encounter 1975/Alan Bridges ★ Sophia Loren, Richard Burton. 74m DRA MV $69.00 Brief Encounter 1945/David Lean * Trevor Howard, Celia Johnson. 86m (G) bw DRA SC $59.95 Brlghty of the Grand Canyon 1967/Norman Foster ★ Joseph Cotten, Dick Foran. 89m (G) FAM KC $69.95 Brubaker 1980/Stuart Rosenberg * Robert Redford, Yaphet Kotto. 130m (M) DRA MV SR.O. Bruce’s Fingers /Joseph Kong ★ Bruce Lee, Chan Wai Man. 91 m ACT INT $69.95 Brute, The /Gerry O'Hara ★ Sarah Douglas, Julian ¿lover, 90m (R) HOR VC $69.95 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century 1979/Daniel Haller * Gil Gerard, Pamela Hensley. 89m SF CIC $79.95 Bugs Bunny/Road Runner Movie, The 1979/ Chuck Jones ★ Bugs Bunny. Road Runner. 92m ANM WH $R.O. Bummer! ★ Kipp Whitman. Connie Strickland.

87m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Bundle of Joy 1956/Norman Taurog * Debbie Reynolds, Eddie Fisher. 98m COM VV $59.95 Butch and Sundance — The Early Years 1979/ Richard Lester *• William Katt, Tom Berringer.

(G) WST MV $69.00 Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid 1969/ George Roy Hill ★ Paul Newman, Robert Redford. 106m (NRC) WST MV $69.00

C.C. and Company 1970/Seymour Robbie ★ Joe Namath, Ann Margret. 91m (R) ACT MV $69.00 Cabaret 1972/Bob Fosse ★ Liza Minnelli, Michael York. 123m MUS SV $79.95 Cabinet of Dr Caligari, The 1919/Robert Wiene

★ Werner Krauss, Conrad Veidt. 69m bw HOR HH $59.95 Caged Heat 81 m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Can Can 1960/Walter Lang ★ Frank Sinatra, Shirley Maclaine. 126m (G) MUS MV $69.00 Can’t Stop the Music 1980/Nancy Walker * Village People, Valerie Perrine. 120m MUS TE

$79.95

Capricorn One 1978/Peter Hyams ★ Elliot Gould, James Brolin. 119m (NRC) SF MV $69.00 Carnal Knowledge 1971/Mike Nichols * Jack Nicholson, Candice Bergen. 93m (R) DRA MV

$69.00 Sidney James, Kenneth Williams. 90m (NRC) COM SC $59.95 Carry on Nurse 1960/Gerald Thomas ★ Kenneth Connor, Shirley Eaton. 84m COM TE $49.95 Case of the Smiling Stiffs ★ Harry Reems 72m (R) COM VC $69.95 C as s a n d ra C ro ssin g 1977/G eorge Pan Cosmatos ★ Richard Harris, Sophia Loren.

127m ACT MV $R.O. Castaways of the General Grant 75m (NRC) ACT VC $59.95 Cat ’O Nine Tails 1971/Dario Argento ★ Karl Malden, James Franciscus. 105m (M) ACT KC $69.95 Cat People 1942/Jacques Tourneur ★ Simone Simon, Kent Smith. 73m bw HOR NM $59.95 Centerfold 1981/Tony Patterson ★ Martha Thomson. 60m (M) DRA VC $59.95 Champagne For Caesar Richard Whorf ★ Ronald Colman, Vincent Price. 99m bw DRA VV $59.95 Chaperone, The (R) ADT KV $69.95 Charleston ★ Bud Spencer, James Coco. 89m (AO) COM KC $69.95 Carry on Dick 1974 ★

CH ANN ELS April 1982 -

33

Chariy 1968/Ralph Nelson ★ Cliff Robertson, Claire Bloom. 106m DRA SV $79.95 Child, The 83m (R) HOR KC $69.95 Chisum 1970/Andrew V. McLaglen ★ John Wayne, Forrest Tucker, 111m WST WH $R.O. Citizen Kane 1941 /Orson Welles * Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten. 120m bw DRA NM $59.95 Clash by Night 1952/Fritz Lang * Barbara Stanwyck, Robert Ryan. 105m bw DRA VV

$59.95

C le o p a tra 1963/Joseph L. Mankiewicz *

Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton. 176m (NRC) DRA MV $69.00 Clones, The 1973/Paul Hunt, Lamar Card * Michael Greene, Gregory Sierra. 90m SF INT $69.95 Cobra 1968/Mario Sequi ★ Dana Andrews, Anita Ekberg. 91m (M) ACT KC $69.95 Coconuts 1929/Joseph Santley * Marx Bros.

96m bw COM HH $59.95 Code-Name: Rawhide (R) ADT KV $69.95 Colditz Story, The 1957/Guy Hamilton ★ John Mills, Eric Portman. 93m bw WAR TE $59.95 Color Me Dead 1969/Eddie Davis ★ Tom Tryon, Carolyn Jones. 97m (NRC) ACT KC $69.95 Come One Come All ★ Sebastian Gregory. 75m (R) COM KC $69.95 Commandos 1968/Armando Crispino ★ Jack Kelly, Lee Van Cleef. 89m (AO) WAR KC $69.95 Confessions of a Young Housewife * Jennifer Welles. 80m (R) COM SB $69.95 Connecticut Yankee In King Arthur’s Court, A 50m (G) ANM SV $49.95 Contamination ★ Ian McCulloch. 96m (R) HOR SB $69.95 Contract, The ★ Bruno Pradal. 85m (M) DRA KC

$69.95

1 97 8/S am P eckinpa h ★ K ris Kristofferson, Ali McGraw. 106m ACTTE $79.95 Paul Newman, George Kennedy 126m DRA WH $R.O. Count, The Immigrant, The (G) KV $69.95 Countess Died of Laughter ★ Terry Torday. 98m (R) COM KC $69.95 Craze 1974/Freddie Francis ★ Jack Pallance.

97m (R) HOR VC $69.95 Crazy, Crazy Love (R) ADT KV $69.95 Crazy Westerners ★ Terrence Hill. WST VR $59.95 Creeping Flesh, The 1973/Freddie Francis ★ Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing. 94m HOR VR $59.95 Crocodile /Sampote Sands. 83m HOR INT $69.95 Cross of Iron 1976/Sam Peckinpah ★ James Coburn, Maximilian Schell. 128m ACT TE $69.95 Cruel Sea, The 1953/Chartes Frend ★ Jack Hawkins. Stanley Baker. 121m bw WAR TE $59.95 Cry for Cindy ★ Maryanne Fisher. 65m (R) ADT VC $69.95 KV $69.95 Cry in the Night, A 1956/Frank Tuttle ★ Natalie Wood, Edmund O’Brien. 75m bw DRA VV $59.95 Cry Sweet Revenge ★ Herbert Lorn. 83m (R) HOR KC $69.95 Cry Uncle (R) ADT KV $69.95 Cure, The Adventurer, The (G) KV $69.95 Curly Top 1935/lrving Commings ★ Shirley Temple, John Botes. 75m (G) bw FAM MV $69.00 Curse of the Crimson Altar, The 1968/Vernon Sewell ★ Boris Karloff, Christopher Lee. 81m HOR VR $59.95 Cycles South ★ Bobby Garcia, Don Marshall.

91m (PG) ACT SB $69.95 Cyclone ★ Arthur Kennedy. Carroll Baker. 106m (R) DRA KC $69.95 C onvoy

Cool Hand Luke 1967/Stuart Rosenberg ★

Dam Busters, The 1954/Michael Anderson ★

Richard Todd, Michael Redgrave. 119m bw WAR TE $59.95 Damien Omen II 1978/Don Taylor ★ William Holden, Lee Grant 103m (M) HOR MV $69.00 Daniel Boone 1981 48m (G) ANM CIC $59.95 Danish Modern (R) ADT KV $69.95 David Copperfieid 1970/Delbert Mann ★ Robin

Phillips, Richard Attenborough. 117m (G) FAM MV $69.00 Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier 1955/

Norman Foster ★ Fess Parker, Buddy Ebsen. (G)

FAM WD $R.O. Day It Came To Earth, The 1977 84m (M) SF VC $69.95

Day of the Dolphin 1973/Mike Nichols ★ George C. Scott Trish Van Devere. 104m (G) DRA MV

$69.00

Day of Watch Carl Dreyer. HOR HH $59.95 Day the Earth Moved, The 1974/Robert Michael

Lewis ★ Jackie Cooper, Stella Stevens. 74m DRA SV $79.95 Deadly Hero 1976/lvan Nagy ★ Don Murray, Diahn Williams. 98m (R) ACT MV $69.00 Death Dimension /Al Adamson ★ Jim Kelly, Aldo Ray. 90m ACT INT $69.95 Death on the Nile 1978/John Guillermin ★ Peter Ustinov, Angela Lansbury. 135m DRA TE $79.95 Deathhead Virgin, The * Jock Gaynor, Larry Ward. 90m (M) DRA KC $69.95 Deep Six, The 1958/Rudolph Mate ★ Alan Ladd, William Bendix. 105m DRA VV $59.95

34 — CH A N N ELS April 1982

Deer Hunter, The 1978/Michael Cimino ★ Robert De Niro, John Cazale. 176m DRA TE $79.95 Delilah (R) ADT KV $69.95 Dementia 13 1963/Francis Ford Coppola ★

William Campbell, Luana Anders. 81 m bw HOR HH $59.95 Depraved Relations 87m (R) ADT KC $69.95 Desert Fox 1951 /Henry Hathaway ★ James Mason. Jessica Tandy. 88m WAR MV $69.00 Detective, The 1968/Gordon Douglas ★ Frank Sinatra, Jack Klugman. 110m (NRC) DRA MV

Exotic Dreams of Casanova

★

Johnny Roco,

Janet Louise. 90m (R) COM KC $69.95 Extreme Close-Up 1973/Jeannot Szwarc ★ Jim McCullan, Kate Woodville. 78m DRA KC $69.95 Eyes Behind the Stars /Roy Garret ★ Robert Hoffman, Nathalie Delon. 90m SF INT $69.95 Eyes Behind the Stars ★ Martin Balsam. 88m (AO) SF KC $69.95 Eyewitness ★ Christopher Plummer, William Hurt.

DRA MV SR.O.

$69.00

Devil Rider 74m (M) ACT VC $69.95 Devil’s Garden, The 76m (R) ADT VC $69.95 KV

$69.95

Devils of Darkness ★ William Sylvester. 90m (M) HOR KC $69.95 Devils Wanton, The 1962 /lngmar Bergman ★

Doris Svenlund, Birger Malmstem. 72m bw HOR HH $59.95 Diary of Anne Frank 1959/George Stevens ★ Joseph Schildkraut, Millie Perkins, Shelley Winters. 170m DRA MV $69.00 Dimboola 1979/John Duigan ★ Bruce Spence, Natalie Bate. 90m (M) COM SC $59.95 Dinosaurus 1960/lrvin S. Yeanorth ★ Ward Ramsey, Paul Lukather. 85m (G) ACT KV $69.95 Dirt Bike Bangers (R) ADT KV $69.95 Dirty Gang (R) ADT KV $69.95 Dirty Harry 1971/Don Siegel ★ Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino. 102m ACT WH $R.O. Dirty Mary/Crazy Larry 1974/John Hough ★ Peter Fonda Susan George. 89m (M) ACT MV $69.00 D.O.A. 1949/Rudolph Mate ★ Edmund O'Brien, Luther Adler. 83m bw DRA VV $59.95 Doctor Dolittle 1967/Richard Fleischer ★ Rex Harrison, Samantha Eggar. 146m (G) MUS MV $69.00 Dog Day Afternoon 1975/Sidney Lumet ★ Al Pacino, John Cazale. 130m WH $R.O. Doll Squad, The ★ Michael Ansara. 102m (M) ACT VC $69.95 Domino Principle, The 1977/Stanley Kramer ★ Gene Hackman, Mickey Rooney. 93m MV $69.00 Don't Look Now 1973/Nicholas Roeg ★ Donald Sutherland. Julie Christie. 106m DRA TE $79.95 Doomwatch ★ Judy Gleeson, Ian Bannen. 90m (NRC) MYS KC $69.95 Double Agent 73 ★ Chesty Morgan. 90m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Dove, The 1974/Charles Jarrott ★ Joseph Bottoms, Deborah Raffin. 100m DRA TE $69.95 Dr Heckyl and Mr Hype ★ Oliver Reed. 90m (M) COM VC $69.95 Dracula 1979/John Badham ★ Frank Langella, Laurence Olivier. 109m HOR CIC $79.95 Dracula’s Last Rites 86m (M) HOR VC $69.95 Driver 1978/Walter Hill ★ Ryan O'Neal, Bruce Dern. 88m ACT TE $79.95 Drum Beat 1954/Delmer Daves ★ Alan Ladd, Marisa Pavan. 11 1m WST VV $59.95 Duchess and the Dirtwater Fox, The 1976/Melvin Frank ★ George Segal, Goldie Hawn. 100m (M) COM MV $69.00 ' Dynamite (R) ADT KV $69.95

Eagle Has Landed, The 1977/John Sturgess ★

Michael Caine, Donald Sutherland. 119m (NRC) ACT MV $69.00 East of Eden 1955/Elia Kazan ★ Julie Harris, James Dean. 115m DRA WH $R.O. Electric Horseman, The 1980/Sydney Pollack ★ Robert Redford, Jane Fonda. 120m DRA CIC $79.95

Emmanuelle /Just Jaeckin ★ Sylvia Krystal. (R) ADT SV $79.95 Emanuelle and Joanna (R) ADT KV $69.95 Encounter With Disaster 93m DOC VC $69.95 Enforcer, The 1976/James Fargo ★ Clint Eastwood, Harry Guardino. 96m ACT WH $R.O. England Made Me 1973/Peter Duffell ★ Peter Finch, Michael York. 104m (M) DRA VC $69.95 Enter the Dragon 1973/Robert Clouse ★ Bruce Lee, John Saxon. 97m ACT WH $R.O Equinox 1971/Jack Woods ★ Edward Connell, Barbara Hewitt. 80m HOR KV $69.95 Erika's Hot Summer ★ Erica Gavin. 63m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Erotic Adventures of Pinocchio, The ★ Alex Roman, Jyanne Thorne. 80m (R) COM KC

$69.95

Erotic Adventures of Superknight, The 100m (R) COM KC $69.95 Erotic Adventures of Zorro, The ★ Robyn Whitting. 93m (R) COM KC $69.95 Escapade in Japan 1957/Arthur Lubin ★ Teresa Wright, Jon Provost. 92m DRA VV $59.95 Escape To The Sun 1979/Menahem Golan ★

Lawrence Harvey. Jack Hawkins. 105m (M) ACT VC $69.95 Eskimo Nell (R) ADT VC $69.95 Every Which Way But Loose 1978/James Fargo ★ Clint Eastwood, Sondra Locke. 119m ACT WH

$R.O.

Evil in the Deep ★

Stephen Boyd. (NRC) ACT VC

$69.95 Executive’s Wives, The 73m (R) ADT VC $69.95 KV $69.95 Exorcist, The 1973/William Friedkin ★ Ellen Burstyn, Jason Miller. 121 m HOR WH SR.O.

Fabulous Bastart from Chicago, The 86m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Face of Fu Manchu, The 1965/Don Sharp ★ Christopher Lee, Nigel Green. 94m DRA TE

$69.95

Fairytales 80m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Fall of the House of Usher, The (NRC) HOR VC

$69.95

Fantasm 1976/Richard Franklin (Richard Bruce) ★ John C. Holmes. 90m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Fantasm Comes Again 1977/Colin Eggleston

(Eric Ram) ★ John C. Holmes. 90m (R) ADT VC $69.95

Fantastic Planet 1973/Rene Laloux. 72m (G) ANM HH $59.95 Fantastic Voyage 1966/Richard Fleischer ★ Stephen Boyd, Raquel Welch. 96m (G) SF MV

$69.00 Fantasy in Blue (R) ADT KV $69.95 Farewell My Lovely 1975/Dick Richards ★

Robert Mitcham, Charlotte Rampling. 97m DRA MV $69.00 Farewell Scarlett (R) ADT KV $69.95 Farewell to Arms 1932/Frank Borzage ★ Gary Cooper, Helen Hayes. 78m (G) bw KV $69.95 HH $59.95 Female Chauvinists 89m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Fiendish Plot of Dr Fu Manchu 1980/Piers Haggard ★ Peter Sellers, Helen Mirren. WH SR.O. Fireman, Caught in Cabaret, The (G) KV $69.95 First Time, The (R) ADT KV $69.95 First Travelling Saleslady /Arthur Lubin ★ Ginger Rogers, Carol Channing. 92m WST VV $59.95 Fistful of 4 4 ’s, A (R) ADT KV $69.95 5 Desperate Women 1971/Ted Post ★ Robert Conrad, Anjanette Comer. 73m DRA SV $79.95 Rve Weeks in a Balloon 1978. 48m (G) ANM CIC $59.95 Flash Gordon 1980/Mike Hodges ★ Sam Jones, Melody Anderson. 11 5m SF VC $69.95 Flesh and Blood Show, The DRA KC $69.95 Flesh Gordon Howard Ziehm. 91m (R) SF VC $69.95 Roorwalker, The Rink, The (G) KV $69.95 Rorida Connection, The ★ Dan Pastorini, June Wilkinson. 102m ACT INT $69.95 Rying Deuces 1939/A. Edward Sutherland ★ Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy. 64m bw COM HH $59.95 KV $69.95 Rying Leathernecks 1942/Nicholas Ray ★ John Wayne, Robert Ryan. 102m WAR NM $59.95 Fog, The ★ Janet Leigh, John Houseman. MV $69.00 For the Love of Ivy 1968 ★ Sidney Poitier, Abbey Lincoln. 100m DRA SV $79.95 Forgotten Man, The 1971/Walter Grauman ★ Dennis Weaver, Ann Francis. 73m DRA SV $79.95 Fort Apache 1948/John Ford ★ John Wayne, Henry Fonda. 125m bw WST NM $59.95 Forty Graves for 4 0 Guns ★ Rita Rogers, Robert Padilla. 85m (R) WST KC $69.95 4D Man 1959/lrvin S Yeaworth Jr ★ Robert Lansing, Lee Merriwether. 85m (G) SF KV $69.95 Four Deuces, The 1975/William Bushnell Jr * Jack Palance, Carol Lynley. 87m (NRC) DRA VC $69.95 Franchette (R) ADT KV $69.95 Freaky Friday 1977/Gary Nelson ★ Barbara Harris, Jodie Foster. 95m (G) FAM WD SR.O. Freedom to Love 92m (R) ADT KC $69.95 French Connection, The 1971 /William Friedkin ★ Gene Hackman, Roy Scheider. 100m (M) ACT MV $69.00 From the Earth to the Moon 1958/Bryon Haskin ★ Joseph Cotten, George Sanders. 100m SF VV $59.95 Fugitives, The (R) ADT KV $69.95 Fun in Acapulco 1963/Richard Thorpe ★ Elvis Presley, Ursula Andress. 93m (G) MUS MV $69.00 Funniest Man in the World, The ★ Douglas Fairbanks Jr 90m bw DOC INT $69.95 VC $69.95 Fury, The 1978/Brian De Palma ★ Kirk Douglas, John Cassavetes. 118m HOR MV $69.00 Futz 1969/Tom O'Horgan ★ La Mama Troupe.

92m (R) MUS KC $69.95

G Games Guys Play ★ Wendell Burton. Jim Backus.

101m (M) COM KC $69.95 Garden of Allah 1936/Richard Boleslawski ★ Marlene Dietrich, Charles Boyer. 85m DRA SV

$79.95 Gas Pump Girls 102m (R) ADT VC $69,95

Gauntlet, The 1977/Clint Eastwood ★ Clint East­ wood, Sondra Locke. 109m ACT WH $R.O. Gay Divorcee, The 1934/Mark Sandrich ★ Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. 107m bw MUS NM

$59.95 General, The

1927/Buster Keaton ★

Buster

Keaton. i08m bw COM HH $59.95 Gentlemen Prefer Blondes 1953/Howard Hawks *

Marilyn Monroe, Jane Russell 88m (NRC)

DRA MV $69.00 Getting of Wisdom, The 197 7/Bruce Beresford ★

Susannah Fowle, Barry Humphreys. 100m

(NRC) DRA SC $59.95 Getting Over /Bernie Rollins * John Daniels, Gwen Brisco. 107m MUS INT $69.95 Ghoul, The Freddie Frances ★ Peter Cushing, John Hurt. 88m (M) HOR VC $69.95 G.l. Blues 1960/Norman Taurog ★ Elvis Presley, Juliet Prowse. 100m (G) MUS MV $69.00 Gift for Heidi, A ★ Sandy Descher, Douglas Fawley. FAM VV $59.95 Girl Most Likely 1957/Mitchell Leisen ★ Cliff Robertson. Jane Powell. 98m COM VV $59,95 Girl Who Knew Too Much, The 1969/Francis D Lyon * Adam West Nancy Kwan. 96m (NRC) ACT KC $69.95 Girls at the Gynaecologist ★ Monica Dahlberg.

90m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Girls For Rent 89m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Girls, Girls, Girls 1962/Norman Taurog ★ Elvis Presley, Stella Stevens. 102m (G) MUS MV $69.00 Girls in the Streets 80m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Glorifying the American Girl HH $59.95 Glory 1956/David Butler ★ Margaret O'Brien, Walter Brennan. 100m DRA VV $59.95 God's Gun 1975/Frank Kramer ★ Lee Van Cleef, Jack Palance. 93m (NRC) WST VC $69.95 Godfather, The 1972/FranciS Ford Coppola ★ Marlon Brando, Al Pacino 164m DRA CIC $79.95 Godsend, The 93m (M) HOR VC $69.95 Godson, The * Jason Yukon, Lois Mitchell. 86m (R) DRA SB $69.95 Golden Rendezvous 1977/Ashley Lazarus ★ Richard Harris, Ann Turkel. 102m (M) ACT SC $59.95 Goidrush, The 1925/Charlie Chaplin ★ Charlie Chaplin 100m bw COM HH $59.95 Goodbye Franklin High (NRC) DRA VC $69 95 Gosh! Tom Schever. 84m (R) COM VC $69.95 Grand Sensualist, The 90m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Grease 1978/Randal Kleiser ★ John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John. 110m MUS CIC $79.95 Great Day in the Morning 1956/Jacques Tournier * Robert Stack, Ruth Roman 92m WST VV $59.95 Great Guy 1936/John G. Blystone ★ James Cagney, Mae Clarke. 75m (G) DRA KV $69 95 Great Houdinis, The 1976/Melvllle Shavelson ★ Paul Michael Glaser. Sally Struthers. 108m DRA SV $79.95 Great Monkey Rip-Off, The /Tom Stobart + Alan Hale. 87m FAM INT $69.95 VC $69.95 Great Muppet Caper, The 1981/Jim Hensen ★ Muppets, Charles Grodin 97m (G) COM MV $R.O. Great McGonagall, The /Joseph McGrath ★ Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers. 89m COM VR $69 95 Great Race, The 1965/Blake Edwards * Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis. 150m COM WH $R.O. Greatest Heroes of the Bible Vol 1 David and Goliath, Samson and Delilah /James L. Conway * Ted Cassidy, Hugh O'Brien. (G) FAM VC

$69.95 Greatest Heroes of the Bible Voi. 2 The Deluge, Joshua at Jericho /James L. Conway * Lew Ayers, Robert Culp. (G) FAM VC $69.95 Greatest Heroes of the Bible Vol. 3 Moses, Solomon /James L. Conway ★ Lloyd Bochner, David Carradine. (G) FAM VC $69.95 Greatest Heroes of the Bible Vol. 4 Daniel, Joseph /James L. Conway ★ Robert Vaughn, Sam Bottoms. (G) FAM VC $69.95 Griffin and Phoenix 1976/Daryl Duke ★ Peter Falk, Jill Clayburgh. 94m DRA SV $79.95 Grissom Gang, The 1971/Robert Aldrich ★ Kim Darby, Scott Wilson 128m DRA SV $79.95 Groupie Girl (R) ADT VC $69.95 Guess What We Learned in School Today 96m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Guess Who’s Sleeping in My Bed 1973/Theodore

Flicker ★ Dean Jones. Barbara Eden. 74m COM SV $79.95 Gulliver's Travels 1939/Max Fleisher * Lanny Ross. 77m ANM HH $59.95 Gulliver’s Travels (G) ANM KV $69.95 Gulliver’s Travels 1979. 48m (G) ANM CIC

$59.95 Gums (R) ADT KV $69.95

H Halloween 1979/John Carpenter ★

Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence. 92m (M) HOR VC $69.95 Hamlet 1948/Laurence Olivier * Laurence Olivier, Jean Simmons. 142m (G) bw DRA SC $59.95 Hansel and Gretel 60m (G) FAM VC $69.95 Happy Hooker, The 1975/Nick Sgarro ★ Lynn Redgrave. 87m (R) COM VC $69.95

Happy Hooker Goes to Hollywood, The ★ Marline Beswicke, Phil Silvers. 85m (R) ADT VC

$69.95

Happy Hooker Goes to Washington, The * Joey Heatherton, George Hamilton. ADT VC $69.95 Hard Heads, The * Scott Mackenzie. 90m (M) ACT KC $69.95 Hard Knocks 1980/Don McLennan ★ Tracy Mann. John Arnold 90m DRA VR $59.95 Harlequin 1980/Simon Wincer ★ Robert Powell, David Hemmings. 96m (M) ACT VC $69 95 Harvey (R) ADT KV $69.95 Healers, The DOC VR $59.95 Heaven Can Wait 1978/Warren Beatty, Buck

Henry * Warren Beatty, Julie Christie. 101m COM CIC $79.95 Heidi 1937/AHan Dwan ★

Shirley Temple, Jean

Hersholt. 86m (G) bw FAM MV $69.00 Hell on Frisco Bay 1955/Frank Tuttle * Alan Ladd. Edward G. Robinson. 98m DRA VV $59.95 Hell in the Pacific 1968/John Boorman ★ Lee Marvin. 103m WAR SV $79.95 Hello, Dolly! 1969/Gene Kelly ★ Barbra Streisand, Walter Matthau. 140m (G) MUS MV $69.00

Helltown (G) KV $69.95 Herbie Rides Again 1974/Robert Stevenson * Helen Hayes, Ken Berry. 88m (G) FAM WD $R.O. Hester Street 1975/Joan Micklin Silver ★ Carol Kane.Steven Keats. 86m (M) bw DRA VC $69.95 High Plains Drifter 1973/Clint Eastwood ★ Clint Eastwood, Verna Bloom. 105m WST CIC $79.95 High Velocity 1977/Remi Kramer* Ben Gazzara, Britt Eckland. 106m (M) ACT KC $69.95 His Girl Friday 1940/Howard Hawks ★ Cary Grant, Rosalind Russell. 92m (G) COM KV Hitchhike to Hell * Robert Gribbin. 85m (R) DRA SB $69.95 Hitchhikers, The ★ Misty Rowe. 92m (R) DRA KC

$69.95 Hollywood High * Marcy Allbrecht. 81m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Hombre 1967/Martin Ritt ★ Paul Newman, Frederic March. 106m (NRC) WST MV $69.00 Home Before Midnight 1980 ★ James Aubrey.

Alison Elliot. 111m (M) DRA SC $59,95 Hooker’s Convention (R) ADT KV $69.95 Horn A’Plenty (R) ADT KV $69.95 Hot Lunch (R) ADT KV $69.95 Hot Rock, The 1972/Peter Yates ★ Robert Redford, George Segal. 97m (NRC) COM MV

$69.00 Hot T-Shirts ★

Ray Milland, Stephanie Lawlor.

86m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Hothouse, The (R) ADT KV $69.95 House of Exorcism 1975/Mario Bava ★ Telly Savalas, Elke Sommer. 88m (R) HOR VC $69.95 House of the Living Dead Philip N. Krasne ★ Mark Burns, Shirley Anne Field. 85m HOR INT $69.95 House of Wax 1953/Andre De Toth ★ Vincent Price, Frank Lovejoy. 88m HOR WH $R.O. House That Wouldn’t Die, The 1970/John Llewellyn Moxey ★ Barbara Stanwyck, Richard Egan. 72m HOR SV $79.95 How To Succeed With Sex ★ Zack Taylor, Mary Jane Carpenter. 75m (R) COM KC $69.95 Huckleberry Finn 1975/Robert Totten ★ Ron Howard, Donny Most. 78m (G) FAM SV $79.95 Human Factor, The 1980/Otto Preminger ★ Richard Attenborough, John Geilgud. 11 5m (R) DRA SC $59.95 Hunchback of Notre Dame, The 1939/Jean Delannoy ★ Charles Laughton, Maureen O'Hara.

112m bw DRA NM $59.95 Hungry Pets, The ★ Rene Bond. 95m (R) COM KC $69.95 Hunter, The 1979/Buzz Kulik ★ Steve McQueen.

Eli Wallach. 97m (M) WST CIC $79.95

I Am Furious (R) ADT KV $69.95 I Love You, I Love You Not (R) ADT KV $69.95 I Stand Condemned 1935/Anthony Asquith ★ Harry Baur, Laurence Olivier. 75m (G) DRA KV

$69.95 I Walked With A Zombie 1943/Jacques Tourneur ★ James Ellison, Frances Dee. 69m bw HOR NM $59 95 I Wish I Were In Dixie (R) ADT KV $69.95 I’m All Right Jack 1960/John Boulting * Ian Car­ michael, Peter Sellers. 101m bw COM TE $49.95 Immoral Tales 1974/Walerian Borowczyk ★ Lise Danvers, Fabrice Luchini. (R) SV $79.95 In Broad Daylight 1971/Robert Day ★ Richard Boone, Suzanne Pleshette. 73m DRA SV $79.95 In Search of Anna 1979/Esben Storm ★ Richard Moir, Judy Morris. 91m (M) DRA SC $59.95 In Search of Historic Jesus 90m DOC VC $69.95 In Search of Noah’s Ark 1976/James L Conway ★ Brad Crandall. 95m DOC VC $69.95 Incoming Freshman (R) ADT VC $69.95 Inferno in Paradise ★ Jim Davis, Richard Young.

91m (PG) ACT SB $69.95 inglorious Bastards 1978/Enzo G. Castellari ★ Fred Williamson. 89m (AO) WAR KC $69.95 Inspector General, The 1949/Henry Koster + Danny Kaye, Walter Slezak. 102m MUS HH $59.95 KV $69 95

Immoral Tales Director: Walerian Borowczyk. Stars: Use Danvers, Fabrice Luchini. 1974. 100 mins.

Color. Released by Star Video.

W alerian Borowczyk’s reputation as an anim ator is probably unrivalled, his eerie Jeux des anges an unchallenged c la s s ic . His firs t tw o liv e -a c tio n fe a tu re s , Goto, f il e d ’am our and Blanche, only helped to maintain his s ta n d in g . Then, B o ro w c z y k d is ­ covered' sex, and his fall from critical favor was as fast as the exit from Eden.

The film that caused the trouble was Contes immoraux (Immoral Tales), a collection of four erotic shorts, each com plete in itself. (A fifth was actually shot, but held over to become the dream sequence of a later film. The Beast) As one who has adm ired Borowczyk's exploration of sexuality, from the m elodram atic Story of a Sin, through the sinister Heroines of Evil, to his witty Dr Jeckyl et les femmes, I can only disagree with those who see sex as a lesser topic of critical debate.

Immoral Tales is an entertaining, shrewd and visually splendid look at aspects of sexuality, done with a masterly wit and lightness of touch. In no other film has a m ajor film m aker been so rewardingly obsessed with the nude fem ale form , com m ented on its power or divorced its analysis from a m oralistic viewpoint.

Borowczyk is about the only serious film m aker singlem indedly pursuing a cinem atic exam ination of sexuality (he is about to do the M arquis de Sade’s Justine). Some view any portrayal of sex on the screen as, if not unneces­ sary, at least unpleasant. Borowczyk argues the fascinations and joys of sex­ uality should be brought into the open. I see no reason, on the strength of his work, to disagree.

But if the release of any Borowczyk on video is to be applauded, it is re gret­ tab le S tar V ideo sho uld release a dubbed tape instead of a sub-titled one. S ub-titles are easy to read on tele­ vision (cf Channel 0/28), and it is hard to see how sales could have been badly affected. The dubbing on this tape is, in fact, so appallingly awful (and flagrantly wayward from the original delicacy and innuendo) that I cannot, in the end, recom m end this tape to anyone.

Scott Murray Interm ezzo 1939/Gregory Ratoff *

Leslie Howard. Ingrid Bergman. 80m bw DRA SV $79.95 .

Intimate Games (R) ADT VR $59.95 Intruders, The 1969/Lee Robinson ★ Ed Devereaux, Tony Bonner. 100m (G) ADV KC $69.95 Invasion of X From Outer Space, The 87m (G) SF KC $69 95 Invincible, The ★ Bruce Li 90m (Ml ACT VC $69.95 Involuntary Bird (R) ADT KV $69.95 Ipcress File, The 1965/Sidney J Furie ★ Michael Caine, Nigel Green. 109m (NRC) DRA SC $59.95

C H A N N ELS April 1982 — 35

Island At The Top of the World 1974/Robert

Licensed to Kill ★ Tom Davis. 96m (PG) ACT SB

Stevenson * David Hartman, Donald Sinden 93m (G) FAM WD $R.O. Island of Rshmen * Joseph Cotten, Barbara Bach. 98m (R) HOR SB $69.95 Island of Terror 1967/Terence Fisher ★ Peter Cushing. Edward Judd. 85m (NRC) HOR KC $69.95 It’s A Wonderful Life 1946/F-rank Capra * James Stewart, Lionel Barrymore. 132m bw DRA HH $69.95

$69.95 Life of Brian 1979/Terry Jones ★ John Cleese, Graham Chapman. 89m COM TE $79.95 Likely Lads, The /Michael Tuchner ★ James Bolan, Rodney Bewes. 86m COM TE $69.95 Lincoln Conspiracy, The ★ Bradford Dillman.

87m DOC VC $69.95 Linda Lovelace For President ★ Linda Lovelace.

(R) COM KC $69.95 Lion in Winter, The 1968/Anthony Harvey * Peter O'Toole. Katharine Hepburn. 135m DRA MV

$69.00 Jaws 1975/Steven Spielberg ★ Roy Scheider, Richard Dreyfuss. 124m HOR CIC $79.95 Jaws of the Dragon (NRC) ACT KV $69.95 Jazz Singer, The 1927/Alan Crosland ★ Al Jolson. 89m bw MUS HH $59.95 Jenny 1970/George Bloomfield ★ Alan Alda, Mario Thomas. 86m DRA SV $79.95 Jesse and Lester ★ Richard Harrison, Donald O'Brien. 93m (AO) COM KC $69.95 Jesus Christ Superstar 1973/Norman Jewison ★ Ted Neeley, Carl Anderson. 107m MUS CIC

$79.95 Joe 1970/John Aviidsen ★ Peter Boyle. 107m (M) DRA VC $69.95 Joe Panther 1976/Paul Krasny * Brian Keith, Ricardo Montalban. 105m FAM INT $69.95 Johnny Got His Gun 1971 /Dalton Trumbo ★

Up Service (R) ADT KV $69.95 Lipstick 1976/Lamont Johnson *

Lipstick Director: Lamont Johnson. Stars: Margaux Hemingway, Chris Sarandon. Produced by Dino De Laurentiis Productions, 1976. 89 mins. Colon Released by Video Classics.

Timothy Bottoms, Donald Sutherland. (M) DRA VC $69.95 Journey Out of Darkness * Ed Devereaux, Kamahl. VR $59.95 Joy of Flying 98m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Joys of Georgette, The (R) ADT KV $69.95 Julia 1979/Fred Zinnemann * Jane Fonda.

Vanessa Redgrave. DRA MV $69.00 Julius Caesar 1977/Stuart Burge * Charlton

Heston, Richard Chamberlain. 117m (G) DRA KC $69.95 Jump (Eat My Dust) ★ Tom Ligon. 90m (NRC) ACT KC $69.95 Jungle Book, The 1942/Zoltan Korda ★ Sabu.

Joseph Calleia. 108m FAM HH $59.95 Junior Bonner 1972/Sam Peckinpah * Steve McQueen. Robert Preston. 105m DRA SV

$79.95 Justine De Sade 90m (R) ADT VC $69.95

Kid, The 1921/Charlie Chaplin * Charlie Chaplin, Jackie Coogan. 60m bw COM HH $59.95 Kidnapped 50m (G) ANM SV $49.95 Kidnapped Coed ★ Jack Canon, Leslie Ann Rivers. 72m (R) THR SB $69.95 Kill the Shogun (NRC) ACT KV $69.95 Killer Elephants HOR KV $69.95 Killing of Sister George, The 1968/Robert Aldrich ★ Beryl Reid, Susannah York. 138m DRA SV

$79.95

King and I, The 1956/Walter Lang ★ Deborah Kerr, Yul Brynner. 128m (G) MUS MV $69.00 King Kong 1933/Merian C. Cooper * Fay Wray, Bruce Cabot. 105m bw ACT NM $59.95 King Kong vs Godzilla 1962/Thomas Mont­

gomery ★

Michael Keith, James Yagi. 90m

(NRC) ACT KC $69.95 King of Kong Island /Bert Morris ★ Brad Harris, Marc Lawrence. 90m ACT INT $69.95 King Solomon’s Treasures /Alvin Ranoff ★ David McCallum, Patrick Macnee. 84m ACT INT $69.95 Kingdom of the Spiders 1977/John Cardos * William Shatner, Tiffany Bolling. 91m SF INT

$69.95 Kings of the Hill Michael Dymtryk ★ Jim Bohan, Jason Sommers. 91m (M) WST VC $69.95 Kiss Me Mate (R) ADT KV $69.95 Klondike Fever Jack London ★ Rod Steiger, Angie Dickinson. 102m ACT INT $69.95 Kostas 1979/Paul Cox * Wendy Hughes, Takls Emmanuel. 105m (M) DRA SC $59.95 Kotch 1971/Jack Lemmon * Walter Matthau.

Deborah Winters. 11 4m DRA SV $79.95 Knife in the Water 1962/Roman Polanski ★ Leon Niemczyk, Jolanta Umecka. 94m bw DRA HH

Lamont Johnson’s Lipstick created quite a furore when released in 1976.

C oncerning a violent rapist who is freed by the courts only to rape again, then be m urdered by the original victim , it came at a tim e when the fem inist move­ ment was w ont to use the term “ rape” as a description of many actions by men tow a rd w om en. W hat c ritic a l response Lipstick did receive was largely em otional — it would be hard for anyone present to forget the sight of 20-odd people standing and cheering when the rapist is shot in the groin.

Seen six years later, Lipstick seems a much more subdued, subtle film. It still appears overly m elodram atic and sensational in some scenes (the rapist walking naked through his flat while torm enting his victim by phone), while in others it is adm irably controlled (the first rape is horrific w ithout being un­ necessarily explicit).

The key scene is the first trial, where the rapist is acquitted. At the end of the film, the prosecutor-turned-defencelawyer (it is unclear) argues that her client is innocent of m urder because she was righting a wrong: i.e., the law had failed and citizens have the right, in such cases, to seek justice. But given the two explanations of the rape, by vic­ tim and attacker, and given the un­ equivocal right of a defendant to the benefit of the doubt, it is d ifficu lt to see how the first trial jury could have decided otherwise. The law was correct (it had no option if the defendant’s rights were to be preserved), but justice failed (the rapist was freed).

Given this reading (i.e., the argum ent advanced at the end of the film is not n e c e s s a rily th e ‘m e s s a g e ’ of the narrative), Lipstick takes on all sorts of nuances. It certainly deserves a second viewing.

Technically, the sound and image quality are excellent.

Scott Murray

$59.95 Last of the Mohicans 1976. 48m (G) ANM CIC

$59.95

Last Train From Gun Hill 1959/John Sturges * Lady Chattertey vs Fanny Hill Malcolm Leich ★ Joanne Lumley, Penny Brahms. 91 m (R) ADT VC

$69.95

Lady Godiva Rides ★ Marsh Jordan. 85m (R) COM KC $69.95 Lady Ice 1973/Tom Goes ★ Donald Sutherland, Jennifer O'Neill. 93m (NRC) ACT VC $69.95 Land That Time Forgot, The 1975/Kevin

O’Connor ★ Doug McClure, John McEnery. 86m ACT TE $69.95 Language of Love 103m (R) DOC VC $69.95 Laserblast 1978/Michael Rae * Kim Milford, Cheryl Smith. 90m (M) SF VC $69.95 Lassie’s Greatest Adventure 1964/William Beaudine * Lassie, Jon Provost, June Lockhart.

103m FAM NM $59,95 Last Child, The 1971/John Llewellyn Moxey * Michael Cole, Van Heflin. 73m SF SV $79.95

36 — C H A N N ELS April 1982

Kirk Douglas, Anthony Quinn. 91m (NRC) WST

MV $69.00 Last Valley, The 1971/James Clavell * Michael Caine, Omar Sharif. 128m DRA SV $79.95 Laura 1944/Otto Preminger ★ Gene Tierney, Dana Andrews, 88m bw DRA MV $69.00 Lavender Hill Mob, The 1950/Charles Crichton ★

Alec Guinness, Stanley Holloway. 78m bw COM TE $49.95 League of Gentlemen, The 1960/Basil Dearden

* Jack Hawkins, Richard Attenborough. 112m

(G) bw COM SC $59.95 Legend of Hillbilly John, The (NRC) HOR KV $69.95

Legend of the Werewolf ★ Peter Cushing. 90m (M) HOR VC $69.95 Let Me Die A Woman 90m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Letter to Three Wives 1948/Joseph L. Mankie-

wicz ★ Jeanne Crain, Linda Darnell. 103m bw DRA MV $69.00

Margaux Hemingway, Chris Sarandon. 89m DRA VC $69.95 Little Caesar 1930/Mervyn Le Roy * Edward G. Robinson, Douglas Fairbanks. 80m bw ACT HH $59.95 Uttle Girl .. . Big Tease 83m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Little Laura and Big John ★ Fabian Forte. Karen Black. ACT VV $59.95 Uttle Lord Fauntleroy 1936/John Cromwell ★ Freddie Bartholomew, C. Aubrey Smith. 98m (G) bw FAM KV $69.95 Little Mermaid, The 66m FAM INT $69.95 Little Princess, The 1939/Walter Lang * Shirley Temple. Richard Greene. 91 m FAM HH $59.95 Lodger, The /Alfred Hitchcock, bw DRA HH $59.95 Longest Day, The 1962/Ken Annakin ★ John Wayne, Robert Mitchum. 169m (G) bw WAR MV $69.00 Long Weekend, The 1978/Colin Eggleston ★ John Hargreaves, Briony Behets. (NRC) HOR MV $69.00 Lost World 1925/Harry Hoyt ★ Wallace Beery, Bessie Love. 60m bw HOR HH $59.95 Love Among the Ruins 1975/George Cukor * Katharine Hepburn, Laurence Olivier. 11 2m DRA SV $79.95 Love and Death In A Women’s Prison ★ Anita Strindberg. 100m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Love and The Midnight Auto Supply 90m (NRC) ACT VC $69.95 Love Box, The (R) ADT VC $69.95 Love Camp 7 ★ Robert Cresse. 94m (R) DRA SB $69.95 Love Cycle (R) ADT KV $69.95 Love Hate Love 1970/George McCowan * Ryan O'Neal. Lesley Warren. 72m DRA SV $79.95 Love of a Nympho (R) ADT KV $69.95 Love Story 1971 /Arthur Hiller * Ryan O’Neal, Ali MacGraw, 96m DRA CIC $79.95 Love Swedish Style (R) ADT KV $69.95 Love War 1970/George McCowan * Lloyd Bridges, Angie Dickinson. 74m SF SV $79.95 Lovers and Other Strangers 1970/Cy Howard ★ Gig Young, Cions Leachman. 106m DRA SV $79.95 Loves of Cynthia 90m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Love’s Vicious Circle (R) ADT KV $69.95 Lusty Men 1952/Nicholas Ray * Robert Mitchum.

Susan Haywood. 113m bw DRA VV $59.95

M 1931/Fritz Lang ■* Peter Lorre, Ellen Widmann.

99m bw HOR HH $59.95 Mad Bomber, The 1972/Bert I. Gordon ★ Vince Edwards, Chuck Connors. 100m (PG) THR SB

$69.95

Madam Sin 1971/David Greene ★ Bette Davis, Robert Wagner. 73m DRA MV $69.00 Madame Claude (R) ADT SV $79.95 Mag Wheels 81m (M) ACT VC $69.95 The Magic Christian 1970/James McGrath ★ Peter Sellers, Ringo Starr. 92m (NRC) COM KC

$69.95

Magic Sword, The 1962/Bert I. Gordon ★

Basil Rathbone. Estelle Winwood. 80m FAM HH $59.95 Magnificent Ambersons 1942/Orson Welles ★ Joseph Cotten. Anne Baxter. 88m bw DRA NM $59.95 Magnificent Daredevil * Susan Scott. Michael Forest. 103m (AO) ACT KC $69.95 Maid in Sweden /F. Johnson * Kristins Landberg, Monika Erman. 90m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Maids, The 86m (R) ADT VC $69.95 KV $69.95 Man From Button Willow, The 1965/David Betiege * Dale Robertson, Edgar Buchanan.

79m (G) ANM INT $69.95 VC $69.95 Man From Utah, The * John Wayne, George Hayes, bw HH $49.95 Man In the White Suit, The 1952/Alexander M a ckendrick * Alex G uinness, Joan Greenwood. 82m bw COM TE $49.95 Man Who Came To Dinner, The (R) ADT KV $69.95 Man Who Fell To Earth 1976/Nicholas Roeg ★ David Bowie. Buck Henry. 134m (R) DRA TE $79.95 Man Who Knew Too Much, The 1934/Alfred Hitchcock ★ Leslie Banks. Peter Lorre. 84m bw DRA HH $59.95 Man Who Skied Down Everest The * Yuichiro Miura. 100m (G) DOC VC $69.95 Man With the Golden Arm 1955/Otto Preminger * Frank Sinatra, Kim Novak. 119m bw DRA MV $69.00

Mighty Joe Young 1949Ærnest B Shoedsack * Terry Moore. Ben Johnson 94m bw ACT NM

$59.95 Million Dollar Duck (G) FAM WD SR O Mission Batangas 1968/Keith Larsen ★ Dennis Weaver. Vera Miles. 100m (PGl WAR SB $69 95 Mr Kingstreet's War 1973/Percival Rubens * John Saxon Tippi Hedren 92m DRA VV $59.95 Mr Lucky 1943/H.C Potter* Cary Grant. Charles Bickford 99m bw DRA NM $59 95 Mr Superinvisible 1973/Anthony M Dawson *

Dean Jones. Ingeborg Schoener. 90m (G) COM KC $69.95 Mr Sycamore 1974/Pancho Kohner ★ Jason Robards. Lee Remick. 85m SF INT $69.95 Mrs Barrington 87m (R) DRA KC $69 95 Mrs Stone's Thing (R) ADT KV $69 95 Mrs Thompson and the Convict King 50m FAM VC $59.95 Moments /Moshe Mizrahi (Ml DRA VC S6995 Monique (R) ADT VR $59.95 Monitors, The 1969/Jack Shea * Guy Stockwell Susan Oliver. 94m (NRC) COM KC $69.95 Moon is Blue, The 1953/Otto Preminger * David Niven. Maggie McNamara 95m ADT MV $69.00 More Language of Love 100m (R) DOC VC

$69.95

The Man Who Fell To Earth Director: Nicolas Roeg. Stars: David Bowie, Buck Henry, Candy Clark. Produced by British Lion, 1976. 134 mins. Color. Released

by Thorn EMI. Nicolas Roeg's striking film is, visual­ ly and aurally, stunning.D ram atically, it may be less im pressive and, as to its ultim ate meaning, wide open to any n u m b e r of learned in te rp re ta tio n s .

Basically, its plot is science-fiction and not altogether riveting sci-fi either. But the m anner of its telling is fascinating.

David Bowie is perfectly cast as the ethereal V isitor from a drought-ridden planet who com es to Earth and uses his superior intelligence to accum ulate vast wealth and power to help those on his own dying world. Fragm entary and hallucinatory, The Man Who Fell To Earth haunts the mind with a sense of sadness, and its visual images stay with one.

This m uch-censored film is, on cass­ ette, as com plete a version as this country has seen, being equivalent to the “ R” versio n seen in cinem as.

Happily, this is a cassette that does alm ost total justice to the color-cam era w ork of Anthony Richmond. Sound quality also excellent.

Ivan Hutchinson Mandingo 1975/Richard Fleischer * Ken Norton, Susan George. 127m (R) DR A VC S69.95 Mantis Lace ★ Susan Stewart, Steve Vincent.

79m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Marriage of Maria Braun, The 1979/Rainer

Werner Fassbinder ★ Flanna Schygulla. 120m (M) DRA VC $69.95 Mars Attacks the World * Buster Crabbe bw SF HH $59.95 Mary of Scotland 1936/John Ford ★ Katharine Flepburn, Fredric March, 123m bw DRA NM $59.95 Dick Van Dyke. Julie Andrews. 139m (G) FAM WD $R.O. M*A*S*H 1970/Robert Altman * Donald Suther­ land, Elliot Gould. 111m (NRC) WAR MV $69.00 Massacre in Rome 1973/George Pan Cosmatos * Richard Burton, Marcello Mastroianni. 1 10m (M) ACT VC $69.95 Massage Parlor Wife (R) ADT KV $69.95 Mastermind 1976/Alex March * Zero Mostel.

Keiko Kishi. 131 m COM SV $79.95 Masters, The * James Mason, Franco Nero. 109m (AO) DRA KC $69.95 McQ 1974/John Sturges * John Wayne, Eddie Albert. 116m DRA WH $R.O Mean Johnny Barrows 1976/Fred Williamson * Fred Williamson, Roddy McDowell. 80m ACT INT $69.95 Meet John Doe 1941/Frank Capra * Gary Cooper, Barbara Stanwyck. (G) bw DRA KV $69.95 Meet Sweet Myra (R) ADT KV $69.95 Memory of Us 1974/H. Kaye Dyal * Ellen Geer.

Jon Cypher. 94m (PG) DRA SB $69.95 Message From Space 1978/Kinji Fukasaku ★ Vic Morrow. 105m (G) FAM VC $69.95 Mickey Mouse Golden Jubilee (G) ANM WD $R.O Midnight Plowboy * John Tull, Nan Cee. 70m (R) COM SB $69.95 Mary Poppins 1966/Robert Stevenson ★

Mother Knows Best ... (R) ADT KV $69.95 Mouth To Mouth 1978/John Duigan * Ian Gilmour. Kim Krejus 90m (M) DRA VC $69.95 Muppet Movie, The 1979/James Frawley * The MuppetS. 92m (G) FAM MV S69 00 Murder By Decree 1979/BobClark ★ Christopher Plummer. James Mason. 121m DRA MV $69.00 Murder on the Orient Express 1974/Sidney

Lumet *

Albert Finney. Michael York 122m

DRA TE $79.95 Murder My Sweet 1944/Edward Dmytryk * Dick Powell. Claire Trevor 95m bw DRA NM S59.95 Mustang 88m (R) ADT VC $69.95 My Boys Are Good Boys 1978/Bethel Buckalew * Ralph Meeker. Ida Lupino 85m ACT INT $69.95 VC $69 95 My Deep Hunger (R) ADT KV $69.95 My Pleasure is My Business * Xaviera Hollander 93m (M) ADT VC $69.95 My Swedish Cousins (R) ADT KV $69 95 Myra Breckenridge 1970/Michael Same * John Huston, Mae West. 94m COM MV $69.00 Mysteries From Beyond Earth /George Gale * Lawrence Dobkin. 90m (G) DOC VC $69.95 Mysterious Monsters, The /Robert Guinette * Peter Graves 90m DOC VC $69.95

Notorious Cleopatra, The * Sonora. 88m (R) COM SB $69.95 Notorious Daughter of Fanny Hill, The 70m (R) COM KC $69.95 Now It's Cindy (R) ADT KV $69.95

Ocean 90m (G) DRA KC $69.95 Oh, God! 1977/Carl Reiner * John Denver, George Burns 104m COM WH SR O. Oil /Mircea Dragan * Stuart Whitman, Ray Milland 91m ACT INT $69.95 Old Man Who Cried Wolf, The 1970/Walter

Grauman * Edward G Robinson, Martin Balsam. 73m DRA SV $79.95 Omen, The 1976/Richard Donner * Gregory Peck. Lee Remick 111m (R) HOR MV $69.00 On the Game (R) COM VC $69.95 One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 1975/Milos Forman * Jack Nicholson. Louise Fletcher.

129m DRA TE $79.95 100 Rifles 1969/Tom Gries * Jim Brown. Raquel Welch 105m (M) WST MV $69.00 One Last Score (R) ADT KV $69 95 One Million Years B.C. 1966/Don Chaffey * Raquel Welch John Richardson. 96m ACT TE $69.95 One on Top of the Other * Jean Sorel, Elsa Martinelli (M) DRA VC $69.95 Orgy Box, The * Evan Stelle Ann Myers. 89m (R) DRA KC $6995 Orpheus 1949/Jean Cocteau * Jean Marias, Francois Perier 86m bw DRA HH $59.95 Outlaw, The 1943/Howard Hughes * Jane Russell. Jack Buetel. 117m bw WST HH $59.95 Outrage 1973/Richard T. Heffran * Robert Culp, Marlyn Mason. 74m DRA SV $79.95 Over Run * Kirk Morris. Jessy Maxwell. 112m (NRC) WAR KC $69.95 Overlord /Stuart Cooper * Brian Stirner, Davyd Harries. 85m DRA TE $69.95

Palm Beach 1979/Albie Thoms * Bryan Brown.

(M) DRA VC 569.95 Panic City 92m ACT INT $69.95 Panic in Needle Park 1971 /Jerry Schatzberg * Al Pacino. Kitty Winn. 110m (R) DRA MV $69.00 Panorama Blue (R) ADT KV $69.95 Panty Party (R) ADT KV $69.95 Paper Chase, The 1973/James Bridges ★

Timothy Bottoms. John Houseman. 111m (NRC)

Naked Came the Stranger * Derby Lloyd Rains 75m (R) COM KC $69.95 Naked and the Dead, The 1958/Raoul Walsh ★ Cliff Robertson. Aldo Ray. 131m DRA VV $59.95 Natasha, The Deadly Drop (M) HOR KV $69.95 National Lampoon's Animal House 1979/John

Landis ★ John Belushi. Tim Matheson. 109m COM CIC $79.95 Naturally Free Ken Anderson. 83m (G) ACT KC $69.95 Naughty! 90m (R) DOC VC $69.95 Nickelodeon 1976/Peter Bogdanovich * Burt Reynolds, Ryan O'Neal 117m COM TE $69.95 Night Creature 1978/Lee Madden * Donald Pleasence, Nancy Kwan. 83m ACT INT $69.95 Night Moves 1975/Arthur Penn * Gene Hackman, Jennifer Warren. 95m DRA WH $R O Night of the Big Heat * Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing. 80m (NRC) THR KC $69.95 Night of the Living Dead 1968/George A Romero * Judith O'Dea, Russell Streiner. 90m bw HOR HH $59.95 Night of the Sorcerers 87m (R) HOR KC $69.95 Night is My Future 1947/lngmar Bergman * Mai Zetterling. Birger Malmsten 87m HOR HH $59.95 Night to Remember, A 1958/Roy Baker * Kenneth More, Honor Blackman. 123m (G) bw DRA SC $59.95 Nighthawks * Ken Robertson, Tony Westrope 1 13m DRA SC $59.95 9 to 5 1980/Colin Higgins ★ Jane Fonda, Dolly Parton. 107m (NRC) COM MV SR.O 99 Women 1969/Jess Franco * Marie Schell.

Luciana Paluzzi. 90m (R) DRA KC $69 95 No Place to Hide /Robert Allan Schnitzer * Sylvester Stallone. (M) DRA VC $69.95 Nobody’s Boy (G) KV $69 95 Nobody Runs Forever 1968/Ralph Thomas * Rod Taylor, Christopher Plummer. 101m (NRC) DRA SC $59 95 None But the Lonely Heart 1944/Clifford Odets * Carey Grant, Ethel Barrymore. 113m bw DRA NM $59.95 Noon Sunday * Mark Lenard, John Russell DRA VV $59,95 Norma Rae 1979/Martin Ritt * Sally Field, Ron Leibman. 113m DRA MV SR.O. Northville Cemetery Massacre, The * David Hyry, Jan Sisk. 85m (R) ACT KC $69.95 VC $69.95 Nosferatu 1922/F.W. Murnau * Max Schrek, Alexander Granach 63m bw HOR HH $59 95 Nothing Sacred 1937/William Wellman ★ Carole Lombard, Fredric March. 75m COM HH $59.95 Notorious 1946/Alfred Hitchcock * Cary Grant Ingrid Bergman. 101m bw DRA SV $79.95

DRA MV $69.00 Paradine Case 1948/Alfred Hitchcock * Gregory Peck, Ann Todd 1 15m bw DRA SV $79.95 Paranoia 1969/Umberto Lenzi * Carroll Baker, Lou Castel. 86m (R) THR KC $69.95 P atrick 1978/Richard Franklin ★ Susan Penhaligon, Robert Helpmann. 115m (M) THR

VC $69 95 Patton 1970/Franklin Schaffner *

George C. Scott, Karl Malden. 164m (NRC) WAR MV $69.00 Penny Serenade 1941/George Stevens * Carey Grant, Irene Dunne 125m bw DRA HH $59.95 Perishers, The 80m (G) ANM KC $69.95 Permissive (R) ADT VR $59.95 Persecution * Lana Turner 95m (M) HOR VC $69.95 Personals (R) ADT KV $69.95 Pete’s Dragon 197 7/Don Chaffey * Helen Reddy, Mickey Rooney. 134m (G) FAM WD SR.O. Pets * Ed Bishop, Candy Rialson. 102m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Phantom of the Opera, The 1925/D. Rupert Julian * Lon Chaney, Mary Philbin. 79m bw HOR HH $59.95 Pied Piper of Hamelin, The 1957/Bretaigne Windust * Van Johnson. Jim Backus. 89m (G) FAM SB $69.95 Pig Keeper’s Daughter, The ★ Terry Gibson, Patty Smith. 93m (R) COM SB $69.95 Pilot, The * Cliff Robertson, Gordon MacRae. 90m (M) DRA VC $69.95 Pinocchio’s Storybook Adventures 80m FAM INT $69.95 Planet Outlaws ★ Buster Crabbe. bw SF HH $59.95 Plugg 1975/Terry Bourke * Peter Thompson.

Cheryl Rixon. 88m (R) COM KC $69.95 Poor Albert and Little Annie * Zooey Hall. 88m (R) DRA SB S69.95 Pornography in Hollywood (R) ADT KV $69.95 Poseidon Adventure, The 1972/Ronald Neame * Gene Hackman, Ernest Borgnine. 113m (NRC) ACT MV $69.00 Prince and the Pauper, The 50m (G) ANM SV $49.95 Prisoner of Second Avenue, The 1975/Melvin Frank * Jack Lemmon. Anne Bancroft. 105m DRA WH SR.O. Private Life of Henry the Eighth KV S69.95 Producers, The 1968/Mel Brooks * Zero Mostel.

Gene Wilder 98m COM MV SR.O. Professionals, The (R) ADT KV $69.95 Prophecy 1979/John Frankenheimer * Talia Shire, Robert Foxworth. 102m (M) DRA CIC $79.95 Proud and Damned, The 1973/Ferde Grote Jr + Chuck Connors. Jose Greco. 94m WAR VV $59.95

C H A N N ELS April 1982 — 37

Psycho 1960/Alfred Hitchcock ★

Anthony Perkins. Janet Leigh. 108m bw HOR CIC $79.95

Secret Policeman’s Ball, The ★ John Cleese, Peter Cook. VR $69.95 Secret Sex Lives of Romeo and Juliet, The ★

Stuart Lancaster, Antionette Maynard. 96m (R) Racket, The

1951/John Cromwell *

Robert

Mitchum, Robert Ryan. 88m bw DRA NM $59.95 Railway Children, The 1972/Lionel Jeffries ★ Jenny Agutter. Dinah Sheridan. 104m DRA TE $69.95

,

Raise the Titanic 1979/Jerry Jameson ★

Jason Robards, Richard Jordan. 114m (G) ACT MV $R.O. Ramrodder, The ★ Jim Gentry. 92m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Rancho Notorious 1952/Fritz Lang * fylarlene Dietrich, Mel Ferrer. 89m DRA VV $59.95 Raquei’s Hotel (R) ADT KV $69.95 Rattlers ★ Sam Chew. 83m (M) HOR KC $69.95 Reach For the Sky 1956/Lewis Gilbert ★ Kenneth More, Muriel Pavlow. 135m (G) bw DRA SC $59.95 Real Bruce Lee, The ★ Bruce Lee. 120m ACT INT $69.95 Reason To Live, A Reason to Die!, A 1974/Tonio Valerii ★ James Coburn, Telly Savalas. 92m (M) WST KC $69.95 Rebecca 1940/Alfred Hitchcock ★ Laurence Olivier, Joan Fontaine. 130m bw DRASV $79.95 Refinements of Live (R) ADT KV $69.95 Reluctant Heroes 1971 /Robert Day ★ Ken Berry.

73m COM SV $79.95 Resurrection of Zachary Wheeler, The 1971 /Bob Wynn ★ Angie Dickinson, Bradford Dillman.

100m DRA VV $59.95 Return of the Pink Panther, The 1975/Blake Edwards ★ Peter Sellers, Christopher Plummer.

113m COM MV $69.00 Revenge 1971/Jud Taylor ★ Shelley Winters, Bradford Dillman. 73m DRA SV $79.95 Revenge of Trinity ★ Terence Hill. 92m (AO) WST KC $69.95 Ribald Tales of Robin Hood, The * Ralph Jerkins. 88m (R) COM KC $69.95 Ring of Bright Water 1969/Jack Couffer ★ Bill Travers, Virginia McKenna. 109m FAM SV $79.95 Rio Bravo 1959/Howard Hawks ★ John Wayne, Dean Martin. 141m WST WH $R.O. Rip Van Winkle 70m (G) ANM VC $49.95 INT $69.95 Rituals 1978/Peter Carter ★ Hal Holbrook, Lawrence Dane. 98m (M) ACT VC $69.95 Riverboat Mama (R) ADT KV $69.95 Robe, The 1953/Henry Koster ★ Richard Burton, Jean Simmons. 129m (G) DRA MV $69.00 Robin Hood 50m (G) ANM SV $49.95 Robinson Crusoe 86m (G) ANM SB $69.95 Robinson Crusoe 50m (G) ANM SV $49.95 Rockshow 1976 * Paul McCartney and Wings.

102m MUS TE $69.95 Rolling Man 1972/Peter Hyams * Dennis Weaver, Don Stroud. 73m DRA SV $79.95 Rome Express 1932 ★ Conrad Veidt, Gordon Harker. 94m (NRC) bw DRA SC $59.95 Room Service 1938/William Seiter ★ Marx Bros, Lucille Ball. 78m bw COM NM $59.95 Rose, The 1979/Mark Rydell ★ Bette Midler, Alan Bates. 125m MUS MV $R.O. Rose Land * Christopher Brooks, Peggy Browne.

80m (R) MUS KC $69.95 Roustabout 1964/John Rich ★ Elvis Presley, Barbara Stanwyck. 97m (G) MUS MV $69.00 Rover, The 1967/Terrence Young ★ Anthony Quinn, Rita Hayworth. 103m (G) DRA SB $69.95 Run Run Joe ★ Keith Carradine, Tom Skerritt.

100m (AO) COM KC $69.95

s Sabotage 1936/Alfred Hitchcock *

Oscar Homolka, Sylvia Sidney. 76m (NRC) bw DRA SC $59.95 Sahara Cross * Franco Nero. 96m (AO) ACT KC $69.95 Sales Girls, The (R) ADT KV $69.95 Saludos Amigos (G) FAM WD $R.O. Sand Pebbles, The 1966/Robert Wise * Steve McQueen, Richard Attenborough. 179m ACT MV $R.O. _ . _ Santa and the Three Bears 64m (G) KC $69.95 Santa Fe Trail 1940/Michael Curtiz ★ Errol Flynn, Olivia De Havilland. 11 0m bw WST HH $59.95 Satan’s Cheerleaders * Yvonne de Carlo, John Carradine. 92m (M) HOR VC $69.95 Saturday Night Fever 1978/John Badham * John Travolta, Karen Gorney. 114m MUS CIC $79.95 Saturn III 1980/Stanley Donen ★ Farrah Fawcett, Kirk Douglas. 88m SF MV $R.O. Scalawag 1973/Kirk Douglas ★ Kirk Douglas, Mark Lester. 87m (G) FAM VC $69.95 Schlock (G) HOR KV $69.95 School of Hard Knocks, The (R) ADT KV $69.95 Schoolgirl Hitchhikers * Gilda Stark, Marie Helene. 76m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Scorchy 1976/Hikmet Avedis ★ Connie Stevens, Cesare Danova. 99m (M) DRA VC $69.95 Secret Agent 1936/Alfred Hitchcock * John Gielgud, Peter Lorre. 93m (G) bw DRA HH $59.95 KV $69.95 Secret of Dorian Gray, The ★ Helmet Berger 95m (R) DRA KC $69.95

38 — CH A N N ELS April 1982

COM KC $69.95 Secretarial Spread (R) ADT KV $69.95 Secrets 1978/Phillip Saville * Jacqueline Bisset, Robert Powell. 11 5m (M) DRA VC $69.95

Secrets of Sweet Sixteen 80m (R) COM KC

$69.95 * Peter Lawford, Jack Palance. 87m (NRC) ACT VC $69.95 Seven Year Itch, The 1955/Billy Wilder ★ Marilyn Monroe, Tom Ewell. 101m (NRC) DRA MV $69.00 Sex Aids and HowTo Use Them 30m (R) DOC VC $49.95 Sex and the Other Woman 86m (R) COM VC $69.95 Sex Connection, The (R) ADT KV $69.95 Sex Thief, The (R) ADT VR $59.95 Sex World 80m (R) COM KC $69.95 Sexcapades of Celestine, The ★ Pamela Stafford. 96m (R) COM KC $69.95 Sexual Freedom U.S.A. 96m (R) DOC KC $69.95 Sexy Dozen, The (R) ADT KV $69.95 Shadow of Chikara, The ★ Joe Don Baker, Sondra Locke. 96m (M) ACT KC $69.95 Shane 1953/George Stevens ★ Alan Ladd, Jean Arthur. 117m WST CIC $79.95 Shape of Things to Come, The 1979/George McGowan ★ Jack Palance, Carol Lynley. 94m SF INT $69.95 Shark! 1970/Samuel Fuller * Burt Reynolds, Barry Sullivan. 80m (NRC) ACT KC $69.95 She Wore A Yellow Ribbon 1949/John Ford ★ John Wayne, Ben Johnson. 103m bw WST NM $59.95 She’s 17 and Anxious ★ Anne M. Kuster. 87m (M) DRA KC $69.95 Shoot the Piano Player 1962/Francois Truffaut * Charles Aznavour, Marie Dubois. 85m (G) bw DRA KV $69.95 Silence 1974/John Korty ★ Ellen Geer, Will Geer.

91m (PG) FAM SB $69.95 Silent Night, Bloody Night 1973/Theodore Gershuny ★ John Carradine, Patrick O'Neal.

87m HOR VC $69.95 Silver Streak 1978/Arthur Hiller ★ Gene Wilder, Jill Clayburgh. 109m (M) COM MV $69.00 Sinai Commandos /Raphael Nussbaum * Robert Fuller, John Hudson. 99m (NRC) WAR KC $69.95 Sinbad the Sailor 1947/Richard Wallace * Douglas Fairbanks Jr, Maureen'O'Hara. 117m Seven From Heaven

Sisters^of* Death 87m HOR INT $69.95 Sixteen 93m (R) ADT VC $69.95 KV $69.95 Sky Riders 1976/Douglas Hickox ★ James Coburn, Susannah York. 88m (M) ACT MV

$69.00

Sleuth 1972/Joseph L. Mankiewicz ★ Laurence Olivier, Michael Caine. 138m DRA MV $69.00 Slumber Party ’57 /William A. Levey * Janet Wood. Debra Winger. 89m (R) COM VC $69.95 Smokey and the Bandit 1977/Hal Needham ★ Burt Reynolds, Sally Reid. 96m ACT CIC $79.95 Smokey and the Hot Wire Gang KV $69.95 Snapshot 1979/Simon Wincer ★ Sigrid Thornton, Chantal Contouri. 92m (M) THR VC $69.95 Snow Job (R) ADT KV $69.95 Snow White 60m (G) FAM VC $69.95 Snow White and Rose Red 60m (G) ANM VC

$69.95

Soldier Blue 1970/Ralph Nelson *

Candice Bergen, Peter Strauss. 110m (M) WST MV $69.00 Soldier of Fortune 1955/Edward Dmytryk ★ Clark Gable, Susan Hayward. 90m (AO) COM KC $69.95 Solo 1978/Tony Williams * Vincent Gil, Lisa Peers. DRA VR $59.95 Somebody’s Stolen Our Russian Spy * Tom Adams, Diana Lorys. 96m (PG) DRA SB $69.95 S om e th in g to Sing A bout 1 9 3 7 /V icto r Schertzinger * James Cagney, Evelyn Dow. 84m (G) bw KV $69.95 Son of Blob 1972/Larry Hagman * Robert Walker, Richard Stahl. 88m HOR KV $69.95 Son of Kong 1933/Ernest 8. Schoedsack * Robert Armstrong, Helen Mack. 70m bw ACT NM $59.95 Song of Norway 1970/Robert Aldrich * Toralv Maurstad, Florence Henderson. 142m MUS SV $79,95 S.O.S. Titanic 1979/Billy Hale * David Janssen, Cloris Leachman 98m ACT TE $69.95 Sound of Music, The 1965/Robert Wise * Julie Andrews. Christopher Plummer. 167m (G) MUS MV $69.00 Southern Comforts (R) ADT KV $69.95 Southward Ho WST KV $69.95 So Young, So Lovely (M) KV $69.95 So Young, So Lovely, So Vicious (R) ADT KV $69.95 Space War ★ William Ross. 80m (NRC) SF KC $69.95 Spanker, The 90m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Spellbound 1945/Alfred Hitchcock ★ Ingrid Bergman, Gregory Peck. 111m bw DRA SV $79.95 Spiral Staircase, The 1946/Robert Siodmak ★ Dorothy McGuire, Kent Smith. 83m bw DRA SV $79.95

Spy Killer 1969/Roy Baker ■* Robert Horton, Jill St John. 74m DRA SV $79.95 S .P .Y .S . 1 9 7 4 /lrv in K ershner ★ Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould. 100m COM TE $69.95 Star Is Bom, A 1937/William Wellman ★ Janet Gaynor, Fredric March. 111m DRA HH $59.95 Star Trek 1979/Robert Wise ★ William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy. 130m SF CIC $79.95 Stardust 1975/Michael Apted ★ David Essex, Adam Faith. 108m MUS TE $69.95 Starlet, The 80m (R) ADT KC $69.95 Step Lively 1944/Tim Whelan * Frank Sinatra, George Murphy. 88m bw MUS HH $59.95 Steptoe and Son /Cliff Owen ★ Wilfrid Brambell, Harry H. Corbett. 93m COM TE $69.95 Stick Up, The 1979/Jeffrey Bloom ★ David Soul.

103m (M) ACT VC $69.95 Stiletto ★ Alex Cord, Britt Ekland. 96m (M) DRA MV $69.00 Sting, The 1973/George Roy Hill ★ Paul Newman, Robert Redford. 129m COM CIC $79.95 Story of O, The 1975/Just Jaekin ★ Corinne Clery, Udo Kier. 94m ADT SV $79.95 Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, The 1939/

H. C. Potter ★ Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. 93m bw MUS NM $59.95 *

Svengali D ire cto r: A rchie Mayo. Stars: John Barrymore, Marion Marsh. Produced by VVarner Brothers, 1931. 76 min. Black and white. Released by King of Video.

With the introduction of “ talkies” in 1927, The Jazz Singer by W arner B ro th e rs , th e a rt o f film m a k in g changed. The days of s ile n t film s cranked on location gave way to tons of e q u ip m e n t firm ly locked to stu d io floors. Sound added a new dim ension and finesse. Hollywood cinem a went back into the studios and reverted to its dram atic beginnings — the theatre.

Until technology invented lighter and more portable synchronized sound equipm ent, film s like Svengali took on a v e ry th e a tr ic a l a p p ro a c h . S et designers gallantly sculptured exterior locations in huge sound stages, but to the eyes of a viewer weaned on modern location film ing and special effects that can make fake exteriors m ore real than reality, Svengali looks poor. But the cam eraw ork and direction of W ilkie C ooper and Archie Mayo are early ex­ am ples of innovative technical work, designed to punctuate mood and plot.

Mayo’s use of sharp angles, whether provided by shadows, buildings or skewed fram ing, adds to the fore­ boding atm osphere initiated by the fine scripting of J. G rubb Alexander and the brilliant and menacing portrayal of John Barrymore.

Based on the novel Trilby by George du Maurier, Svengali is set in Paris in the 1890s. The title character is a m u s ic ia n -c u m -h y p n o tis t w ho turns Trilby (M arion Marsh), the object of his unreciprocated love, into an opera star.

The folly turns sour as true love begins to unbind the spell and separate the maestro from his mistress. The film ends with the reunification of Svengali with his ingenue in death. The lighting and special effects are state of the art for the era and an interesting example of early sound film m aking. The picture and sound quality are not to the stan­ dards one expects from film s today, but taking into account the age of the film one could not expect much better.

John Pruzanski

Stranger, The 1946/Orson Welles ★

Edward G. Robinson, Loretta Young. 95m bw DRA HH $59.95 Straw Dogs 1971/Sam Peckinpah ★ Dustin Hoffman, Susan George. 118m ACT SV $79.95 Stud, The 1978/Quentin Masters * Joan Collins, Oliver Tobias. 96m (R) DRA VC $69.95 Subterfuge 1969/Peter Graham Scott ★ Gene Barry. Joan Collins. 85m (NRC) ACT KC $69.95 Suddenly Single 1971/Jud Taylor * Hal Holbrook, Barbara Rush. 73m COM SV $79.95 Summer City 1977/Chris Fraser ★ Mel Gibson, Abigail. 83m (M) DRA KC $69.95 Summer Night Fever 90m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Summerdog /John Clayton * James Congdom.

85m FAM INT $69.95 Sunburst ★ Peter Hooten. 80m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Sunset Cove 87m (NRC) DRA VC $69.95 Sunstruck 1972/James Gilbert * Harry Secombe, John Meillon. (G) COM KC $69.95 Super Seal /Michael Dugan * Foster Brooks, Stirling Holloway. 80m FAM INT $69.95 Superbug, Craziest Car in the World 96m (G) FAM VC $69.95 Superstar Goofy (G) ANM WD $R.O. Superman The Movie 1978/Richard Donner ★ Christopher Reeve, Margot Kidder. 143m ACT WH $R.O. Suppose They Gave a War and Nobody Came?

1970/Hy Averback ★ Brian Keith, Ernest Borgnine. 1 13m COM SV $79.95 Susan Slept Here 1954/Frank Tishlin * Dick Powell, Debbie Reynolds. 98m DRA VV $59.95 Suspicion 1941 /Alfred Hitchcock * Cary Grant, Joan Fontaine. 99m bw THR NM $59.95 Svengali 1931 /Archie Mayo ★ John Barrymore, Marian Marsh. 76m (G) DRA KV $69.95 Swallows and Amazons Claude Watham * Virginia McKenna, Ronald Fraser. 88m FAM TE $69.95 Swan Lake /John Michael Phillips ★ Natalia Makarova, Anthony Dowell. 125m MUS TE $69.95 Swap, The 1969/Jordan Leondopoulos ★ Robert De Niro, Jennifer Warren. 90m (M) DRA VC $69.95 Swarm, The 1978/lrwin Allen ★ Michael Caine, Katherine Ross, 11 6m ACT WH $R. O. Sweeney /David Wickes * John Thaw, Dennis Waterman. 94m ACT TE $69.95 Sweet Diane (R) ADT KV $69.95 Sweet Georgia ★ Marsha Jordan, Barbara Mills.

76m (R) ADT KC $69.95 Sweet Sugar ★ Phyllis Davis. 87m (R) DRA KC $69.95 Sweet Sweet Rachel 1971/Sutton Roley * Alex Dreier, Stephanie-Powers. 73m HOR SV $79.95 Sweet Taste of Joy (R) ADT KV $69.95 Swing Time 1935/George Stevens * Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. 103m bw MUS NM $59.95 Swinging Cheerleaders, The * Jo Johnston.

94m (R) COM SB $69.95 Swinging Ski Girls (R) ADT VC $69.95 Switchblade Sisters, The ★ Robbie Lee. 90m (R) ACT SB $69.95 KV $69.95

Take the Money and Run 1969/Woody Allen ★ Woody Allen, Janet Margolin. 85m COM SV

$79.95

Tale of the Dean’s Wife, The ★ Christine Murray 76m (R) ADT SB $69.95 Tales of Beatrix Potter /Reginald Mills * Dancers of the Royal Ballet. 86m (G) FAM TE $86.95 Tales of Mystery and Imaginations ★ Jane Fonda, Peter Fonda. 122m (M) MYS KC $69.95 Tales of Washington Irving 50m (G) ANM SV

$49.95

Tall in the Saddle 1944/Edwin L Marin * John Wayne, Ella Raines. 79m bw WST WM $59.95 Tamarind Seed 1974/Blake Edwards ★ Julie Andrews, Omar Sharif. 119m (M) DRA MV

$69.00

Tapestry of Passion (R) ADT KV $69.95 Target Harry * Vic Morrow, Suzanne Pleshette.

83m ACT SV $79.95 Taste of Evil, A 1971/John Llewellyn Moxey ★

Barbara Parkins. Barbara Stanwyck. 73m DRA SV $79.95 Teasers, The 83m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Teenage Jail Bait (R) ADT KV $69.95 Teenager (R) ADT KV $69.95

10 1979/Blake Edwards * Dudley Moore. Julie Andrews. 122m COM WH $R.O. That Cold Day in the Park 1969/Robert Altman * Michael Burns. Sandy Dennis. 108m (M) DRA KC $69.95 That Darn Cat 1965/Robert Stevenson ★ Hayley Mills, Dean Jones. 1 16m (G) FAM WD $R.O. That Lady From Peking ★ Nancy Kwan, 88m (NRC) DRA KC $69.95 That’ll Be The Day 1974/Claude Watham * David Essex, Ringo Starr. 86mm MUS TE $69.95 There’s No Business Like Show Business 1954/ Walter Lang ★ Ethel Merman, Donald O'Connor.

117m MUS MV $69.00 They Made Me A Criminal 1948/Alberto Cavalcanti ★ Trevor Howard, Sally Gray. 80m (G) bw KV $69.95

They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? 1969/Sydney

Pollack ★ Jane Fonda Gig Young. 120m ACT SV $79.95 Thief Who Came To Dinner, The 1973/Bud Yorkin * Ryan O'Neal, Jacqueline Bisset. 105m COM WH $R.O. Thing, The 1951/Christian Nyby ★ Kenneth Tobey, Margaret Sheriden. 80m bw SF NM $59.95 Third Man, The 1949/Carol Reed * Orson Welles, Joseph Cotten. 99m bw DRA TE $69.95 Thirst 1979/Rod Hardy * David Hemmings. Max Phipps. 90m (M) HOR VC $69.95 Thirty Nine Steps, The 1935/Alfred Hitchcock ★ Robert Donat, Madeleine Carroll. 81 m (NRC) bw DRA SC $59.95 HH $59.95 KV $69.95 This Love For Hire (R) ADT KV $69.95

Vanishing Point 1971/Richard Sarafian * Barry Newman, Dean Jagger. 96m (M) DRA MV $69.00 Verboten 1959/Samuel Fuller ★ James Best, Susan Cummings. 93m bw DRA VV $59.95 Viva Max 1969/Jerry Paris * Peter Ustinov, Pamela Tiffin. 92m (NRC) COM KC $69.95 Voltus Five 93m (G) ANM VC $69.95 Von Ryan’s Express 1965/Mark Robson * Frank Sinatra, Trevor Howard. 112m (G) WAR MV

$69.00 Voyage of the Damned 1976/Sam Wanamaker ★

Faye Dunaway, Max Von Sydow. 134m (M) DRA MV $69.00 Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea 1961/Irwin Allen ★ Walter Pidgeon, Joan Fontaine. 101m (G) ACT MV $69.00

Those Magnificent Men In Their Flying Machines

1965/Ken Annakin *

Sarah Miles, Stuart

Whitman. 127m (G) COM MV $69.00 Three Way Split (R) ADT KV $69.95 .

3 0 0 Year Weekend, The ★ William Devane, Michael Tolan. 80m DRA SV $79.95 Tiger By The Tail 1968/R. G. Springsteen ★

Christopher George, Tippe Hedron. 99m (NRC) DRA KC $69.95 Till Death Us Do Part /Norman Cohen ★ Warren Mitchell, Dandy Nichols. 99m COM TE $69.95 ’Tis Pity She’s A Whore /John Ford * Charlotte Rampling, Oliver Tobias. (M) DRA VC $69,95 Tobacco Roody (R) ADT KV $69.95 Tom Brown's School Days 1940/Robert Stevenson ★

Cedric Hardwicke, Freddie

Bartholomew. 86m (G) bw DRA KV $69.95 Tommy 1975/Ken Russell ★ Roger Daltrey, Ann Margret. 108m (M) MUS SC $59.95 Too Late The Hero 1970/Robert Aldrich * Michael Caine, Cliff Robertson. 133m WAR SV $79.95 Top Hat 1935/Mark Sandrich ★ Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers. 97m bw MUS NM $59.95 TORA! TORA! TORA! 1970/Richard Fleischer * Marlin Balsam, Kinji Fukasaku. 143m ACT MV

$R.O.

Torso Sergio Martino ★ Suzy Kendall, Tina Aumont. 94m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Torture Dungeon /Andy Milligan ★ Susan Cassidy. Jeremy Brooks. (M) HOR VC $59.95 Touch, The 1971 /Ingmar Bergman * Elliot Gould, Bibi Andersson. 11 2m DRA SV $79.95 Touch of Satan * Michael Berry. 87m (PG) THR SB $69.95 Touchables, The * Claire Brennan. 66m (M) COM KC $69.95 Toys Are Not For Children 80m (R) DRA KC

$69.95 Trackers, The 1971/Earl Bellamy ★ Ernest Borgnine, Julie Adams. 73m WST SV $79.95 Trader Hornee ★ John Alderman. 80m (R) ADT KC $69.95 Train Robbers, The 1973/Burt Kennedy ★ John Wayne, Ann Margret. 92m WST WH $R.O. Train Station Pick Up 95m (R) ADT VC $69.95 Trapped B eneath the Sea 1974/W illiam

A. Graham * Lee J. Cobb, Martin Balsam. 100m ACT SV $79.95 Treasure Island 63m FAM INT $69.95 VC $49.95 Treasure Island 50m (G) ANM SV $49.95 Treasure Island 1950/Byron Haskin * Bobby Driscoll, Robert Newton. 96m (G) FAM WD $R.O. Tristan and Isolde * Richard Burton, Kate Mulgrew. 119m (G) DRA SB $69.95 Truck Stop Woman * Claudia Jennings. 88m (R) ACT SB $69.95 True Grit 1969/Henry Hathaway * John Wayne, Glen Campbell. 128m WST CIC $79.95 ' Turned on Girl (R) ADT KV $69.95 Turning Point, The 1977/Herbert Ross * Anne Bancroft, Shirley Maclaine. 11 9m DRA MV $R.O. 12 O’clock High 1949/Henry King * Gregory Peck, Hugh Marlowe. 132m bw WAR MV $69.00 2069: A Sex Odyssey * Alena Penz, Cathrene Conti. 80m (R) COM KC $69.95

u Undefeated, The 1969/Andrew McLaglen ★ John Wayne. Rock Hudson. 119m WST MV $69.00 Under the Doctor * Barry Evans, Liz Frazer. 83m (R) COM VC $69.95 Under the Table You Must Go 60m (NRC) DOC KC $69.95 Unholy Wife 1957/John Farrow ★ Rod Steiger, Diana Dors. 94m DRA VV $59.95 Unkissed Bride (NRC) KV $69.95 Unknown Powers /Don Como ★ Samantha Eggar, Jack Palance. 86m DOC INT $69.95 Unmarried Woman, An 1978/Paul Mazursky * Jill Clayburgh, Alan Bates. 124m DRA MV $R.O. Up Pompeii /Bob Kellett * Frankie Howerd, Patrick Cargill. 86m COM TE $69.95 Use the Back Door (R) ADT KV $69.95

Wacky Taxi /Alex Grasshoff * John Astin, Frank Sinatra Jr 87m FAM INT $69.95 Wanted: Babysitter * Robert Vaughn. Maria Schneider. (M) DRA VC $69.95 Warriors, The 1979/Walter Hill ★ Michael Beck, James Remar. 90m ACT CIC $79.95 Weekend Lovers 88 m (R) DRA KC $69.95 What Ever Happened to Aunt Alice? * Geraldine Page, Ruth Gordon. 101m HOR SV

$79.95

Whatever Happened to Baby Jane? 1962/Robert

Aldrich ★ Bette Davis, Joan Crawford. 132m COM WH $R.O, Who Has Seen the Wind 1976 * Brian Painchaud, Gordon Pinsett 100m (G) DRA SC $59.95 Who Killed Mary Whats’ername? 1971/Ernie Pintoff * Red Buttons. Silvia Miles. 90m (M) DRA VC $69,95 Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? 1966/Mike Nichols * Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton.

129m DRA WH $R.O. Wicker Man, The 1973/Robin Hardy ★ Edward Woodward, Britt Ekland. 83m DRA TE $69.95 Wife Swappers, The (R) ADT VD $69.95 Wilbur and the Baby Factory 91m (R) COM KC $69.95 Wild Gypsies ★ Todd Grange, Laura Welcome.

85m (R) DRA KC $69.95 ' Wild Rebels, The ★ Steve Alaimo. Willie Pastrano ACT VV $59.95 Wild Women 1970/Don Taylor ★ Hugh O’Brian, Anne Francis. 73m WST SV $79.95 Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic * Willie Nelson. 88m (NRC) MUS SB $69.95 Wings of an Eagle /Rex Fleming. 84m DOC INT $69.95 Winners, The (NRC) DRA VC $69.95 Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree (G) ANM WD $R.O. Witchmaker, The 1969/William O. Brawn ★ Anthony Eisley, John Lodge. 101m (R) THR SB $69.95 Without Warning ★ Jack Palance, Martin Landau.

89m (R) SF SB $69.95 Woman For Ail Men, A * Keenan Wynn, Judith Brown. 96m (M) DRA SB $69.95 Wombling Free 1977/Lionel Jeffries ★ Bonnie Langford. 96m (G) FAM SC $59.95 Wooden Horse, The 1950/Jack Lee ★ Leo Genn.

David Tomlinson. 98m bw WAR TE $59.95 World’s Greatest Athlete 1973/Robert Scheerer ★ John Amos, Jan-Michael Vincent 93m (G) FAM WD $R.O. Wrestler, The * Ed Asner. 105m (NRC) ACT KC $69.95 Wright Brothers, The 57m DOC VC $69.95

1979/Robert Greenwald * Olivia Newton-John, Gene Kelly. 92m (G) MUS CIC $79.95 X-Rated Lovers (R) ADT KV $69.95

Xanadu

Yellow Rose of Texas, The ★ Roy Rogers, Dale Evans, bw HH $49.95 Yeti * Jim Sullivan, Phoenix Grant 99m (NRC) ADV KC $69.95 Young and Innocent 1937/Alfred Hitchcock *

Nova Pijbeam, Derrick de Marney. 80m (NRC) bw DRA SC $59.95 HH $59.95 Young Cycle Girls, The 82m (R) ADV VC $69.95 Young Lions, The 1958/Edward Dmytryk ★ Marlon Brando. Montgomery Clift. 167m bw DRA MV $69.00 Younger the Better, The 80m (R) COM KC $69.95 Yuma 1970/Ted Post * Clint Walker, Kathryn Hays. 73m WST SV $79.95 Yvonne From 6 to 9 (R) ADT KV $69.95

z Valley of the Dolls 1967/Mark Robson * Barbara Perkins, Patty Duke. 123m DRA MV $69.00 Vampyre /Carl Dreyer. bw HOR HH $59.95 Vampyres /Joseph Lazar ★ Marrianne Morris.

92m (R) HOR VC $69.95 Vanishing Africa 94m (G) DOC MV $69.00

1971/George England * John Rubenstein, George England. 93m MUS SV $79.95 Zebra Killer, The 90m (M) DRA KC $69.95 Zeta One (R) ADT VR $59.95 Zombie Flesh Eaters ★ Richard Johnson. 87m (R) HOR SB $69.95 ^ Zombie Holocaust 85m (R) HOR SB $69.95 I Zachariah

C H A N N ELS April 1982 — 39

Compiled by Fred Harden C hannels P ro d u cts and P rocesses co lum n aim s to give an overview of new co n c e p ts and p ro d u ct de ve lo p ­ m ents th a t will set home video trends For fu tu re issues, m an u fa ctu re rs and d is trib u to rs of new releases in the home video, educational, in d u stria l and b ro a d ca st fie ld s are invited to su b m it m aterial for p ublication. Copy sh o u ld be sent to P roducts and P ro­ cesses, C ha n n els 644 V ictoria St, North M elbourne, 3 0 5 1.

A bove:

Electronic Photography In as little as 18 m onths, a home screen could be d isp la yin g instant video s n a p sho ts from S ony’s new M avica film le ss video still camera.

S lightly larger than a sta n da rd 35m m SLR, the p ro to ty p e d e m o n s tra te d reco rd s the im ages on a 4.5 cm (1 V iinch) diam eter disc, called a M avipak, th a t h o ld s 5 0 p ic tu r e s a n d is re u s a b le . A fte r p h o to g ra p h y , th e d is c s are rem oved from the camera, placed in a p la yb a ck unit and viewed on a sta n da rd television.

The M avica dem onstrated a 3 5 0 lines horizontal resolution — better th a n th a t of h o m e V C R s, y e t c o n s id e ra b ly sh o rt of the resu lts from 35m m film.

The M avica can also be used to ta k e c o n tin u o u s m o tio n , lik e a c o n v e n tio n a l c o lo r vid e o cam era.

Although not likely to replace film images, p ictu re s made this way co st only a few cents (the M avipak was an n ou n ce d as co stin g ab o ut $2.50) and the system is another indication of how e le ctro n ics may provide an a lte rn a tive to the grow ing co st of silve r used in co n ve ntio n a l film.

The price quoted for the cam era w a s U .S .$ 6 6 0 a n d th e p la y e r U.S.$220. Sony also a nnounced a h a rd -co p y plain paper co lo r p rin te r to go w ith the Mavica.

S o n y ’s

ne w

M avica

The

P io n e e r

la s e r/o p tic a l

video disc' VP-1000. Left: The slim new Sony po rtab le Beta recorderlplayer.

e le c tro n ic

camera and image storage disc.

40 — CH ANN ELS April 1982

s t ill

Formats A u s t r a lia is w a it in g fo r th e prom ised release of the la se r/o p tica l vid e o d isc (Sanyo, and the inventors of the form at, Philips and Pioneer, have a lre a d y d e m o n s tra te d PAL m odels), in the U.S., the various syste m s are fighting a price war. The C a p a cita nce E le ctro n ic Disk system is sellin g for well below the U .S.$500 suggested as the list p rice by RCA w hich developed the CED system .

There has been in d u stry com m ent t h a t h ig h d e v e lo p m e n t c o s t s , e s p e c ia lly fo r th e P h ilip s la s e r system , w ill mean that all the d isc syste m s m ust soon show im proved sales to clo se the gap made by

g ro w in g v id e o -c a s s e tte re c o rd e r sales. It w ill be these eco n om ic fa c to rs , ra th e r th a n d e s ig n and perform ance, that w ill help to d e cid e w h ich system we see here.

The e co n o m ics of vid e o -c a s s e tte hire as a gainst vid e o d isc p u rch a se will also play a sig n ific a n t role. The e co n om ics involved in tape lib ra rie s ’ holding VHS and Beta form ats m ay a lso decide the battle of the rival '.A-inch form ats. In the U.S., VHS leads in a boom ing hire m arket. In d ica tion s are that the local m arket will show the sam e trend as A u stra lia a p p ro a ch e s a p ro je cte d 2 0 0 ,0 0 0 VCR units in use locally.

Sony w as q u ic k to point out, with the U.S. release of its new Beta portable, that the VHS cam p c o u ld not build a portable unit as narrow ow ing to the w id e r VHS ca sse tte. The VHS re p ly is a sm a lle r c a s s e tte w ith c o r r e s p o n d in g ly re d u c e d ru n n in g time, but w ith full c o m p a tib ility when slip p e d into a sp e cia l ■ holder for replay on VHS home units.

The 'A-inch syste m s from Cannon ’ and F u n a i/T e c h n ic o lo r have im proved th e ir ch a n ce s in the m arket, w ith the an n ou n ce m e nt of a 2 ’/ 2-h o u r ca sse tte. W ith the w e ig h t of 'A-inch p o rta b le s half that of the lig h te s t 'hinch system s, and reso lu tio n that is com parable, it o n ly needs an in d u s try c o n se n su s on sta n d a rd s to push the 'A-inch form at to the forefront.

Projection

Large Screen

The e a sie st way to get a large te le ­ vision im age is to use a video p ro ­ jector. The pioneer of video p ro je c ­ tion, Henry Kloss, d e m onstrated his Novabeam M odel Two at the recent C onsum er E le ctro n ic Show in Las Vegas.

W ith three p ro jection tubes and fa s t p la s tic le n s e s , th e s y s te m w eighs only 32 kg, and is about the size of a large portable television. It is b right enough to disp e n se w ith the u s u a l la rg e c u rv e d s c re e n and p ro je cts a 1 x 1.2 m (3 x 4 ft) p ictu re on to any su ita b le su rfa ce from a d ista n ce of 1.2 m. It is com pact, lig h t­ w e ight and portable and planned for an A ugust release in the U.S. p riced at $ 2 0 0 0 .

T h e S o n y 3 0 - i n c h m o n it o r , released in lim ited q u a n titie s last year, d e m o n strate d the problem s that cam e w ith w hat w as a d ra m a tic in crea se in screen size. The set w eighed a b o ut 1 24 kg, m uch of w h ich was a ttrib u ta b le to the e xtra th ic k g la ss needed to p revent the large p ic tu re tube from im p lo d in g . T he d e v e lo p m e n t of a n y la rg e r s iz e s seem s im probable, although Sony, S inclair, and RCA have developed fla t s cre e n s using e le ctro n beam s tra v e l­ ling parallel to the s u rfa c e then being d e fle cte d at right angles onto the s c re e n ’s phosphors.

Liquid cry s ta l d isp la ys have been su g g este d as a so lu tio n and de m o n ­ strate d by Hitachi, T osh ib a and M a t­ su sh ita . Low c o n tra s t and re s tric te d view ing angles are the main d is ­ a d vantages of LCDs.

High Definition TV Cameras A lthough the press handout that a cco m p a n ie d the Eastm an K o d a ko w n e d c o m p a n y S p in P h y s ic s ’ relea se of a hig h -sp e e d video-m otion a n a ly s is syste m sta te s that it is co m ­ m e rcia lly im p ra ctica l at the co n su m e r level, the device is an im p re ssive firs t e n try into the video m arketplace.

The heart of the syste m is a new so lid state im age se n so r developed

by K odak rese a rch laboratories. The m onochrom e se n so r has a speed to 5 0 ASA and is not dam aged by o ve r­ e xp o su re to light or su b je c t to ‘tim e lag’ or g h o sting as are co n ve ntio n a l cam era tubes.

In N o v e m b e r 1 9 8 0 , K o d a k d is c lo s e d a m eth o d of fu ll-c o lo r re co rd in g from s e n s o rs sim ila r to th o s e used in the S pin P h y s ic s system . Patent w a tc h e rs have been p re d ic tin g K o d a k ’s e n try into video for som e tim e and th is release brings it a step closer.

T h e u se o f s o lid - s ta te im a ge s e n so rs has enabled cam era m anu­ fa c tu re rs to red u ce the size of video ca m e ra s; th is has led to the release of p ro to ty p e -in te g ra te d cam era and VCR units from Sony, Hitachi, M a t­ s u s h ita and Sanyo. T hey use 'A-inch tape, but none is com patible.

M a ts u s h ita and RCA have show n b ro a d c a s t q u a lity o n e -p ie c e ca m e ra / reco rd e rs, using VHS ca sse ttes, that run at fa s te r sp eeds and record the

Top: The broadcast quality Matsushita one-piece VHS camera/recorder. Above: The self-contained camera/recorder from Hitachi. A standardized format for 'A-inch videotape is currently under discussion.

s ig n a l in fo rm a tio n in a d iffe re n t form at from home VCRs. RCA claim s th a t its H aw keye unit has a “ th re e -to one im provem ent over 3A-inch tape in te rm s of ch ro m in a n ce resolution, d is ­ tortion and n o ise ” .

Sony’s 30-inch monitor with stereo sound, cable tuning and video/audio inputs and outputs.

Made with rare Japanese woods, a personalized nameplate and a U.S.$10,000 price.

High d efinition TV cam e clo se r to realization w ith d e m o n stratio n s in the U.S. last year. In an e ffo rt to co nvince Federal le gislators that HDTV was fe a sib le and that fre q u e n cie s should be allo ca te d on sa te llite s and cable s y s te m s , ik e g a m i p ro v id e d th e camera, M atsu sh ita the m onitors and large screen video projectors, and S ony the d ig ita l vid e o re c o rd e rs needed to handle the wide bandw id th s of the 1 1 2 5 sca n n in g line system . This is alm ost tw ice the num ber of lines of the PAL system used in A ustralia, and the new system w a s p re s e n te d in a w id e s c re e n form at of 1:1.3. HDTV may see its firs t use as a feature film production format.

U.S. p ro d u c e r -d ir e c to r F ra n c is Coppola, fresh from his use of video te ch n iq u e s in One From the Heart, saw the dem onstration and resolved to use HDTV for his next feature. The tra n sfe r of HD video to film should give a lm ost the sam e resolution as 35m m .

Roger Corman, p re sid e n t of New W orld Pictures, announced a start, e a rly this year, for the tape to film p ro ­ du ctio n Sector 13. Image T ransform of Los Angeles, w hich has provided h ig h -q u a lity tape to film tra n sfe rs for som e years, has now, in p a rtn e rship w ith C om pact Video, developed a system called Image Vision. Using th is im proved 5 2 5 -lin e NTSC system , U ltim ate Keying and A m pex’s Digital Video Effects, Corman hopes to save “ 6 0 to 7 0 p e r c e n t of n o rm a l p ro d u ctio n c o s ts ” .

■ Top: Francis Ford Coppola — investigating the possibility of shooting his next feature film on videotape. Below: A wide-screen high-resolution monitor developed by NHK and Matsushita.

CH ANN ELS April 1982 -

41

FREE < 2 0 MOVIES o f your choice from our special Video M ovie Package w hen you purchase from C O M M O D O R E

Bi National PORTABLE VIDEO RECORDER & CAMERA

$990* AFTER TRADE IN ALL BRANDS STOCKED *we w ill give you a trade-in o f up to $700 on your old V ideo Recorder RING

6991199

NOW

COMMODORE TV & VIDEO SYDNEY’S VIDEO SPECIALISTS

683 Botany Rd., Rosebery, 2018 (Opp. Collins St.) Open Thurs. dll 7 p.m., Sat. dll 3 p.m.

t iiim

n

i i i i i T

i m

i n

m

i m

i i T

JAWS - SUPERMAN - “ 10” - DEER HUNTER GREASE - DEATH ON THE NILE - THE STING THE EXORCIST CAN’T STOP THE MUSIC - THE GODFATHER ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST ONE OF AUSTRALIA’S LARGEST VIDEO LIBRARY

•S

•§ »

if W

filli AUSTRALIA

1

* '«

h

t s

NOSTALGIA and FAMILY VIEWING MEET JOHN DOE GARY COOPER INSPECTOR GENERAL DANNY KAYE TOM BROWN’S SCHOOLDAYS — FREDDIE BARTHOLOMEW FLYING DEUCES LAUREL & HARDY GREAT GUY JAMES CAGNEY

ADULT ENTERTAINMENT TEENAGE JAIL BAIT (R) ALL IN THE SEX FAMILY (R) LIP SERVICE (R) GUMS (R) BLACK DEEP THROAT (R) LOVE OF A NYMPHO (R)

Plus 200 o th e r TIT L E S . . .

FAREWELL TO ARMS — GARY COOPER

GULLIVER’S TRAVELS (G) THE BLOB (G)

Plus STAR TREK

KING OF VIDEO 11 CHARNWOOD GROVE, ST. KILDA 3182 (Vic.)

PHONE (03) 534 5628

NOTE: SHOPS, DEALERS, & LIBRARIES . . .

ALL CASSETTES SOLD BY KING OF VIDEO INCLUDE RENTAL RIGHTS IN PURCHASE PRICE

v im

AISTtALIA

This handy equipment guide will be included and updated in each issue of ‘Channels’ . All the relevant information included is that supplied by the manufacturers. The prices listed are the Australian distributors’ recommended retail prices. They are comparative prices only, as much discounting occurs at the distributor and retailer level. The VCR guide contains Beta and VHS models only. s ALL CURRENT MODELS HAVE THESE FEATURES AS STANDARD. (Unless otherwise stated) Video Signal Timer Power Controls Horizontal Resolution

— — — — —

PAL color 625 lines, 50 fields CCIR Monochrome signal 24 hours clock display 240 V, 50 Hz solenoid/electronic VHS — 240 lines Beta — 260 lines

VI PEO -CASSETTE RECORDER GUIDE a

/ : /

/

/

AKAI

i

Infrared, all motor functions

4 mins (E-240)

40 dB 43 dB

8 events 14 days

10X forward and reverse, 2X forward, variable slow motion, frame by frame

Infrared, all functions

4 mins (E-180)

VU-77 8 events 14 days

1 OX forw ard and reverse, variable slow motion, frame by frame

Wired, all motor functions

1 event 14 days

7X forw ard and reverse

8 events 14 days

5 mins (E-180)

40dB 43 dB

9.6 watts (recorder only) VA-77

5.2 kg Fibre reinforced (including battery) plastic 288x103x269 P.O.A.

Wired, pause and speed search

3 mins (E-180)

4 0 d B 70-8,000 Hz 40 dB

50 watts

14.9 kg 498 x162x346

Auto rewind $999

7X forward and reverse, lhX forward

Infrared, all functions except tim er

3 mins (E-180)

40 dB 40 dB

50 watts

14.9 kg 498 x162x346

Auto rewind $1295

4 events 14 days

9X forward and reverse, 2X forward, V2X forward, fram e by frame

Infrared, all motorised function (including Blaupunkt television and teletext controls)

7 mins (E-240)

50 dB Dolby Noise 43 dB Reduction 8 0 -1 0,000 Hz

52 watts

11.5 kg 480x136x357

$1399

TTP -200 8 events 14 days

3X forward, frame by frame

Wired, pause, still, 3X forward

7 mins (E-240)

43 dB 40 dB

80-10,000 Hz

NA

6 kg 299 x114x249

$2795 (whole package with camera)

1 event 10 days

5X forward and reverse, 2X forward, V2 X forward, frame by frame

Wired, all motor functions

NA

43 dB 43 dB

70-1 2,000 Hz

42 watts

11.2 kg 4 3 5 x145x330

Auto rewind $1200

VT-TU65E 8 events 21 days

5X forward and reverse, variable slow motion, frame by frame

Wired, all motor functions

NA

43 dB Sound on 43 dB sound editing 70-1 2,000 Hz

5.5 watts (recorder only) A-V60E

4.9 kg 263x108x257

$2740 (whole package including VT-6500E camera)

1 event 10 days

9X forward and reverse

Wired, all motor functions, channel

NA

40 dB 43 dB

100-10.000 Hz 35 watts

9.6 kg 4 4 0 x140x330

Auto rewind P.O.A.

8 events 14 days

10X forward and reverse, 2X forward, variable slow motion, frame by frame

Infrared, all functions

4 mins (E-180)

50 dB 43 dB

Dolby Noise Reduction 70-10,000 Hz

16.5 kg 470 x153x385

Front loading, auto e d it auto rewind and repetition $1699

HMV JVC V : HV7000

?

Front loading, auto e d it auto rewind and repetition $1599

HMV JVC V : HV4000

M

16.5 kg 470x153x385

HITACHI Hitachi V : VT-6500E Portable

70-8,000 Hz

4^0 ▼

55 w atts

HITACHI Hitachi V : VT-8000E

V V 4 1

50 dB Dolby Noise 43 dB Reduction 70-10,000 Hz

BLAUPUNKT M atsushita-Blaupunkt V : RTX-200 Portable

#

W arning buzzer S1199

BLAUPUNKT M atsushita-Blaupunkt V : RTV-222

4

12 kg 440 x133x198

AW A-THORN V : ATV 5

-

37 watts

AWA-THORN V : ATV 4

W e?

9X forward and reverse, frame by frame

AKAI JVC-Akai V : VP-77 Portable

w

k 4?

9 events 14 days

AKAI JVC-Akai V : V S -10

*

f * x 'J u f

Akai V : VS-5

4

&

100-8,000 Hz

70-8,000 Hz

55 w atts

CH A N N ELS April 1982 — 43

JV

& P A

i f

4

/ # #

&

/ / /

& °

& r<P

#

/ /

v # k ’k

A »

.4

T&

* / /J f /^

^ V w

,£ £ #

/

£ s £ y .

i ' # iS S e '

o W iO T

HMV JVC V :P P 2 4 Portable

5.2 kg (including battery) 28 8 x 1 0 3 x 2 6 8

Fibre reinforced plastic, auto edit $1295 (recorder only)

100-1 0,000 Hz 35 w atts

9.6 kg 440x140x330

Auto rewind, auto edit P.O.A.

50 dB 43dB

Dolby Noise Reduction 70-1 0,000 Hz

55 watts

1 6.5 kg 470 x 1 5 3 x 3 8 5

Front loading, auto edit, tim er backup, auto rewind and repetition $1699

5 mins (E-180)

40 dB 43 dB

100-8,000 Hz

9.6 watts (recorder only) AA-P22EA

5.2 kg (including battery pack) 288 x1 0 3 x2 6 8

Fibre reinforced plastic, auto edit $1399 (recorder only)

Wired, pause, still

7.5 mins (E-240)

43 dB 43 dB

8 0-10,000 Hz

38 w atts.

10 kg 480 x 1 3 6 x 3 6 5

$1112

9X forward and reverse.

2X forward, V2 X forward, frame by frame

Infrared, all motorised functions, direct channel changing

4.5 mins (E-180)

50 dB 43 dB

Dolby Noise Reduction 80-1 0,000 Hz

52 watts

1 1 5 kg 48 0 x 1 3 6 x 3 5 7

$1650

8 events 14 days

9X forward and reverse, 2X forward, '/?X forward, frame by frame

Wired, all motor functions, channel

6 mins (E-240)

50 dB 43 dB

Dolby Noise Reduction 80-1 0.000 Hz

54 watts

1 2.5 kg 48 0 x 1 3 6 x 3 5 7

Plays PAL, SECAM, NTSC, m ulti voltage 1 1 0 /2 2 0 /2 4 0 $1725

NV-V300 8 events 14 days

Frame by frame (fast and slow)

Wired, pause, still (fast and slow)

7 mins (E-240)

43 dB 40 dB

8 0 -10,000 Hz

5.6 watts 6 kg (recorder only) (recorder only) N S -B 30A . 29 9 x 1 1 4 x 2 4 9

1 event 10 days

9X forward and reverse

Wired, all motor functions, channel

NA

40 dB 43 dB

100-10 ,000 Hz 35 watts

9.6 kg 440x140x330

Auto rewind $1299

8 events 1 4 days

1OX forward and reverse, 2X forward, variable slow motion, frame by frame

Infrared, all functions

4 mins (E-180)

50 dB 43 dB

Dolby Noise Reduction 70-1 0,000 Hz

55 watts

16 kg 470 x 1 5 3 x 3 8 9

Front loading, auto edit, tim er backup, auto rewind and repetition $1699

F-350 1 event 10 days

10X forward and reverse, variable slow motion, frame by frame

Wired, all motor functions

5 mins (E-180)

40 dB 43 dB

1 00-8,000 Hz

9.6 watts (recorder only) N-350

5.2 kg (including battery) 288 x 1 0 3 x 2 6 8

Fibre reinforced plastic, auto edit $1299

1 event 10 days

9X forward and reverse

Wired, all motor functions, channel

NA

100-10,000 Hz 35 watts

9.6 kg 440x140x330

Auto rewind P.O.A.

8 events 1 4 days

1 OX forward and reverse, 2X forward, variable slow motion, frame by frame

Infrared, all functions

4 mins (E-180)

50 dB 43 dB

Dolby Noise Reduction 70-1 0 ,000 Hz

55 watts

1 6.5 kg 470x153x385

Front loading, auto . edit, auto rewind and repetition $1699

VT100 1 event 10 days

1 OX forward and reverse, variable slow motion, frame by frame

Wired, all motor functions

5 mins (E-180)

40 dB 43 dB

100-8,000 Hz

9.6 watts (recorder only)

5.2 kg (including battery) 288 x 1 0 3 x 2 6 8

Fibre reinforced plastic, auto edit $1295 (recorder only)

1 event 3days

None

Wired, pause

5 mins (L-750)

40 dB 42 dB

50-7,000 Hz

70 watts

18.7 kg 504x195x400

Piano key controls $1139

1 event 7 days

None

None

NA

40 dB 42 dB

5 0 -10,000 Hz

40 watts

10 kg 480x135x350

Auto rewind $990

1 event 1 day

5X forward

None

NA

43 dB 45 dB

80-8,000 Hz

24 watts

8.8 kg 399x292x157

Fully integrated recorder, tuner, clo ck $1295

1 event 7 days

1 OX forward and reverse

Wired, pause, 10X forward and reverse

NA

43 dB 45 dB

8 0 -8,000 Hz

48 watts

1 2.5 kg 430x140x375

Front loading, auto rewind $899

7 events 7 days

2X forward, ’&X forward, frame by frame

Infrared, all motor functions

NA

43 dB 45 dB

70-8.000 Hz

50 w atts

1 4.5 kg 480x165x385

Front loading, LED tape remaining, auto program locator $1295

TU -24 1 event 10 days

1 OX forward and reverse, variable slow motion, frame by frame

Wired, all motor functions

5 mins (E-180)

40 dB 43 dB

1 0 0 -8,000 Hz

1 event 10 days

9X forward and reverse

Wired, all motor functions

NA

40 dB 43 dB

8 events 14 days

1 OX forward and reverse, 2X forward, variable slow motion, frame by frame

Infrared, all functions

4 mins (E-180)

TU-22EA 1 event 10 days

1 OX forward and reverse, variable slow motion, frame by frame

Wired, all motor functions

1 event 14 days

5X forward, 1/5X forward

4 events days

JVC JVC V : H R -7200

9.6 watts (recorder only)

JVC JVC V: H R -7700

JVC JVC V HR2200EA Portable

NATIONAL M atsushita V : N V-2000

NATIONAL Matsushita V : NV-7200

14

NATIONAL M atsushita V : NV-7000EM

NATIONAL M atsushita V : NV -3000 Portable

$1615

NORDMENDE JVC-Nordmende V : V -100

NORDMENDE JVC-Nordmende V : V500

NORDMENDE JVC-Nordmende V : V350 Portable

RANK ARENA JVC V : RV340

’ 40 dB 43 dB

RANK ARENA JVC V : RV330

RANK ARENA JVC V : VP100 Portable

SANYO ■Sanyo B : VTC 9300P

SANYO Sanyo B : VTC 5300P

SHARP Sharp V : VC -2300X Portable

SHARP Sharp V : VC -8300X

SHARP Sharp V : VC -7750X

44 - CH A N N ELS April 1982

a

ì f

f

.▼ A

& f f

#> T

if

f f

fr e

W" ^

f f

á,S

xS? f f i

/

/< ?

m

4 0 ▼

SONY Sony B S L -C 5

1 event 7 days

1 3X forward and reverse (in black and white)

Wired, all motor functions

3.5 mins (L-500)

40 dB 50-1 0.000 Hz 40 dB

55 watts

4 events 14 days

13X forward and reverse.

3X forward, variable slow motion, frame by frame

Infrared, all motor functions

3.5 mins (L-500)

40 dB 40 dB

50-10,000 Hz

1 event 7 days

1 3X forward and reverse (in black and white)

Wired, all motor functions

3.5 mins (L-500)

40 dB 40 dB

1 event 7 days

1 3X forward and reverse

Wired, all motor functions

3 5 mins (L-500)

TT-3000E

None

None

8 events 14 days

1 OX forward and reverse.

2X forward, variable slow motion, frame by frame

T-50 1 event 10 days

10X forward and reverse, variable slow motion, frame by frame

1 6.4 kg 4 8 5 x168x379

$999

45 watts

1 5.5 kg 485x163x379

Optional AG-7 cassette changer $1299

50-1 0.000 Hz

44 watts

1 5,8 kg 485x168x379

Auto rewind, plays PAL, SECAM, NTSC, records PAL, SECAM, voltage converter 1 1 0 /2 2 0 /2 4 0 $1599

40 dB 40 dB

50-1 0.000 Hz

47 watts

1 5.8 kg 4 8 5 x168x379

Auto rewind, records and plays PAL, SECAM, NTSC, voltage converter 1 1 0 /2 2 0 /2 4 0 51 7 9 9

NA

40 dB 40 dB

50-1 0,000 Hz

14.5 w atts (recorder only)

7.5 kg 296x127x345

Piano key controls $1499 (recorder only)

Infrared, all functions

4 mins (E-180)

50 dB 43 dB

Dolby Noise Reduction 70-1 0,000 Hz

55 watts

1 6.5 kg 470 x153x385

Front loading, auto ediL auto rewind and repetition, auto playback — T V. tuner $1550

Wired, all motor functions

5 mins (E-180)

40 dB 43 dB

100-8,000 Hz

9.6 watts (recorder only) N-50

5.2 kg (including battery) 288x103x268

Fibre reinforced plastic $1470 (recorder only)

^ ? T

SONY Sony B S L -C 7

/ /

f f f

fìì*

/ / / *W

...

i

!triTFÄ*

JL

o 3 3

H

k S

A

£ ¿ +

-O J& »

SONY Sony B SL-T7

SONY Sony B : SL-T9

SONY Sony B : S L -3000 Portable

TELEFUNKEN JVC-Telefunken V : VR-540

TELEFUNKEN JVC-Telefunken V V R -5 1 0 Portable

TOSHIBA Toshiba B : V8600A

3 events 7 days

7-25X forwarc^and reverse, Wired, all motor 2X forward, variable slow functions motion, frame by frame

3.5 mins (L-500)

40 dB 44 dB

Beta Noise Reduction 50-8,000 Hz

53 watts

1 4.5 kg 4 6 5 x158x385

Auto rewind $1395

3 events 7 days

7-25X forward and reverse, Infrared, all motor 2X forward, variable slow functions motion, frame by frame

3.5 mins (L-500)

40 dB 44 dB

Beta Noise Reduction 50-8,000 Hz

53 watts

1 4,5 kg 465x158x385

Auto rewind $1495

TOSHIBA Toshiba B : V8700A

CAMERA GUIDE £

f

S 3 VS S Á i f

> /

•

£

iu

£ £ £ i f a v i

/ /

/

AKAI VC-31 E

i

i

/

Ù Q Ê i f f s s s g r iu iu

f1 .9 zoom 1 5 -4 5 mm

O ptical TTL

2 /3 inch Vidicon 250 lines

3 position color compensator, manual tint

100 lux

7.5 watts 45 dB

Auto with manual override

Integrated electret condenser

5P.O.A.

1.5 kg

f1 .9 zoom / macro 1 2.5-75 mm

O ptical TTL

2 /3 inch Vidicon 250 lines

3 position color compensator, manual tint

100 lux

7.5 watts 45 dB

Auto with manual override

Integrated electret condenser

5P.O.A.

1.95 kg

f 1.4 motorized zoom /m acro 1 2.5-75 mm

B u ilt-in/ele ctronic 38 mm B/W CRT

2 /3 inch Vidicon 270 lines

Auto

100 lux

6.5 watts 40 dB

Auto w ith manual override, backlight com pensator

Integrated electret condenser

Dual zoom controls SP.O.A.

AKAI VC-90E

H

f

1.4 kg

AKAI VC-61 E

/

o f oo

CH ANN ELS April 1982 -

45

The Worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Most Experienced International TV Distributors (since 19 50 )

FREMANTLE INTERNATIONAL INC. (Fremantle International Productions Pty Ltd) Suite 3, 2 A Waters Road Neutral Bay N S W 2089 A U S T R A L IA

Phone: (02) 908 2600 Telex: A A 2 3 9 1 4

NEW YORK

LONDON

TORONTO

/ .

/ / /

/

/ /

# 4#

<5^ OÜ

if Æ?

> A ÿ

/«

/

/*

i

Hi

„ #*

#

& H S

/

Wm H

BLAUPUNKT TV C -200

1.8 kg

f 1.6 motorized zoom /m acro 14-84 mm

B u ilt-in/ele ctronic 38 mm B /W C R T

2 /3 inch RGB Precision Stripe Vidicon 250 lines

4 position white balance selector

75 lux 7 5 -100 ,000 lux

6.7 watts 45 dB

Auto

Telescoping e iectret narration on back

S995

1.9 kg

f 1.6 motorized zoom /m acro 14-84 mm

B u ilt-in/ele ctronic 38 mm B/W CRT

2 /3 inch Trielectrode Vidicon 250 lines

Variable white balance selector

75 lux 75-100 ,000 lux

6.7 watts 45 dB

Auto

Telescoping unidirectional boom (removeable)

S tand-by/ pause Whole system VT-6500E $2740

3.1 kg

f 1.4 motorized zoom /m acro 1 2.5-74 mm

A d justable/ electronic 38 mm B/W CRT

2 /3 inch Saticon

Variable white balance selector

50 lux 5 0 -100 ,000 lux

9.5 watts 46 dB

Auto

Telescoping unidirectional boom (removeable)

S tandy-by/ pause, auto focus Whole system VE-6500E $3500

1.5 kg

f1 .9 zoom / macro 1 2.5-75 mm

O ptical TTL

2 /3 inch Vidicon 250 lines

3 position color compensator, manual tint

80 lux 80-100 ,000 lux

6.5 w atts 45 dB

Auto with manual override

Integrated eiectret condenser

Optional electronic viewfinder $P.O.A.

1.95 kg

f1 .4 motorized zoom /m acro 1 2.5-75 mm

B u ilt-in/ele ctronic 38 mm B/W CRT

2 /3 inch Vidicon 270 lines

Auto

100 lux

6.5 watts 40 dB

Auto with manual override, backlight com pensator

Integrated eiectret condenser

Oval zoom controls $1349

1.4kg

f1 .8 zoom 1 1.5-70m m

O ptical TTL

2 /3 inch Stripe Filter Vidicon 240 lines

100 lux

6.6 watts 45 dB

Auto

O m nidirectional eiectret condenser

$1225

1.8 kg

f1 .4 motorized zoom /m acro 1 2.5-75 mm

B u ilt-in/ele ctronic 38 mm B/W CRT

2 /3 inch Stripe Filter Vidicon 240 lines

2 position color temperature, variable R + B gain

70 lux

8.1 watts 45 dB

Auto

Handle located eiectret condenser

S tand-by/ pause $1400

3 kg

f1 .8 motorized zoom /m acro

A d justable/ electronic 38 mm B/W CRT

2/3 inch Stripe Filter Vidicon

2 position color temperature, variable R + B gain

100 lux

8.4 watts 43 dB

Auto, backlight com pensator

Telescopic unidirectional eiectret condenser

Adjustable shoulder pad, stand-by $1780

1.7kg

f1 .4 motorized zoom 12.5-72 mm

O ptical TTL

2 /3 inch Vidicon 270 lines

Auto

100 lux

4 5 watts 40 dB

Auto w ith manual override, backlight com pensator

Integrated eiectret condenser

$1199

2 kg

f1 .4 motorized zoom /m acro 12.5-72 mm

B u ilt-in/ele ctronic 38 mm B/W CRT

2/3 inch Vidicon 270 lines

Auto

100 lux

6.5 watts 40 dB

Auto with manual override, backlight com pensator

Integrated eiectret condenser

Dual zoom controls $1399

1.5 kg

f 1.9 zoom / macro 1 2.5-75 mm

O ptical TTL

2/3 inch Vidicon 250 lines

3 position color compensator, manual tint

80 lux 8 0-100 ,000 lux

6.5 watts 45 dB

Auto with manual override

Integrated eiectret condenser

O ptional electronic viewfinder $P.O,A.

3.5 kg

f2 zoom / macro

B u ilt-in/ele ctronic 3 8 mm B/W CRT

2 /3 inch Vidicon 250 lines

Manual color tem perature and white balance controls

100 lux

10 watts 43 dB

Manual

Integrated eiectret condenser

$1332

1.4 kg

f1 .9 zoom 1 6-3 2 mm

O ptical TTL

2/3 inch Vidicon 250 lines

3 position color temperature

100 lux

45 dB

Auto

Integrated eiectret condenser

$699

1.8 kg

f1 .4 zoom 1 2-72 mm

O ptical TTL

2/3 inch Vidicon 250 lines

Auto

100 lux

7.8 watts 45 dB

Auto, backlight com pensator

Integrated eiectret condenser

Left, right convertible viewfinder $899

2.7 kg

f1 .4 motorized zoom 12-72 mm

B u ilt-in/ele ctronic 38 mm B/W C R T

2 /3 inch Saticon 250 lines

Auto

70 lux

12 watts 45 dB

Auto, backlight com pensator

Integrated eiectret condenser

Left, right convertible viewfinder $1295

2.9 kg

Canon f1.8 Com bination motorized zoom /m acro lens 1 2.5-75 mm

B u ilt-in/ele ctronic 2 /3 inch MF 38 mm B /W C R T Trinicon 3 0 0 lines

4 position white balance selector, conversion filters for color tem perature adjustm ent

70 lux at f 1.8 7 0-100 ,000 lux

8.3 watts 45 dB

Auto normal light. 3 position low light, high light

Integrated eiectret condenser

Pause, auto fade in/out, 2.8X viewfinder magnifier $1499

HITACHI C-600E

HITACHI C -800E

HMV VC -3

JVC GX88E

NATIONAL W V-2600N

NATIONAL W V-3030N

NATIONAL W V -3200N

NORDMENDE C -220

NORDMENDE C -225

RANK ARENA RV-34

SANYO VC C-545P

SHARP XC -30

SHARP XC -33Z

SHARP XC -34

SONY HVC-2000PE

C H A N N ELS Aprii 1982 -

47

INTERNATIONAL TV PROGRAMMING

R. A BECKER & CO. PTYLTD Suite 3, 2A Waters Road Neutral Bay N S W 2089 Australia Phone: (02) 908 2600 Telex: A A 23914 Postal address: PO Box 601 Neutral Bay Junction N S W 2089

If it’s out on video, we’ll find it for you!

Finding movies you want is just one of the services we offer Vid Australia members.

W e’ll save you up to 25% off regular recom mended retail prices. Or rent you the best movies from just $6.90 per week.

You can choose from over 450 video movies in our current catalogue. Including gems like Joan Micklin S ilvers’ award winning “ H ester S treet”. Bruno B ozetto’s parody on Fantasia “ Allegro Non T roppo”, David Bowie in “ The Man Who Fell To E a rth ”, and “ Citizen K ane”, one of the best ever.

Vid Australia m em bership is just $10 per year, and if you join now, w e ’ll give you your first big movie rental free.

To enrol, simply dial (02) 922 6799 or free STD 008 222 333.

V

I

D

E

O

R

E

P

A NON PROFIT ORGANISATION AIMED AT IMPROVING YOUR SKILLS IN:• SCRIPT WRITING • ACTING FOR TELEVISION • STUDIO TECHNIQUES CALL SYDNEY (02) 356 1820 FOR WORKSHOP DETAILS

W A RW ICK ’S B A C K !

FREEMAN: (Creative consultant) ... “C h a n n e l 0 /2 8 h a s been a m o s t rew a rd in g a n d stim u la tin g tw o y e a r s o f m y life. I t ’s n o t often th a t on e g e ts an o p p o rtu n ity to h elp in itia te a w h ole television n etw o rk !”

WARWICK FREEMAN “N o w d o in g w h a t he d o e s best!”

PRODUCING and DIRECTING

^ POPE 44! 16

N ic M u s tra lia 385 Pacific Hwy., North Sydney 2060.

(02) 922-6799. Free STD (008) 22-2333.

T elev isio n - F ilm - T h eatre Suite 4a. 114 Walker Street NORTH SYDNEY, 2060.

92 1896

ELECTRIC BLUE MOVES INTO THE BOND-AGE WITH 007.

Featuring: Ursula Andress, one of five Bond Beauties.

Peter Cooke and Dudley Moore os the filthy "Derek and Clive" and much, much more. i

Today cut this order out and post it to:

ELECTRIC BLUE AUSTRALASIA 6 0 4 -6 0 6 Queensberry St., North Melbourne, 3051 P.O. Box 116 North Melbourne. 3051 Please send me: 001 □

002 □

000D

004D

005D

006D

Name

_____________________________________

007D

Address____________ ___________________________ I declare I am over 18 years old and enclose a cheque for $ BANKCARD NO. I use a □ BETACORD

eb/10

SUDJECT TO CENSORSHIP REQUIREMENTS.

M E N THE

WOMEN OF THE SUN, a drama series in four self-contained episodes, has given one of the world’s most oppressed minorities a first-time opportunity to tell a part of their history in their own words, through their own experiences. For more than fifty thousand years, the Aboriginal people have inhabited Australia, but with the arrival of the white Australian, the erosion of their vast and unique culture began, and has continued until the present day.

WOMEN OF THE SUN takes up the story of these extraordinary people in the 1820’s and follows it, with impeccable and powerful truth, through to contemporary times.

Producer Directors

Bob Weis David Stevens Stephen Wallace James Ricketson ....................... Geoffrey Nottage Original M usic............. Redmond Symmons Editor............................ Edward McQueen-Mason Scriptwriters................ Sonia Borg Hyllus Maris jl

* * i*

a

***"w

*«<

r

^

:‘v

: !

1

m

!

.

„

' *

DRAMATIC HISTORY IN THE MAKING. A 1982 Australian Production

Soon to be seen on Channel 0/28

ù L In November last the Film and Television Production Association of Australia and the New South Wales Film Corporation brought together 15 international experts to discuss film financing, marketing, and distribution of Australian films in the i9 8 0 s with producers involved in the film and television industry.

The symposium was a resounding success.

Tape recordings made of the proceedings have been transcribed and edited by Cinema Papers, and published as the Rim Expo Seminar Report.

Copies can be ordered for $25 each.

Contributors

Contents

Arthur Abeles Chairman, Filmarketeers Ltd (U S.)

Theatrical Production The Package: Two Perspectives

Barbara D. Boyle

Perspective I: As Seen by the Buyer

Executive Vice-President, and Chief Operating Officer, New World Pictures (U.S.)

Ashley Boone Worldwide Marketing and Distribution Head, Ladd Company (U.S.)

Mark Damon

(i)

Partial versus complete packaging, or starting from scratch with an idea. (ii) Evaluating for different markets, different costs (budgeting).

Speakers: Barry Spikings; Mike Medavoy

President, Producers Sales Organization (U.S.)

Perspective II: As Seen by the Seller

Michael Fuchs

The role of the agent in packaging.

Speaker: Harry Ufland

Senior Vice-President, Programming, Home Box Office (U.S.) ‘

Samuel W. Gelfman Independent Producer (U.S.)

Theatrical Production Business and Legal Aspects

Distribution Outside the United States Distribution terms. Relationship and terms with sub-distributors and exhibitors. Recoupment of expenses. Cross-collateralizing territories Dubbing, Censorship Speakers:Arthur Abeles; Klaus Hellwig(Northern European perspective); Massimo Ferrara (Italian and European perspective).

Television Production and Distribution Production for network or.syndication Deficit financing. Tape versus film. Licensing "off-net­ work". United States and foreign. Commercial versus public broadcasting.

Speaker: Lois Luger

Financing of Theatrical Films Major Studios

Executive Vice-President, Orion Pictures (U.S.)

Sources of materials (published, original screenplays, etc.). (ii) Forms of acquisition agreements and/or writer's agreements. (iii) Talent agreements ("pay or play" defer­ ments, “going rates", approvals). (iv) Insurance. (v) Guild and union requirements (foreign and domestic production). (vi) Subsidiary rights. Publishing music, merchandising, etc. .

Speaker: Eric Weissmann

Simon O. Olswang

Distribution in the United States

Presale of Rights

(i)

Separating rights by media. Pay television, free television (network syndication).

Speaker: Michael Fuchs

Klaus Hellwig President, Janus Film Und Fernsehen (Germany)

Lois Luger Vice-President, Television Sales. Avco Embassy Pictures Corporation (U.S.)

Professor Avv. Massimo FerraraSantamaria Lawyer (Italy)

Mike Medavoy Solicitor, Brecker and Company (Britain)

Rudy Petersdorf President and Chief Operating Officer, Australian Films Office Inc. (U.S.)

Barry Spikings Chairman and Chief Executive, EMI Film and Theatre Corporation (Britain)

Eric Weissmann Partner, Kaplan, Livingston, Goodwin, Berkowitz and Selvin

Harry Ufland President, The Ufland Agency (U.S.)

(i)

Mapping the distribution sales campaign When and where to open. How to allocate advertising budgets. Number of theatres.

70mm and stereo. Reissues. Ancillary markets — hold back for pay and free television. (ii) Exhibition terms. Advances and guaran­ tees; split of box-office (90-1 0 with "floor'' “ house-nut", etc.); blind bidding; policing.

Speaker: Ashley Boone

Producer/Distributor Relationship Terms: Differences where distributor financed production. How distributor expenses are recouped. Distributor fees. Advertising commit­ ment, if any. Outside sales representative.

Speaker: Barbara Boyle

Control, approvals, overhead, over-budget provi­ sions, total or partial financing. Negative pick-up.

Speaker: Rudy Petersdorf

Financing of Theatrical Films Independent Studios Rise of independent financing. Tax motivated and otherwise. Completion financing.

Speaker: Sam Gelfman

Presale by Territory Advantages and problems. Interim and comple­ tion financing. Term of distribution rights.

Speaker: Mark Damon

Multi-National and Other Co-Productions Availability of subsidies. Treaties. Tax incentives Government investments.

Speaker: Simon Olswang

F ill out order form fo r the Film Expo Seminar Report on page 8 o f this special in sert

B A C K IS S U E S Take advantage of our special offer and catch up on your missing issues. M ultiple copies less than half-price!

Number 1 January 1974

Number 2 April 1974

Number 3 July 1974

Number 5 March-April 1975

Number 9 June-July 1976

D a vid W illia m s o n . Ray H arryhausen. Peter W eir.

G illian A rm stro n g . Ken G. Hall. Tariff Board R eport.

A n tony I. G innane. The

V iolence in the Cinem a.

Alvin Purple. Frank M oorh ou se. S a n d y H a rb u tt.

F ilm U n d e r A lle n d e .

N icholas Roeg. Between

John P a p a d o p o lo u s .

W illis O’Brien. The M cDonagh S isters. R ichard B re n n a n . L u is B u ñ u e l.

J e n n in g s L a n g . B y ro n Haskin. S u rf Film s. Brian Probyn. Sunday Too Far Away. C harles C hauvel.

M ilo s F o rm a n . M ik lo s Jancso. Luch ino V isconti.

Robyn Spry. Oz. Mad Dog Morgen. Joan Long.

Care That Ate Parfa.

The True Story of Eeklmo Nell.

Index: Volume 1

Ware

Index: Volume 2

Number 12 April 1977

Number 13 July 1977

Number 14 October 1977

Number 15 January 1978

Number 16 April-June 1978

Kenneth Loach. Tom Haydon. Bert Deling. Piero T osi. J o h n S co tt. Jo h n Dankw orth. The Getting

Louise M alle. Paul Cox. John Power. Peter Sykes.

B e rna rdo B e rtolu cci. F.J.

Phil Noyce. Eric R ohm er.

John Huston. Blue Fire

T o m C o w a n , F ra n c o is T ruffaut. D elphine Seyrig.

Holden. In Search of Anna.

Index: Volume 3

Chinese Cinem a.

Patrick. S w edish Cinem a.

J o h n D u ig a n . S te v e n Spielberg. Dawn! Mouth to Mouth. Film P e rio d ­ icals.

of Wisdom. Journey Among Women.

Lady.

S u m m e rfield .

The Irishman. The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith. Sri Lankan C inem a. The Last Wave.

Number 10 September-October 1976 Nagisa O shim a. P h illip p e M ora. Gay C inem a. John Heyer. Krzysztof Zanussi.

M a rc o F e r r e ri. M a rc o B e llo cchio.

Number 11 January 1977 Em ile de A n to n io . A u s­ tra lia n Film C ensorship.

Sam A r k o ff. R o m an P o la n s k i. The Picture

Show Man. Don’s Party.

Storm Boy.

Number 17 August-September 1978

Number 18 October-November 1978

Bill

John Lam ond. Dimboola.

In d ia n C in e m a . S o n ia B o r g . A l a in T a n n e r .

Bain.

Isabelle

H u p­

pert. Polish C inem a. The Night the Prowler. Pierre Rissient. Newsfront. Film S tudy Resources.

Cathy’s Child. The Last ^Tasmanian.

Index: Volume 4

Number 19 January-February 1979 A n t o n y I. G in n a n e .

Jerem y Thom as. Blue Fin. A n d r e w S a r r is . A s ia n C in e m a .

S p o n s o re d D ocum entaries.

Number 20 March-April 1979

Number 21 May-June 1979

Number 22 July-August 1979

K en C a m e ro n . F re n c h C inem a. J im S h a rm a n .

My Brilliant Career. Film S tu d y R e s o u rc e s . The

Mad Max. V ie tn a m on Film . Grendel, Grendel, Grendel. D a v id H e m m ings. The Odd Angry Shot. B o x-O ffice Grosses.

Snapshot.

B ruce Petty. A lbie Thom s.

Newsfront. F ilm S tu d y R e s o u r c e s . K ostas.

Money Movers. The A u s­ tra lia n F ilm a n d T e le ­ vision School.

Night the Prowler.

Index: Volume 5

Number 23 September-October 1979 A u s tr a lia n

T e le v is io n .

Last of the Knucklemen W o m e n Film m akers.

Japanese Cinema. My Brilliant Career. Tim. Thirst Tim Burstall.

Number 24 December 1979 January 1980 Brian

T re n ch a rd

Sm ith.

Palm Beach. B ra z ilia n Cinem a. Jerzy Toeplitz.

C o m m u n ity T e le v is io n .

Arthur H iller.

CINEMA

Number 26 April-May 1980

Number 27 June-July 1980

The Film s of Peter W eir.

C harles Joffe. Harlequin.

N ationalism in A u stralian

T he New Z e a la n d Film In d u s try The Z Men. P e ter Y e ld h a m . Maybe This Time. D onald Richie.

Cinema. The Little Con­ vict Indav Volume 8

G re n d e t, Grendel

G re n d e l,

Number 29 October-November 1980

Number 32 May-June 1981

Number 33 July-August 1981

The Film s of B ruce Beresford. Stir. M e lbo urn e and S yd ney Film F estiva ls.

Breaker Morant. S tacy K each.

Roadgames

Bob Ellis. A ctors Equity D e b a t e . U r i W in d t .

Judy Davis. David W illiam ­ son. R ichard Rush. Cuban C inem a A Town Like

John Duigan on Winter of Our Dreams. G overnm ent

Alice. Flash Gordon.

Channel 0/28.

and the Film Industry. Tax and Film. C hris Noonan.

Robert Altm an. Gallipoli.

Roadgames Grendel

Note: issues number 4, 6, 7, 8, 30, 31, 34 and 35 are out of print.

Number 37 March-April 1982 S te p h e n

M acLean

on

Starstruck, Jacki W eaver, Peter Ustinov, W om en in D ram a, Reds, Heatwave.

6

Chain Reaction. D avid P u ttn a m .

C e n s o r s h ip .

Stir. Everett de Roche.

Touch and Go. Film and Politics.

C IN E M

Number 28 August-September 19 8 0

Cruising. The Last Outlaw. P h ilippine C in­ ema. The Club.

Number 25 February-March 1980

1 3 5 7

or or or or

2 copies $4 4 copies $3 6 copies $2 more copies

Number 36 January-February 1982 Kevin D obson, Blow Out, W om en in D ra m a , M ichael Rubbo, Mad Max

2, Puberty Blues.

each each (save $1 per copy) each (save $2 per copy) $1.80 each (save $2 .2 0 per copy)

F ill out order form fo r Cinema Papers back issues on page 8 o f this special insert.

1 year ( 6 issues) $ 1 8 2 years (12 issues) $ 3 2 S a ve $4 on sin g le issu e pu rch ase p ric e

3 years (18 issues) $ 4 6 S ave $8 on sin g le issu e pu rch ase p ric e O verseas Rates

(All rem ittances in Australian dollars only)

S u b s c r ip t io n s

Zone 1. New Zealand Niugini

2. Malaysia Singapore Rji

3. Hong Kong India Japan Philippines China 4. North America . Middle East Canada

5. Britain Europe Africa Sth America

6 issues

12 issues

18 issues

Bound V o lu m e s

E z ib in d e r s

B a c k Is s u e s

(each)

(each)

(to the price of each copy, add the following)

$25.20

$46.40

$67.70

$33.30

$19.00

51.20

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

$32.50

$65.00

$92.70

$36.50

$19.90

$2.80

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

$25.20

$46.40

$67.60

$33.30

$19.00

$1.20

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

$36.70

$72.00

$105.30

$37.10

$20.95

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

$3.50 , (Air)

$25.20

$46.40

$67.60

$33.30

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

$42.60

$80.40

$117.90

$40.00

$22.00

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

$25.20

$46.40

$67.60

$33.30

$19.00

$1.20

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

$48.90

$88.80

$130.50

$43.20

$23.95

$5.15

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

$25.20

$46.40

$67.60

$33.30

$19.00

$1.20

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

(Surface)

$53.10

$93.00

$136.80

$45.00

$25.00

$5.85

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

(Air)

$19.00 (Surface) '

$1.20 (Surface)

$4.10

_

NOTE: A “ Surface Air Lift" (airspeed ed) se rvice is available to Britain, Germany, Greece, Italy and North America. Subscriptions: 6 issues - - $43.80; 1 2 issues — $83.60; 18 issues — $1 23.40. Bound Volumes (each) — $35.20. Ezibinders (each) — $20.75. Back issues — add $4.30 per copy.

BOUND VOLUMES

EZIBINDERS

ORDER VOLUME 7 NOW (numbers 25-30)

Volumes 3 (9-12), 4 (13-16), 5 (17-20) and 6 (21-24) are still available.

Handsomely bound in black with gold embossed lettering Volume 7 contains 5I2 lavishly-illustrated pages of # Exclusive interviews with producers, directors, actors and technicians. # Valuable historical material on Australian film -production # Eilm and book reviews.

S Production surveys and reports from the sets of local and international production.

• Box-office reports and guides to film producers and investors.

A q a • Includes I2pp Index y w v per Volume

S TR IC TLY L IM IT E D E D ITIO N S PI.EASE NOTE: Volume I (numbers I-4) and Volume 2 (numbers 5-8) ARE NOW UNAVAILABLE.

Fill out orderform overleaffor Cinema Papers Subscriptions, G ift Subscriptions, Bound Volumes and Ezibinders.

Cinema Papers is pleased to announce that an Ezibinder is now available in black with gold embossed lettering to accommodate your unbound copies. Individual numbers can be added to the binder independently, or detached if desired. This new binder will accommodate 12 copies.

7

O

R

D

E

R

F

O

R

M

S

1. Cinema Papers Subscriptions

Please enter a subscription for 6 issues ($18) Please start

ED 12 issues ($32) CD18 issues ($46) CD

ED renew ED my subscription

with the next issue. If a renewal, Delivered to your door post free

please state Record No. (Details) Subscriber’s name Address ..............

Office use only NP

Postcode

G ift Subscriptions

If you wish to make a subscription to on your behalf with the first issue. □

Back issues

C inem a Papers

OK

a gift, cross the box below and we will send a card

Gift subscription from (name of sender)

Overseas rates overleaf

$

1 or 2 copies $4 each 3 or 4 copies $3 each (save $1 per copy) 5 or 6 copies $2 each (save $2 per copy) 7 or more copies $1.80 each (save $2.20 per copy) To order your copies place a cross inthe box next to your missing issues, and fill out the form below.

If you would like multiple copies ofany one issue, indicatethe number you require in the appropriate box.

□ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ D O 1 2 3 5 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 □ □ □ □ □ □ □ □ 26 27 28 29 32 33 36

Bound volumes Allow four weeks for processing.

Ezibinders

Please send me bound volumes of □

6 (issues 21 -24)

Please send me

□

Note: issues number 4, 6, 7, 8, 30, 31, 34 and 35 37 are out Of print. □

3 (issues 9-1 2)

7 (issues 25-30)

□

4 (issues 13-16)

□

$

5 (issues 17-20)

at $ 3 0 per volume.

$

LHcopies of C inem a P a pe rs' Ezibinder at $15 a binder.

$

2. Australian Motion Picture Yearbook (a) Please send me

EDcopies of the 1981 /82 Yearbook at $19.95 a copy (Foreign: $30 surface; $40 airmail).

(b) Please send me ^D copies of the 1980 Yearbook at $19.95 a copy (Foreign: $30 surface; $40 airmail).

$

3. Australian TV, The First 25 Years Please send me C

copies of Australian TV at $14.95 a copy (Foreign: $17 surface; $26 airmail).

$

4. The New Australian Cinema Please send me O

copies of The New Australian Cinema at $14.95 a copy (Foreign: $17 surface; $26 airmail).

$

5. Film Expo Seminar Report Please send me □

copies of the Film Expo Seminar Report at $25 a copy (Foreign: $27 surface; $32 airmail).

$

N a m e ........................................................................................................................................

A d d r e s s ....................................................................... .......................................................... ...................................................................................................P o s tc o d e .............................

.

Total amount enclosed:

A ll foreign orders should be accompanied by bank drafts only. All quoted figures are in Australian dollars.

NB: Please make all cheques to: Cinema Papers P/L, 644 Victoria St, North Melbourne 305L g

Offers close June 30,1981

David Samuelson David Samuelson, technical author1and partner in the worldwide equipment rental company Samuelsons, was in Australia late last year to introduce his development o f a new front projection system2. Fred Harden talked to him about this development and about his other projects.

I was born into the industry in the silent days and started as a boy in the project­ ion room. I then went to the cutting room, became a cameraman and finally found myself in the equipment business. But until this day, I am a working filmmaker.

Last July, I did some filming of the Royal Wedding in St Paul’s Cathedral.

Was that as a conscious effort to keep your hand in?

Yes. Movietone, where I worked for 19 years, was making a film version of the wedding. They needed cameramen experienced in 35mm and in the old manners of newsreel cameramen that Australia knows well. They felt it was better to take an oldie out of retirement, who may have been rusty using a camera but whom they trusted. It is like riding a bicycle: once you have learnt . . .

It is interesting that tjiere was still a demand for a film newsreel-style record of an event that had had worldwide live television coverage . . .

There are a number of countries which don’t have television, or didn’t take all of the coverage, so there is still a need for film newsreels. And the Central Office of Information still supplies film to a number of overseas countries, particu­ larly South America, India and South Africa.

In the future, our recorded history will be on videotape, instead of film. This will mean future study and use will be of essentially low-resolution images. It was pointed out, for example, that at the attem pted assassination of Ronald Reagan all the news crew s w ere Electronic News Gathering (ENG) tele­ vision crews. And by the time the stop motion frames reached Australia by s a te llite , and w ere re co rd ed and re p la yed , the info rm ation content, although dramatic, was just a blur. The only images that were sharp were the still press and magazine photos. This, I feel, will leave a great gap in our visual history. . .

Not only that, but a great deal of history is not covered in depth. News­ reel cameramen today take maybe three shots and are lucky if two of them are used. How often on television today do 1. David W. Sam uelson w rites regularly fo r American Cinematographer m agazine and has w ritten two e xcellen t boo ks in the Focal Press M edia M anuals series on the e q u ip m e n t and techniques of M otion P icture C am eras and Lighting.

2. The Sam cine Front P rojection System is available th ro u g h S a m u e lso n s, M e lb o u rn e and S yd ney offices.

you get even a three-minute segment.

You get maybe two minutes of what is happening, rather than someone talking about it.

The other worrying thing is how long videotape is going to last; how long is the gum going to keep the metal oxide stuck to the backing. And once that gum has perished, you end up with a can of metal filings. It depends on how it is stored, as I understand it.

This also obviously touches on Samuel­ sons’ future as a film equipment rental company. How are you approaching the growing use of videotape?

The more videotape there is, the more videodisc and cassettes, the more direct broadcast satellites and cables, the more outlets, then the more demand there is for material. In its wake, the greater demand there is for film.

As an originating source?

Yes. And, of course, at the top end of the market there is still the cinema.

Although more and more films will be made with the television outlet in mind, they really have to use the cinema outlet because that is where they get their

publicity; where they become famous.

Once a film is on for a few weeks or month's, and is written up in papers, it gets big word-of-mouth publicity. People know about Gone W ith the W ind, Raiders of the Lost Ark or Superman, but name me a five-year-old television play.

You don’t think this will change with films being released first on cable?

This is obviously a concern. The publicity of a film release carries on over into the time when it is a cable program or a cassette. If you were to make Gone With the Wind for television, would any­ body have ever heard of it two weeks later?

I am sure the companies are looking at this aspect with, for example, the simul­ taneous release of “9 to 5” in theatres and on cassette, where the publicity can have a dual role and reach different audiences. . .

Here we have an interesting situation, because of all the plays recently to make an impact on British television, A Town Like Alice made the greatest. Partly, this was because it ran for four nights, but mainly because it was very good. People were saying, “ Did you see it?” or “Are you watching A Town Like Alice?” It got an unusual amount of word-of-mouth.

But it has been shown once and it is gone. People can’t say, “Tonight I fancy seeing A Town Like Alice.” It is gone until it is scheduled again.

It would be interesting to see if a program like that, with the word-ofmouth and good publicity it got, could carry over into another type of outlet. But very little television gets the fame cinema product does, and so you can afford to put money into cinema that you couldn’t in television. You know that film is going to live for 20 years.

Do you have plans to widen Samuel­ sons’ film base into the video area?

We are planning to move into video.

We are feeling our way in London, in that we are trying something new, which is dry hire, renting out C format broadcast quality equipment — Sony BV330 ca m e ra s, A m p e x and Sony one-inch VTRs — without a technician. It is des­ patched in rigidized silver boxes in the same way as film equipment. Of course, all the ancillary equipment is the same, such as dollies, etc.

The next step, for Panavision and our­ selves, will be a video camera that accepts standard film facilities: the Panacam. That is a likely trend for people such as commercial makers who like to operate with the focus-pulling tech­ niques they are used to, the same way of working with an operator and assistant that they do on film. That is one of the ways we see things going, particularly for commercials. One day they will ring up and order a Panaflex and the next day the same crew wili order the Panacam.

We won’t be getting into trucks and broadcast vans because we think that will go with the new equipment. The whole business of truckloads of gear being unnecessary was the same thing that happened to sound recording when the Nagra came in. I remember when if you shot sound on location, a big truck was parked outside and cables went up walls and across roofs and into windows and the soundman ruled the roost and actually switched the film camera on and off.

All that disappeared with the coming of the Nagra. The small VPR units will have the same impact. The only use for the large vans would be for an outside broadcast, and certainly not for a commercial.

I wonder at the value of imitating film equipment when the design of the ENG video equipment is so advanced. Is it a way of encouraging greater use of video­ tape with crews which are reluctant to use it for commercials or which are used to feature film work? What is the balance of commercial hire as against feature work?

They are both important to us; the same people do both. Top cameramen, such as Freddie Young and Doug Slocombe, do commercials when they are not doing features — the same as your people do here. You get top talent working on the same equipment, and it is checked out with the same love and care.

And the charges are the same.

The ratio of commercials to features varies all the time. Nearly all the big special effects films from all over the world were made in Britain last year.

Raiders of the Lost Ark, Superman II, Empire Strikes Back, Clash of the Titans, Outland, Excalibur — all were made at roughly the same time, so you tend very much to feature hire for that

period.

In 1981, you got a balance because there was hardly anything going and the commercials were very important. The threatened strike of directors in the U.S. really killed that year for filmmaking, and we are just beginning to get over it. In early 1982, we see ourselves busy again with the new James Bond film, there is Superman III, the new Star Wars and another big special effects film called Dragons of Krull — all running at more or less the same time.

CINEMA PAPERS April - 149

New Products and Processes

That is very busy for an industry people say is dead . . .

Who Said The Home Film Market Was Dead?

Yes. I have a running battle with people who say the British film industry is dead. I say, “ Well, Superman and Superman 11 left 20 million pounds in Britain on below-the-line costs. How many Carry On Up the Khybers do you have to make to earn that sort of money?”

"Ah, but it doesn’t show British life,” they say. Well, The Deer Hunter was a 100 per cent British-financed film. Does that show British life?

At a tim e w hen m uch of the photographic trade is seeing a veritable tide of activity in household video equipment, one distributor, J. Osawa and Co Ltd, Japan, believes the home film market is far from dead. In the face of the VTR versus 8mm film controversy, the company has designed, manu­ factured and launched an entirely new range of 8mm cameras.

Two of the film cameras have already won major Japanese design awards, and, the release of the range has been backed by an aggressive marketing campaign.

Being marketed under the Bell and Howell name, the new range includes models T10XL, T20XL, T30XL, and T50XL. They are distributed nationally by A u s tra lia ’s new est p h o to g ra p h ic equipment distributor, J. Osawa (Aus­ tralia) Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of the Tokyobased international trading concern.

The Bell and Howell T10XL and T30XL received the 1981 Good Design Award, or “G-Mark” , granted by Japan’s Ministry of Trade and Industry. The award is given to products judged superior on the basis of design, function, quality and appear­ ance. Its closest Australian equivalent would be the Australian Design Award.

Backing the release of the new camera range is a campaign which promotes the advantages of the 8mm film gear over VTR. While conceding that VTR systems do have advantages, Osawa is quick to point out that they are also heavier and bulkier, and cost up to four times as much.

While VTRs remain quite costly, 8mm film gear has actually come down in price, while including more and more capabilities.

All four cameras in Osawa’s Bell and Howell line-up are in the medium- to lowend of the film camera market.

The award-winning Bell and Howell T10XL is a highly compact camera with folding grip, TTL viewfinder, CdS metering, and a fast f 1.4/12mm lens that allows filming under low-light conditions.

How active is Samuelsons with new product development, like the Louma3 and the new front projection rig?

That is my side of the business. I am an inveterate inventor and a very lucky person because I have the facilities to do that sort of thing, and an outlet for the devices I come up with. It has always been my dream to devise a front pro­ jection system. I could never do it because I didn’t have a process pro­ jector and I wasn’t prepared to spend tens of thousands of pounds on an old Mitchell process projector and then make something of It. Then one night I had an Idea of how to turn an obsolete camera into a process projector. Having made that up, the development of the rig was straightforward.

The Louma started when a couple of young French guys came to Samuel­ sons with the basic idea. They had put a camera on the end of what could only be described as an outsized microphone boom; it was originated to make a film in a submarine. I suggested putting a tele­ vision viewfinder on the camera with a remote control, as we had already done for Ryan’s Daughter. So, we developed it, and all three of us received a technical Academy Award for our contributions.

Now I am busy In London on 3D. Cornin’ at Ya’ is a big success in the U.S. and I read in Variety, a couple of weeks ago, that there were 10 3D films in pro­ duction — and that didn’t include the one Roman Polanski may direct, for the producer of Being There.

W ill your system glasses?

require

polarized

Yes. That’s not new; it is how you link the two cameras and how you project it.

This is my new toy for 1982. Front pro­ jection was last year’s.

One has to keep up-to-date, and it is a philosophy of our company that we like to innovate. That is the way we keep ahead of everyone else and how the industry keeps ahead of television. You have to give cinemagoers something more than they can get from television.

You still need good scripts and crafts­ manship, though. I saw Outland last night and, apart from being good enter­ tainment, it was a fine piece of crafts­ manship.

I was reading in ‘Cinefx’ a description of the front projection system that was used for “Outland” . . .

Yes, the system is called Introvisión. It is a complicated system with limited uses. Certainly on Outland they put it to good use. I have seen a commercial here starring a garden gnome, and l suspect it was done that way.

I think you will find that was an Ultimate chroma key on videotape. That is how we have had to work for trick effects.

Now that your front projection system is available, there should be an immediate application in commercial work . . .

3. The rig was recently used fo r the firs t tim e in A u stralia by M elbo urn e com m e rcials director, Peter C o rbe tt (see Cinema Papers, No. 33, pp 272-75).

150 - April CINEMA PAPERS

The Samcine Front Projection System.

We hope it will be a lot less expensive than chroma key. The ability to film edit should be cheaper also.

The man who developed the Introvisión system commented that if he really hated somebody he would give them a simple description of how his system worked and let them go away and tear their hair out for three years trying to make it function . . .

Yes, there is a lot not written about the amount of anguish expended sorting it out, and we don’t want to hand it on a plate to everyone else. I have applied for some patents, but whether I would spend money protecting them is another matter.

We have a lot of innovative ideas in our system, but primarily we are trying to be the opposite end of the market to systems like Introvisión. We are trying to take the bullshit out of front projection.

Front projection has been around for 10 years and has built up this mystique and specialization around it. I am trying to say that it is a very special matte box that fits on the camera that puts back­

grounds in. You can use your ordinary dolly and ordinary geared head, and you can shoot In a room like this. With a piece of 3M screen material behind me, you could "film” this Interview in New York.

You should be able to go from normal shots to process in 20 minutes, just like changing from an Elemack to a Fischer dolly. You should be able to swap back and forth easily. I hope that as well as using it like chroma key, adding fore­ grounds and backgrounds, people will use it simply to fill in windows and door­ ways, to transpose a location.

There is a company in London called World Backgrounds which has a library of stock shots of everywhere in the world.

If you wanted to have a Bangkok or Rocky Mountains background, you don’t have to go there to shoot plates. You just say to these people, “Send me 100 feet of the Rocky Mountains” , and it should be on the next plane. They have a remark­ able collection and l hope we can get together to supply their materials, because part of the idea is to have available backgrounds. I look upon it as a background machine.

The Bell and Howell T10XL 8mm camera.

The Bell and Howell T30XL is another model with low-light capability, and features an even faster f 1.2 lens with 10­ 30mm zoom (power and manual). It has a backlight control facility, audio-con­ dition signal and battery test, with a film speed of 18 fps or single frame control.

Models T20XL and T50XL offer 2X

New Products and Processes

power/manual zoom or 9-45mm focal lengths respectively, and come with many easy-to-use features as standard.

Details are available from J. Osawa (Australia) Pty Ltd, 13 Chard Rd, Brookv a le , NSW 2 1 0 0 . T e le p h o n e : (02) 938 5733.

Two New Releases From GEC National

OKI TV Standards Converter Pics Australasia is the sole Australian agent for the OKI TV Standards Con­ verter. The OKI converts the American NTSC signals to the Australian PAL D and back the other way. It will also convert to and from Secam.

Until the introduction of the OKI, the equipment to convert broadcast signals was restricted to television stations. The OKI by comparison weighs 40 kg and measures 266 x 610 x 450mm, and, while broadcast quality, was designed to be portable.

Recently, Colorburst Pty Ltd, an inde­ pendent Sydney non-broadcast video­ production house, installed an OKI. Ross Webb, co-owner of Colorburst, is using the OKI in conjunction with a joystick color corrector.

Since its installation, Webb says he has been inundated with work, mainly from advertising agencies, educational institutions with training cassettes from overseas and business houses with frequent overseas contact: “ I bought the OKI in preference to another converter because I found it to be technically superior. “ It seems to maintain a better picture stability. The best way to see this is with the American football games.

When the camera does a fast pan to follow the ball, the background jerks.

With the OKI, it still jerks but not nearly as much.”

Webb is using the OKI’s digital enhancer and an analogue image enhancer to improve the converted picture quality.

For more information, contact Marion Bennett, Pics Australasia Pty Ltd, 8 Dungate Lane, Sydney, NSW 2000. Tele­ phone (02) 264 1981.

The OKI LT1200 TSC TV Standards Converter, which converts NTSC signals to PAL D, and vice-versa.

Photokina Cologne 1982 The 1982 Cologne Photokina is to be held from October 6-12 (and not, as orig­ inally announced, from October 5-10).

Agreement on this timing has been reached by the organizers: the German Photographic Industry Association (Ver­ band der Deutschen Photographischen Industrie) and the Cologne Trade Fair Company. This change in dates will meet the wishes of manufacturers and also of German and foreign dealers who are in favor of having the fair open on a Monday, and having it run for seven days, as in the past.

National Panasonic has announced the release of the NV-8050, the first

readily-available, time-lapse, video­ cassette recorder. Using 1/2-inch VHS cassettes, the NV-8050 provides an easy-to-use monochrome animation system with its one shot mode, or a broad range of applications in its other time-lapse modes. The picture quality for all speed operations is high, with a horizontal resolution of 310 lines.

An optional plug-in unit allows day/ month/ year/ hour/ minute/ second data to be displayed.

The U-matic format (3/4-inch) cassette has been given a new lease of life with the intro d u ctio n of the National P a n a s o n ic S e rie s 9000 h ig h performance system. Not just a revised model, the system promises high quality video performance with a signal-to-noise ratio of 46 dB, color and horizontal resolution of 260 lines color, and 330 lines monochrome.

The editing system includes the NV9240 recorder, which is used as a source, the NV-A960 editing controller and the NV-9600 high performance editing recorder. The NV-A960 editing controller is a m icro-processor based logic controller with sequential speed search dials for source and editing decks.

Search is in forward and reverse at various speeds, and there is a tapesearch memory for specific entry and exit points selected for an individual edit anywhere on the tape.

For further details, contact the local offices of GEC National.

The National Panasonic NV-8050 time-lapse video-cassette recorder.

Developed by the same company that lights America’s space vehicles, Daymax HMI lamps have a generous warranty to guarantee their long life. A pro-rata warranty of up to 400 hours is given on some lamps and, if a light fails in less than 50 hours, it is general practice for Pics Australasia — agents for Daymax — to give a free replacement.

With average use, it should take nearly a year to burn a lamp for 400 hours. To date, Pics has not had to replace any Daymax lamps.

Produced by the Californian company, ILC Technology, Daymax owes its reli­ ability and design to the lighting used in manned and unmanned space vehicles and satellites. Chosen by NASA for their efficiency and light weight, ILC-designed lighting systems were most recently used to light the interior and exterior of the Columbia space shuttle.

Daymax HMI lamps’ long life and high performance is achieved through a com­ bination of plasma physics, unique high temperature seals, advanced electrode technology and special manufacturing techniques. Their sensitive metal halides are handled entirely within a specially designed and equipped dry box, where an ultra dry, very pure argon atmosphere is maintained.

The lamps are processed with an all metal vacuum system before and after being charged with metal halide in the dry box, while a turbo molecular pump prevents hydrocarbon contamina­ tion.

For more information, contact Pics Australasia Pty Ltd, 8 Dungate Lane, Sydney, NSW 2000. T elephone: (02) 264 1981.

Take Pride "III...... .... .........

David and Tod Pride of Pride Studios have just completed work on the first of three com puter-controlled special effects systems. It is a camera mount with seven computer-controlled axes of motion. Fitted with a Fries reflex con­ verted 35mm Mitchell with video-assist viewfinder, the system also has nodal head-point movement.

For further details contact David Pride, 640 Warringah Rd, Forestville, NSW, 2087. Telephone: (02) 451 7542.

Sony's Video Responder

The National Panasonic editing system.

John Barry Group Sets Up New Singapore Company The well-known Australian film and television supply and rental company, the John Barry Group, is setting up an independent company in Singapore to be known as Barry and Warta Trading Pty Ltd. John Barry is managing director of the John Barry Group, and Horst Warta the Group’s form er general manager.

Warta is to take up residence in Singa­ pore and will be the com pany’s managing director.

Barry and Warta, Singapore, will be responsible for marketing professional film, television and theatre products throughout Singapore, Brunei, China, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Japan,

Warranty On Daymax HMI Lamps

Korea, Malaysia, The Philippines, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.

Horst Warta is well known on the Asian film and television scene, having been export manager for the John Barry Group for some years before his appointment as general manager. He has travelled extensively throughout the region and is familiar with local market requirements.

The new Singapore company will follow the pattern set by the John Barry Group, Australia, in that it will specialize in marketing and servicing quality film and television equipment from leading worldwide manufacturers.

Sony’s new video recorder is an inter­ active learning system with a micro­ computer that allows student-paced individualized learning. The entire system is made up of four components: VRS-100 video responder, VRP-100 printer, VRC-100 programmer and VRD100 dubbing converter. Responders and printers are required for each learning module while only one programmer and converter are needed for each installa­ tion. Individual learning positions also require a player and a monitor.

The VRS-100 enables the student to respond to the videotape. The optional VRP-100 printer provides printouts of students’ answers as well as a printer record of programming.

The VRC-100 encodes new or exist­ ing video-tapes and the VRD-100 facil­ itates new programming of pre-recorded tapes.

This unique learning system allows each student to advance, at his or her own pace, while the printer allows the instructor to monitor the progress.

The Responder system is compatible with program m able Betamax and random access U-matic equipment. ★

CINEMA PAPERS April - 151

V

* #

♦

N o w th ere's no need to p ay astro n o m ical prices fo r in te rn a tio n a l

air tra vel. S U P E R T R A V E L ®

o ffe rs to

re m a rkab le deals on fir s t class a ir tic k e ts to people in th e film in d u stry.

#

^

to

W ith o u r C elebrity Travel Service ® # y o u can sleep your

w ay

to

Cannes, o r

a n y w h e re

aro u n d

th e

w o rld f o r little rrypre th a n E c o n o m y fare. .

T a lk

to

us and

discover o u t-o f-th is -w o rld

to

deals

a t d o w n -to -e a rth prices.

2 8 6 T o o ra k R d ., S o u th Y a rra , V ic . 3 1 4 1 (0 3 ) 2 4 0 0 7 2 1

T e le x : A A 3 7 7 7 5

Y o u 'll believe a m an can f ly — fo r a lo t less

Assoc, p ro d u c e r ....................... Julie M onton C a te rin g ..................................... Kaos Katering Prod, m anagers ....................... Ken M etcalfe Prod, m a n a g e r........................................... Julie M onton (The Philippines), S tu d io s ................................................ M o rt Bay Prod, secretary .....................Beverley Frost Jud ith W est (New Zealand) Unit d o c to r ................................. John Hilton U nit m anager ............................. Tim Higgins Prod, a ccou ntan t ...........Natalie Ham m ond P o s t-p ro d u c tio n ...................... Sound sense (A ustralia) 1st asst d ire c to r .................

R obert Kewley L a b o r a to r y .......................................... C o lorfllm Prod, secretary ........................ M itch G riffin 2nd asst d ire c to r .................Allan M cKenzie Lab. liaison ................................... Bill G ooley Prod, accou ntan t .........................Ross Lane 3rd asst d ir e c t o r ...........................Ian Fowler G auge ....................................................... 35m m PRE-PRO DUCTION Prod, assistant ............. Roy H a rries-Jones C a s tin g .......................................................... Julie M onton S tock ......................................... E a stm ancolor 1st asst d ire c to r ...............Neill V ine-M iller Lighting c a m e ra m a n ......... V incent M onton Cast: C heryl Ladd (Jessie Clarke), Robert 2nd asst d ire c to r ................... Andy W illiam s Focus pu lle r ................................Rob M urray C o le b y (Ian C la rk e ), C a rm e n D u ncan 3rd asst d ire c to r ................... Peter Kearney C la p p e r/lo a d e r..............................C hris Cain (A strid Bonner), C h ristine A m o r (M argaret BURKE AND WILLS C o ntinuity ....... Jenny Q uigley (The Phil.), Key g r ip ........................................................G reg W allace Burton), Aileen B ritton (Bethanie), Kris G a ff e r ...........................................T revor Toune June H enm an (N.Z. and Aust.)

M cQ uade (Spencer), John Allen (M artin Prod, c o m p a n y ....................... G & w Film s To ensure the accuracy of your D ire c to r’s secretary ..J e n n ife r W oodw ard E le c tric ia n .................................................. B ruce TowHers a rring ton ), Tim Burns (Kent), Henri Szeps P r o d u c e r ..............................G eoff G rantham entry, please contact the editor or this Boom o p e ra to r..........................G rant S tuart Casting ..............................Eric C ook (Aust.), (York).

D ir e c to r ....................................P eter W iltshire column and ask for copies of our Pro­ Roger W ard (N.Z.) W ardro be m istress .............Frankie Hogan Synopsis: The story of a stylish Sydney S c r ip tw rite r ..............................Julie Sherm an duction Survey blank, on which the M ake-up ...................... A m and a R ow bottom C asting con su lta n t ........................ Eric C ook b o u tiq u e 'o w n e r a n d h e r h u s b a n d , a P h o to g ra p h y ............................... Tom Cowan details o f-y o u r production can be P rops b u y e r/ C am era o p e ra to r ....................... David B urr p ro m is in g w rite r w h o has n o t as yet E d it o r ....................................Peter S o m erville entered. All details must be typed in Focus p u lle r .................. M alcolm Burrow s set d r e s s e r .............................. Harry Zettel achieved finan cial success. On the surface, H isto rical c o n s u lta n t.............M anning C lark upper and low er case.

C la p p e r/lo a d e r ........................

C onrad Slack S tandby p r o p s ............................

H arry Zettel they appear to have a perfect relationship.

Synopsis: T he d ra m a o f th e ill-fa te d The cast entry should be no more Key g rip .....................................Lester Bishop Set co n stru ctio n ................ Ken Hazelwood However, th e ir m arriage is shattered when e x p e d itio n of 1860-61. than the 10 main actors/actresses — Asst g rip s ....... N icholas R eynods (Aust.), Asst e d i t o r .......................'......... C raig Carter he is accused of rape after a casual Indis­ their names and character names. The Dennis Cullen (N.Z.) M usic perform ed cretion one afternoon with another wom an. length of the synopsis should not G affer ........................................... Pav G ovind b y ............................Still under negotiation T he ir relatio nship disintegrates as they exceed 50 words.

FOR LOVE ALONE E lectrician ................................... Pav G ovind M ix e r .................................Jullen Elllngsw orth strug gle to prove, and for her to contin ue to Editor's note: All entries are sup­ Boom o p e ra to r ............. G raham M cKinney Still p h o to g ra p h y .........................Suzi W oods believe in, his innocence.

Prod, c o m p a n y .......... M arg are t Fink Films plied by producers/production com ­ A rt d ire c to r ...................................Paul Tolley O p tic a ls ....................................................... Atlab P r o d u c e r ................................. M arg are t Fink panies, or by their agents. Cinema Asst art d ire c to r .....................Rachel Rovay D ialogue coach ............................Peter Sardi D ir e c to r ................................Stephen W allace Papers cann ot, therefore, accept Tech, adviser M ake-up ............................... Pat H utchence ON THE RUN S c r ip tw r ite r ...................r r . . . . Fay W eldon responsibility for the correctness of (Italian C onsultant) ......... Rosa C olosim o W ardro be designer .................. David Rowe Based on the novel any entry.

M usical d ire c to r ........................... Bob Young S tu d io s ............................ S oundstage Fitzroy Prod, com pany .................... Pigelu Pty Ltd b y ........................................ C h ristina Stead M ixer ............................................ Peter Fenton M ixed at ..................................................... Atlab P rodu cer ................................. M ende Brown Synopsis: The sto ry of Teresa Hawkins, S tunts c o -o rd in a to r ............. Frank Lennon Lab oratory ..................................................Atlab D irector ................................... M ende Brown hig h -m in d e d , passionate and in depend ent, Lab. liaison ......................... Greg D ougherty S tunts ....................................... Frank Lennon, S c rip tw rite rs ........................ M ende Brown, and her attem pts to fu lfil her ideals of love, Key g r ip ....................................... Ray Brow n G ran t Page, B u d g e t..................................................$548,000 M ichael Fisher firs t with her teacher, the self-seeking Asst g r i p ..................................... S tuart G reen Peter West, Length ..................................................92 m ins P hotography .............................Paul O norato Jona thon C row , w ho show s her w o rlds G a ff e r ................................... Brian B ansgrove G a u g e .......................................... S uper 16mm Zenda G raves Sound re c o rd is t .................. Ken H am m ond oth e r than the p rosaic one she's know n, and E le c tric ia n s ...........................

C olin Chase, S hooting s to c k ........................................ Kodak Still p h o tograph y ..................... David M iller Editor ................................... Richard H indley later, a fte r b itte r strug gles, In London, with Peter O’ Brien O pticals ................................... A cm e O pticals A rt d ire c to r ..............................Richard Kent C ast: Peter S ardi (Lino C ondello), Luciano the A m erican businessm an, Jam es Q uick.

Boom o p e ra to r.....................M ark W aslutak Title design ..............................Larry W ynder C o m po ser ..................................Laurie Lewis C a te n a c c l (S im o n e lli), V ince C o lo s im o A rt d ire c to r .............................. H e rbe rt Pinter (Gino), S ally C ooper (Sandy), S andy G ore Dialogue coach ......................B arry D onnelly Prod, c o -o rd in a to r ........................ C atherine Asst art d ire c to r .................A n nie Brow ning Tech, advisor ......................... M atilda Leach (Ms Stanislaus), Brian Jam es (M r Aitkins).

P h illips Knapm an C ostum e designer ......................T erry Ryan (M aori songs) Prod, m anager .............................Irene Korol Synopsis: Two tu rb u le n t ado lescent weeks HOSTAGE M ake-up .........................................Judy Lovell Best boy ............................... G raham M ulder U n it/lo c a tio n m anager ........... Roger W ylie in the life of a teenage m igrant Italian boy H airdresser ..........................C heryl W illiam s living in M elb o u rn e ’s Inner suburbs. For this Runners ....... ............................ S tuart M iller, Prod, a ccou ntan t ........... G raem e Dowsett Executive p ro d u ce r . . . A lexand er H opkins W a r d ro b e ............................. A n thony Jones, fo rtn ig h t tw o fa m ilie s live in th e one C hris Cole 1st asst d ire c to r .................. M artin Cohen No fu rth e r details supp lie d.

Jennl Bolton crow de d terrace: the recently arrived fam ily C atering ............................... Sachiko Bourke, 2nd asst d ire c to r ....................John Rooke S tandby w a rdrobe ............... Phil Eagles from Italy who w ill take over the house, the M ario M etcalfe (The Phil.); C o ntinuity ...................................Sian Hughes Props buyers ............................Stew art Way, curre nt fa m ily who are preparin g to leave.

C asting ......................................... Felippa Pate David W illiam s (N.Z. and Aust.)

THE SUNBEAM SHAFT Paddy Reardon, Gino m ust com e to term s with giving up his Cam era op e ra to r ......... David W illiam son M ixed at ................................. United Sound M arta Statescu hard-w on in ner city life, accept his Italian Prod, co m pany ....................... R.M.L. Prod Lab ora tory ............................. A tlab A u stralia Focus puller ......................... Jerem y Robins S tandby p r o p s .......................................... C lark M unro backg rou nd, and start a new kind of life, Gauge ................................35m m 1:165 ratio C la p p e r/lo a d e r ......................... Tracy K ubler P r o d u c e r ....................................M ira n d a Bain Scenic artists ...................... Billy M alcolm , hop efully one m ore step tow ards m aturity.

Shooting stock ........................ Eastm ancolor Key g rip ................................G raem e M ardell D ir e c to r ..........................R ichard Low ensteln M ichael C horney Asst g rip . ...................................G arry Carden S c r ip tw rite r ................... R ichard Low enstein C ast: Chard Hayward (Adam W ild), Ivor Set con stru ctio n ...............Peter T em pleto n Addn unit Kants (Kevin W ild), Alison Best (Jeanine P h o to g ra p h y ...................... A n dre w De G root Asst e d i t o r ............................

Jeanine Chialvo W illiam s), J enn ifer C luff (Alison Lewis), Les S ound re co rd ist ...................... Lloyd C a rrlck cam eram an ............... M atthew Flanagan NOW AND FOREVER Editing assistants ........................ Lee Sm ith, F o x c r o ft (J im W illia m s ), J o a n B ru c e E d it o r ..................................................Jill B ilcock G affer ........................................... Alan W alker Karen Foster . ..

Now and Forever Prod, com pany .........

Asst e lectrician .........................Alan W alker (M aureen W illiam s), Jam es Elliot (Rev. Exec, p ro d u c e r ............................C hris O liver Still p h o to g ra p h y ..........................................Jim Tow nley Film Partnership M ynard), M oira W alker (C onnie Aveson), Assoc, p r o d u c e r .....................................Jenny C add Boom o pe rator ................... A n dre w Duncan Tech, adviser ..........................P udji W aseso P rodu cer .................... .............Treisha Ghent Prod, m anager ...................... R obert Kewley Ricky May (Bill Casey), B arry*-D onnelly M ake-up ............................... Rina H offm anis Best b o y ....................................................... PaulG antner 1st asst d ire c to r ...............Tony M cD onald D irector ........................ ...............A d rian C arr (Jack Lam bert).

W ardro be .......................................Liz Keogh Unit p u b lic is t......................................... Babette S m ith S c rip t assistant ...................... B a rba ra Mazel S c rip tw rite r ................. __ Richard C assidy P rops buyer ............................ Jam ie M iram s C a te rin g .......................... John & Sue Faithful Lighting cam eram a n .....................Paul Elliot Based on the novel S tandby props .............................Jon Fabian S tu d io s ...................................................A rtran sa C la p p e r/lo a d e r .............................. John Elliot T ra n s p o rt m anager : ................................ Tim Sayers b y ................................ ........... Danielle Steel THE CLINIC M ixed at .....................................U nited Sound P h o to g ra p h y ............... ........... Don M cA lp ine C am era assistant .............Steve M cD onald Editing assistant ................... C h ristine Spry Lab ora tory .......................................... C o lorfilm Prod, com pany .................The Film H ouse/ Sound r e c o rd is t......... ......... Kevin Kearney Stunts c o -o rd in a to r ................... G rant Page 2nd unit p h o to g ra p h y ............ Dave Collyer Lab. liaison ................................... Bill G ooley G eneration Film s Tutor ................................... V icto r M cKeow n Boom o p e ra to r ........................... Ja cq u i Fine S upervising edito r ., ...............A d rian C arr Length ............................... : .............. 105 m ins P r o d u c e rs ............................... R obert Le Tet, Anim al handler .......

B ernadette H am ilton A rt d ir e c t o r .............................Josep hine Ford C o m poser ................... ......... B ruce Rowland G a u g e ......................................................... 35m m Bob Weis H e lico pte r p ilo t ......................Alan Edwards W a rd ro b e .......................................Rose S tone Prod, d e s ig n e r ........... . . . Rene & Rochford Shooting s t o c k ..........................E astm ancolor D ir e c to r .................................................... David Stevens Best boy ..................................Alleyn M earns Special e f fe c t s ................... C onrad R othm an Exec, p ro d u c e r ......... C arnegie Fieldhouse Scheduled r e le a s e ........... ...........Late ’82 or S c rip tw rite r ...................................Greg M lllen Runners .......................................... Ric Bower, S ound e d ito r ...........................Te rry Rodm an Assoc, p r o d u c e r ....... ...............Rea Francis early ’83 Based on the original idea M onica Pellizzari M ixe r ........................................ David H arrison Prod, c o -o rd in a to r . .. ........... Lyn G albraith C a s t: M e l G ib s o n ( G a ry H a m ilto n ) , b y ..................................................Greg M illen Unit p u b lic is t ............................

Felippa Pate R u n n e r ..................... M ichael C layton-Jones Prod, m a n a g e r........... ......... Carol W illiam s S ignou rney W eaver (Jill Bryant), P h ipps P h otog rap hy .....................................

Ian Baker C atering ...............Take One Film Catering L ab ora tory .............................................. V.F.L. Unit m a n a g e r ............. ............. Tom Blacket Hunt (B illy Kwan).

Sound r e c o rd is t.........................................John Rowley Length ..................................................100 m ins (Anne Harris) Prod, secretary ......... ........... Carol Hughes Editor ...................Edward M cQ ueen-M ason Lab ora tory .......................................C o lorfilm S ynopsis: Guy Ham ilton, an A u stralian S ch eduled r e le a s e .............February, 1983 Prod, accou ntan t __ . . . Spyros S lderatos Prod, s u p e rv is o r .................... M ichael Lake Broadcasting Service jo u rn a list, arrives in Cast: Paul W infield, Rod Taylor, Beau Cox, S yn opsis: In 1936, the m iners in the sm all Asst a c c o u n ta n t......... ......... Connie D ellios Prod, c o - o r d in a to r ................................... Trish Foley Jakarta durin g a tim e of political upheaval.

Ray M eagher.

S o u th G ip p s la n d to w n o f K o ru m b u rra P rodu cers’ assistants ...............Neil Green, Prod, a ccou ntan t ...................... G roliss Fyfe There he is befriend ed by an enigm atic b a rrica d e d them selves in the m ain shaft of _Lee W alker 1st asst d ire c to r ..........................David C lark A u stralian Asian, Billy Kwan, and they p ro ­ the Sunbeam C olliery, dem and ing bette r 1st asst d ire c to r ....... ....... S tuart Freem an 2nd asst d ire c to r ......... Ham ish M cS porran foundly in fluence each other's destiny. He pay and w o rkin g con d itio n s. T he ir story is ...............C h ris S hort 2nd asst d ire c to r .......

3rd asst d ire c to r s .................................. A llster Binger, becom es in crea singly involved with the that of the A u stralian Lab our M ovem ent in 3rd asst d ir e c t o r ....... ....... Bob D onaldson PLAINS OF HEAVEN Jona thon B a lm ford politics of the coun try and with Jill Bryant, the 1930s.

C o n tin u ity .................... ......... Shirley Ballard C o n tin u ity ............................................. C a roline Stanton an English Em bassy secretary. Eventually, D irector .........................................Ian Pringle NSWFC contin uity P ro d u ce r’s a s s is ta n t___M argo M cD onald as these interests diverge, he m ust choose P h otog rap hy .................................

Ray Argyll ..................

Liz Barton attachm ent .............

C a s tin g .................................. The Film House between them .

Gauge ......................................................16mm P ro d u c e r’s assistants ......... M aggie Scully, TIME’S RAGING Casting c o n s u lta n ts ___M & L C onsultants Cast: Richard M olr.

Jaana C assidy Focus pulle r .............................. C live Duncan No fu rth e r details supplied.

Prod, co m pany . . . Lim eligh t P rodu ctions Extras c a s tin g ............. __ M iriam Freem an C la p p e r/lo a d e r................... Leigh M cKenzie P ro d u ce r ........................................Joan Long Casting consu ltants .. ........................ Forcast G r ip s .......................

B arry Hansen, ...........

Guy H ancock Lighting assistant — D ire cto r ........................... S ophia Turkie w icz POST-PRODUCTION Ian Benallack S crip tw rite rs ...................Frank M oorhouse, C am G a ff e r ...........................................................Brian A d am s era o p e ra to r — . . . Danny Batterham S ophia Turkie w icz .........

A n dre w Lesnie Focus puller ...............

THE YEAR OF LIVING E le c tric ia n ............................... M ichael Tanner C la p p e r/lo a d e r........... ....... Robyn Petersen Based on the sh o rt stories DANGEROUSLY Boom o p e ra to r....................................... Steven H aggarty fro m Futility and Other Key g r ip ........................ . . . M erv M cLaughlin A rt d ire c to r ................................. Tracy W att ......................Pat Nash Animals by .................Frank M oorhouse G r i p ...............................

Prod, com pany ......... W ayang P roductions A DANGEROUS SUMMER M a ke-up ....................................Kirsten Vessy, Dlst. com pany .........................................MGM Length ................................................ 90 m ins Asst g r i p ....... .............. ............. Erik Pressley Di Biggs C am era dep t P ro d u c e r........................................Jim M cElroy G auge .................................................... 35m m Prod, com pany .......... M cE lroy & M cE lroy W a r d ro b e .................................................. .Rose Chong attach m en t ............. G era ldine Catchpool D irector .......................................... Peter W eir Synopsis: C o n flict between a career wom an W ard, assistant .............................Gall Mayes P rodu cer ....................... . . . Jam es M cE lroy G a ff e r ............................ ..................Rob Young S c rip tw rite r ...................... David W illiam son — a law yer — w ho wants to have a child D irector ......................... .. Q uentin M asters P rops b u y e r.................................................. C liff Kelsall Based on the novel before it is too late, and her jo u rn a lis t Second S crip tw rite rs ................. .. .David A m brose, S tandb y p r o p s ................... A n dre w M itchell .............John Franks sound re c o rd is t . .. b y ....................................................C. J. Koch husband w ho doesn't.

Q uentin M asters C a rp e n te r .............................Danny C o rcoran ..G ra h a m M cKinney Boom o p e ra to r...........

P h o to g ra p h y .............................

Russell Boyd Based on the novel by ............ Kit D enton C o nstruction m a n a g e r ............. Ray Pattison A rt d ire c to r ................. . . . Rene & R ochford Sound re c o rd is t........................G ary W ilkins P h otog rap hy ................. ........ Peter Hannan Still p h o to g ra p h y ...............V la d im ir O sheron A rt de p t co -o rd in a to r ............... Penny Lang Editor .........................................Bill A nderson Sound re co rd ist . . : . . ........ Don C o nnolly Title designer ................................... Alex Stitt Design c onsu ltant .................... W endy W eir M a k e -u p "...................... .............Sally G ordon E ditor ............................. ........ R ichard C lark Best b o y .............................. M ichael A dcock .........Jan Zelgenbein H airdresser .................

Assoc, p r o d u c e r ......................

Roy Stevens Prod, designer ............. .......... Bob H ilditch C a te rin g ...........................Anne Dechaineaux W a r d ro b e .................... __ Rene & Rochford MGM re p re s e n ta tiv e ....... John H argreaves PRODUCTION C o m po ser ..................... ........ G roove M yers S tu d io s ........................ M elb. Prod. Facilities Prod, co -o rd in a to r C arolynne C unningham W ard, assistant ......... ....................Lyn Askew Prod, co -o rd in a to r . . . . . . . Terry Fogharty Length ................................................ 90 m ins B u yers/d ressers ....... ....... Sandy W ingrove, Prod, m a n a g e r.................... G reg Ricketson Prod, m anagers ........ . . . Peter A p pleton, G a u g e ........................................................35m m Bob Hill, P hilippines Greg Ricketson Shooting s t o c k ........................ Eastm ancolor Ken M cCann prod, m anager ......................Tim Sanders Unit m anager ............... ........ David Findlay BROTHERS ......................Alan Ford S tandb y props . ..

Location m anager .................. John W iggins Prod, secretary .......... .. .W ilm a Schinella __ Rene & Rochford Set d e c o r a to r .......

Prod, secretary Prod, accou ntan t . . . . . . . Elaine C row the r Prod, co m p a n y ........... .-..A re fle x P ictures ................Ned M cCann Scenic artis t .........

(P h ilip p in e s )...........................................Sally Blaxland 1st asst d ire cto r ........ .. M ichael M cKeag Dist. co m pany ...IM C -IS R A M (New York) MOVING OUT .............Helen H ooper Asst scenic artist Prod, accou ntan t ................Elaine C row ther 2nd asst d ire c to r ........ .......... John Rooke P rodu cer ................................. Terry B o urke .............Dig by Stew art Set con stru ctio n .

Prod, a s s is ta n t........................................ Lynda House Prod, com pany ............................... Pattinson 3rd asst d ire cto r ........ .................Ian Kenny D irector ..................................... T erry Bourke A rt dep t runner ..

B allantine Pty Ltd .............S h erre Vollch 1st asst d ire c to r ...................... W ayne Barry C o ntinuity ..................... . . . Roz B errystone S c rip tw rite r ..............................Terry Bourke Asst e d i t o r ........... . . . Louise B. Johnson 2nd asst d ire c to r................. : . . C hris W ebb Casting ........................... ........ Rae Davidson — M oving O ut Prods.

Based on the novel by ........... Roger W ard D ubbing e d ito r . ..

2nd unit ......... Bruce Lam shed Cam era o p e ra to r . . . . ...........Keith W oods P ro d u c e rs .......................... Jane Ballantyne, P h oto g ra p h y ............................Ray Henman D ubbing assistant .................C raig Carter 1st asst d ir e c t o r ..................

Ian G oddard Focus pulle r ................. .......... Steve M ason M ichael Pattinson S ound re c o rd is t ........................ Bob Clayton Still p h o to g ra p h y . ........... P a trick Riviere C o n tin u ity ....................................M oya Iceton C la p p e r/lo a d e r .......... ............ S tuart Quin D irector ..............................M ichael Pattinson E d itor ......................................... Ron W illiam s P rodu cer's a s s is ta n t.........

W ilm a S chinella ...............

A lice Spitvak Key g rip ......................... ........ Don Andrew s Dialogue cnacn ..

S c rip tw rite r ..................................... Jan Sardi C o m po ser ..................................... Bob Young C a s tin g ....................................... A llison Barrett Asst g rip ....................... ........ Phil S h aplera ............. C olin W illiam s Best boy .............

Based on the original idea by ..J a n Sardi, Exec, p ro d u c e r ........... A lexand er H o pkins ................... Sean Killen Extras c a s tin g .............................................. Sue Parker Lab ore r ...............

E lectrician ..................... .......... Derek Jones M ichael Pattinson Assoc, p ro d u ce r .....................John H ipwell C am era o p e ra to r .....................Nixon Binney ......... M urray Francis Unit r u n n e r.............

Boom o p e ra to r .......... G raham M cKinney S ound r e c o rd is t..........................G eoff W hite Prod, su p e rviso r ............M ichael M cKeagh ................Jenny Sharp Focus pu lle r .................. Peter Menzies jun.

P rodu ction runner Asst a rt d ire c to r ........ .......... John C a rroll E d itor ......................................... R obert M artin Prod, c o -o rd in a to r ........Robin Pennington .................A n nie Page C la p p e r/lo a d e r......................G eoff W harton U nit p u b lic is t.........

C ostum e d esigner . . . — M arta Statescu (New Zealand) Prod, d e s ig n e r .........................Nell Angw in

FEATURES

PRODUCERS, DIRECTORS AND PRODUCTION COMPANIES

CINEMA PAPERS April - 153

__ Jack Friedm an . M iranda Skinner, Larry Eastwood __ M ichelle Lowe ............. Gail Bunter ......... K erri Barnett .................Lisa Elvy __ Sally C am pbell Karan M onkhouse .. M ichael M anuell ...............Peter and Lisa Harris ....... Brian Hocking ......... Alan Fleming __ Susan M idgley ................Bob Hicks __ P a trick Riviere ___lam es Kemsley ............. Dale A spin ........... John Titley, G eorge M annix C a te rin g ................................................ “ FEAST" Laboratory .......................................... C o lorfilm Lab. liaison ..........................'........Bill Gooley Length ..................................................95 m ins G a u g e .........................................................35m m Cast: G ary M cD onald (M r M eggs), Coral Kelly (M rs M eggs), Paul Daniel (G inger Meggs), Ross Higgins (Floggswell), Hugh K eays-B yrne (Capt. Hook), Gwen Plum b (M iss Leach), Harold H opkins (Fox), Terry C a m illeri (C rackett), John W ood (C onstable Brady), M arie Loud (M iss Sharpe).

P u b lic ity ............................... R h onda G albally Boom o p e ra to r.............

C a te r in g ..........................................Peter Drury C ostum e designers . ..

S tu d io s ................................. S u pre m e Sound M ixed at .................................... United Sound M ake-up ........................

H a irdre sser ..................

Lab ora tory ......................................... C o lorfilm Lab. lia is o n ..................................................... BillG ooley W a r d ro b e ......................

Design assistant .........

Length ................................................100 m ins P rops b u y e r..................

G auge ................................................ 35 mm S h ooting s to c k .......................... Eastm ancolor S tandby p r o p s .............

Cast; Bryan Brow n (M organ Keefe), Helen Set d e c o r a to r ...............

M o rs e (Jo Reeves), J o h n Beil (P eter Scenic artists ...............

R e e v e s ), S in a n L e o n g (N e n e ), R a ln a M cKeon (Rosita), Henry Feist (De Cruz), Bill C a rp e n te r ......................

Hunter (W alker), John Gaden (Talbot).

C o nstruction m anager S yn opsis: A political th rille r w hich exposes Asst e d i t o r .................... the vio le n t and e xploitative realities of m u lti­ S tunts c o -o rd in a to r . .. national com panies in a South-E ast Asian Still p h o to g ra p h y ......... coun try. A gainst this backg rou nd, three D ialogue coach ...........

A u stralians ricoche t between s tability and W ra n g le r ........................ desp era tion.

R u n n e rs ..........................

FIGHTING BACK

A Dangerous Summer M ake-up ........................................Jose Perez H a irdre sser ................................... Jose Perez W ard, assistant ................ C a triona Brow n P rops buyers ...................................Ian Allen, Sue Hoyle S tandb y props ..............................Paul Jones Special effects ...............C onrad Rothm an, C hris M urray, Alan M axwell, Peter A rm strong, Jona thon David Set co n stru ctio n ...................... John Parker Asst e d ito r ................................. Doug Frazer S ound e d ito r ..............................John Foster S tunts c o -o rd in a to r ............ Frank Lennon Still p h o tograph y .......... G eoff M cG eachin Best boy ................................... M att Slattery R unner .................................... Richard Hobbs Unit pub licist ....................... Babette Sm ith C atering ................................. Nene M organ, C h ristina Norm an L ab ora tory ..................................... C o lorfilm C ast: Tom S ke rritt (How ard Anderson), Ian G ilm o u r (Steve Adam s), Jam es Mason (G eorge Engels), W endy Hughes (Sophie M cCann), Kim Deacon (M aggie A nderson), Ray B a rrett (W ebster), N orm an Kaye (Percy Farley), Guy D olem an (Julian Fane), M artin Harris (C urly C hester), M ichael Petrovitch (Joe Laliniei).

DUSTY Prod, co m pany .......

Dist. com pany .........

P ro d u c e r ....................

D irector ......................

S crip tw rite r ...............

Based on the novel b y ..............................

P h o to g ra p h y .............

S ound r e c o rd is t.......

Editor ..........................

Prod, d e s ig n e r .........

Exec, p ro d u ce r .......

Assoc, p ro d u ce r — Prod, m a n a g e r.........

Unit m anager ...........

Prod, secretary .......

Prod, a s s is ta n t.........

1st asst d ire c to r — 2nd asst d ire c to r — 3rd asst d ire cto r — C o n tin u ity ...................

C a s tin g ........................

Lighting cam eram an Focus pu lle r .............

C la p p e r/lo D d e r.........

Key g r ip ......................

Asst g r i p ....................

G a ff e r ..........................

Boom o p e ra to r.........

A rt d ire c to r ...............

M ake-up ....................

W a r d r o b e ...................

P rops ..........................

Asst edito r .................

S ound e d ito rs ...........

.............. Dusty Prods. . Kestrel Film Prods. ................... G il Brealey ....... John R ichardson .................. S onia Borg

Frank Dalby Davison ...............Alex M cPhee ...............John Phillips ..................David Greig ......... R obbie Perkins ....... John R ichardson .............David M organ .................. M ark Ruse .. M ichael M cG ennan ......... Elizabeth Syme ...............Jan T o u rrie r .............C olin Fletcher .............Jake A tkinson ...............Gaye A rnold ...........A n dre a Jordan .................. Lee Larner ...............Alex M cPhee ...........B rendan W ard .................. C hris Cain ........... Ian T h o rb u rn e ...............Terry W ilcox ...............Ian Dewhurst .................. Ray Phillips .............Ivana Perkins ......... Deryk De Niese .................. M ary Harris ..............Nick Seym our ......... W arw ick Crane ....... Louise Johnson, Steve Lam beth Still p h o tograph y — ........... B ruce Haswell Dog tr a in e r ................. ...........M ary M cC rabb W ra n g le r .................... .................. John Baird

154 - April CINEMA PAPERS

Best boy ...................................Bruce Towers R u n n e rs ...................................M ary Sdraulig, A m anda W alker C a te rin g ................................... W olfgang G raf M ixed at ................................... United Sound L a b o ra to r y .................................................... VFL Length ..................................................90 m ins G a u g e .........................................................35m m Shooting s t o c k ........................................... 5247 P r o g r e s s .................................P o st-production Cast: Bill Kerr (Tom ), Noel Trevarthen (Harry), Carol Burns (Clara), John Stanton (Railey Jordan), Nick Holland (Jack), Dan Lynch (Ron). Kati Edwards (M rs M uspratt), W ill K e rr (Jim ).

Synopsis: The story of a sheepdog in the A ustralian outback, based on the classic novel by Frank Dalby Davison.

FAR EAST Prod, com pany ........

P r o d u c e r .....................

D ir e c to r .......................

S c r ip tw rite r .................

Based on the original idea by ...................

P h o to g ra p h y ..............

Sound re c o rd is t . . . .

E d it o r ...........................

Prod, d e s ig n e r ..........

Exec, pro d u ce r ........

Assoc, pro d u ce r . . . .

Prod, m anager ........

Unit m a n a g e r ............

Prod, s e c r e ta r y ........

Prod, accou ntan t . . .

1st asst d ire c to r . . . .

2nd asst d ire c to r . . . .

3rd asst d ire c to r . . . .

C o ntinuity ...................

P ro d u c e r’s a s s is ta n t.

C a s tin g .........................

Casting consuls- *s .

C am era op e ra to r . . .

Focus p u l le r ...............

C la p p e r/lo a d e r ........

Key g r ip .......................

Asst g rip /s .................

G a ff e r ...........................

E le c tric ia n ...................

Boom op e ra to r ........

Asst art d ire c to r . . . .

C ostum e designer ..

M ake-up .....................

W ardro be ...................

P rops b u y e r s ............

S tandb y p r o p s ..........

C a rpe nte r ...................

Set co n stru ctio n . . . .

Asst edito r .................

Neg. m a tc h in g ..........

S ound e d ito r ............

Editing assistant . . . .

2nd sound a s s t ........

Still p ho tograph y . . . .

Title d e s ig n e r ............

W r a n g le r .....................

R u n n e r .........................

.Alfred Road Films . . . R ichard M ason .......... John Duigan .......... John Duigan .......... John Duigan ........ Brian Probyn .......... Peter Barker . . . . Henry Dangar ............ Ross M ajor ....................... Film co .......... John Mason ........ Julia O verton C o rrie Soeterboek .......... Julie Forster .. .. Peter S joquist .. .M ichael Falloon ........ S abina W ynn . . . G erald B ostock .................Jo W eeks . . . M ichael Falloon . . . M itch M athews . . . M itch M athews ............ Peter Moss . . . . A n dre Fleuren ............ C olin Dean ............ Ray Brown ........ S tuart G reen . . . W arren M earns . . . . Alleyn M earns ............ Keir W elch ...................Igor Nay ............ Jan Hurley M argaret Lingham . . . R obina Chaffey .................Ian Allen, Peta Lawson .......... John Daniell ...............Terry Lord ........ Danie Daems ........ Pam B arnetta .................. C o lorfilm . . . A n dre w Steuart .......... Robin Judge ........ Julie G elhard ........ David Parker, Carolyn Johns .......... Fran Bourke ........ Elaine Mason A n thony Heffernan

Prod, com pany . . . . Sam son P rodu ctions P rodu cers .................................. Sue M illiken, Tom Jeffrey D irector ..............................M ichael Caulfield S c rip tw rite rs ......................... M ichael Cove, Tom Jeffrey Based on the novel by . . . .John Em biing D ire cto r of p ho tograph y ........................... John Seale S ound re c o rd is t ........................Tim Lloyd E ditor ......................................... Ron W illiam s Exec, pro d u ce r ......................P hillip Adam s Prod. c o -o rd in a to r ...C a ro ly n n e C unningham Prod, m anager .....................Su A rm strong Location m a n a g e r.....................Tony W inley P rodu cers' secretary .......... M ary W illiam s Prod, accountant .. M oneypenny Services (Craig Scott) 1st asst d ire c to r .................Steve Andrew s 2nd asst d ire c to r ............... C hris M audson 3rd asst d ire c to r ........................... Phil Rich C o ntinuity ......................... C aroline Stanton C asting consu ltant .............. Helen Rolland (HR consultant) Extras casting ..............................Dina Mann Focus puller .................Richard M errym an C la p p e r/lo a d e r ........................... Derry Field Key g rip ............................... Paul Thom pson Asst g rip ............................B rendon Shanley G affer ........................................... Reg G arside Boom op e ra to r ...................Jack Friedm an Art d ire c to r .................C h ristop her W ebster M ake-up .......................................... J ill Porter W ardro be ...................Robyn S chuurm ans W ard, assistant ......................... Jenny M iles Props buyer ...................... M ichael Tolerton S tandby props ..........................Colin G ibson Set construction .......................Hans Theile Asst edito r ........................ Cathy Sheehan Neg. m atching .................M argaret Cardin Stunts co -o rd in a to r ........ ..

Heath Harris Action vehicle m anager ............................. B arry Bransen Still pho tograph y .....................Jim Townley A ctors tu to r ............................. W ilfred Flint M echanic .................................. Dave Thom as Best boy ............................... Sam Bienstock R unner ................................. Richard Ussher P u blicity ..................................... David W hite (B rooks W hite O rganization) C atering ................................. Nene M organ, C hristina Norm an S tudios .......................John M orten Studios M ixed at ...................................United Sound Lab ora tory ..................................... C o lorfilm Lab. liaison ....................................Bill Gooley Length ..............................................100 mins Gauge ....................................................35m rr Shooting stock ............ Eastm ancolor 5247 Cast: Lewis Fitz-G erald (John), Paul Sm ith (Tom ), Kris M cQ uade (Tom 's m um ), Caro­ line G illm er (Rosem ary), C atherine W ilkin (M ary), Ben G a b rie l (M o re la n d ), W yn Roberts (Payne).

Synopsis: A rem a rkab le relatio nship be­ tween a young teacher and a deeplyd isturbed 13 year-old boy. Tom is w ritten off as a d elinq uent by m ost adults until John, the teacher, fights against all odd s to straighten out his life.

KITTY AND THE BAGMAN

S tandb y p r o p s ............................. Paul Jones Special e f fe c ts ........ A lm a x S p ecial Effects C h ore ography ....................... A nne S e m m ler S cenic a r t is t s ..............................Ned M cCann, Joyce M acFarlane C a rpe nte rs ............................... Len M etcalfe, Hannes Finger Set construction .................. R ichard W eight Asst e d ito r .....................A n nabelle Sheehan Neg. m a tc h in g ...................M arg are t C ardin Still p h o to g ra p h y ................................... P atrick R iviere Best boy ....................................... Ian P lum ber R u n n e r ......................................A n nie Peacock P u b lic ity ..........................................................Rea Francis Lab ora tory ......................................... C o lorfilm Lab. lia is o n ....................................Bill G ooley Progress .......................................... P rodu ction Cast: Liddy C lark (K itty O ’R ourke), Val Lehm an (Lil Delaney), John Stanton (The Bagm an), G erard M cG uire (C yril Vikkers), Collette M arin (D oris de Salle), Reg Evans (C h ic k a D e lane y), K y lie F oster (S arah Jones), Ted H e pple (Sam), Danny A d cock (Thom as), John Ewart (The Train Driver).

S ynopsis: A perio d com edy dram a set in Sydney abo ut two crim e queens, Kitty O 'R ourke and Big Lil Delaney. Together, these tw o rem a rka b le w om en ruled the u nd erw orld of sly-g ro g shops, gam bling houses, p ro stitu tio n and h o ld -u p m erchants in the rip -ro a rin g 1920s, playing, laughing and fightin g w ith a gusto the city has never know n since.

MIDNITE SPARES

Prod, com pany . . . Forest Hom e Film s for Prod, com pany ......................... W ednesday Investm ents, A d am s Packer Film Prods.

A F ilm co Presentation P r o d u c e r ............................ A n thony B uckley P rodu cer .................................... Tom Burstall D ir e c to r .............................. D onald C rom bie D irector ............................... Q uentin M asters S c r ip tw rite r s ......................P hillip C o rnford, S crip tw rite r ................................ Terry Larsen John Burnie P h otog rap hy .............................. G eoff Burton D irector of pho tograph y .. .Dean Sem m ler Sound re co rd ist .....................Lloyd C a rrick Sound re c o rd is t ....................... John Phillips E ditor ..................................... A n dre w Prowse E d it o r ...................................Tim othy W ellburn Prod,s designer .....................G eorge Liddle Prod, d e s ig n e r..........................................Owen W illiam C o m po ser ............................. C am eron A llen Exec, pro d u c e r ....................... P hillip Adam s Exec, p ro d u ce r .................John Fitzpatrick Assoc, p r o d u c e r .......... Jacqu eline Ireland Prod, c o -o rd in a to r .............C athy Flannery Prod, m a n a a e r........................... Lynn Gailey Prod, secretary .................A n tonia B arnard C o m poser ..............................C am eron Allen Prod, accountant .......... Howard W heatley Prod, m anager ........................... Jenny Day 1st asst d ire c to r .................S tuart Freem an Unit m anager ........................... John W arren 2nd asst d ire c to r ...................................... C olin Fletcher Financial co n tro lle r .......... R ichard H arper 3rd asst d ir e c t o r ......................... C hris S hort Prod, accou ntan t ....................Karen Volich C ontinuity ..........................................Jo W eeks 1st asst d ire cto r .......... Derek S e abourne C a s tin g ...................................M itch M atthew s 2nd Asst d ire cto r .................Peter W illesee C am era o p e ra to r ...........Danny Batterham 3rd Asst d ire c to r ........................... Ian Kenny Focus p u l le r ............................. Steve Dobson C o ntinuity .................................... Ann W alton C la p p e r/lo a d e r .................A n drew M cLean P ro d u ce r’s assistant . . . M arg are t Roberts Key g r ip ..............................M erv M cLaughlin D ire cto r’s assistant .......... M ardi K e nnedy Asst g rip /s ................................... Pat Nash, Casting consu ltants ...........M ichael Lynch, Brian E dm onds Rae Davidson G a ffe r ........................................................... John M orton Focus puller ....................... David Forem an E le c tric ia n ................................................. Jason Rogers C la p p e r/lo a d e r ........................G illian Leahy Boom o pe rator ............................Ray Phillips Key g rip .....................................Lester Bishop A rt d ir e c t o r ................................................. John C arroll Asst g rip ............................... Nick Reynolds Asst art d ire c to r .....................Judith Russell 2nd unit p h o tograph y ___ Bill G rim m ond C ostum e designer ............ Judith Dorsm an G affer ........................... G raham R u therford M ake-up ...................Lesley Lam ont-Fisher Electrician .................................... M ark Verde H a ird re s s e r.................................................. W illi Kenrick Boom o pe rator ......................Toivo Lem ber W ard, assistants .......................... Lyn Askew, A rt de p t c o -o rd in a to r ........ -Janene K n ight Kerri Barnett Asst art d ire c to r ...........R ichard H oughton P rops b u y e r s ...............S tephen Am ezdroz, M a ke-up .................................... Carol Devine Billy Allen, W a rd ro b e ....................... Ruth de la Lande Sue Hoyle W ard, assistant ........................K athy Jam es

GINGER MEGGS Prod, com pany ........... John S exton Prods.

P ro d u c e r..................................

John Sexton D ir e c to r ...........................-.Jonathan Dawson S c rip tw rite r ..........................M ichael Latim er Based on the carto on strip b y ..................................................Jim Bancks Photography ................................. John Seale Sound r e c o rd is t..............................Tim Lloyd Editor .............................................Philip Howe Prod, d e s ig n e r ................... Larry Eastwood Assoc, pro d u c e r .................M ichael Latim er Prod, c o - o r d in a to r ....................Paula G ibbs Prod, m a n a g e r........................... Jill N icholas Prod, secretary .................Elizabeth W right Prod, accountant .. M oneypenny Services 1st asst d ire c to r ..................... Jam es Parker 2nd asst d ire c to r..............................Phil Rich 3rd asst d ir e c t o r .........................................Lisa Hennessey C o n tin u ity ............................................. C aroline Stanton C a s tin g ........................................ A lison B arrett Focus puller ....................Richard M errym an C la p p e r/lo a d e r..............................Derry Field Key g r ip .........................................................PaulThom pson Asst g r i p ............................. B rendan Shanley 2nd unit p h o to g ra p h y .................Kevin Lind G a ff e r ............................................ Reg G arside Best boy ..................................Sam Beinstock Snow

P rops buyers ....................... David Bowden, G era ldine Royds S tandby pro p s .....................Nick M cC allum Special effects ..................... Alan M axwell, Peter Evans C h ore ography ...................Elizabeth Burton C a rpe nte r ................................ Robin W arner Set co n stru ctio n .................... Denis D onelly Asst e d ito r ............................. R obert G rant D ubbing edito r ............................. Greg Bell Asst d u b b in g e d ito r ...............Helen Brown S tunts c o -o rd in a to r ....................Vic W ilson Still p h o tograph y .......... G eoff M cG eachin Dialogue consu ltant ............ Jack Rozycki M echanic ........................... .. David Thom as Best boy ................................. Alan G lossop Runners ..................................... Janet M clver, Paul A rnott P u blicity .......... B rooks W hite O rganization C atering ..................................... M ark Neylon, Robyn Hartlgan M ixed at ...................................United Sound Lab ora tory ..................................... C o lorfilm Lab. liaison .................................... Bill Gooley B udget .....................: .................... $2,583,924 Length ..............................................100 m ins G auge ....................................................35m m Cast: Jam es Laurie (Steve), Gia Carldes (Ruth), M ax Cullen (Tom as), Bruce Spence (W im py), David A rgue (Rabbit), Tony Barry (H ow ard), John Clayton (Vincent), G raem e Blundell (S id ebottom ), Jonathan C olem an (Wayne), John G odden (C hris the Rat).

Synopsis: The story of young people, their S u n sh in e C ity c a r ‘c u ltu re ’ , the m o to r speedw ay and the crim inal w o rld of c a r-p a rt stealing.

THE PIRATE MOVIE

Focus p u lle r .............................................. Peter Rogers RUNNIN’ ON EMPTY C la p p e r/lo a d e r.............................S tuart Quin (working title) Key g r ip ................................. G raem e M ardell G rip ............................................... G ary Cardin Prod, com pany ................Film C o rpo ratio n Front proje ction op e ra to r . . . Paul Nicholla of W estern A u stralia Front proje ction a s s t ................................ Ken A rlidge P roducer ....................................... Pom Oliver G a ffe r ................................... Brian Bansgrove D irector ..........................................John Clark 1st electrics .................................Colin Chase S c rip tw rite r ...........................B arry T om blin Boom ope rator ..................A n drew Duncan Based on the original idea A rt d ire c to r s ........................Owen Paterson, by ................................................John C lark Ron Highfield Photography ............................ David G ribble Asst art d ire c to r ..................Robyn Coom bs Sound recordist ............... Syd Butterw orth Art dept asst .........................Vivienne Elgle E ditor ..................................S tuart A rm strong A rt asst .............................

Phillip Colville Exec, produce r ...........................David Roe Costum e designer .......................Kate Duffy Assoc, p roduce r .................... M ark Egerton M ake-up ...........................Robert M cC arron Prod, m anager .................... Barbara G ibbs M ake-up a s s t ..........................................Robyn Austin Unit m anager ................ M ichael Bourchier H a ird re s s e r.............................................. Jenny Brown Prod, secretary .................. A d rienne Read Asst hairdresser ..................Cheryl W illiam s Prod, accountant ...................... Craig Scott W ard, a s s is ta n t.............. Jenny C arseldlne NSW Film Corp. attachm ent S tandby w a rdrobe .........................Lea Haig (trainee 1st asst Props b u y e r ...................... D errick Chetwyn director) ............................. Deuel D roogan Standby p r o p s ............................ Igor Lazareff 1st asst d ire c to r .................... M ark Egerton Special effects supervisor . M onty Feiguth 2nd asst d ire c to r .............. Tony W ellington Special effects asst ...............Steve C ourtly 3rd asst d ire c to r ................. Richard Hobbs Special asst ......................... Robert Hilditch C o ntinuity ...........................Therese O ’Leary Scenic a r t is t ............ Elizabeth Leszczynski Casting ...................................... Susie. M aizels Asst set finisher .................. Brian Nickless (M itch C onsultancy) C onstruction m a n a g e r........ Danny B urrett Cam era ope rator ....................... David Burr Asst construction m anager .. Roger C lout Focus puller ............................... Ben Seresin C arpenters ...........................Paul Voslliunos, C la p p e r/lo a d e r .............................Derry Field Roger Briggs, Cam era grip .................... G raham Litchfield G ordon M cIntyre, Car grip .................................... W ally W ilm ott Philip Cham bers Gaffer .......................................M iles M oulson Stage hands ......................... Stephen Volich, Electricians .............................Stephen Dean, Tim othy Higgins Richard O ldfield Asst edito r ...............................Linda W ilson Boom ope rator ...........................Noel Q uinn 2nd asst e d ito r ....................... Helen Zivkovic A rt d ire c to r ...............................Greg Brown M usic c o n s u lta n t................ Lance Reynolds M ake-up ............................... M onica Fetzer Stunts c o -o rd in a to r .....................Max Aspin H airdresser . . . . John W oodhouse-W ayne P ro je c tio n is t.................................. Jim Jones W ardrobe ................................. Roger M onk Still p h o to g ra p h y ..........................Bliss Swift Standby w a rdrobe ....................Jenny Miles Stills processing ......................C olor C ontrol Standby props ......................... Colin G ibson Black and white .........................Dark Room Special effects ................... Reece Robinson M odel m a k e r s .............................Tad Pride, Scenic artist ............................. David M cKay David Pride Set construction ..................Kieran Hanson Asst m odel m aker ........................ John Cox Asst edito r .................................Doug Fraser A rtists' tr a n s p o r t ...........................Cabcharge Stunts c o -o rd in a to r ............ Frank Lennon Unit c a r s .........................T hrifty Rent A Car M echanics ................................ Barry Moore, Best boy ...................................Paul G antner Steve Courtney R u n n e r......................... ............. Meryl Cronin Best boy .................................Richard C urtis Unit p ub licist ..........................Sherry Stum m Runner ....................................A nnie Peacock C a te rin g .......................................................John Faithful Catering ......................................... Ray Fowler Asst catering ...............................Sue Faithful Laboratory ............................

Atlab Australia S e c u rity .....................W orm ald International Lab. liaison .............................. Greg Doherty Equipm ent s u p p lie s .................. Sam uelsons Length ............................................... 104 m ins I n s u r e rs ......................................................Adair Gauge ....................................................35m m Sound tra n s fe rs .................. Film Production S hooting stock ..................................... Kodak Services Budget .............................................. $2 m illion Laboratory .........................................C olorfilm Cast: Terry S erio (Mike), Debora Conway Cast: Alan A rkin (Capt. Invincible), C hris­ (Julie), Vangeliz M ourikis (Tony), Richard top h e r Lee (M r M idnight), Kate Fitzpatrick, M oir (Fox), Max Cullen (Rebel), G raham e Bill Hunter, G raham Kennedy, M ichael Bond (Jagger), G eoff Rhoe (Ram), Kris Pate, Hayes G ordon, John Bluthal, M aggie G reaves (S ta rte r), J e rry S o n t (V icto r), Dence, Norm an Erskine.

Penne H a ckforth-Jones (Dave), S ynopsis: A m adcap, m usical com edySynopsis: A young factory w orker, Mike, adventure where the flying super hero crushes Nazis, threatens bootleggers, helps and his obsession .with cars and som eone else's girl, Julie. The film follow s M ike's boy scouts and battles Moscow.

Prod, com pany .................JHI P roductions P rodu cer ..................................David Joseph D irector ....................................Ken A nnakin S c rip tw rite r ...........................T revor Farrant P hotography .........................Robin C opping Sound r e c o r d is t, .......................... Paul Clark Prod, designer .......................Jon Dowding C o m po ser ................................. Terry Britten Exec, pro d u ce r .....................Ted H am ilton Assoc, p roduce r .............David A nderson Prod, executive .....................Richard Davis Prod, c o -o rd in a to r .............. Renate W ilson Prod, secretary .....................Anne O’Leary Prod, m anager ........................... Tom Binns Location m anager ..................... Helen W atts Prod, accountant ........ G&S M anagem ent Services A cco unts assistant .....................Peter Dons Prod, assistant .................M ichael M cIntyre 1st asst d ire c to r ................ M urray Newey 2nd asst d ire c to r ................ A n drew M orse 3rd asst d ire c to r .................M urray Francis C o ntinuity .............................Jenny Q uigley P rodu cer’s secretary .. G inny M uldow ney Casting .................................... Helen Rowland Cam era o pe rator ....................... David B urr Focus puller ...........................Barry Halloran C la p p e r/lo a d e r .......................Ben Seresin Key g rip ...............................................Ian Park Asst grips ................................. Kerry Boyle, Richard Tum m el, Jaim e Lechie G affer ..................................... Stew art Sorby E lectricians .......................David Parkinson, G eoff Main, Phil G olom dick, Tex Foote Playback op e ra to r ................... G reg Steele NEXT OF KIN Boom o pe rator ............... Chris G oldsm ith A rt directors ............................Tony W ollard, Prod, c o m p a n ie s ...............The Film House, Nic Hepworth S.I.S. P roductions A rt dept m anager .....................David Searl Dist. com pany .......................................Film co C ostum e designer .. .A p h ro d ite Dowding P ro d u c e r .................................... Robert Le Tet M ake-up ................................ Lois Hohenfels D ir e c to r ...............: ....................Tony W illiam s M ake-up assistants .............. Patty Payne, S crip tw rite rs ..........................M ichael Heath, Nick Dom ing, Tony W illiam s Based on the original idea Robyn Pickering b y .............T im othy W hite, M ichael Heath H airdresser ...................................Joan Petch Asst hairdressers ................... Kerrie Davis, P h o to g ra p h y ..............................Gary Hansen A m anda R owbottom Sound r e c o rd is t......................................... G ary W ilkins W ardro be ................................... Pam M aling Editor ..............................................Max Lem on Standby w a rdrobe .................. Davjd Rowe C o -p ro d u ce r ............................Tim othy W hite W ard, buyer ..................................Viv W ilson Prod, s u p e rv is o r .................... M ichael Lake S tandby props ............................. B arry Hall Prod, c o - o r d in a to r ........................Trish Foley Special effects .......................R. J. Hohman, Unit m anager ....................... M arcus S kipper John Egget, Prod, accountant .....................W endy M iller C onrad Rothm an 1st asst d ire cto r ............. Philip Hearnshaw Special effects asst .................Rick Cllse Asst d ir e c to r s ..............................Paul Healey, C h oreography .........................David Atkins Tony M cDonald Asst c horeog raph y ........ Cam ille Edwards C o n tin u ity ................................................... Anne M cCleod Set dresser ....................................... J ill Eden C a s tin g ............................... M itch C o nsultancy Scenic artist .............................Billy M alcolm Steadicam o p e ra to r ................. Toby Phillips Carpenters ................................. Dennis Lee, C am era o p e ra to r .................... G ary Hansen Alan Fleming, Focus puller ............................. Phillip Cross Rory Forest, C la p p e r/lo a d e r...........................................John Jasiukow lcz llm ar Kgruso, Key g r ip ................................... Noel M cD onald Hodges & Richter Asst g r i p ................................ W ayne M arshall C o nstruction m anagers .......... Phil W orth, 2nd unit p h o to g ra p h y ............. Toby Phillips Ken Hazelwood G a ff e r ............................................................M ick M orris Ships liaison officers .......... Ian G oddard, Gen. o p .....................................G ary Plunkett G ordon Kirby Boom o p e ra to r.......................................... M ark W asiutak M usical arrangers ................ Peter Sullivan, A rt dire cto rs ........................ Richard Francis, Roger Savich Nick Hepworth D ubbing edito r .....................T erry Rodman M ake-up ...............................Elizabeth Fardon Stunts c o -o rd in a to r ..................G rant Page Special prosthetic Fencing in structor .................John Fethers m a k e -u p ............................... Bob M cC arron Still pho tograph y .......................Barry Peake H airdresser ..........................Suzie Clem ents Best boy .................................Peter M oloney W a r d ro b e ..................................................Jenny A rnott Best boy (2) ......................

C olin W illiam s W ard, assistant ............................ Gail Mayes Runner .............................Keith H anscom be Props b u y e r............................................ Harvey M awson P u blicity ....................................... David W hite S tandby p r o p s .......................................... John Powditch (Brooks W hite O rganization) Special e f fe c t s ...........................C hris M urray Catering ...........................Harold Jene Koch Special effects Cast: Kristy M cN ichol, C h ristop her Atkins, a s s is ta n t.................................................David H ardle Ted Ham ilton, G ary M cDonald, Bill Kerr, Set d e c o ra to r s .................. Harvey M awson, M aggie K irkp atrick.

Ken Hazelwood Synopsis: Loosely based on G ilb ert and C o nstruction m a n a g e r ............ Ray Pattison S u llivan’s “ The Pirates of Penzance” . Film Asst includes five G ilb ert and Sullivan songs, con stru ctio n m anager . Danny C orcoran and six new ones. S to ry has a c o n ­ C o nstruction s e rv ic e s ....... Dom enic Villella tem p ora ry beginning and end; m ost is a Asst e d i t o r .................................. Ken Sallows long fantasy sequence.

Neg m a tc h in g ..................................... Film sync Sound e d ito rs .................... Louise Johnson, Frank Lipson D ubbing a s s is ta n t..................................... Ross Cham bers M ix e r ................................... Julian .Ellingworth THE RETURN OF CAPTAIN Fight c o -o rd in a to r.................. Gus M ercurio S tu n ts ............................................................ PaulAlexander, INVINCIBLE A rch ie Roberts, P r o d u c e r ................................................Andrew Gaty M att Burns D ir e c to r ................................... Philippe M ora Still p h o to g ra p h y .......................... Suzy W ood Title d e s ig n e r ..............................................Alex StittS c r ip tw rite rs ......................................... Andrew Gaty, Steven de Souza Best boy ...................................Alan G lossop Based on the original C a te rin g ......................................Helen W right Idea by ................................... Andrew Gaty S tu d io s ..........................C am bridge, York St. P h o to g ra p h y ...............................................M ike M olloy M ixed at ..................................................... Atlab Sound re c o rd is t ................ Ken H am m ond Lab ora tory ....................................................VFL Editor ..............................................John Scott Length ................................................... 95 m ins G a u g e .........................................................35m m 1.66Prod, d e s ig n e r........................ David C opping M u s ic ................................................. Bestall & S hooting s t o c k ..........................Eastm ancolor Reynolds M anagem ent Scheduled r e le a s e ....................... June, 1982 Assoc, p r o d u c e r ............. Brian D. Burgess Cast: Jackie Kerin (Linda Stevens), John U nit m a n a g e r.......... .............W arw ick Ross J a r r a t t ( B a r n e y ) , C h a rle s M c C a llu m Prod, secretary ............ Rosslyn Abernethy (Lance), G erda Nicolson (Connie), Alex NSWFC prod, a s s t ............

Joanne Rooney S cott (Dr Barton), Bernadette G ibson (M rs Prod, accountant ........................ Lea C ollins Ryan), R obert Ratti (Kelvin), Vince D eltito A sst a c c o u n ta n t........................ Kate Highfield (Nlco), Debra Law rence (Carol), Tom m y 1st asst d ire c to r ............... Bosie V ine-M iller Dysart (Harry).

2nd asst d ire c to r ................... Keith Heygate 3rd asst d ir e c t o r ..................... Peter Kearney C o ntinuity ....................................... Linda Ray T e le p h o n is t...........................M arguerite Grey P rodu cer's secretary . . . .Sandra W heatley C a s tin g .............................................Liz M ullinar Cam era o pe rator .........................Lou Irving

s tru g g le to w in J u lie and s u rv iv e the challenge of her vicious boyfriend to a series of illegal street races.

THE SEVENTH MATCH Prod, com pany

...................... Yoram G ross Film S tudio ........................ Yoram G ross Film S tudio Producer ................................... Yoram G ross D irector .....................................Yoram G ross S crip tw rite rs ..........................Yoram Gross, Elizabeth Kata Based on the original idea by ............................................ Yoram G ross Photography ..........................Jenny Osche, Bob Evans (anim ation), Lloyd Freidus (live action — New York) Sound recordist ........................... G ary Rich (live action — New York) Editors .........................................M oya W ood, John Palm er C haracter design ................. Athol Henry Assoc, p roduce r .................. Sandra Gross Prod, m anagers ........... David B. A p pleton (New York), V irg inia Kelly (anim ation) Unit m anagers .........................Yoram G ross (anim ation), David B. A p pleton (New York) Prod, secretaries ............... M argaret Lovell, Meg Rowed A d m inistra tion ................... M argaret Lovell, Meg Rowed Prod, accountant ..................W illiam Hauer Prod, assistant ......................Jeanette Tom s 1st asst d ire cto r ......... David B. A p pleton (New York) Producer's assistant .............Kelly Duncan Casting ................ June Cann M anagem ent, Shanahan M anagem ent Casting consu ltants . . M itch C o nsultancy Cam era assistant ......... Lynette Hennessy Key g rip .............Bob S hulm an (New York) Electricians .................................. Raffi Feruci, Tom Drake (New York) M ake-up ...........David Forrest (New York) Hairdresser __ David Forrest (New York) W ardro be __ M arsha Pattern (New York) Scenic artist ....... A m ber Ellis (anim ation) _ B a ckgro unds ............................. A m ber Ellis Neg. m atching ................ M argaret Cardin M usic perform ed by ........... G ior Feidm an N arrator ......................................... M ia Farrow C hief anim a tor ........................... Athol Henry A n im ato rs ........................N icholas H arding, C ynthia Leech, A n drew Szemenyel, Ray Nowland, Kevin Roper, Ty Bosco A n im ation assistants ....... Jeanette Tom s, Robert M alherbe, Lynette Hennessy Dist. com pany

CINEMA PAPERS April - 155

CANNES FILM FESTIVAL: MAY 13 TO 27 WITH INTERNATIONAL B U S IN E S S AIR Fares and accommodation designed to suit each Cannes delegate’s travel requirements by THE travel consultants to the Australian film industry.

A variety of extremely competitive first, business, and economy class airfares to Nice or Europe or “ Round-The-World” are still available. We offer accommodation in self-contained studios and pool­ side apartments (less than half an hour from Cannes) at around $100.00 per person, per week. We also hire sailboats at $50.00 per day for our clients.

Ring Michael Rudny or Maude Heath in Sydney.

(0 2 ) 9 2 0 1 3 8 5 or (0 2 ) 4 3 6 3 9 8 1

We’vedoneit all before!

International Business Air

TARB Lie. B1366

KEM 800 SERIES: EVERTHING IS POSSIBLE! When you edit with KEM, you're editing with the best of them1From 16mm to Super-16 to 35mm—even videotape1Full picture and sound editing, transfer to video with SMPTE and EBUCode processing. With KEM as part of your editing team, sophisticated German engineering and totally versatile, totally flexible, totally variable editing makes every editing job possible. From a low budget commercial to a winner at Cannes. For further details, call us

FILMWEST B PERTH Filmwest Pty Ltd 75 B ennett Street, Western Australia 6000 Phone 325 1177 3251423 Telex AA94150 FILMWA. C ables "Filmwest" Perth

MELBOURNE Doug Stanley N om a d Films Interna tiona l Pty. Ltd 71 Palmerston Cres..

South M elbourne, V ictoria 3205 Phone 699 7244 Telex AA31290 NOMFIL

SYDNEY A lan Lake Film P roduction Services, 102 C han dos Street, St Leonards, New South Wales 2065.

Phone 439 7102

SINGAPORE Filmwest Pte Ltd Suite 185, Raffles Hotel 1-3 Beach Road, S ingapore 0718 Phone: 338 6044, 3361509 Telpx RS36389 FLMWST C ables "Raflotel".

W ard, assistant .................Robina C haffey Key g rip ....................................................... Robin M organ Character voices: Barbara Frawley (Dot), M usic p e rfo rm e d b y ............. A spen Flyers, P rops ................................................Tony Hunt Asst g rip ............................... G raham Shelton Ross Higgins. c o n te m p o ra ry Aust. m usicians P rops buye r .................................... Ian Allen G a ff e r ....................................................... W arren M earns Synopsis: The c o ntin uing adventures of Dot S ound e d ito r ............................ Steve Edwards S tandb y p r o p s ........................................... Tony H u nt and her search fo r the m issing joey. Dot E le c tric ia n ................................................. A lleyn M earns Editing assistants ......................... Tom Lowe, Special effects .........................B rian Olesen, m eets with a hobo in her o u tback hom e Boom op e ra to r ................... A n dre w Duncan Yvonne Visser Alan M axwell, town, the hobo becom es Santa Claus, Asst art d ire c to r .................... David Bowden M ix e r ........................................... Steve Edwards Peter Evans C ostum e designer .......................Liz Keogh and takes Dot on a w o nderfu l adventure S tunts c o -o rd in a to r .............A n dre w Jones C a rpe nte rs ............................. Russell Jones, M a ke-up ...................................... Viv M epham witnessing various C h ristm as cerem onie s N a rr a to r ......................................... G eoff Kelso M o rris Evans, around the w orld.

Still p h o to g ra p h y ......................................... Sue HelmW e ard, assistant ....................... Fiona Nicolls A d rian S torey P r o p s ...................................Nick M cC allum P u b lic ity .............................................. Eve Ash, Set co n stru ctio n ......................John Parker, Special e f fe c t s .................C onrad Rothm an Sue Helm e M ichael O sborne C a rpe nte rs .....................Jam es Thom pson, C a te rin g ................................... S undance Inn, Maz Feutrill, Asst e d ito r ................... C a the rine Sheehan Falls C reek DOUBLE DEAL Neg. m atch ing .......................

G ord on Peck M ichael Patterson M ixed at ................................... Tony Paterson M usical d ire c to r ....................M ike Harvey Set co n stru ctio n ........................ Ian M cG rath Prod, com pany .................R ychem ond Film Post P rodu ction Services P rodu ctions Asst e d ito r ............................... Julia G elhard M usic perfo rm e d L ab ora tory ...................... R.G. Film Services by ................................Doug Parkinson, M usical d ire c to r ................... M ichael Carlos Dist. com pany ............................... (overseas) Lab. liaison .........................A n dre w Johnson H em dale Leisure C orp.

N aom i W arne, S ound e d ito r ............................. Paul M axwell B u d g e t.................................................. $420,000 M alcolm M cC allum , P r o d u c e rs ...................................................Brian Kavanagh, Editing assistant .................. ....R o b in Judge Length ................................................. 85 m ins Lynn B arker David S p alfr S tunts c o -o rd in a to r ............... Frank Lennon Shooting g a u g e ..................... S u per 16mm D irector .................................. Brian Kavanagh Steve Kiely Still p h o to g ra p h y ..................................Carolyn Johns Release g a u g e ........................................ 35m m S c r ip tw rite r .................................................B rian Kavanagh Sound e d ito r .............................. Klaus Jaritz R u n n e r .................................................. R ichard Hobbs S h ooting s t o c k .......................... Eastm ancolor P u b lic ity ............ Elizabeth Johnson Pty Ltd Based on the Editing assistant ....................Terry M ooney Cast: Lance C urtis (W ayne Sim pson), David orig in a l idea b y .................................... Brian Kavanagh C a te rin g ................................. Fillum C atering M ixer ................................................ Phil Judd Argue (D arren Kernox), G eoff Kelso (Uncle P h o to g ra p h y ............................................... Ross Berrym an co -o rd in a to rs .. .P eter A rm strong, Stunts M ixed at ..................................................... Atlab J a c k ), P e p p ie A n g lis s (P epi), Je a n in e Herb Nelson L ab ora tory .................................................Atlab Sound re c o rd is t .....................John P hillips O 'D onnell (Pam), Eddie Zandberg (Ham ish E d it o r ..................................................Tim Lewis Lab. lia is o n ..................................................Greg D oherty S tunts ................

Glen Davis, M cA lpine), Peter M oon (B runo S chiezenC o m p o s e r.............................

B ruce Sm eaton Length ........ : .....................................

105 m ins Bev Teague, hausen), Tom C o ltraine (Bruce Braun), Ian Exec, pro d u ce r ............................. John Daly M atthew Hessian, G auge ....................................................... 35m m M cFadyen (Ian), S co tt Fullm er (skier).

Dee Jam es, Shooting s to c k ................................. Eastman Assoc, p r o d u c e r ................................... Carlie Deans Synopis: D arren and W ayne, two likeable Prod, s u p e rv is o r .......................................John Chase C hris Hessian, Progress ....................................... P rodu ction la rrikins, decide on a ski holiday w hen they Prod.

Rocky M cD onald Scheduled release .....................June, 1982 win a “ cash and car" com p e titio n . They c o -o rd in a to r . . . C arolynne C unningham Still p h o to g ra p h y ..................... C hic S trin g e r Cast: Alan Cassell (Ray Sangster), Anna head off fo r Falls Creek ski resort, where O pticais .................................. A n dre w M ason Jem ison (N icki), Svet Kovich (M ike S ang­ Prod, accou ntan t ...................... Lynn B a rker they create havoc am ong the other skiers Title d e s ig n e r ..............................................M ike B erry ster). Diana Davidson (M artha Sangster), Prod, a s s is ta n t..............................................Lyn Devine durin g a carnival weekend.

Best boy ...................................... Peter W ood Rowena W allace (Liz Llewellyn), Ric Hutton 1st Asst d ir e c t o r ................. Ross H am ilton A SLICE OF LIFE 2nd Asst d ire c to r ..........................

Bill Baster R unner ................................... M ard i Kennedy (Sam Bitel), Peggy M o rtim e r (R uthie Bitel), 2nd unit d ir e c t o r ...................................... Brian Kavanagh P u blicity .....................Carlie Deans Pty Ltd O riana Panozzo (Susan Bitel), W arren Gold Prod, co m p a n y ........................John Lam ond Unit pub licist ................ Elizabeth Johnson C o ntinuity ................................ S h irley Ballard (Ben Bitel), Sally C o oper (Patricia).

M otion P ictu re E nterprises SOUTHERN CROSS C atering ....................................Paul S argent, P rodu cer's a s s is ta n t..........

Helen Kavanaqh Synopsis: A con te m p o ra ry story of sexual Dist. co m p a n y ................................Roadshow Eric Larsen, rivalry and obsession; of lost youth and Focus p u l le r ....................................... Ian Jones D istrib u to rs A u stralia P rodu cers ............................. Lee R obinson, Shelleys, false m dhhood. A triangle w hich leads to C la p p e r/lo a d e r .............................. Phil C ross P r o d u c e r ................................

John Lam ond John M cC allum Plum Crazy disaster.

Special fx ...........................

C onrad R othm an D ir e c to r ...................................... John Lam ond No fu rth e r details supp lie d.

M ixed at ..................................U nited S ound G a ffe r ..........................................Lindsay Foote S c r ip tw r ite r .................................................. Alan H opgood L ab ora tory .............................Atlab A u stralia Boom o pe rator ............................Ray Phillips S ound re co rd ist ..........................Paul C larke A rt d ir e c t o r ......................................Jill Eden Lab. liaison ........................... Jam es Parsons E d it o r .....................................................Jill Rice Asst art d ire c to r ...........................Phil Eagles Length ................................................ 90 m ins C o m p o s e r ......................... .............. Brian May M ake-up .............................. Deryck De Niese Gauge .................................................... 35m m Exec, p r o d u c e r ...........C inem a E nterprises DEAD EASY S h ooting stock ..........E a stm ancolour 5247 H a ird re s s e r................................................Pietra R obins AWAITING RELEASE Assoc, p r o d u c e r ..................................M ichael Hirsch Cast: Diana M cLean (Val M eadow s), Jon W ardro be , ........................

Anna Jakab P rod, s u p e r v is o r .......................................Jonrf u na se P r o d u c e r...................................... John W eiley B lake Props b u y e r ................................................ Nick H epw orth (Peter M eadow s), Jan K ingsbu ry Prod, secretary ............................. Ann M udie D irector ........................................Bert Deling (Peg P re n tice ), D avid F ra n k lin (D avid S tandby p r o p s .............................................Ken Hazelwood Prod, acco u n ta n t .................G raem e W rig h t P h o to g ra p h y ......................................... M ichael M olloy, P r e n t ic e ) , D a n ie l C u m e r f o r d ( J o e y Special e f fe c ts ................... C onrad Rothm an Prod, a s s is ta n t.................................... Deborah Hanson Tom Cowan CROSSTALK M eadow s), Guy D olem an (M ike Hayes), C o n s tru c tio n .....................

G eoff Richardson, 1st asst d ire c to r .................... Ross H am ilton E ditor .............................................. John Scott Joanne Sam uel (Chris), Kit Taylor (Paul Ian Doig Prod, c o m pany ........................ W all to W all 2nd asst d ir e c to r ..................... Euan K e ddie C o m p o s e r............................................... W illiam M otzing Asst e d ito r .................................

Ken Sallows Sloane).

P rodu cer ....................................Errol Sullivan 3rd asst d ir e c t o r ...................... S tuart W ood Length ..................................................92 m ins Still p h o to g ra p h y ........................... Suzy W ood Synopsis: A subu rba n com m u nity is bliss­ D irector ..................................... M ark Egerton C o ntinuity ......................................Ju lie Bates G a u g e ......................................................... 35m m (1.85:1) fully unaware th a t a k ille r stalks the streets.

Best boy ................................... G ary S choles P h otog rap hy ........................V incent M onton C a s tin g .........................................................Helen W atts Cast: S co tt Burgess, Rosem ary Paul, Tim R u n n e r ............................................S tuart W ood A m oth er and her two sons survive in a d is ­ S ound re c o rd is t ........................John P h illips Lighting cam eram a n ........ Ross Berrym an M cKenzie, Tony Barry, M ax Phipps, Jack P u b lic ity .............................

Carlie Deans. in teg ratin g relatio nship . These tw o ele­ E d itor .......................................... C olin W addy Focus p u l le r ................................................... Ian Jones O ’Leary, Joe M artin, Barney Com bes. m ents com e to g e th e r to fo rm the basis of Unit pub lic is t ...........................

Peter M urphy Prod, d e signer ...................Larry Eastwood C la p p e r/lo a d e r .......................Brian Breheny this m ystery-thriller.

Lab ora tory ......................................... C o lorfilm C o m po ser .........................................C hris Neil Key g r ip .........................................................NoelM udie Lab. lia is o n .....................................................

Bill G ooley Exec, p ro d u c e r ................. Ross M atthew s Asst g rip .......................................B arry Brow n B u d g e t...............................................................$1m illion Prod, m anager ......................... Julie M onton G a ff e r .......................................................Lindsay Foote S h ooting s to c k .......................... E a stm ancolor U nit m anager ............................ Tony W inley Boom o p e ra to r .................C hris G oldsm ith GOODBYE PARADISE C ast: A n gela Punch M cG regor (C hristina Prod, secretary .........................Cara Fam es A rt d ir e c t o r ...................................................PaulJones DOT AND SANTA CLAUS S tirling), Louis Jou rd a n (Peter S tirling), Prod, accou ntan t ........................Penny Carl M ake-up ........................................ Jose Perez, Prod, com pany .......... Petersham Pictures (Further Adventures of Dot and the D iane C ra ig (June S tevens), W a rw ick 1st asst d ire c to r ..................Steve A n dre w s Joan Petch Pty Ltd Kangaroo) C o m be r (young man), B ruce Spence (Doug 2nd asst d ire c to r ............................Phil Rich H a ird re s s e r.................................................. Jose Perez P r o d u c e r ......................................... Jane S cott M itchell), Peter C um m ins (D etective M ills), C o ntinuity .........................................Jo W eeks W a rd ro b e ......................................A n na Jakab Prod, com pany .......................Yoram G ross D irector ........................................C arl Schultz Casting ............................ M itch C onsultancy Film S tudio Patty C ro c k e r (C h ris tin a s m other). Kerry W ard, a s s is ta n t....................................M elanie Velinos S c r ip tw rite r s ......................................Bob Ellis.

C am era o p e ra to r ......... David W illiam son P r o p s ............................. M atthew C u m m ing s Dist. com pany . . . Satori P rodu ctions Inc., W alker (Sibyl A n derson), Danee Lindsay Denny Law rence Focus puller ...........................

Steve Dobson New York ( ju n io r s e c r e t a r y ) , J u n e J a g o ( M r s S tandb y p r o p s ................... Helen Kavanagh Based on original id e a Coolidge).

C la p p e r/lo a d e r ....................Robyn Peterson P rodu cer ................................. Yoram G ross Set d e c o ra to r ...................... Ashley Leighton by ......................................Denny Law rence S ynopsis: A psychological th rille r, its p lo t is Key g rip .................................G eordie Dryden D irector ................................... Yoram G ross Set c o n stru ctio n . . . . P h lum m u p Film Sets Sound re c o rd is t ...............Syd B u tterw orth a m ystery of m anip ulatio n and d o u b le ­ Asst g rip .................................... Terry Jacklin E d it o r ....................... R ichard F rancis-B ruce S c r ip tw rite r s ...........................John Palm er, Set d e signer ................G eoff R ichardson d e a lin g a b o u t th e e le g a n t, b e a u tifu l G affer ............................................ Pav G ovind C o nstru ctio n m anager .................Ian Doig Yoram G ross Prod, d e s ig n e r .......................... G eorge Liddle C h ristina S tirling, her urbane, successful Boom op e ra to r ............................Ray Phillips C o m p o s e r ........................................Peter Best Based on the S tunts ............................................... Phil B rock m a n - o f- th e - w o r ld h u s b a n d , P e te r, a M ake-up .......................................... Liz M ichie original idea b y ...................Yoram G ross Prod, c o -o rd in a to r ...................Fiona Gosse A sst e d ito r ............................. Peter C a rrodus daunting, sensuous young man and P eter’s H a irdre sser .....................................Liz M ichie P h o to g ra p h y ...........Bob Evans (anim ation), Prod, m anager ......................... Jill N icholas Still p h o to g ra p h y ..................... David Parker efficient, devoted secretary.

W ardro be .....................................Jenny M iles C hris A sh bro ok (live action) T ra n sp o rt/ Best boy ....................................G ary Scholes ard, assistant .................M iranda S kinner Sound re c o rd is t for Unit m a n a g e r...................................... Peter Lawless R u n n e rs ....................................................... Brian G ilmW ore, Props buye r ............................ David Bowden c haracter v o ic e s ..........Julian Ellingw orth Prod, secretary ........................ Lyn G albraith M ike M cIntyre S tandb y props ............. Karan M onkhouse C h ara cter design ...................Ray Nowland Financial c o n tr o lle r ..............................R ichard H arper C a te r in g ......................................Helen W rig h t EARLY FROST Special effects ...........................Ivan Durrant C o m p o s e r ...............................M ervyn Drake Prod, accou ntan t ..................... Karen Volich S tu d io s ................... P o rt M elb o u rn e Studios Asst e d ito r .............................. C h ristine Spry Prod, com pany ......................David Hannay Assoc, p r o d u c e r .................. S andra G ross Location m a n a g e r....................Janene K night Lab o ra to ry .......................................... C inevex Sound e d ito r .................: . . .

Vicki A m brose Prod, m anager .......................V irg inia Kelly P rodu ctions 1st asst d ire c to r .................Neill V in e -M ille r Length .................................................100 m ins Still pho to g ra p h y ........................... Bliss Sw ift P roducers ............................... David Hannay, Prod, se c re ta rie s / 2nd asst d ire c to r .......................................Peter W illesee G auge ...................................................35m m Best boy . . . . . ’ .......................................... A ndy Reid A d m in is tra tio n ........................ Meg Rowed, G eoff Brown 3rd asst d ir e c t o r ...................................... Peter Kearney C a st Robin Nedwell (Toby), J u lie t Jordan R unner ..................................... M ark Lam prell M arg are t Lovell C o ntinuity ....................................... Pam W illis S c rip tw rite r ...................... Terry O 'C onnor (W endy), John Ewart (Hughes), Jane C lifton C atering ............................ Cecil B. de M eals Prod, accou ntan t .................W illiam Hauer C a s tin g ........................................M ichael Lynch Based on an original (Fay), Caz Led erm an (Sally), Dina M ann on W heels P ro d u c e r’s a s s is ta n t................

Kelly Duncan Casting consu ltants . . Forcast C onsultants idea by .............................Terry O 'C onnor (B arbara), A m and a M uggleto n (Eva), Julie S tudios .............................................. M ort Bay C a s tin g ........................... International Casting C am era o p e ra to r .......... Danny Batterham P hotography ...............................David Eggby Nihill (Pam ), Lulu P inkus (Addy), Gwen C a st: G ary Day (Ed B a llin g e r), P enny Services Sound re c o rd is t ........................ M ark Lewis Focus p u l le r ................................. Steve M ason Soares (M ei Linn).

D ownie (Cindy), Kim Deacon (Jane), John C am era o p e ra to r ......................... Bob Evans C la p p e r/lo a d e r ....................... Russell Bacon E ditor ............................................... Tim Street Ewart (M r S tollier), Jill Forster (M rs Stollier), C am era assistant .......... Lynette Hennessy Key g r ip .........................................................PaulT ho m pson Prod, designer .........................Bob H ilditch Peter C o llingw ood (M r Hollister).

A rt d ir e c t o r ............................... Ray Nowland Asst g rip ........................... Brendan Shanley C o m poser ................................. M ike Harvey SNOW S cenic a r t i s t ............................................A m b e r EllisExec, p ro d u c e r ..................John Fitzpatrick 2nd unit p h o tograph y ...............Jan Kenny, Neg. m a tc h in g ...................M arg are t Cardin (Film co) Frank H am m ond Prod, co m pany ....... S n ow film P rodu ctions C hief a n im a to r ......................... Ray Nowland Prod, m anager ..................... Julia O verton G a ffe r ............................... G raham R u therford P r o d u c e r ...............................................Eve Ash A n im a to r s ...............................Paul M cA dam , THE DARK ROOM Boom op e ra to r ..........

Noel Q uinn Unit m anager ............................... Di N icholas D irector ................................... R o bert G ibson A n dre w Szem enyei, A rt d ir e c t o r .................................... John C a rroll Prod, secretary ....................Belinda Mason S crip tw rite rs ................................G eoff Kelso, Athol Henry, A rt dept, c le r k .................... G era ldine Royds Prod, accountant ........ Howard W heatley Prod, c o m pany ................................... N adira Lance C urtis, Cynthia Leech, M ake-up .................Lesley Lam ont-F ishe r 1st asst d ire c to r ................ S tuart Freem an P r o d u c e r ...................................................... Tom Haydon R obert G ibson N icholas H arding H a ird re s s e r.................................. Jenny Brow n 2nd asst d ire c to r .......... M ichael B o urch ier D irector ........................................Paul Harm on Based on the orig in a l Idea Asst a n im a to r ................................................Kay W atts W ardro be .......................................Kate Duffy 3rd asst d ire c to r .................

A nnie Peacock b y ...........................................R obert G ibson, S c rip tw rite rs ..................... M ichael Brindley, B a ckgro und a r t is t ................................. A m b e r EllisC o ntinuity .............M arg are t Rose S tringe r W ard, a s s is ta n t.......................................Lesley M cLennan P auTH arm on Eve Nash P a in te r s ...................................

Ruth Edelm an, Props assistant .................................Igor Nay P ro d u ce r’s assistant ........ Vanessa Brow n Based on original idea P h otog rap hy ........................ M artin M cG rath Kim M arden, Lighting cam eram a n ..............David Eggby Props b u y e r ......................................Ian Alien b y ............................................................... PaulHarm on S ound r e c o r d is t..................... Steve E dw ards Steve Hunter, C am era op e ra to r .................... David Eggby S tandb y p r o p s ............................................. Igor Lazareff P h o to g ra p h y ................................................ PaulO norato E d itor ....................................... R obert G ibson Nerissa M artin, Focus pulle r ........................... David Connell Special e f fe c t s ...........................................C hris M urray S ound re c o rd is t ................... Ken Ham m ond Prod, m a n a g e r....................... A n dre w Jones M arg are t Butler, C la p p e r/lo a d e r .......................... Erika A d dis Special effects assistant . . . . David H ardie E d it o r ..............................................................Rod Adam son Prod, secretary .......................... A ngela Rea Kim Craste C h ore ography .......................Ross C olem an C am era assistants ........

Salik Silverstein, Prod, d e s ig n e r ......................... R ichard Kent Prod, a s s is ta n t....................... Yvonne Visser In betw eeners .....................Vicki R obinson, Sally Eccleston Scenic a r t i s t ................................................. Ned M cCann C o m p o s e r .............................................. M ichael Carlos 1st asst d ire c to r ...................A n dre w Jones A s trid Brennan, C a rpe nte r ................................. Robin W arner Key g rip .............................M erv M cLaughlin Assoc, p ro d u c e r ................M ichael B rindley 2nd asst d ire c to r ..................... David C ollyer B renda M cKie, Set co n stru ctio n m anager . Denis D onelly Asst grip s .............................

Brett Robinson, Prod, s u p e rv is o r ..................................M ichael M cKeag C am era assistant .....................M urray W are Paul M aron Asst e d ito r ....................................M ark Darcy R obert V e rkerk Prod, c o -o rd in a to r .....................liana Baron Key g r ip ....................................... Ian T h o rb u rn A n im ation a s s is ta n t........

R obert M alhe rbe 2nd unit p h o tograph y .............Peter Levy, Unit m a n a g e r ...................................

Ian Kenny S ound e d ito r . . . . ! ............ A n dre w S tew art 2nd un it p h o to g ra p h y ............. B utch Sawko C heckers and cleaners .. .A n im a tio n Aids, Sam Bienstock Prod, secretary ..............................Lyn M orris Editing a s s is ta n t ...............Ashley G renville A erial ph o to g ra p h y .....................Tim S m art .

B ruce W arner, G affer ...........................................

Roger W ood Prod, accou ntan t .......................... A n d ro u lla Stunts co -o rd in a to r .................Dennis Hunt Boom o p e ra to r.................... .........Tom Lowe Jan C a rruthers Electrician .................................... Peter W ood S tu n tm e n ........................................Vic W ilson, 1st asst d ire c to r ..................David B rackne ll C o s tu m e s ....................................... A lp in e Ski, Lab ora tory ......................................... C o lorfilm Boom op e ra to r ..........................Steve M iller M ike Read, 2nd asst d ir e c to r ......................... John Rooke Casa A lpin a Length .................................................. 80 m ins A rt d ire c to r ..............................Bob H ilditch 3rd asst d ir e c t o r .........................................Ken R ichardson Ian Lind.

W a r d r o b e ................................ Yvonne Visser G auge ....................................................... 35m m Asst art d ire c to r ...................R obert Jones Dog h a n d ie r ............................... Dennis Hunt C o ntinuity ............................... Roz B errystone Special e f fe c t s ...................Peter A rm strong Shooting s t o c k ..........................

E a stm ancolor M ake-up ................................Rina H ofm anis C am era o p e ra to r ..........

David W illiam son Still p h o to g ra p h y .......................Jim Tow nley S ce nic a rtis t/c a rp e n te r ............. Paul Casey S cheduled release ...................M arch, 1982 H airdre sser ............................Rina H ofm anis Best boys ............................... Jack K e ndrick, Focus p u l le r ........................... Jerem y Robins Asst e d i t o r .......................... Bruce S hipstone Cast: Drew Forsythe (Santa Claus).

W ardro be ......................................Bob Lloyd C la p p e r/lo a d e r ................... Robyn Peterson Alan G lossop Neg. m atch ing .................. W arw ick D riscoll

A sst an im a to r ..............................Kaye W atts In betw e eners .....................V icki R obinson, A strid Brennan, B renda M cKie, Paul M aron Painters ..................................Ruth Edelm an, Kim C raste, Kim M arden, Steve H unter, N erissa M artin, M arg are t B utler C heckers and cle aners ..A n im a tio n Aids, B ruce W arner, Jan C a rruthers T itle d esigner ..............................Tony A blen M ixed at ............................ A tlab (Australia), M agno S ound (New Y ork) Lab o ra to rie s ...............C o lo rfilm (A ustralia) M ovielab (New York) Length ................................................ 80 m ins G auge ...................................................... 35m m S h ooting stock ...................... Eastm ancolor Cast: M ia Farrow (Sarah).

Character voices: Joan B ruce (m other and g ra n d m o th e r), S h a n e P o rte o u s (b la c k ­ sm ith, partisan, soldier), Ron H a ddrick (father, partisan, soldier).

Synopsis: The p oignant story of a young child, o rphan ed by w ar, and her strug gle to survive. It is representative of the plig h t of c h ild re n in w a r-to rn coun tries and acts as the voice of all ch ild re n against the s u ffe r­ ing and hard sh ip s im posed by all wars.

CINEMA PAPERS A pril - 157

R u n n e r ........................................... M eryl C ronin P u b lic ity .......... B rooks W hite O rganization Unit p u b licist ............................. David W hite C a te rin g ......................................John Faithfull S tu d io s .................................................. A rtran sa M ixed at .................................... U nited S ound L ab ora tory ..........................................C o lorfilm Lab. lia is o n ....................................... Bill G ooley B u d g e t ............................................. $1.8 m illion Length ................................................ 110 m ins G auge ...................................................... 35m m S h ooting stock .. .E astm an C o lo r Negative Scheduled release ......................... M id 1982 Cast: Ray B a rrett (Stacey), Robyn Nevin (Kate). Janet S crive ner (Cathy M cC redie), K ate F itz p a tric k (M rs M cC re d ie ), Lex M arinos (Con). John C layton (Bill Todd), G u y D o le m a n (Q u in e y ), P a ul C h u b b (Curly).

Synopsis: She was all any old tool could ask ■for— a b ea utiful m asochist w ith an Electra com ple x. She knew her life was a great p re ­ destined adventure, and. if it ended like Bonnie and Clyde, so be it. It was fo r girls like this that old fools like A gam em non died — A g a m e m n o n and M ike S tacey. Ex­ D e puty P o lice C o m m is s io n e r, M ic h a e l Stacey QBE.

H o pkins (W illie), Candy Raym ond (Lillian), y e a rs u n a b le to s a tis fy h e r d e s ire fo r S c r ip tw rite r s ...............................J ohn C larke, S till p h o to g ra p h y .....................Susy W oods M ichael Caton (Clive), Tim Burns (M artin), children), to the d e lig h t of pare n ts-in -la w Best boy ..................................G ary P lunkett Paul Cox C h ristina A m p h le tt (Angela), Don M ille r­ w h o a t fa s t c a n b a s k in th e m a n y R unner ..................................... Jake A tkin so n Based on the original Robinson (G erald), Lisa Peers (Rita). exclam a tions of “ M azeltovl” , but N o rm a n ’s idea by ......................................... Paul Cox P u blicity ............................ Lynette T h o rb u rn Synopsis: Nora.

33, a single m oth er living in response raises a pre p o ste ro u s question — C atering ............................ Ann D echaineaux P h o to g ra p h y ...................................Yuri Sokol a large, loosely constructed com m une, w ho Is the father?

S tudios ........................................................ AAV, S ound re c o rd is t .................Ken Ham m ond wants a love w ith "no fade from distance in O pen C hannel, E d it o r ............................................... Tim Lewis it”in . W hat she gets is Javo, a 23 year-old Prod, d e s ig n e r ............................................. NeilAngw Port M elb o u rn e S tudios actor, whose life is “ a messy holiday of C o m p o s e r ................................ N orm an Kaye M ixed at ................................. U nited S ound living off his frie n d s ” . He is a ju n kie , but it's Exec, pro d u ce r ....................... P hillip A d am s Lab o ra to ry ........................................... C inevex RUN REBECCA, RUN! Nora w ho's addicted. “ Sm ack habit, love Assoc, pro d u ce r ..........................Erwin Rado Lab. liaison ............. Stanely Lop uszam ski Prod, com pany .......................

Indepen dent hab it — w h at’s the difference, they can both Asst pro d u c e r .......................Fran Haarsm a B udget ...................................................... $1.7m kill you.”

P rodu ctions Length ...............................................105 m ins Prod, m anager ...................Jane B allantyne P rodu cer ............................. B rendon Lunney Prod, accou ntan t ..........N atalie Ham m ond G auge ........................................................35m m D irector ..................................Peter M axwell 1st Asst d ir e c t o r ................... B e rna rd Eddy S h ooting stock .........................E a stm ancolor S c rip tw rite r ............................C harles S tam p C o ntinuity ............................... Joanna W eeks C ast: David A tkin s (Squizzy Taylor), Jackie Based on the original C am era o p e ra to r .................B arry M alseed W e aver (D o lly G rey), K im Lew is (Ida MYSTERY AT CASTLE HOUSE idea by ..................................G ary Deacon Pender), R obert H ughes (Harvey), Steve Focus p u l le r ...........................Nino M artinetti P h otog rap hy ...................................

Phil Pike C la p p e r/lo a d e r ..............................C hris Cain Bisley (C utm ore), Cul Cullen (Stokes), Alan Prod, com pany ......................... Indepen dent S ound re c o rd is t ......... R owland M cM anis Cassell (B rophy), M ichael Long (P iggott), Key g r ip ..................................... David Cassar P rodu ctions E ditor ............................................ Bob C ogger T on y R ic k a rd (D u tch ), S im o n T h o rp e G a ffe r ..........................................John Engeler P r o d u c e r ............................. Brendon Lunney C o m po ser ................................Sim on W alker (Paddy).

Boom o p e ra to r .......................... G rant S tuart D ir e c to r ................................... Peter M axwell Exec, p ro d u c e r ......................... Gene Scott M ake-up ..................................... Viv M epham S ynopsis: A film based on the life of the S c r ip tw rite r s ___ _ .*..............S tuart Glover, Features m anage r . . . .

W endy C ham bers n o toriou s M elb o u rn e gan gster of the 1920s, H a ird re s s e r.................................. Viv M epham M ichael Hohensee Prod, su p e rviso r .................C hris G ard iner "S q uizzy’’ Taylor.

W a rd ro b e ............................... Frankie Hogan Based on the original idea Prod, m anager ........................

Peter A b b o tt P rops b u y e r ...............................P hillip Eagles b y ................................................ G eoff Beak Prod, secretary ...............W endy Chapm an Asst e d ito r ............................... Peter M cBain P h o to g ra p h y ..................................... Phil Pike Prod, accou ntan t ....................Peter Layard Neg. m a tc h in g .................. M argaret C ardin TURKEY SHOOT S ound re c o rd is t .......... Rowland M cM anis Prod, assistants .................... Sean M cC lory, M usic re c o rd in g .......... Alan Eaton Sound E d it o r ..............................................................Bob Cogger Prod, co m pany ...................... Second FGH Fiona M arks S ound e d ito r ......................... Peter B urgess Exec, p ro d u c e r ........................... Gene Scott Film C o nsortium 1st asst d ire c to r ......................Kevin Powell Asst sound e d i t o r ............C hris Ratnarajan Assoc, p r o d u c e r ...................................RussellHurley Dist. co m p a n y (foreign) ............... H em dale 2nd asst d ire c to r ..................Paul C allaghan M ixer ............................................ Peter Fenton Prod, c o -o rd in a to r ................... Peter A b b o tt LADY, STAY DEAD Leisure C o rp o ra tio n C o ntinuity ..........................

C a the rine Sauter S till p h o to g ra p h y ................................... R obert Colvin Prod, m anager ........ C h risto p h e r G ard iner P rodu cers ...................... A n tony I. G innane, C asting ........................... M itch C o nsultancy Title d e s ig n e r .........................................Al Et A) Prod, s e c r e ta r y ............... W endy Chapm an Prod, c o m p a n y ........ Ryntare P rodu ctions W illiam Faym an C am era assistant ‘ ...................................

Keith B ryant Best boy ........................... M ichael M adigan P r o d u c e r .....................................................Terry B o urke Prod, a s s is ta n t.......................Sean M cLoury D irector .................B rian T re n ch a rd S m ith Key g rip .....................; .. .M erv M cLaugh lin R u n n e r ....................................... Tom Bacskai D ir e c t o r ....................................................... Terry Bourke 1st asst d ire c to r . . . .C hristophe r G ard iner S crip tw rite rs ..............................

Jon G eorge, 2nd un it pho to g ra p h y ___ G ary M aunder, C a te rin g .......................................................K erry Byrne S c r ip tw rite r .................................................T erry B o urke 2nd asst d ire c to r ........................................ PaulCallaghan N eill H icks Phil Dority S ound tra n s fe rs ..........................G ary W ilkins Based on the orig in a l idea C o ntinuity ............................C a the rine Sauter Based on story by ........G eorge S chenck, G affer ...................................................Ray Ang P o st-p ro d u c tio n f a c ilit ie s ___ The Joinery C a s tin g ............................. M itch C onsultancy by ............................................Terry B o urke R o bert W illiam s, Boom o p e ra to r ......................... Jan M cH arg M ixed at ...................United S ound S tudios P h otog rap hy .’........................... Ray Henman C am era assistant ...................... Keith B ryant David Law rence A rt d ire c to r ...............................Jako b H orvat Lab ora tory ......................................... C o lorfilm S ound re co rd ist .......................Bob Clayton Key g r i p ............................. M erv M cLaughlin P h otog rap hy ............................

John M cLean M a ke-up ...................................Fiona S pence Lab.s lia is o n .....................................................BillGooley E d it o r ............................................................ ,R on W illiam 2nd un it p ho tograph y .................Phil Dority, S ound re c o rd is t ............................ Paul C lark W ardro be ................................ Fiona S pence Length ................................................... 95 m ins C o m p o s e r ........................................ Bob Young G arry M aunde r E ditor ................................................Alan Lake W ard, assistant ..............K erry Thom pson G auge ....................................................... 35m m Exec, p r o d u c e r ............ A lexand er H opkins G a ffe r ....................................................Ray Ang Prod, d esigner .......................B e rna rd Hides P rops ..................................... Brian Edm onds S h ooting s to c k .......................... Eastm ancolor Assoc, p r o d u c e r s ...... ............John Hipwell, Boom op e ra to r ........................... Jan M cHarg C o m poser .......................................

B rian May Asst edito r ................................

G ina Lennox C ast: W endy Hughes (Patricia), Norm an A rt d ir e c t o r ...............................................Jak o b Horvat Eric C ook Exec, p ro d u ce rs .................. .

John Daly, Neg. m atching .......................... C hris Rowell Prod, s u p e r v is o r .......................................John H ipwell Kaye (Peter), Jon Finlayson (G eorge), Julia W ardro be .................................. Fiona S pence David H em m ings S ound e d ito r ............................. Bob C ogger Prod, secretary ............................Pam Brow n B lake (Pam ela), Jona thon Hardy (Bruce).

P r o p s ....................................... Brian Edm onds Assoc, p ro d u c e r ......................... Brian C ook M ixer ............................... Julian Ellingw orth Synopsis: A tra g i-c o m ic love story about A sst e d ito r ........................ M ickey O ’Sullivan Prod, a ccou ntan t ..........................Ross Lane U nit m anager ......................... M ichael Fuller Still p h o tograph y ................. G arry M aunder Peter T ho m pson, a m iddle-aged bachelor, Prod, a s s is ta n t.................. M ary-A n ne Halpin Neg. m a tc h in g .......................................... C hris Rowell Prod, secretary ........................ Jenny Barty A n im als arra nged 1st asst d ire c to r ................... Eddie Prylinski a n d P a tr ic ia C u rn o w , a 3 0 - y e a r - o ld Still p h o to g ra p h y .................... Fiona Spence, Facilities m anager .................... C hris S h ort by ......................... Anim al Talent Pty Ltd spinster.

2nd asst d ir e c to r ...............David Trethewey G arry M aunder Prod, a ccou ntan t .......................... Dean Hill C atering ....................

Sally G re ville-S m ith C o ntinuity ..................................June Henman P u b lic ity ....................................................W endy C ham bers Prod, assistant ..................B a rba ra W illiam s M ixed at ................................................ Atlab C a s tin g ............................................................Eric Cook Lab ora tory ................Cine Film Lab ora tory 1st asst d ire cto r .................Terry Needham Lab ora tory ............... Cine Film Lab oratory C asting consu ltants ....................... Eric Cook Lab. lia is o n .................................................. CalG ard iner 2nd asst d ire c to r ...................... John Rooke Lab. liaison .......................... C alvin G ard iner MONKEY GRIP M anagem ent Length ..................................................85 m ins 3rd asst d ire c to r ...................... M ark Jaffee Length ................................................ 85 m ins Lighting cam eram an ............ Ray Henman Gauge ....................................................... 16mm Prod, com pany ....................... Pavilion Film s C o ntinuity ............................Therese O ’Leary Gauge .....................................................16m m C am era o p e ra to r ................... Ray Henman Shooting s to c k .......................... E a stm ancolor P r o d u c e r .................................. Patricia Lovell P ro d u ce r’s assistant ....... Sylvia Van W yk Shooting stock ....................... ^ ............. 7247 Focus p u l le r ...............................................Peter Rogers C ast: Aileen B ritton (Miss M arkham ), Henri D ir e c to r .....................................

Ken C am eron Casting ..................................C arm en Duncan Scheduled1 release ...............January 1982 C la p p e r/lo a d e r ...................Robert M arriott S zeps (M r W ilb e rfo rc e ), J o h n C o b le y S c r ip tw rite r .............................. Ken Cam eron, C am era o p e ra to r ........................ David B u rr C a s t: H e n ri S z e p s (M a n u e l), S im o n e (M orris), Ray M eagher (Stakovich), Sim one C am era assistant .....................Peter Rogers in association with Focus puiler ...........................David B rostoff Buchanan (Rebecca), Adam G arnett (Rod), Key g r ip .......................................................Peter M ardell.

Buchanan (Kate), S cott N icholas (Ben), Helen G arner C la p p e r/lo a d e r ........................... Ben Seresin M ary Ann Severne (M rs Porter), John Film Unit Jerem y Shadlow (Spider), R obert G eam m el Based on the novel b y ........

Helen G arner P u blicity ...................... C a rlie Deans (Aust.), Stanton (M r Porter), Peter S um ner (M r Asst g rip ................................. M ichael Nelson (Rocco), Tony Lee (Ah Leong).

P h o to g ra p h y .............................................. David G ribble D ennis Davidson & A ssoc. (L.A.) Dim itros), Ron H a d d ric k (S peaker of P arlia­ G a ffe r .................................... C hick M cD onald S ynopsis: W hen three child re n cross the Sound re cordist ........................ M ark Lewis Unit p u b lic is t ..............................Ben M itchell m ent), John Ewart (M inister fo r Im m ig ra ­ E lectrician o n e ......................................... Alleyn M earns h a rb o r to e x p lo re C a stle H ouse — a E d it o r ...........................................................David H uggett C atering ...................................

David W illiam s tion), M artin Vaughan (C ranky M em ber), E lectricians t w o ...........................................Bud Howell. strange, uno ccupied m ansion — they en­ Prod, d e s ig n e r.......... : .............. C lark M unro L ab ora tory .........................................C o lo rfilm C ornelia Francis (M em ber fo r Southdow n). c oun ter s in ister baddies, a kid n a p p in g and Douglas W ood C o m p o s e r .............................

Bruce Sm eaton Lab. liaison .................................

Bill G ooley Synopsis: A young girl taking p h o tograph s Boom o p e ra to r ............................. Keir W elch a hilarious, e ccen tric lady. Excitem ent, Exec, p ro d u c e r .......................Danny C o llins Length .................................................. 94 m ins of her pet cockatoo is prevented from A rt d ir e c t o r ..........................................Bob Hill m ystery and non -stop action and ro ll-in Assoc, pro d u c e r ...................T reisha G hent le a v in g a lo n e ly is la n d by an ille g a l G auge ..............................35m m A n a m o rp h ic M a ke -u p ......................................Sally G ord on the-aisle com edy fo r children.

Prod, c o -o rd in a to r ............................. Briann Panavision im m igrant, who fears d ep ortation. A fte r a H a ird re s s e r........................... Jan Zeigenbein Unit m a n a g e rs .............................................Sue Parker, S h ooting stock ......... K odak E a stm ancolor w idespread search, she m anages to escape W a rd ro b e ............................. C atriona Brow n W ill Davies Cast: Steve Railsback (Paul A n ders), O livia w ith the help of a boy scout.

S ym pathetic to Props b u y e r ..........................Sandy W ingrove Prod, accou ntan t ..................Terry M cG rath H u s s e y (C h ris W a lte rs ), N o e l F e r r ie r the im m ig ra n t's problem s, she pleads his NORMAN LOVES ROSE S tandb y p r o p s .........................................Bevan Childs.

1st asst d ire c to r ..................S tuart Freem an (M a llo ry ), C a rm e n D u ncan (J e n n ife r), cause in Parliam ent.

Nick M cC allum Prod, com pany .....................N orm an Film s 2nd asst d ir e c to r .......................................Colin Fletcher L y n d a S t o n e r ( R ita ) , M ic h a e l C r a ig Special e f fe c t s ...................... Reece Robinson P r o d u c e rs ...................................................Henri Safran, 3rd asst d ir e c t o r ........................................Tom Blacket (Thatcher), Roger W ard (Ritter), M ichael 1st asst e d i t o r .............. A n toinette W heatley C o ntinuity ................................Jackie Sullivan Basil A p pleb y Petrovich (Tito), Gus M e rcu rio (Red), John 2nd asst e d ito r ......................M oira M c L a in e SQUIZZY TAYLOR P rodu cer's assistants . . . . Nicky Rowntree, D ir e c to r .......................................................HenriSafran Ley (Dodge), Bill Young (G riff).

Neg. m a tc h in g ......................... G ordon Poole Elaine M enzies S c r ip tw rite r ................................................ HenriSafran S ynopsis: The year 1995 — the w o rld is run Prod, com pany S im pson Le M esurier M usical d ire c to r ...........................Bob Young P h o to g ra p h y ......................... .Vince M onton C a s tin g ......................................

A lison Barrett by a s trict regim e. If you step out of line you Film s M usic pe rfo rm e d by .................. Bob Young S ound re c o rd is t ......................... Ross Linton C asting c onsu ltant .................Alison B arrett are labelled a “ T u rke y” . F urther fa ilu re to Dist. com pany ............................... Film ways O rchestra E d it o r ....................................... Don Saunders Lighting cam eram a n ............ David G ribble c o n fo rm m eans you are a can d id a te fo r the P rodu cer ........................Roger Le M esurier S ound e d ito r ............................. Paul M axwell Prod, d e s ig n e r........................... D arrell Lass C am era o p e ra to r ...................Nixon Binney, "Turkey S h oot” .

D irector .................................... Kevin Dobson Editing assistants ...................... Peter Foster Prod, s u p e rv is o r ....................................... BasilA p pleb y tw rite r ........................Roger S im pson Danny B atterham S c rip M ixer .......................................... Peter Fenton Prod, c o -o rd in a to r .....................Susan W ild Focus p u l le r ...................

Peter Menzies Jnr Based on the original idea S tunts c o -o rd in a to r ............... Frank Lennon Location m a n a g e r................A ndy W illiam s C la p p e r/lo a d e r .........................Derry Fields by .........................................Roger S im pson S tu n ts ..............................................G rant Page.

WE OF THE NEVER NEVER Unit m a n a g e r...............................................Kim Anning Cam era assistant ........ Peter M enzies Jnr P h otog rap hy ..............................Dan Burstall Dee Jones, Prod, accountant ........................Alan M arco Key g r ip ...................................... Ray Brown Prod., com panies .................. A d a m s P acker Sound re c o rd is t ........................ Phil Sterling C hris Hession 1st asst d ire c to r ..................

Steve C onnard Asst grip s ................................. S tuart Green, P rodu ctions, Editor ..................................... David P u lbrook Still p h o to g ra p h y ......................... David M iller 2nd asst d ire c to r ............................. Ian Page G raham Young Film C orp. of W .A. Prod, designer ........................Logan Brew er Title d e s ig n e r ................ O ptical & G rap hics C o ntinuity ........................... Therese O’ Leary G a ffe r ........................................M iles M oulson C o m poser ..............................Bruce Sm eaton P r o d u c e r ................................................... Greg Tep per Dog w r a n g le r ........................... Evanne Harris P rodu cer’s a s s is ta n t.. .Suzanne Donnollev.

Best boy ..................................... G eoff M aine Exec, pro d u c e r ...................Roger S im pson D irector ........................................... Igor Auzins C am era g a f f e r ...................................... C o nra d Slack C am era o p e ra to r ...................N ixon Binney E le c tric ia n ................................. Dick O ldfield Prod, supe rvisor ............ Brian D. B urgess S c r ip tw rite r ..............................P eter S ch reck R u n n e r .............................................. Alex Poliak Boom o pe rator .....................Paul Schneller Focus p u l le r ........................ Kim Batterham P h otog rap h ..................................G ary Hansen Prod, m anager ........................ C h ristine Suli P u b lic ity ............................................................Liz Johnston C la p p e r/lo a d e r ..................Robyn Petersen Art d ir e c t o r ................................. Ron Highfleld Location m anager ................W arw ick Ross S ound re co rd ist .................Laurie Robinson C a te r in g ....................................................... Kaos Katering Key g r ip ....................................................... Greg W allace M ake-up .........................................Judy Lovell Prod, secretary ........................ Ann O ’Leary E d it o r .............................................. C liff Hayes M ixed at .................................... United Sound G a ffe r ........................................M iles M oulson H a ird re s s e r................................................. Judy Lovell Prod, accou ntan t ......................... Patti Scott Prod, d e s ig n e r .................................Jo sep hine Ford L ab ora tory ................................................. Atlab W ardro be ................................. Kathy Jam es G enerator o p e ra to r ................ Dick O ldfield Prod, assistant ......................... W endy M iller Exec, p ro d u ce r ........................P h illip A d am s Lab. lia is o n ........................... Greg D ougherty W ard, assistant .............................

Cathy Farr Boom op e ra to r ............

G raham M cKinney 1st asst d ire c to r ........... P hilip Hearnshaw Assoc, p r o d u c e r .........................Brian Rosen B u d g e t ..................................................$610,000 P rops b u y e rs / M ake-up .....................................T rish Cunliffe 2nd asst d ire c to r ........................Paul Healey Prod, c o -o rd in a to r ...................Jane t M clver Length ....................................................92 m ins set d r e s s e r s .....................Elizabeth Hearn, H a ird re s s e r......................... Jan Zeigenbeim 3rd asst clirector ................ M arcus S kip p e r U nit m a n a g e r ........................

Paul A rn o tt G auge ....................................................... 35m m Lloyd Casey W ardro be ...........................Jenny C am pbell C o ntinuity ............................... A nne M cC leod Prod, secretary ......................Toni Barnard S h ooting s to c k .............. 5247 Eastm ancolor S tandby p r o p s ...........................Igor Lazareff W ard, a s s is ta n t..................... Helen H ooper Lighting cam eram a n ................Dan Burstall Prod, a ccou ntan t ....................... John Foster Ektachrom e S tandby p r o p s ...........................................John Daniell Scenic a r t i s t .......................... Len A rm strong C am era o p e ra to r ..................... Dan Burstall Prod, a s s is ta n t...............M ichael B o u rch ie r S ch eduled r e le a s e .......... D ecem ber, 1981 Set construction ................ Peter Tem pleton Set d e c o ra to r ............................. M artin O’Neil Focus puller ........................ B arry H alloran T ra n sp o rt m anage r .............G ary R eberger (Japan) Asst e dito rs ........................

Leslie M annison, Set c o n s tru c tio n ...............Stan W olveridge C la p p e r/lo a d e r ......................W arw ick Field C o nstruction m a n a g e r..............Ray Pattison Cast: Chard H ayward (G ordon Mason), Asst edito r ..................................... Ian M unro R osem ary Lee Asst con stru ctio n Key g rip ............................... Paul A m m itzbol L o u ise H o w itt (Je n n y N o lan), D e borah Rock m usic Still p h o to g ra p h y ................... C hick S tringe r Asst g rip ................................. Peter Kershaw m anager ............................ Danny C o rlora n C oulls (M arie Colbey). Les F oxcroft (B illy p erform ed b y ........................................... The Divinyls Best boy ................................. Richard Curtis G affer .........................................Brian A d am s 1st asst d ire cto r ....................... Tim H iggins S h epherd). Roger W ard (O fficer C lyde ColSound edito rs ...................Ashley G renville, Trainee r u n n e r . . ___ G era ldine C atchpool Boom op e ra to r ........................ G eoff W ilson 2nd assist d ir e c t o r ...........Brendan Lavelle lin g s ) . J a m e s E llio tt ( P a tro lm a n Rex M ark Lewis P u b lic ity .......... The Rea Francis C om pany A rt d ire c to r ............................. Logan Brew er 3rd asst d ir e c t o r ........................................ Jess Tap per D unbar).

M ixer .......................................... Peter Fenton T ra in e e ......................................Julie P lum m er Asst art d ire c to r ...................... Frank Jakab C o ntinuity ............................... C h ristine Lipari Synopsis: A young wom an, lo oking after Asst m ix e r ................................................

G ethin Creagh C a te rin g ...............................

Lisa Hennessey C ostum e designer ................... Jane Hyland C am era o p e ra to r ..................... G ary Hansen her sister's house w hile she is away on lo ca­ Still p h o to g ra p h y ...........................................Ian Potter Laboratory ......................................... C o lorfilm M ake-up ................................. Lois H ohenfels Focus p u l le r ..................... Peter Van Santen tion, is unaw are that her sister and the care­ Title d e s ig n e r .............................................. Fran Burke Progress .......................................... P ro d u c tio n H a irdre sser ..........................Suzie Clem ents C la p p e r/lo a d e r ............................ Phil Cross ta ke r have been m urd ere d. The m u rd e re r C h ild ren 's dialogue coach ........ Jane O ehr C ast: Tony Owen (Norm an), Carol Kane W ardro be ....................................Jane Hyland Key g r ip ................................... Noel M cD onald retu rns to k ill the wom an, and so begins a R u n n e r .......................................Lisa Hennessey (Rose), W arren M itchell (N orm an's father), W ard, assistant ...................M arg ot Lindsay Asst g rip s ........................... W ayne M arshall,. battle of wits.

M ixed at ....................................U nited Sound M yra de G roo t (N orm an’s m other), David P rops .................N icholas van R oosendael John Jasiukow icz L ab ora tory ......................................... C o lorfilm D ow ner (N orm an’s brother), Barry Otto Props buyer — Nicholas van R oosendael G a ffe r .............................................................M ick M orris Lab. lia is o n ................................................... BillGooley (M ichael's partner), Sandy G ore (Charles' S tandby pro p s ............................H arry Zettel G ene o p e r a t o r ............................................ Tom R obinson wife).

B u d g e t.............................................. $1,147,665 Special effects ..................Konrad R othm an Boom ope ra to rs ........................ G reg Steele, LONELY HEARTS Length ............................. 105 m ins (approx.)

S y n o p s is : N o r m a n i s a s e n s i t i v e , Set d e c o ra to r ..................... P a trick Reardon M alcolm C rom ie precocious 13 yea r-o ld preparin g fo r his Gauge ....................................................... 35m m Prod, co m pany .....................A d am s Packer Set co n s tru c tio n ......................Rowan Flude Asst art d ire c to r ...........G raem e D uesbury S h ooting s to c k .......................... Eastm ancolor Bar M itzvah. S iste r-In -La w Rose, the o bject Film Prods Asst edito r .......................... Brett S outhw ick C ostum e d esigner ........ C am illa R ountree of his passion, becom es pregna nt to the Cast. Noni H azlehurst (Nora). C olin Friels P r o d u c e r ............................... John B. M urray Sound edito r ........................Louise Johnson M ake-up ......................................Sally G ordon (Javo). A lic e G a rn e r (G ra c ie ). H a rold great s u rp ris e of husband M ichael (for D ir e c to r .............................................. Paul Cox Editing assistant ...................Ann Beresford M ake-up assistant ........ R obern P ickering

H a ird re s s e r................................................... W illi K e nrick P h o to g ra p h y ................................... John Elliot S eam stress 1 .................................Ruth T ickle Sound rec o rd is ts .............. R obert W allace, Seam stress 2 .............................................. Ruth M unroe Phil Viney W a rd ro b e assistant .............Fiona N icholls Lighting c a m e ra m a n .....................John Elliot S ta n d -b y p r o p s ............................................. Ro Bruen C la p p e r/lo a d e r...................Peter Piotrow ski S ta n d -b y pro p s a s s is ta n t___ Greg Nelson M usic pe rfo rm e d b y ..................... Tom Fryer Special e f fe c t s ................... Reece Robinson and P hillip Viney Asst special effects ................... P eter G loss L a b o ra to r y .................................................... VFL DEADLINE A rt d e p a rtm e n t assistant . Steve Fullerton Length ....................................................15 m ins Prod, com pany .......................... A n dre w Vial A rt d e p a rtm e n t anim als ............ Earl Gano G a u g e ......................................................... 16mm Film Prods Horse m a s te r ...........................Ray W inslade Shooting s t o c k ................................T ri-x 7278 Dist. c o m pany ............................A n dre w Vial Asst e d ito r ............................... Karen W hiter P r o g r e s s ...........................................P rodu ction Film Prods Still p h o to g ra p h y ................... Penny Tweedie Cast: Louise Vote (Elizabeth), G regory P ro d u c e r ........................................A n dre w Vial W ra n g le rs ..............................Jim W illoug hby, B urgess (Bruno), Jenni Parsons (Stella), D irector .........................................A n dre w Vial B arry G roves Stephen W allace (Oskar), F rederick Auden S c rip tw rite r ................................. Sue W oolfe W ra ngle rs' a s s is ta n t................................... Jan M itchell (Old man), Betty Cole (Old m an’s friend).

Based on the original id ea Best boy ................................... Richard Curtis Synopsis: W ith B runo abo ut her, Elizabeth b y ................................................. Sue W oolfe Unit r u n n e r s ..................... A n tony S hepherd, was m aster; alone, she is victim .

Dir. of p h o to g ra p h y ................... P hilip Betts Ian Billing S ound r e c o rd is t....................................... Lana Lazzareth Unit n u r s e ....................................................Sally W alker E d itor .............................................A n dre w Vial THE MARY QUANT MASQUE OF A b o rig in a l a d v is e r .................; V ikki Christie Prod, d e s ig n e r ......................Lisbeth Saxton D r iv e r ........................................................... Peter Bourne DEATH Prod, m a n a g e r............................

Rick Jones L ab ora tory ..........................................C o lorfilm Asst d ir e c t o r ................................ Roger Plant Prod, c o m pany ....... S o m na m bu list Prods Lab. lia is o n ..................................................... BillG ooley D irector .................................... Greg M asuak C o n tin u ity ..............................M elanie M artins Length .................................................. 90 m ins P h o to g ra p h y ........................... .G re g M asuak Lighting c a m e ra m a n ....... Jerom e Freem an G auge ....................................................... 35m m C am era o p e ra to r ......................John Lodge S ound re c o rd is t............................... Rob Bell S h ooting s to c k ...........................Eastm ancolor G a ff e r ............................................................John Goh Prod, a s s is ta n t...............Roger W estcom be C ast: A n gela Punch M cG regor (Jeannie Boom o p e ra to r............. Frances M acD onajd Lighting c a m e ra m a n __ Bronw yn N icholas G unn), A rth u r D ignam (Aeneas G unn), Tony A rt d ire c to r ............................Lisbeth Saxton L a b o ra to r y .......................................... C o lorfilm B arry (M ac), M artin Vaughan (Dan), Lewis W ardro be ............................... Elisabeth Lock B u d g e t....................................................... $3000 Fitz-G erald (Jack), John Ja rra tt (Dandy), Set dec o ra to r . , ...................M elanie M artins Length .................................................15 m ins C e c il P a rke s (C h e o n ), D anny A d c o c k Set co n stru ctio n ........................ Philip Betts G a u g e ......................................................... 16mm (Brown), T om m y Lewis (Jackaroo), Donald M ix e r ..........................................

Elisabeth Lock P r o g r e s s ...........................................P roduction B litner (G oggle Eye).

Asst m ixer ....................... Julian Ellingsw orth Cast: Kris W yld, G eoff Rhoe.

S yn opsis: A story of the h ardship faced by Still p h o to g ra p h y ..................................Jerom e Freem an Synopsis: A w om an's a ttem pt to perform new ly-m a rrie d Jeannie G unn w hich recalls Title designer .......................

Rachel M artin cosm etic surgery on her decaying w orld the courage, vita lity and hu m o r of early R u n n e r ........................................... Anne Pilcer fails: viewed thro ugh a lu natic’s eye. cattlem en and A b o rig in a l stockm e n in a S tu d io s ................................................. Suprem e harsh, but m em o ra b le N o rthern T e rrito ry M ixed at ...............M etro Television/A T L A B enviro nm e nt.

Lab ora tory .......................................... C o lorfilm A MOST ATTRACTIVE MAN B u d g e t.................................................... $25,000 Length ....................................................30 m ins Prod, com pany ..

A M ost A ttractive G a u g e ......................................................... 16mm Man Prods Shooting s t o c k ............. Eastm ancolor 7242 Dist. com pany ... .............. A ustralian IN RELEASE P r o g r e s s ...........................................In release Film Institute Release d a t e ............................January 1982 P r o d u c e r............... .........G illian Coote First released ........... M acquarie University D ir e c to r ................. __ Rivka Hartm an Cast: B arry Donnelly (Robert), S andra Lee Sound re c o rd is t.. ................Pat Fiske Please see p revio us issue fo r details of: Paterson (Kay), Ron Owen (taxi driver).

E ditor .................... __ Denise Haslem The Best of Friends Synopsis: A w om an alone . . . an Intruder C o m p o s e r............. ...........Judy Bailey Breakfast in Paris driven by a past he can't forg et, that she Prod, m a n a g e r... ....... Jo Horsburgh Freedom can’t rem e m be r, and always between them Prod, accountant .......Digby Duncan Duet for Four the bed, the knife and the do o r to freedom .

1st asst d ire c to r . .........Sabina W ynn

SHORTS

Heatwave The Man from Snowy River Save the Lady Starstruck Sweet Dreamers

2nd asst d ire c to r.

3rd asst d irectors

DESIDERATA P ro d u c e r ............................... R obert W allace D ir e c to r ................................. R obert W allace S c rip tw rite r .......................... R obert W allace

C ontinuity Casting . ..

Strand

Rosalind G illespie __ Peter W asson, Greg Stephens, Sally Eccleston . C aroline Stanton .......G illian C o ote / Rivka Hartm an

Length .................................................... 6 m ins Lighting ..............................................Paul Tait, P r o g r e s s ................................. P re -p ro d u ctio n Erika A d d is Cast: Ross La n g h a m (B oy), R o ch e lle C am era o p e ra to r ........................ Erika A ddis Ja ckso n (M u m m y ), C a ro lyn D a vid so n C am era assistant ..................Renee R om eril (T e a ch e r), S h a n n o n O ren "(S e cre ta ry), G a ff e r .......................................................... Tania M illen Jeanette "Fisher (Bride), Cindy M acauley Boom o p e ra to r............................Jacqu i Fine (M istress), Tracey H u m ph rey (Daughter), A rt d ire c to r ..................................... Je ff Bruer Asst art d ire c to r ....................Jinks D ulhunty . A n gela Rowe (D aughter), Cathy Horsley (Nurse).

W a r d ro b e ................................................... Jin ks D ulhunty Synopsis: A sile n t film d e p icting the life of a P rops .............................. Peter Rasmussen boy grow ing in to m anhoo d and his undying Set con stru ctio n .......................... Tony Coote love fo r his M um m y.

Asst e d i t o r ................................Joel Peterson Neg. m atching ...................................C o lorfilm M usic p erform ed b y ................................Judy Bailey Sound e d ito r ..........................Denise Haslem M ix e r ................................A lastair M acFarlane REFLEX Asst m ixer ...........................

G raham T ard iff P ro d u c e r ........................................ C raig W ood Still p h o to g ra p h y .......................................M ark Jackson D ir e c to r .......................................... C raig W ood O p tic a ls ................................................C o lorfilm S crip tw rite r ...................................Craig W ood Title designer ...........................Lee W hitm ore Cam era assistant ......... Josep hine Phillips P u b lic ity ..................................................G eorgie Brown A p pliance m a k e - u p .................Lewis M orley C a te rin g ............................Susan W arburton, Special p r o p s ............................ Jenn ifer Hale • W endy Doyle Still p h o to g ra p h y .................. Hugh H am ilton M ixed at ................................... Palm Studios O p tic a ls ....................................................... Atlab L a b o ra to r y .......................................... C o lorfilm Lab oratory ..................................................Atlab Lab. liaison ................... Richard P iorkow ski B u d g e t....................................................... $2000 B u d g e t.................................................... $50,000 Length ..................................................15 m ins Length ................................................47 m ins G a u g e ......................................................... 16mm G a u g e ......................................................... 16mm S hooting s t o c k .......................... Eastm ancolor Shooting s t o c k ........................................... 7247 P r o g r e s s .......................................... P ro d u ctio n Progress .......................................... In release Cast: A n drew M cPhail (Tim).

First released ................. Lon gford Cinem a, Synopsis: A young man is show n the details Sth Yarra of his own death.

• C a s t: G rig o r T a y lo r (D o ria n ), C a ro le S kinner (Frances), Julie M cG regor (Judy), A nna Volska (Vija), Dennis M iller (M ick), Cathy Downes (M erryl), Ann Tenney (She), M organ Lewis (Billy), Jane W eir (Jane), THE PERMANENT BOOKING Bradley M ille r (Toby).

Dist. com pany ................................Roadshow S y n o p s is : S et In th e c o c k ro a c h belt, P ro d u c e r ............................................... A n thon y Bowm an Frances and Dorian live through the last few D irector ...............................A n thon y Bowm an weeks of a lo psided relationship; Frances, S crip tw rite r ....................... A n thon y Bowm an raising her thre e children on the pension, Based on the original idea p ro v id e s D o rian w ith bed and b o a rd b y .........................................................An thon y Bowm an because she loves him. But he prefers P h otography .............................Hans H einrich y o u n g e r and p re ttie r w o m en . F ra n c e s ’ Sound r e c o rd is t........................ Ross Lynton patience is running out, and D orian's looks Assoc, p r o d u c e r ........................................ Chic S tringe r are fading.

Prod, m a n a g e r___M argaret-R ose S tringe r C a s tin g ..................................... M itch M athews Lab oratory .............................................. Atlab MUMMY Length ..................................................15 m ins G a u g e ........................................................16mm P ro d u c e r ..........................Sally M ontgom ery Progress .......................................... P roduction D ir e c to r ...................................Tina M cQ uade S cheduled re le a s e ....................... A p ril 1982 S c rip tw rite r ........................... Tina M cQ uade Synopsis: A com edy abo ut “ the social Based on an original idea sport". b y .......................................101 P antom im es P h o to g ra p h y ...................Sally M ontgom ery, Tina M cQ uade C ostum e d e s ig n e r s __ Tracey H um phrey, Lindy M acauley

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT FOR FILM PRODUCERS AND EDITING PERSONNEL

No.1 IN ENTERTAINMENT LIGHTING

CUTTING CONTACTS

Pulsar is the latest in the range of focusable floodlights from Quartzcolor. Pulsar is a m ini- Redhead-it takes a 650 w att DYR lamp.

A BRAND NEW SERVICE TO THE FILM INDUSTRY

Pulsar is supplied complete with lamp, and accessory holder. Accessories include barndoors, plus a range of gaffer grips, stands etc.

A service to Producers and Film Editing Personnel.

Comprehensive lists are being compiled of the locations and schedules of Editing Personnel, One phone coil will tell you who's available and where to call them, This is not a recommendation service — it is a contact service,

Pulsar is also available in a 3 light kit and together with M iz a r ( the new 300/500 watt fre s n e l) forms the basis of the E .N .C . kits.

PRODUCERS note this number for future reference. You will need it 958 1088.

EDITORS AND ASSISTANTS ring now and list yourselves.

For further details call the ' Strandman ' at Rank Electronics or Authorised Stockists and Agents.

Sales offices: VICTORIA 60 Rosebank Avenue, Clayton South VIC3169.

Phone: (03)5418444 NEW SOUTH WALES 16 Suakin Street, Pymble NSW2073.

Phone: (02)449 5666 SOUTH AUSTRALIA 101-105 Mooringe Avenue, Camden Park SA 5038.

Phone: (08)2950211 WESTERN AUSTRALIA 19 McDonald Street, Osborne Park WA 6016.

Phone: (09)4431811

m j

Stockists: BRISBANE Harvey Theatrical Lighting, 21 Crosby Road, Albion QLD 4010.

Phone: (07) 2621622 ADELAIDE Hi Watt Lighting, 37 Angas Street, Adelaide SA 5000.

Phone: (08) 212 2033 LAUNCESTON K.W. McCulloch Pty. Ltd, 44 Canning Street, Launceston TAS 7250.

Phone:(003)318935

A Rank Electronics

SOUNDSENSE

Rim Productions Pty. Ltd.

343 Sailors Bay Road Northbridge Sydney NSW 2063 P.O. Box 97 Northbridge NSW 2063 Telephone (02) 958 1088 (3 lines)

V CINEMA PAPERS April - 159

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------^

For those interested in attending CANNES FILM FESTIVAL 1982

We have negotiated all arrangements for flights, accommodation and land transportation.

Noting the obligations of most in the film industry, we have kept this tour flexible, with 3 airlines we cover most stopover options.

AUSTRALIAN FILMS, DOCOS! TV SERIES, PILOTS ETC. -W A N T E D FOR AMERICAN CABLE DISTRIBUTION

PHONE REEL MEDIA ON (03) 6 9 0 5 8 0 0

Participants are guaranteed the option to cancel on the eleventh hour (whether fo r unmet contractual obligations or the tender of new contracts).

MONAHAN INTERNATIONAL TOURS MELBOURNE: Angela Bennett.

5 LITTLE COLLINS STREET. PH.: (03)63 8761

e r ic fu lliio v e producer-director

television productions pty ltd 6th floor, 56-62 berry street, north Sydney, n.s.w. 2060 (02) 922 4066

SYDNEY: Diana Nicholas.

53 COWDROY AVE., CAMMERAY. PH.: 904 731

producers of fine tv programs and films

AUSTRALIAN FILM COMMISSION

Angels of War

DOCUMENTARIES SHORTS

AMERICA WEST Prod, com pany ..........................A ndrew Vial Film Prods Dist. com pany ............................A n dre w Vial Film Prods P ro d u c e r ........................................A n dre w Vial D irector .........................................A n dre w Vial S c rip tw rite r ................................. A n dre w Vial P h o to g ra p h y ................................ A n dre w Vial S ound recordists .................... A n dre w Vial, John Lewis E d itor ............................................ A n dre w Vial C o m p o s e r.................................. C huck Fowler Neg. m atch ing ..........................C hris Rowell M usical d ire c to r ....................... C huck Fowler M usic p erform ed b y .............. C huck Fowler M ix e r .................................................John Lewis O p tic a ls ...................................A cm e O pticals Title designer ............................... Fran Burke S tu d io s ............................................A n dre w Vial Film P rodu ctions M ixed at .................... ...........D ubbs and Co. L a b ora tories ..............

C inefilm , C o lorfilm Lab. liaison ................................... Bill G ooley B u d g e t.................................................... $20,000 Length ..................................................10 m ins G a u g e ........... W idescreen 35m m (blow -up) S h ooting s t o c k ............. Eastm ancolor 5247 P r o g r e s s ................................P o st-production S ch eduled r e le a s e ........................June 1982 C ast: W oody S trode (him self).

Synopsis: A m e rica W est is the Buffalo Bill heritage of U.S. alive and well in 1982.

Tod ay’s cow boys drive picku p vans with shotguns displayed hanging in the back window .

A lot of the film was shot at 3000m elevation in the C o lorado Rockies.

ANGELS OF WAR

Bad A n im als — The G reenboe C o rpo ratio n (Ian B a rry ); c in e m a fe a tu re ; 2nd d ra ft funding — $4000 B ali — From the M ountain to the Sea — Tam an P rodu ctions (John Darling); tele­ v is io n d o c u m e n ta ry ; s c r ip t/r e s e a r c h fu nding — $19,668 Before Your Very Eyes — Hilton Bonner; cinem a feature; s c rip t deve lopm ent funding — $15,000 The B lo o d O pal — Jam es M urray; cinem a feature; 1st draft funding — $8500 B lood R elations — Ross M atthews; cinem a feature; s c rip t deve lopm ent funding — $7000 E veryone’s Energy — G eoffrey Pike, tele­ vision series; s c rip t deve lopm ent funding — $9400 F id d le r’s B rid g e — Kit Denton; cinem a feature; sc rip t deve lopm ent funding — $8500 Link — Quest Film s (Richard Franklin); cinem a feature; sc rip t developm ent funding — $12,000 The Last Tango W ith R udolph V a lentino — Hilary Linstead; cin em a feature; 1st draft funding — $13,500 Loo king fo r H olly W aiting fo r Sam — V eronica Sweeny; cinem a feature; script deve lopm ent funding — $5500 The Man In the M ountain — T.C. P rodu c­ tions (Tom Cowan); cinem a feature; scrip t deve lopm ent funding — S2500 N eedles in H aystacks — Bob Huber, David Hall; television series, 1st dra ft funding — $10,000 G a u g e ....................................................... 16mm N lg h trid e r — Phil Noyce, Denis W hitburn, Shooting s t o c k ............. 7247 Eastm ancolor cinem a feature; s c rip t deve lopm ent funding P r o g r e s s ............................. Aw aiting release — $4500 Scheduled r e le a s e ...........Anzac Day, 1982 Paranoia — Telem ark P roductions (G ordon Synopsis: A docu m en tary film abo ut ttffe G rim sdale); cinem a feature; scrip t d e ve lop­ experiences of the people of Papua New m ent funding — $7000 Guinea durin g W orld W ar 2.

Parkes — Prem iere Pictures (Tom Broadb rid g e ); te le v is io n m in i-s e r ie s ; s c r ip t deve lopm ent funding — $4000 The P assionate Years — M erlin P rodu c­ CHANGING THE NEEDLE: tions (Anne W hitehead); television series; A study of drug rehabilitation in scrip t developm ent funding — $8189 Vietnam R u n a w a y — R oss M a tth e w s ; c in e m a feature; 2nd draft funding — $8250 Prod, com pany ............................... Jequerity The Real T hing — Talking P icture Com pany Dist. com pany .................... Le C lezio Film s (M ax O ldfield); cinem a feature; 2nd draft P ro d u c e rs ............................. M artha Ansara, funding, Stage 1 — $32,250 M avis R obertson, Sam e D ifference — M ora P roductions; Dasha Ross cinem a feature; s c rip t developm ent funding P h o to g ra p h y ............................M artha A nsara — Sound r e c o rd is t...................................... Dasha Ross $8000 Editor ............................................Colin W addy S ingled O ut — J. Sm ythe, R. de Heer, G. M acdonald, R. M ichalak; cinem a feature; Prod, c o - o r d in a to r ........... M avis R obertson script deve lopm ent funding — $8300 M usic p erform ed b y ................................ Binh Trieu Drug R ehabilitation C entre Those Dear D e parted — Hilary Linstead; M ix e r .............................................. G eorge Hart c in e m a fe a tu re ; 2nd d ra ft fu n d in g — $22,000 N a rra to r.......................................Tessa M allos T im e’s R aging — Lim eligh t Productions Interpreter ......................Nguyen van Nghia (J o a n L o n g ); c in e m a fe a tu re ; s c r ip t Title d e s ig n e r ..........................Lee W hitm ore developm ent funding — $3000 M ixed at ................................... Film A u stralia T ra c k s — Retracks P rodu ctions (Danny L a b o ra to r y ..........................................C o lorfilm C ollins); cinem a feature; 1st dra ft funding — Lab. liaison ................................. Bill Gooley, $31,860 W arren Keevers The U m brella W om an — M argaret Kelly B u d g e t....................................................$78,000 P roductions; cinem a feature; 3rd draft Length ................................................... 53 m ins funding and p ro je c t deve lopm ent funding G a u g e .........................................................16mm Shooting s t o c k ..........................E a stm ancolor — $48,087 Progress ............................... Aw aiting release The U n scram bled Egg — Ken Hayles; Synopsis: C o nditio ns o f post-w ar Vietnam cinem a feature; 2nd draft funding — $8000 are revealed thro ugh a study of one of the W acvie — Stable Productions; cinem a m ost serious consequences of the war: feature; s c rip t deve lopm ent funding — drug add iction. The cure of d ru g add iction $6000 relies on tra d itio n a l m edicine, including W hite M eat — A stra Film P roductions (Dick acup unctu re, exercise and herbal extracts, Mason); cinem a feature; treatm ent funding and on a total change in social e nviro n­ — $4500 ment. In the face of m aterial scarcity, the Package Development em phasis is on self-reliance.

B arker/K avana gh Cable Package — Lynn B a rk e r/B ria n Kavanagh; package deve lop­ m ent funding for cable television — $25,600 TALES OF THREE CITIES Prod, com pany ................ G alaxy Features Production Investment Dist. com pany .................. G alaxy Features T im e ’s R aging — Lim eligh t P roductions P ro d u c e r................................................W illiam " Russell (Joan Long); cinem a feature; additional D ir e c to r ...................................................W illiam Russell funding tow ards revised pro d u ctio n budget S crip tw rite rs ............................. John Hallows, — $15,222 Fran Hernon Based on the original idea Loans b y .......................................................... W illiam Russell To the N orth — M alcolm D ouglas Film s; P h o to g ra p h y ..........................................W illiam Russell bridg ing loan fo r three o ne -ho ur d o cu m en­ Sound re c o rd is t................................... V irg inia A d dison taries — $24,000 Exec, pro d u c e r ...J a m e s N. Russell, MBE M oving O ut — P a ttinson /B allantyne Film Assoc, p roduce r ................ V irginia A d dison Productions; a dd itional in crease in lim ited Prod, m a n a g e r__ Jam es N. Russell, MBE guarantee facilities — $3214 Prod, secretary .................. V irg inia Addison

Prod, com pany ........................... Robin Film s Dist. co m pany ............................. Ronin Film s P ro d u c e rs ....................................A n dre w Pike, Hank Nelson, Gavan Daws D ir e c to r s ..................................... A n dre w Pike, Hank Nelson, Gavan Daws Prod, accountant ........... W illiam B rundson S crip tw rite rs ............................. A n dre w Pike, Asst d ir e c t o r ..............................John Hallows Hank Nelson, C o n tin u ity .............................................. V irg inia A d dison Gavan Daws S crip t assistant ..........................Fran Hernon P hotography ...................... Dennis O 'R ourke Cam era S ound r e c o rd is t......................................... G ary Kildea o p e r a to r .........................Raym und Strange E ditor ........................................ Stew art Young N a rra to rs ......................................................John Hallows, A d d itio n a l p h o to g ra p h y ............C hris Owen, Fran Hernon Tim Asch, Still p h o to g ra p h y ..............Raym und Strange Steve M cM illan, Length ........................................... 3 x 48 m ins Kim M cKenzie G auge 20% 16mm film , 80% 3/<-inch video Neg. m atch ing .................. N egative C utting THE ACTOR-DIRECTOR S hooting s t o c k __ 7240 and Sony U-m atic Service RELATIONSHIP P r o g r e s s .........................................P rodu ction S ound e d ito r ........................... Stew art Young Scheduled r e le a s e ................. June 30, 1982 M ix e r ................................... Julian E llingw orth P ro d u c e r.................................... Eric H alliday Cast: John Hallows (s c rip tw rite r/n a rra to r), N a rra to r........................................................John W aiko D ir e c to r ................................ C ynthia C onnop Fran H ernon (s c rip tw rite r/n a rra to r).

O p tic a ls ................................ A cm e O pticals P rodu ction m a n a g e r....... Nancy W ahlquist S y n o p s is : C u rre n t a ffa irs d o c u m e n ta ry P u b lic ity .......................................A n dre w Pike G a u g e ..............................................16mm film dealing w ith aspects of three cities — Hong Progress ................................ P re-production M ixed at ....................................................Atlab Kong, S ingap ore and B a ngkok — in c lu d ­ L a b o ra to r y .................Cine Film Lab ora tory Synopsis: A film exam ining the actorin g th e b ic e n te n n ia l c e le b r a tio n s in B u d g e t.................................................. $80,000 d irector relatio nship from the audition, B angkok. thro ugh rehearsal to the shoot.

-Length .................................................. 54 m ins

AUSTRALIAN FILM AND TELEVISION SCHOOL

THE ACTOR-DIRECTOR RELATIONSHIP (within the production of November Eleventh, 1975) P r o d u c e r.....................................Eric Halliday D irector ................................ C ynthia Connop Photography ............................. Jeff M organ S o u n d .......................................... Bruce Emery Editors .................................Cynthia Connop, Guy Cam pbell P rodu ction a s s is ta n t....... Nancy W ahlquisi Progress .................................... ...P ro d u c tio n G a u g e ...................................1-inch videotape S y n o p s i s : A n o b s e r v a t i o n of t h e developm ent of the characters with the five d irectors and th e ir different m ethods.

AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING REGULATIONS P r o d u c e r................................... Eric Halliday D ir e c to r .....................................A nton Bowler W rite r/p r e s e n te r ........... J u lie Jam es-B ailey G auge ................................... 1-inch videotape Progress .................................P re-production S yn o p s is : D e s c rib e s and e xp la in s this aspect of Australian television.

Synopsis: Prof. G eduid is interview ed by W ayne Levy. They trace Chaplin fro m chifdhood thro ugh his career as actor, com poser and director, to his death, w ith the use of excerpts fro m his film s and stills.

mt

FILM A U S T R A L IA ANZCAN CABLE Dist. com pany .......................Film A u stralia P ro d u c e r.................................Peter Johnson L e n g th '..................................................24 m ins G a u g e .........................................................16mm Progress .................................. P re-p ro d u ctio n Scheduled re le a s e ....................................1985 Synopsis: A film on the cable to be laid between Australia, New Zealand, Norfolk Island, Fiji, Hawaii and Canada.

AT THE CANOE CAMP

Prod, com pany ...................... Film A u stralia Disi, com pany ........................ Film A u stralia P ro d u c e r......................................... Ian D unlop D ir e c to r ..................................P hilip Robertson BASIC TELEVISION MAKE-UP S crip tw rite r ......................... Philip R obertson P h o to g ra p h y ............................. Dean Sem ler Sound re c o rd is t............................ Bob Hayes P ro d u c e r....................................................... Eric H alliday Editor .................................... Philip R obertson D ir e c to r ...................................... Anton Bowler Asst p ro d u c e r................... -, R osem ary Gow W rite r/p re s e n te r ...................... Dawn Swaine N a rr a to r ................................. Philip R obertson P roduction a s s is ta n t...........M argot Feehan Length ................................................... 1487 ft Editor .......................................Guy C am pbell G a u g e ....................................................... 16mm Progress ........................................ Production Shooting s to c k .................Ektachrom e 7252 Synopsis: N a rritjin M aym u nu m akps a trad itiona l d ug out canoe.

DESIGN

P r o d u c e r.................................. Eric Halliday W rite r/p re s e n te r ....................Dennis Gentle G a u g e ...................................1-inch videotape P r o g r e s s .................................P re-production Synopsis: A th re e -p a rt investigation of design, in the studio and on location.

RADIO — COPYWRITING P ro d u c e r................................... Eric H alliday D ir e c to r ..................................... Anton Bowler W rite rs /p re s e n te rs ...................... Lois Baird, Bryon Q uigley Associate p r o d u c e r ..........C hris Nicholson P h o to g ra p h y ...............G eorge Petrykowski, C hris Fraser S o u n d ........................................ Steve W akely Technical d ire c to r ...................Bob Forster G a u g e ...................................1-inch videotape P r o g r e s s .........................................P roduction Synopsis: Training program on w riting for com m e rcial radio.

THE STRUCTURE OF TELEVISION IN BRITAIN P ro d u c e r....................................Eric Halliday D ir e c to r .....................................A nton Bowler W rite r/p r e s e n te r ...........Julie Jam es-Bailey G a u g e ................................. 1-inch videotape Progress ............................... P ost-production Synopsis: Describes and explains these aspects of British com m e rcial television.

T.V. JOURNALISM 1. THE REPORTER; 2. THE NEWSROOM

AUSTRALIA DAY Prod, com pany ...................... Film Australia Dist. com pany ........................ Film A u stralia P ro d u c e r............................. Elizabeth Knight D ir e c to r .................................Susan Cornw all Asst p ro d u c e r............................... Pam Ennor Length ................................................ 20 m ins G a u g e ....................................................... 16mm Scheduled r e le a s e ....................... A p ril 1982 Synopsis: A film to encourage p articip ation in A u s tra lia Day c e le b ra tio n s . For the N ational A u stralia Day C om m ittee.

AUSTRALIA IN THE ’80s (Spin Offs) Prod, com pany .........................................MDA Dist. com pany ......................... Film Australia P ro d u c e r.....................................................Peter Johnson D ir e c to r ...........................................John Leake S crip tw rite rs ..........................John Edwards, Laurie D u rrant P h o to g ra p h y .............................................. Ross King, M ick B onnerm an Editor ................................. John M andleburg Asst p ro d u c e r............................... ian A dkins Cam era assistant ...........................Ian Harley 2nd unit p h o to g ra p h y ................. John Leake N a rra to r........................................................ PaulRicketts Length ........................................... 6 x 10 m ins G a u g e .........................................................16mm Shooting s t o c k ..........................Eastm ancolor Progress ................................ P o st-production S cheduled r e le a s e ................................... June 1982 Synopsis: Six film s dealing with specific subjects m entioned in the m a jo r film : i.e., m ining, agricu lture , science, com m erce, recreation and politics.

THE AUSTRALIAN EYE P ro d u c e r.............

W rite r/p re s e n te r P r o d u c tio n .........

G a u g e ..................

Progress .............

__ Eric Halliday .. .M ike M inehan Nancy W ahlquist 1-inch videotape . .P re -p ro d u ctio n

VIDEOCRIT: APPROACHES TO AUSTRALIAN FILMS THE BUSH MYTH IN AUSTRALIAN FILMS P ro d u c e r.................................... Eric Halliday D ir e c to r ...................................... Eric H alliday W rite r/p re s e n te r ...................... Bruce M olloy G a u g e ................................... 1-inch videotape Progress ................................. P re-production Synopsis: Investigates the "bush m yth” as expressed in A u stralian film s.

VIDEOCRIT: THE LIFE AND ART OF CHARLIE CHAPLIN P r o d u c e r.....................................Eric Halliday D irector ............................... .Cynthia C onnop W rite r/p r e s e n te r ......... Prof. Harry G eduid Technical d ire c to r...................... Jim Tum eth Photography ......... Youvanna Chantharasy, John Agapitos, Neil M aloney S o u n d .......................................... David Furley Floor m a n a g e r ................. Glenyss Steedm an P rodu ction a s s is ta n t....... Nancy W ahlquist G a u g e ..................................... 1-inch videotape Length ............................................2 x 30 m ins Progress .......................................In release

Prod, com pany ........................Film A u stralia Dist. com pany ......................... Film A u stralia P ro d u c e rs ................................................ M acek Rubetzki, M alcolm Otton D irector ............................................David M uir S crip tw rite r .................................... David M uir P h o to g ra p h y .................................. David M uir Editor ............................................ Sue Horsley Asst p ro d u c e r........................... Ron Hannam Unit m anager ................ C o rrie Soeterboek Cam era assistant ........................... Jim W ard Length ........................................ 4 x 10 m ins G a u g e ....................................................... 35m m Shooting s t o c k .......................................5247 P r o g r e s s .......................................... In release Synopsis: Four film s in a contin uing series on A ustralian painters.

AVIATION AUSTRALIA Prod, com pany .......................Film A u stralia P ro d u c e r.........................................Don M urray D irector ...................................M ichael Fallson S crip tw rite r ........................... M ichael Fallson P h o to g ra p h y ..........................John H oskings Sound r e c o rd is t.................... Rod S im m ons Asst p ro d u c e r.......................... Ron Hannam Length ..................................................20 m ins G a u g e .........................................................35m m S hooting s t o c k ..........................Eastm ancolor Progress ............................... Aw aiting release Scheduled re le a s e ....................................1982 Synopsis: Follow ing Q antas 8 fro m London to Sydney, and a lig h t a ircra ft from Dubbo to Sydney, the film studies the control over Australian airspace.

Continued on p. 181

CINEMA PAPERS April - 161

MALCOLM

COOKE

AND

by a r r a n g e m e n t

FRANCIS

FORD

MIKE

WALSH

wi t h

COPPOLA

PRESENT

Vincent Canby, New York Times

Jack Kroll, Newsweek “The most thrilling film event in many years. It is an explosion o f creativity by a man on fire. ”

“Napoleon will remain the film event o f the year. One realizes that there once was a film that justified all the adjectives that have subsequently been debased.

Napoleon sweeps, it takes the breath ayvay, it dazzles. I t’s not to be missed. ”

Pauline Kael, The New Yorker “Gance is a passionate wizard.

We come away from Napoleon exulting in his extraordinary inventiveness, spirit and zingy virtuousity. You applaud, you cheer, it makes you gasp with pleasure. ”

Judith Crist “The most exhilarating and satisfying cinema experience I can remember. ”

Rex Reed Kathleen Carroll, Daily News

“A cinematic event that can truthfully be called historic. I can't imagine anything more completely enthralling or unique. ”

“A silent epic that puts the talkies to shame. A visual experience o f such grandeur that it staggers the mind. ”

Music composed by CARM INE CO PPO LA

Reconstructed by KEVIN BROWNLOW

HOT JUST AN EPIC FILM OR A SYMPHONY CONCERT BUT A ONCE IN A LIFETIME EVENT! To be presented LIVE with a 56 PIECE SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA AT

STATE THEATRE SYDNEY

INDOOR SPORTS STADIUM CANBERRA

PALAIS THEATRE MELBOURNE

Preferential bookings on sale from mid-April (watch daily papers).

H e a tw a v e Geoff Gardner Heatwave’s subject is a grandiose property development in Sydney which threatens to disrupt the lives of the mainly old and poor living in the homes which have to be demolished for the project. The drama focuses on archi­ tect Stephen West (Richard Moir) who is designing the project and an anarchist/terrorist/murderer Kate Dean (Judy Davis) at the forefront of those trying to stop it. The architect con­ cedes that the project will only be affordable for the well-off. It will, however, serve as a model for future well planned low-cost housing.

The film opens abruptly with an act of public violence perpetrated by thuggish agents of wealth. Squatters are cleared from a building as other agents of wealth in Australia, the police and the television reporters, stand around watching. A heavy mallet is smashed through a door in slow motion.

The televising of the event and the subsequent coverage of later happen­ ings by radio is the device by which the audience is kept involved with the back­ ground of the film: political and busi­ ness manipulation and exploitation.

The device is common to a lot of films and probably owes its popularity to Robert Altman. In Australia, it has been used to best advantage in Sunday Too Far Away and, for a slightly differ­ ent purpose, in Palm Beach.

In Heatwave, its counterpoint between the official view of events and what is happening on screen produces a subversive view of the use and abuse of power and influence outside the law.

The irregular use of slow motion to emphasize certain actors throughout the film is continued and is apparently conceived as a distanciation device. It is not used to significantly interpolate meaning and one senses that often, in­ stead of achieving the desired distanc­ ing effect, it enables the audience to

luxuriate in certain moments of violence.

Heatwave is an overtly-political film which traces certain patterns of power and authority in Australian society.

These patterns do not relate to govern­ ment or the legal system except insofar as two peripheral characters are ineffectual and corrupt policemen, finally seen out of focus fleeing from the scene of a violent crime.

The viewpoint from which the narra­ tive is entered is that of Kate Dean, the anarchist, whose actions against the developer range from trivia (spilling food on him) to violent crime (she con­ fesses to bombing his equipment and one assumes she has murdered a lawyer). Because of its absence of refer­ ence to over-riding legal or political structures, a common but rather sim­ plistic judgment of the film is to lump it in the category/genre of paranoia films typified by such excessively boring works as The Parallax View, The Domino Principle and Flight of the Con­ dor. That branch of filmmaking ex­ cludes any real notion of realistic detail from intruding into the surface of the work.

Heatwave’s surface of plot and event has the meticulous attention to accur­ ately-constructed detail one finds in work like Sidney Lumet’s New York police thrillers. In particular, quite elaborate amounts of information are given about financial, architectural and legal machinations, giving one, on film, rather more insight into such areas than ever presented previously.

Beneath the constant action that oc­ curs in the film are two points of character. Kate Dean’s remains fixed; she reverts to violence as and when she pleases. Stephen West, despite the stan­ dard monotone playing now familiar from Richard Moir, is far more intrigu­ ing and more subject to change.

West is a character new to Aus­ tralian films, the supercilious poor boy made good, a model of the new right­

winger of today, an example of those

who make it by their own efforts and, therefore, believe that it is only lack of effort and hard work which prevents others doing similarly. His work looks, to this untrained eye, quite brilliant.

West leads a comfortable, self-centred and, despite an attentive wife, insula­ ted existence. This calm is shattered as he starts to see social forces and mach­ inery unleashed of which he was un­ aware.

My first reaction to the film was to believe that it was ‘about’ Stephen’s development of political conscious­ ness, the slow and unsteady realization that he was being manipulated by the darkest face of capitalism.

Watching the film again I am not at all sure that such a ‘momentous’ development takes place. By not having that happen, something far more interesting takes place with this charac­ ter. The Christmas party scenes of family reunion indicate his workingclass background that he has shed, an environment in which he is now self­ conscious.

His initial contacts with workingclass residents are antagonistic and mostly uncomprehending of their prin­ ciples. He has an armor against the real world made up of sarcasm and petu­ lance. This brilliant boy is now at an emotional loss at not getting his own way. As a result, he suffers domestic and employment humiliations, and a bashing.

By the end, it is hard to believe he has learnt much: i.e., it is difficult to believe that he yet understands the exploit­ ative and manipulative social forces on whose behalf he has worked. Thus, though the audience understands what has taken place, Stephen West still seems rooted to his own self-centred­ ness. This concept of character and politics has parallels with Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s work, in its ideo­ logy of exploitation and in its method of expression via a straightforward and quite simple narrative.

West’s only hope of salvation seems

CINEMA PAPERS April - 163

Heatwave

Reds

Stephen West, centre, Robert Duncan (Bill Hunter) and Victoria West (Anna Jemison) at the New Year’s Eve Party, before the violence. Heatwave.

to lie in his emotions about the trans­ fixing and charismatic Kate Dean. It’s easy to believe in anything that eman­ ates from that luminous Judy Davis mouth and eyes. It is to them that West is drawn and them that lead him to be present at the final shootout. He is not likely to come over to the side of the angels, a side which is also heavily com­ promised by its resort to murder as a political weapon.

The political reference points in Heatwave posit no smooth or ordered solution to capitalist chaos. Whether that might constitute paranoia is rather in the eye of the beholder.

There are flaws in Heatwave; most of them spring from scripting ideas that do not work and might have been aban­ doned. The silliest aspect is the attempt to record and incorporate aspects of certain union battles into the narrative.

There are obvious attempts to parallel these actions, but their presentation is trivial, disconnected and rather light­ weight. It boils down to an abrupt and unconvincing scene with the unionist marching in to a meeting of capitula­ tion.

Capitulation is proper, it happens all the time, but its lack of any dramatic conviction or ring of probability is quite another matter.

In a similar vein, there is a suspicion that the desire of the script to get West and Dean into bed suffers from obvious contrivance. It is a plot occurrence that takes place from what might be rather crasser motives than operate for much of the rest of the film. Their sexual involvement is part of the explanation of West’s developing awareness.

Dramatically, it may have been more desirable to opt for something more ambiguous — non-consummated and unfulfilled desire may fuel his fascina­ tion more than sexual satisfaction (if the latter has in fact occurred all round).

Heatwave is finally an uplifting and inspiring work. The fact that it tackles such themes in a fully commercial pro­ ject (and not just in some token 16mm Creative Development Fund ghetto film) is a triumph. That films can now be made which treat, expressively and openly, wartish social practice and cor­ ruption among the pillars of society is to be totally applauded.

It was rare (it still is!) for any Aus­ tralian feature film to be discomforting to anyone. For Australians, to make films which expose those that do wrong, those who manipulate the law, those 164 - April CINEMA PAPERS

whose greed produces violence on others is a remarkable and much desired transformation of Australian production practice. Phillip Noyce and his writers and actors have done all this, and it reminds us that it was Noyce’s only other 35mm feature, Newsfront, that also broke new ground in an imag­ inative and clever way.

One hopes that Heatwave will allow all those involved to make more of its kind, for it is as skilled a piece of film­ making as anything made by Martin S corsese, whose ex p ressio n istic methods in films like Taxi Driver are echoed here.

One hopes that others will take the lead, not drop the ball, and that Heat­ wave’s joke about Howard Rorke stays just that and the film does not remain a single lonely fountainhead with its prophetic self-reflection nestled in it.

Directed by: Phillip Noyce. Producer: Hilary Linstead. Co-producer: Ross Mathews.

Screenplay: Marc Rosenberg. Phillip Noyce, from an original screenplay by Mark Stiles, Tim Gooding. Director of photography: Vincent Monton. Editor: John Scott. Production designer: Ross Major. Music: Cameron Allan. Sound recor­ dist: Lloyd Carrick. Cast: Judy Davis (Kate Dean), Richard Moir (Stephen West), Chris Haywood (Peter Houseman), Bill Hunter (Robert Duncan), John Gregg (Phillip Lawson), Anna Jemison (Vic­ toria Weat), John Meillon (Freddy Dwyer), Dennis Miller (Mick Davies), Peter Hehir (Bodyguard), Carole Skinner (Mary Ford), Gillian Jones (Barbie Taylor), Frank Gallacher (Dick Molnar). Produc­ tion company: Heatwave Films. Distributor: Roadshow. 35mm. 93 mins. Australia. 1982.

H e a tw a v e :

Reds Keith Connolly Warren Beatty plays the end against the middle in Reds. His epic (200 minutes) biopic of John Reed, the most attractive Figure in the far-left wing of the U.S. pantheon, is couched in a style thoroughly familiar to the middlebrow audience — romantic-adventure.

Thus, though the film’s long-dead characters (Reed shares the spotlight with his wife, the radical writer and feminist Louise Bryant) would be as unacceptable to the Reagan establish­ ment as they were to Wilson’s, the modern filmgoer is not asked to identify with the sympatheticallypresented couple, played by Beatty and Diane Keaton. Rather, he is soothed with a touching love story played out against a background of cataclysmic events. It is a formula that has worked a dozen times, from Scarlett and Rhett to Lara and Yuri, and there is no

reason it should not do so for the reallife John and Louise.

Beatty does not play down or apol­ ogise for Reed’s revolutionary politics and involvements, and he does not distort known facts, as do biopics of other left-wing heroes of the Americas (Elia Kazan’s Viva Zapata!, Richard Fleischer’s Che!) or stop short of the ‘difficult’ parts (Hal Ashby’s Bound for Glory, about Woody Guthrie).

So far as this reviewer can tell — I make no claim to be any kind of an expert, but have read widely on the subject — the film’s account of Reed’s hectic last five years (1915-1920) — during which he reported and suppor­ ted the Bolshevik Revolution in the Soviet Union, co-founded the U.S. Communist Party, died of typhus and was buried in the wall of the Kremlin — is reasonably faithful to the historical record and the ideological milieu.

Perhaps inevitably, there is the occa­ sional anachronism or inconsistency of speech — as when Emma Goldman, the celebrated anarchist, complains in 1919 Russia that “ the system” isn’t working — but no serious departures from fact.

Some of Reed’s contemporaries, such as the legendary IWW leader Big Bill H ayw ood, are com pressed into unrecognizable symbols (it might have been better to leave them out alto­ gether), while certain events are tele­ scoped by Beatty and his co-script­ writer, British playwright Trevor Griffiths.

But Beatty gets the important things right. He portrays Reed as an ideal­ istic, impulsive, romantic of the Left, an ally of the working class who hailed from an upper-class family, saw what he wanted to see in the Bolshevik Revolution and, absurdly, adopted it as a facile model for achieving socialism in the U.S. Reed wasn’t alone in this, of course, in the U.S. or elsewhere. What made him so special in the U.S. was his com­ bination of a vividly-persuasive tongue and pen, charismatic character, adven­ turous spirit and patrician origins (he was just five years out of Harvard when the film begins).

Other elements that ring true are the intellectual ferment of New York’s Greenwich Village in those years, the heyday of the so-called ‘Lyrical Left’, euphoric scenes in Petrograd, 1917, and the characteristic sectarian in-fighting surrounding the founding of the imitative U.S. Communist Party.

Nevertheless, most of this, and a good deal more of a political and ideo­ logical nature, is background — detailed, expansive and responsible, but background for all that. In essence, Reds is the love story of two caught up (and, in Reed’s case, consumed) by the apocalypse of their age.

In no way is that assessment intended to be disparaging. Beatty’s cour­ ageous, thoughtful film rescues these unusual and significant people from undeserved obscurity, and that in itself is a worthwhile enterprise. If he chooses to do so in the filmmaking style he knows best — and can best sell to the com puters th a t do H ollyw oo d ’s thinking these days — good on him.

His choice of title is not unimpor­ tant in this context, inferring that even adherents of the most un-American of heresies can aspire to, and achieve, the best of American qualities, like love, honor and the pursuit of happiness — all the things, in fact, that the Holly­ wood epic asks of its heroes. “They were a couple,” observes one of the 33 aged real-life eye-witnesses whose

varied and contradictory testimonies punctuate the film.

Indeed, Beatty could have laid on the romantics far more thickly and stayed within the bounds of veracity. Reed was an inveterate seeker after the ideal woman, and was forever announcing that he had found her. When, at the age of 28, he met Louise, then a 27-year-old would-be writer and photographer, he issued yet another declaration of dis­ covery and the Village salons chortled knowingly. But this really was “ it” for both of them, though by all accounts they practised what a later age would call “open marriage” .

The most affecting and incisive moments in the film are precisely those which indicate the deepening inter­ dependence of the relationship. At first, Louise lives almost entirely in the shadow of Reed’s fame and magnetic personality. Painfully, she develops talents and perceptions of her own (from the little I have seen of her collected journalism, she was at least Reed’s equal as a writer).

Louise’s affaire with playwright Eugene O’Neill (Jack Nicholson) is seen largely as a reaction to Reed’s more intense political preoccupations — in this instance, the 1916 U.S. presi­ dential campaign. Later, after the couple has married, split and made up, she expresses — in a moving interlude during the Russian Revolution — her gratitude at being drawn into the maelstrom of world events.

Beatty and Griffiths deftly relate the strengths and the difficulties of the rela­ tionship to the political and polemical battle in which Reed is engaged, such as separation arising from his commit­ ments to union struggles and other poli­ tical missions.

The film’s theme may be viewed as a running discourse on commitment; private and public, and the interaction of one to the other. In fact, what I like most about Reds is this unemphatic, but palpable, association. It suggests that there need be neither distinction nor discrepancy between the personal love of individuals and their devotion to ideas and causes — even “ unpopular” ones. A naive notion no doubt, requiring a high degree of honesty and tolerance, and easier to appreciate on the screen than in real life. Here Beatty not only invests a Hollywood-style romance with the verisimilitude of recent history, he transcends the romantic conventions.

This begins with the lovers’ first meeting, when Reed visits his family in P ortland, Oregon, in 1915 after returning from covering the Mexican Revolution (of course, he was with the rebels) and World War 1.

Aspiring photographer and writer Louise leaves her dentist husband to live with Reed in the radical bohemia of Greenwich Village, at an arty colony at P rovincetow n (w here she m eets O’Neill) and, after their marriage, in a semi-rural retreat at Croton, on the Hudson. Most of the changes in their steadily-deepening relationship are revealed at these three abodes. From there, the Revolution steadily takes over their lives and, while they still find time for each other, there are other more urgent preoccupations and long, enforced separations.

Reunited behind the French lines on the Western Front, after Louise had stamped off on a war correspondent assignment as a result of the row over O’Neill, the couple travel to Russia, where the Tsar has recently been toppled. They arrive just in time for the

Reds

main event of the era, the seizure of power by Lenin’s Bolsheviks in November 1917 (it was still October under the old Julian calendar to which the Russians then adhered).

Reed, now a convinced Leninist (his Marxism remained shaky), returns to the U.S. to write his electrifying account of the Bolshevik Revolution, Ten Days That Shook the World, and help found a U.S. Communist Party after failing to persuade the then quite large and influential Socialist Party to move further left. Sent by his faction — there were, for a time, two contending Communist Parties — to seek the imprimatur of the Communist Inter­ national, he is interned in Finland, inveigled into a propaganda trip to Baku and stricken with typhus. Louise turns up just in time for a death-bed scene that is sentimental yet gently distanced.

Although Reds at times resembles, in scope and style, such heroic epics of the 1960s as David Lean’s Lawrence of Arabia and Dr Zhivago, Beatty never allows the spectacle to overwhelm the characters. For one thing, most of the

depicts, address bewildered Russian workers in English, speed around Petrograd in a truck passing out Rus­ sian-language leaflets he couldn’t read and participate in the storming of the Winter Palace.'

If memory serves, the Winter Palace sequence is modelled on Sergei Eisenstein’s carefully-authentic October, itself based upon Reed’s Ten Days That Shook the World. . .

Among the many graces of a thoughtfully-produced film is its casting. Beatty and Keaton may be too tarred with the film-star brush for one to accept them unreservedly as the pair they are supposed to be, but by all accounts Reed, though not as hand­ some as Beatty, was a man of extra­ ordinary charisma, while Louise Bryant has been described by more than one contemporary as a charming, talented individualist.

Jack Nicholson is, mercifully, a restrained O’Neill; Edward Herrman, in a few fragmented minutes, is suitably lofty as Max Eastman, another for­ gotten genius of an earlier American Left; and author Jerzy Kosinski makes

the outstanding female radical thinker and activist of her time, and emanates the brusquely uncompromising brasstacks fundamentalism that led her so quickly into conflict with the Bol­ sheviks. Goldman is, therefore, the most convenient vehicle for the doubts and disillusion that many idealistic overseas supporters of the Revolution soon began to experience. Thus, as mentioned earlier, a few uncharacter­ istic, even alien, phrases are put into her mouth, but as a whole the depiction seems a valid one.

Certainly, she is correctly seen as insisting that questions of women’s rights should not be submerged in the day-to-day exigencies of the political struggle, while her disavowal of Bol­ shevism in practice — or, more pre­ cisely, the compromises Lenin was forced to make — is well documented.

In this connection, Reed also is seen to exhibit the beginnings of disillusion, although he defensively rebuts Gold­ man’s most trenchant criticisms. This, too, has a certain historical validity.

But, according to Theodore Draper,

there is no evidence that Reed was

Eugene O’Neill (a “mercifully restrained”Jack Nicholson) and sometime lover, Louise Bryant (Diane Keaton). Warren Beatty’s Reds.

big action set-pieces are confined to the a convincing screen debut in the role of about to break with Communism at the second, and shorter, part. More impor­ Comintern leader Grigori Zinoviev. time of his death: tantly, canny plotting and editing keep (The last, incidentally, in depicting “ Disillusionment there was, deeply the principals in the forefront of events. Zinoviev as a dissembling, self-satis­ implanted, but . . . John Reed had Strict-interpretationists may be irked fied pooh-bah, is the one really unfair probably paid for his faith too dearly by some of his juxtapositions, as when a portrait in the whole film — but that is to give it up without another translated Reed speech appears to set Beatty’s doing, not Kosinski’s.) struggle.”2 the workers marching towards the The big gun of the supporting cast, The weariness Beatty portrays in Winter Palace, or the couple’s sexual however, is Maureen Stapleton as the Reed towards the end is presumably reunion is montaged into the Bolshevik legendary Emma Goldman. With the intended to be due not only to priva­ rising. help of the wardrobe and make-up tion and illness, but also doubt and But it is a matter of historical record departments, she strikingly resembles indecision. that Reed did do some of the things that 1. John P. Diggins, The American Left in 2. Theodore Draper, The Roots of Amer­ I have heard people question after the Twentieth Century, Harcourt, Bruce, ican Communism, Viking, New York, seeing the film. He did, as Beatty Jovanovich, New York, 1973.

1963.

However, while Beatty quite prop­ erly presents the misgivings expressed by some leading lights of the U.S. Left 60 or so years ago (and it should also be noted that at first the Bolshevik Revo­ lution was greeted with rapture by a majority of the world’s Leftists of every tendency), at no stage does he turn the film over to neo-McCarthyite tarradiddle, as he might have been prompted to do in the age of Ronald Reagan. The closest anyone comes to direct denun­ ciation is Nicholson’s Eugene O’Neill when he tells Louise that her admira­ tion of Russian Bolshevism is an inverted Roman Catholicism.

Almost every production decision taken by Beatty in this massive project is, either successful or, at least, justi­ fiable. But one I find difficult to account for is the failure to identify the 33 real-life witnesses who pop up throughout the film like soloists from a nonagenarian Greek chorus, expound­ ing, clarifying, contradicting, back­ grounding and, I dare say, confusing some people. I recognized a handful of them: novelists Henry Miller and Rebecca West, Lady Dora Russell (a fellow-delegate with Reed to the Comintern), film journalist Adela Rogers St John and civil liberties stal­ wart Roger Baldwin.

Other members of a motley crew include sociologist Scott Nearing, phil­ osopher Will Durant, Oleg Kerensky, son of the provisional government Russian leader the Bolsheviks threw out (he plays his father in the film), veteran Communist journalist Art Shields, one-time party comrades of Reed’s like Will Weinstone and, so help me, comedian George Jessel.

What some of them have to do with the subject is not altogether clear, though others provide interesting insights. Presumably, Beatty left their names off the testimony because such ticketed talking-heads are a standard part of most historical television docu­ mentary. If so, he need not have both­ ered — Reds is as much like television documentary as Lawrence of Arabia is propaganda for the PLO. That it also rises head and shoulders above other big-budget spectacles of recent times is equally apparent, and for the best possible reasons: to wit, the ap p licatio n of intelligence and humanity to all the essential Film­ making skills (among which Richard S ylbert’s production designs and Vittorio Storaro’s relatively-subdued photography stand out). _ But I cannot help wondering just who is going to see this film and what many of them make of it. Like the young woman who asked after a preview: “ Was that terrific marching song by Sondheim or Grusin?” She seemed a bit miffed to learn that it was the work of a couple of nobodies named Pottier and Degeyter and that it was called “The Internationale” .' I suspect that to her the events she had just witnessed occurred not only in another time, but in a distant galaxy.

Reds: Directed by: Warren Beatty. Producer: Warren Beatty. Executive producers: Simon Relph, Dede Allen. Screenplay: Warren Beatty, Trevor Griffiths. Director of photography: Vittorio Storaro. Editors: Dede Allen. Craig McKay. Production designer: Richard Sylbert. Music: Stephen Sondheim, Dave Grusin. Sound: Richard Cirincione. Cast: Warren Beatty (John Reed), Diane Keaton (Louise Bryant), Edward Herrman (Max Eastman), Jerzy Kosinski (Grigori Zino­ viev), Jack Nicholson (Eugene O'Neill), Paul Sorvino (Louis Fraina), Maureen Stapleton (Emma Goldman), Nicolas Coster (Paul Trullinger), M. Emmet Walsh (speaker), Ian Wolfe (Partlow), Bessie Love (Mrs Partlow). Production company: Paramount. Distributor: CIC. 35mm. 200 mins U.S. 1981.

CINEMA PAPERS April - 165

Starstruck

S ta r s tr u c k

Debi Enker Australia’s first “comedy musical” is concerned with the themes and rela­ tionships that its director, Gillian Arm­ strong, has proved to be familiar with, and adept in portraying: a woman’s dreams and aspirations; her efforts to realize them in a personal sense and through her relationships; and the con­ trasting environments that her quest for recognition creates.

As in My Brilliant Career and 14’s Good, 18’s Better, the heroine is caught between two stages of her life, rep­ resented by two radically different environments. Her progress towards the materialization of her ambition, her struggle for independence, coupled with her reliance on her family, and her methods and her pitfalls form the narrative core of the film, in this case supplemented by a series of musical numbers.

The story is set in Sydney, where Jackie Mullens (Jo Kennedy), daughter of Pearl (Margo Lee) who runs a working-class, harbor-side pub, has decided to be a star. Her brash, self­ appointed mentor and manager is her 14-year-old cousin, Angus (Ross O’Donovan), whose unreliable father, Lou (Dennis Miller), has dumped him in Pearl’s care while he pursues greener pastures. Together they enlist a back­ up band, The Wombats, led by Robbie (Ned Lander), and set out to assault the entrenched music industry, personified

by Terry Lambert (John O’May), the host of a Countdown-style music program called Wow. Their ultimate goal is to appear at Wow’s New Year’s Eve concert at the Opera House, thus securing recognition as musicians, and to win the $25,000 prizemoney to save the Harbour View Hotel, which has been threatened with closure by the brewery.

It is a conventional story, tracing Jackie’s precarious rise to stardom through any means that Angus dreams up, and setting the homely pub back­ ground against the glossy clubs and studios of Sydney. Undeniably optim­ istic, often simplistic, it is also a wellobserved and finely-detailed caricature of Australian society at its kitschest and dazzling best.

Starstruck has no pretensions to depth of social, political or historical content; it is satisfied to present a lovable, idiosyncratic group of charac­ ters, gently explore some of their values, beliefs and problems, and allow them to be simply and happily resolved.

While many of its contemporary musical counterparts are concerned with the ultimately unsolvable prob­ lems of poverty, racial tension and class conflicts, as in Breaking Glass and West Side Story, the validity of war in Hair, or chronicle and reinterpret history in Jesus Christ Superstar, Cabaret and Singing in the Rain, Star­ struck pursues its course in the vein of The Monkees and the first films of The Beatles, accepting success as its des­ tination and jauntily detailing all of the pranks and pitfalls that litter the path.

The narrative concludes with the first real taste of this success and, thereby, differs from the musicals that question the motivations and the methods of illustrious celebrities in AH That Jazz, Phantom of the Paradise and Nashville, and avoids the problem of examining the price of stardom against the quality of life, as in A Star is Born and Satur­ day Night Fever.

As in My Brilliant Career, the narra­ 166 - A pril CINEMA PAPERS

tive develops through the depiction of conflicting environments. The world that Angus and Jackie aspire to join — the musical world — is fast and glossy.

One of the first musical numbers, Jackie’s debut at the Lizard Lounge, is visually stunning as the camera sweeps into the Lounge and glides purpose­ fully behind the action, absorbing the pink, aqua and yellow neons, the pul­ sating beat and the gyrating audience.

It captures a darkened but quite spec­ t a c u l a r worl d, where c os t ume delineates character and music both dominates and unites. Characters rotate to the beat in unison, distin­ guishing themselves from the mass only by their mode of dress and hairstyles.

Dialogue is superfluous in this world; its language is music and its allure lies within the energy, tempo and enthus­ iasm with which it is presented.

Jackie’s performance of “Temper Temper” is her key to this world, and she quickly monopolizes all the atten­ tion from her captive audience in the Lounge, and the cinema, and gains the interest of the initially apathetic Wom­ bats. The performance confirms Angus’ faith in her and shows the audience that she does have “that little bit extra” , later defined as star quality.

Cinematically, Starstruck’s most adventurous and innovative elements are a product of style and design, rather than narrative or structure. Similarly, Brian McFarlane noted that My Bril­ liant Career’s “visual style . . . is the

chief source of the film’s coherence” 1.

The colors are rich and expressive.

The rhythm of the music is visually established and heightened by the tight editing techniques that are so effec­ tively employed in pop music clips, and Luciana Arrighi’s playfully-imaginative costumes, coupled with Russell Boyd’s fluid camera, lift the film beyond its hackneyed narrative and in­ evitable resolutions.

Where the dialogue is loaded with familiar Australian banalities and occa­ sional witticisms — and the film prefers caricature to character development — its visual language enhances Star­ struck beyond its limited plot.

In the style of her predecessors, Breaking Glass’s Kate and Cabaret’s Sally Bowles, it is Jackie’s individual­ istic, occasionally outlandish choices of hairstyle, clothing and make-up that visually separate her from her other world: the pub. The pub does not ap­ pear for 20 minutes into the film; when it does, its loving, carefully-construc­ ted combination of Australian kitsch and mundane lino and laminex de­ lineates the scene for Jackie’s conflict.

The Harbour View is populated with an assortment of weird and wonderful types: Reg (Max Cullen) and his faithful cockatoo, Wally; Pearl (Margo Lee) with her blonde bouffant and gaudily-matched clothes; a robust Nana (Pat Evison); an eccentric Mrs 1. Cinema Papers, No. 23, pp. 564-565.

Booth (Melissa Jaffer) with a mena­ gerie of cats in tow; and a bevy of beer­ gutted, vocal regulars.

The fastidious attention to detail within the pub gives it an immediately recognizable, cosiness, while its con­ trast to the Lizard Lounge defines its parameters as the bastion of workingclass Australian norms and values. As in My Brilliant Career, Armstrong’s at­ tention to detail and sense of atmo­ sphere go beyond a backdrop for the action; they define it.

Despite Starstruck’s narrative parallels in films like A Star is Born and Breaking Glass, its presentation of a heroine is quite different. Jackie’s development as a singer and her per­ sonal maturation are framed from the outset by the fact that the audience’s introduction to her takes place after she has prepared to go on stage at the Lizard Lounge.

One first sees her emerging from the hairdresser with carrot-red hair blazing like a traffic light on her head. For the audience at the Lounge and in the cinema, Jackie has no childhood and no past as either schoolgirl or barmaid.

From her introduction, one views her through the stage persona that she is endeavouring to create. When she is finally seen pulling beers in her little blue uniform, the image is not, and can­ not be, of a barmaid, but rather of a performer playing a less-exacting role.

Jackie does not exist for the audience beyond her chosen role as star. All of her future actions relate to that image, and her personal and professional trials and tribulations are seen purely in terms of the realization of her ambi­ tions.

The social and political overtones of Cabaret, West Side Story and Breaking Glass, and the pressures they impose on their leading characters, are replaced

by Jackie’s summation of her dilemma: “ I want, I want, I want . . .” Her sole aim is success. She doesn’t want her songs to serve as social comments or prophecies, she has no profound troubled love for a man who is alien­ ated by her aspirations. Her develop­ ment in the film, therefore, is often one­ dimensional.

She is resolute and enthusiastic in the pursuit of her dream, and she quickly learns the ropes. In a very funny, beautifully-judged scene, where Angus has persuaded her to walk a tightrope that is strung between two city sky­ scrapers at lunchtime, she demon­ strates her zealous determination for recognition and the star quality that distinguishes her from the ogling, awe­ struck hordes below, which are excited by her daring, yet totally bewildered by her motivations.

The inevitable assertion of her inde­ pendence comes with her television debut on the Wow show, compered by the facile Terry Lambert, to whom she is strongly attracted. Pressure from him, coupled with her romantic illu­ sions, override her honesty to herself and her loyalty to the band, when she is persuaded to appear without The Wombats. Her untimely, superficiallyconvinced, yet unconvincing declara­ tion of independence leads to disaster.

Her persona is neutralized by an army of make-up people, back-up vocalists and cameras, as she laments, “ I believe in my belief in you,” belatedly realizing that it was misplaced. She has taken the right stand, but unlike My Brilliant Career’s Sybylla, it is at the wrong time and for the wrong reasons.

Angus and the band watch her per­ formance from the pub, and hum

Starstruck

“ Who’s Sorry Now?” , once again pit­ ting the false glamor of the studio against the homely sincerity of the pub.

Adding insult to injury, Jackie’s unfor­ tunate trust in Terry, largely a product of her attraction to him, is thrown back in her face when she finds that he is homosexual, in a lavishly-staged pool party scene that juxtaposes Sydney’s skyline and the emblems of its lifestyle — brawny lifesavers — with the glitter, choreography., and humor of Busby Berkeley’s Hollywood.

Jackie has learnt about the neces­ sary balance between independence and interdependence. From this point onwards, the relationships between Jackie and her family and friends take on a different meaning, coinciding with the celebration of Christmas at the pub.

Circumstances are bleak for Pearl.

Not only is her pub threatened and her position as the embodiment of middleclass standards under continual assault from her family, but Lou, the man to whom she has given her body and her money, enjoys both and then vanishes, robbing the pub’s safe as a parting gesture. Pearl quietly mourns for herself and her daughter when she says, “That’s people for you. They trample all over your dreams.”

In a brief and gentle scene, Pearl and Jackie display a genuine love and rap­ port for the First time, when Pearl gives Jackie her favorite blue dress. It is at once a sad declaration of her redun­ dancy and a display of implicit support for Jackie. She is now actively con­ tributing to Jackie’s pursuit of stardom.

It is an emotional and narrative turn­ ing point in the film. Christmas unites the extended family and Angus pre­ empts his plan to sabotage the Opera House concert and ensure that Jackie and The Wombats appear, win the $25,000 and secure their future.

The two concluding musical numbers unite Jackie’s worlds. As she rouses the Opera House audience, the image cuts to the pub where the television cover­ age of the concert has everyone singing and dancing with her. Her music has bridged the gap between the two worlds.

The performance visually and musi­ cally details the interdependence that the Film has supported, while accum­ ulating much of its style and image.

With stuffed replicas of Wally the cock­ atoo on their shoulders and yellow caps liberated from the Wow show tech­ nicians, The Wombats herald Jackie’s precarious entrance from the ceiling, clad in Pearl’s blue dress.

As the Fireworks explode over the Opera House and the pub regulars spill out into the street singing, Angus begins his own romantic life with a gum-chewing girl his own age. They greedily share an ice-cream and then roll blissfully away in a blaze of gold and purple hues. The Film leaves him to pursue interests other than his ori­ ginally stated ambition of “helping people be what they should be” .

While the film chronicles Jackie’s rise to stardom, it is Angus’ optim­ istic, brash pranks and his worldly, off­ beat approach to life, reminiscent of The Monkees television show and The Beatles in A Hard Day’s Night and Help!, that really encapsulate the es­ sence of Starstruck. His voice is the First one heard in the Film and he is clearly its mouthpiece.

Although his youth and pubescent sexual yearnings often alienate him from Jackie, the band and his family, his optimism and eagerness to employ any available ploys to secure his goals are what the Film, in itself, depicts and

Priest of Love

advocates. His complete, naive belief that things can happen just because you want them to, and his tireless energy and innovation in their pursuit, is the basis of the Film’s approach to life. It overcomes the obstacles of parental dis­ approval, the hype of the music in­ dustry, the absence of alternatives for adolescents and, Finally, the burden of Financial obligations as simplistically and as effortlessly as Angus.

Its gentle, colorful caricatures and its carefully detailed and contrasted observations of Australian life com­ bine harmoniously, declaring to the wishful, receptive viewer that the enthusiasm and the resourcefulness of the Mullenses and their friends can quickly, and quite painlessly, triumph over the most insurmountable odds.

In the audience, one is placed in the position of the crowd ogling Jackie’s tightrope walk, relishing its daring innovation, its glossy costume and its energy, but remaining unquestioning of its motivations. We want to believe in its geniality and simplicity. But, ulti­ mately, it just isn’t enough to carry the narrative that relies too heavily on observation at the expense of any tan­ gible statement beyond optimism, and too little on coherent reflection on what it observes, Starstruck’s scriptwriter and associate producer, Stephen Mac­ Lean, accurately observes that, “every other Film is about a girl who wants to be a star. But because of the emotional qualities that Gill invested in the Film, Starstruck works.” 2 However, the really special, really effective musicals don’t only leave an audience with a feast of well-choreo­ graphed, stylish images, and songs that linger and conjure p leasu rab le memories long after the Film has ended.

Their narratives become coded repre­ sentations of the social and sexual prob­ lems of the real world.

In that league, Starstruck is like sherbet: it looks delicious, it is tingling and frothy, but it eventually dissolves and leaves one with an unsatisFied palate.

Starstruck: Directed by: Gillian Armstrong.

Producers: David Elfick, Richard Brennan. As­ sociate producer: Stephen MacLean. Screenplay: Stephen MacLean. Director of photography: Rus­ sell Boyd. Editor: Nicholas Beauman. Production designer: Brian Thomson. Music: The Swingers, Tim Finn, Jo Kennedy. Sound recordist: Phil Judd.

Cast: Jo Kennedy (Jackie Mullens), Ross O’Donovan (Angus Mullens), Pat Evison (Nana), Margo Lee (Pearl), Max Cullen (Reg), Ned Lander (Robbie), Melissa Jaffer (Mrs Booth), John O’May (Terry Lambert), Dennis Miller (Lou), Norman Erskine (Hazza), Phil Judd, Dwayne Hillman, Ian Gilroy. Production com­ pany: Palm Beach Pictures. Distributor: Hoyts.

35mm. 105 mins. Australia. 1982.

P rie s t o f L o v e

John Tittensor “ In the case of D. H. Lawrence,” writes Harry T. Moore in the book on which this film purports to be based, “ biography is more important for an understanding of his work than for the majority of authors . . . if only because he lived more intensely than most human beings and projected his experience more directly.”

There is implicit in this warning a demand for intellectual rigorousness which director Christopher Miles and writer Alan Plater have seen Fit, in their cinematic wisdom, to ignore; the result is a Film that is insensitive, superFicial, evasive and at its worst downright silly.

They should have known better: their 2. See p. 116 of this issue.

D. H. Lawrence (Ian McKellen), Dorothy Brett (Penelope Keith) and Frieda Lawrence (Janet Suzman). Christopher Miles ’ Priest

o f Love.

earlier Lawrence collaboration, The Virgin and the Gypsy (1970), did a passable job on the master’s short novel, despite a de rigueur preoccupa­ tion with excessive all-round pretti­ ness; but here, without Lawrence’s own writing to point them in a definite direc­ tion, they have no idea of where to go.

Plater’s choice of an elaborately-impressionistic approach seems merely per­ verse, a gesture towards a complexity Priest of Love never looks like achieving: what emerges out of a welter of incident and ill-controlled flashback is a bitty, undeveloped and sometimes incoherent narrative, a portrait of the artist as a doomed man that only illus­ trates, yet again, the inability of com­ mercial cinema to accept the fact that creativity cannot be made into a visible process.

Visibility is what Priest of Love is all about: Ian McKellen looks very like D. H. Lawrence, Janet Suzman very like Frieda von Richthofen, who in 1912 abandoned her English scholarhusband and three children to remain with the writer until his death in 1930; other characters, notably the gangling, myopic Aldous Huxley (James Faulk­ ner), are reproduced with considerable physical exactness. * This is all very well at the ‘Diana Ross is Billie Holliday’ level, but, as a method of illuminating the personality and career of a creative artist, it has its shortcomings.

About Lawrence himself we learn that he was red-bearded, consump­ tive, passionate, unpredictable and occasionally violent — although this last only when the insensitivity of the rest of the world drove him to it. Frieda is unconventional (“ Lawrence, you’re a crazy man!” she exclaims delightedly in between a lot of frowning and grim­ acing), just as passionate as he is (“ I’ve seen his shape and touched his blood”) and iron-willed (“ You’ll die when I tell you and not before”). If the style sounds familiar, it’s only because it’s been used in so many other similarly bad Films.

But this reliance on stereotypes vitiates Priest of Love in more than just the obvious way.

In its naive concern to portray its subject as a ‘great writer’ hounded by a narrow, vengeful society, the film denies his real complexity by sup­ pressing those aspects of the man that do not chime with the hero-as-victim cliche. Much is made of his democratic temperament, but nothing of the

unattractive gratification he drew from Frieda’s aristocratic background, nor of his nasty flashes of anti-semitism; because he must be seen as fiercely loyal there can be no mention of the savagery with which, in his life and his books, he could turn on those who be­ friended and supported him; and the sermons on love he hurls so bathetically from the steps of Zapotec Indian temples cannot be tainted by his belief in the fundamentally-secondary role of women in em otional and sexual relationships.

Other characters are similarly mal­ treated: John Middleton Murry (Mike Gwilym), husband of Katherine Mans­ field and himself a writer and literary authority of no mean standing, is made capable of mistaking Shelley’s To a Skylark for one of Lawrence’s own, rather lame lyrics (with Lawrence, baff­ lingly, registering not the slightest surprise at this blunder); and by way of providing the Film with a running joke, Penelope Keith’s Dorothy Brett is given a Joyce Grenfell hockey mistress treat­ ment, Alan Plater never pausing to ask himself how it was that Lawrence, who could not suffer fools at all, valued this woman’s friendship for 15 years.

In a particularly repellent scene, Lawrence goes to bed with this gauche and inexperienced aristocrat, but gets out again almost at once. “ You’re all wrong” , he mutters in tones of cosmic condescension as the script begs for a laugh at the expense of someone who does not share the hero’s implicitlylimitless sexual talents. The truth of this matter is rather more disturbing to those who would prefer, as the Film does, to worship without qualification at Lorenzo’s shrine: Lawrence did go to bed with Dorothy Brett — twice, in fact, in 1926 — and on each occasion her willingness was confronted with the impotence that was plaguing Lawrence at the time. More scrupulous screen­ writers will find the necessary details in Harry T. Moore’s The Priest o f Love.

Elsewhere, the film is notable for a curious indecisivencss for which the director must take the blame. Aldous Huxley climbs up and down a ladder talking vaguely about Lady Chatterley’s Lover, Ava Gardner as Mable Dodge and Jorge Rivero as her Amer­ indian husband seem unsure as to whether there are parts for them in this particular film; and as Angelo Ravagli, who was to marry Frieda after Law­ rence’s death, Maurizio Merli chron­ ically keeps an inexpressive eye on CINEMA PAPERS April - 167

K IT T Y & T H E B A G M A N

IF IT MOVES WELL SHOOT IT

UDDY CLARK COLETTE M ANN DAVID BRADSHAW T O G E T H E R T O N IG H T

LOUISE PHILIP SO N S & DAUGHTERS

ANDREW McKAIGE

Tasmanian Film Corporation,

1-3 Bowen Road, Moonah, Tasmania. Australia 7009 Telephone (002 ) 30 3531 Telegrams Tasfilm Hobart Telex: Tasfilm 57148.

H O L ID A Y IS L A N D

JOHN BLACKMAN M A D M A X II

VERN WELLS OKLAHOM A

ROB HARRISON CLIVE HEARNE HOME

SALEOTHIRE n ew a n d used Phone (02) 84 7199 Decibel Manufacturing Pty. Ltd.

DARREN SOLE PAUL SPANO LEAH STEVENTON CINDY UNKHAUF A C T IV E C A S T IN G PTY .

LTD.

VALERIE ARDERN PETER FELMINGHAM (0 3 ) 2 6 3 3 2 2

Duetfo r Four

Priest o f Love

some distant prospect, even as Frieda removes his clothes.

The overall slackness of the editing is invaluable in maximizing these def­ iciencies, with a good deal of super­ fluous assistance from a corny and intrusive score.

There is plenty more to whinge about — the funny Italians, the repressed Englishmen, the fascistic Germans, for example — but little to be gained thereby. Suffice it to say that Law­ rence’s death comes as a double relief: his agony is over and so is ours — almost. At the end, Frieda and a band of friends tootle off into a grotesque New Mexico sunset and, for a moment, it seems they have lost the urn con­ taining Lawrence’s ashes. They find it again, of course, but by then it doesn’t matter — his spirit has been cast to the winds some 125 minutes earlier.

Priest of Love: Directed by: Christopher Miles.

Producers: Christopher Miles, Andrew Donally.

Screenplay: Alan Plater, from a book by Harry T. Moore and the writings of D. H. Lawrence. Direc­ tor of photography: Ted Moore. Editor: Paul Davis. Production designers: Ted Tester, David Brockhurst. Music: Joseph James. Sound mixer: Robin Gregory. Cast: Ian McKellen (D. H. Law­ rence), Janet Suzman (Frieda), Ava Gardner (Mabel), Penelope Keith (Dorothy), Jorge Rivero (Tony), Maurizio Merli (Angelo), John Gielgud (Muskett), James Faulkner (Huxley), Mike Gwilym (Middleton Murry). Production com­ pany: Milesian Films. Distributor: Roadshow.

35mm. 125 mins. Britain. 1981.

D u e t fo r F o u r

Sam Rohdie The central character of Duet for Four, Ray (Mike Preston), is con­ structed by means of his relations to others, relations in which he repeatedly errs — to wife (Diane Cilento), mistress (Wendy Hughes), daughter (Sigrid Thornton), secretary (Clare Binney), business partner (Gary Day). The errors are those of incompleteness, a certain moral inadequacy but never­ theless forgivable; Ray is weak but not hopeless. It is always ‘other’ relations that compromise the relations that directly engage him: his relation to his mistress, with whom he lives, is punc­ tuated by distressed phone calls in the middle of the night from his wife, to whom he returns, but half-heartedly, enraging the woman he lives with, not satisfying the wife who calls to him.

When the mistress asks for marriage, he dissembles; when his wife asks for help and property, he says yes, then no.

Ray is a major Melbourne toy manu­ facturer, but not quite large enough; he panders to a representative of a giant American firm interested in a partnership/takeover but he uses his mistress to help win the contract (against her will, who is bored and irritated by the imposition, and morally outrages the American) and his secretary, who is, and is not, to set up by Ray to be a weekend business screw for the American.

This nowhere aspect of Ray’s dis­ satisfaction is the figuration of the film: even his toy business is half-hearted (he wants a big toy to play with — steam trains); he makes ambiguous advances to his partner’s fiancee (but it ends as only “ a stolen kiss”); to his daughter, he is simultaneously generous (presents of money) and harsh (unsympathetic to her pregnancy by a lover who couldn’t make up his mind between her and her good friend) and who as a result at­ tempts a not-to-succeed suicide (truly her father’s daughter).

In the end, Ray is decisive: he will marry his mistress, he will surrender his

Top: R a y Martin (M ike Preston) and his mistress, Barbara Dunstan ( Wendy Hughes). Above: M argot Martin (Diane Cilento) and her 22-year-old lover, C liff Ingersoll (W arwick Comber).

Tim Burs tail’s Duet for Four.

property to his wife, apologize to his partner (for an almost adultery), begs forgiveness from his recovered-fromsuicide-attempt daughter, and gives up the toy business to manage steam trains (before surrendering the business, he doubly triumphs over the American by forming an all-Australian toy manu­ facturing combine against the Amer­ ican bid for takeover).

It would be incorrect to see the irresoluteness, ‘conflict’ and duplicity of the central character as a ‘human’ or psychological attribute (split identity) rather than what it seems principally to be: a narrative device. The ‘thematic’ of split, division, moral indecisiveness is not only confined to Ray (everyone shares the quality in their relations to Ray and in the conduct of their own lives from the attem pted-suicide dau g h ter to the unselfconfident partner, career-or-housewife mistress and unsure-about-her-place/age wife), but forms the central meaning of irresolution and imbalance of the narrative as if such unsettlement were but a pretext for the conclusionresolution of the film in which every­ thing is clarified and firmly put into place.

The device, in its repetition, its emphatic frequency, its everywhereness, is a device for unifying the narra­ tive so that wherever one gazes, to whatever one attends, it takes one to everywhere else in the narrative: the split person of Ray’s business partner recalls Ray; the split person of Ray recalls his daughter (her problem in life is her indecisiveness); the split person of his daughter recalls her I-can’t-makeup-my-mind-which- of- you- to- love lover; and so on, enmeshing, enfolding, enveloping each distinctness and differ­ ence and separation in the fiction to this oneness of its theme. (An entire school of criticism which calls itself ‘theory’ and thereby gives itself a certain rigid unassailability is outraged at such narrative devices of unification and coherence which it sees as an ideo­ logical operation which provides the spectator a secure but false sense of his/her unity in the mirrored unity of the narrative; such theory, in fact, un­ ifies itself in a staggering, compulsive repetitiveness and a monstrous writing which makes the narratives they ‘reveal’ and ‘unravel’ shamefully modest and unemphatic by com­ parison.)

There are other purposes/functions to this process of doubling in the narra­ tive beyond the play of imbalances and asymmetries which are finally resolved.

These, while in part particular to the films of Tim Burstall, are in other terms as general as doppelgangers and Jekyll and Hyde, namely the constitu­ tion of the opposition between desire (individual, often anti-social, destruc­ tive) and duty (social, morally conven­ tional); duty is what one performs, and desire what one wants to perform and which is potentially subversive, explos­ ive, anti-social (and entertaining). The play with this difference can be various; the Burstall game (and perhaps the most common) involves the ultimate defeat of duty (social rules, morality) by the force of desire (the contrast in­ volving the division, social repression versus individual liberation).

If Duet for Four is internally coherent in the way described, by its play upon repetitions, the film also repeats aspects of other Burstall films, though in a somewhat different arrangem ent. Burstall films have always stressed the libidinal — desire, activity, sexuality — against duty, repression, passivity and morality. (He has a delightful, vicious hatred of academics and academic critics — as I am — for their new “church-ness” , their pretentious theoretical and moral­ istic pronouncements: e.g., against ‘conventional narratives’ or ‘the classicrealist text’; for their inactivity; for their, despite all their references to desire and sexuality, overburdened, rigid, unsexual, delibidinal writing and especially when they attempt to imitate the truly seductive writing of French Fathers who lure them and trick them into taking masquerades sul serio.)

Stork, Alvin Purple, Eliza Fraser and The Last of the Knucklemen have had, in their various ways, central charac­ ters who are unashamed social/moral monsters but who are also energetic, attractive, libidinal heroes; to applaud them is to share their distaste for the rules and y e t. . . their behaviour is truly monstrous: e.g., Alvin Purple, pas­ sively (and I would say, subjectively, ‘brilliantly’), is the monstrous creation of others, the sexual food preyed upon by others (who are all falsely moral­ istic, hypocritical, dishonest) so that Alvin is their sign of a repressed and vulgar sexuality beneath exteriors of psychologism or suburbanism or academicism. The division of identities within the films are divisions of iden­ tifications for a viewer — the moral, social world is condemned, but in its place are monsters.

Ray, in Duet for Four, included in himself what had been exclusive to the central characters of most Burstall films; in Duet for Four morality (and, what accompanies it, pretension) is no longer in the social world outside the character (which Alvin or Stork or Pansy enrage and batter themselves against) but is inside the character, is part of Ray, so that he is not monster (and thereby surreal, up-setting), but rather ‘humanized’, ‘made complex’, made realistic.

Ray, of all other Burstall protagon­ ists, is perhaps closest to Petersen, but unlike him he is located from the start of the narrative as within the conven­ tional social world (“ trendy” said one reviewer) and as such appears more tame, less crazed, more ‘compromised’ (from the outset) than Petersen. The ‘problem’, therefore, of the film (it is in many ways a ‘problem’ film with resemblances to forms of the soap opera) is not how to tame Stork or CINEMA PAPERS April - 169

Duetfo r Four

tranquillize Alvin, but how can Ray sneak out of all these complications and compromises, how to accept the world as it is and yet at the same time opt out of it, how, in effect, undramatically and therefore decently, to ‘drop out’.

I have always liked Burstall’s films enormously (including Duet for Four) and believe them to be the most intelli­ gent, the most interesting, the most comic and the least pat and formulaic of all contemporary Australian films (the consistencies within them are less formulas than restlessnesses). The delight of his films is for me in their structural outrage to a middle-classness, in their creating monstrous, vulgar, wild, untamed pure libidinal signs of desire and energy as weapons not simply against all that represses them, but as signs for the revelation of that repression, signs which uncover the joylessness of duty, of rules, of conven­ tio n s, of their v u lg arity , their monstrosity, their dishonesty, their hypocrisy.

Duet for Four is different from other Burstall films in having a central character who is not monster and in which the differences — social/individual, repression/liberty — are less stark, so that escapes from the one by the assertion of the other are more mild, more subdued, more canny than heretofore.

I am not anxious to conclude from this difference in relation to other films (which may in fact be here exag­ gerated), still less to conclude from this or from past films some social or other kind of message. But I do wish to remark on the ‘ending’ — somewhat easy, flaccid, a seemingly too neat resolution of things. The ending in fact is perfectly false in any ‘human’ or ‘realistic’ terms, but eminently intelli­ gent in narrative ones. It is happily an unashamed ‘false’ ending, the impos­ sible happy end, utterly artificial, an ending clearly marked, a tying up by a piece of string, or, better, by a red rib­ bon, whose sincerity it would be false to believe in.

Duet For Four: Directed by: Tim Burstall.

Producers: Tom Burstall, Tim Burstall. Associate producer: Christine Suli. Screenplay: David Williamson. Director of photography: Dan Bur­ stall. Editor: Edward McQueen-Mason. Art direc­ tor: Herbert Pinter. Music: Gordon Scott. Sound recordist: Phil Stirling. Cast: Mike Preston (Ray).

Gary Day (Terry), Wendy Hughes (Barbara), Diane Cilento (Margot). Michael Pate (Giesman).

Vanessa Leigh (Dianne), Warwick Comber (Ingersoll), Rod Mullinar (Overland), Clare Binney (Jacki), Sigrid Thornton (Caroline). Production com pany: Tim Burstall and A ssociates.

Distributor: GUO. 35mm. 100 mins. Australia.

1982. *

B ody H eat

Dave Nash Only lack of motivation and an in­ adequate perception of the world around him keep small-time lawyer Ned Racine (William Hurt) from being a shyster. This is the most interesting thing about the hero (read: patsy) of scriptwriter Lawrence Kasdan's directing debut, Body Heat, a work in the school of Jim Thompson. David Goodis and James M. Cain (these specialists in plotting American sexuality through crime, decay and locale are having a good year, what with the genuine Cain articles, The Postman Always Rings Twice and Butterfly, and Claude C habrol’s announcement that he will make Thompson’s Pop. 1280).

We make our way through the film following Ned, linked to situations by 170 - April CINEMA PAPERS

Body Heat

his presence, denied specific dramatic information as Ned is denied it. He meets and initiates an affaire with Matty Walker (Kathleen Turner), young and bored wife of a middle-aged real-estate tycoon. By the middle of the film, they have burned the husband for his money. The pressure of the sub­ sequent investigation produces distrust.

Ned’s two drinking buddies, an Assis­ tant District Attorney (Ted Danson) and an avuncular black homicide cop (J. A. Preston), feed him clues until he begins to do the basic addition, by which time he has taken the fall. He puts the events and absences of the narrative together in the pen — too late. By then, Matty is tanning on a banana republic beach out of Dark Passage or The Long Goodbye. It is straightforward narrative: no enfolded flashbacks, no multiple or simul­ taneous lines of action.

The film, its advertising (see Cinema Papers' last cover — not a scene from the film, but a promotion shot), and its critical reception all present the film as a steamy, modern film noir. As the film itself is so insistent on this, one ought to ask in what ways it is and in what ways it isn’t. Thinking through the film, the sense that there is something missing grows. What is missing and why?

Let’s start with the film’s stipulated imagery: sweltering heat (and to get out of the way the usual question about Body Heat, no this is not a torrid, sensual, sexy . film). Its beginning, middle and end are marked off by great blasts of flame; the filling between is a doomed love affaire in the subtropical summer of a Florida backwater where people talk about the heat a lot. It is iconograph ic, indexed carefully through the film by symmetrical spinal and underarm splotches on shirts, and by the even more systematic interest the film takes — and this isn’t a film which is interested in too many things — in the narrative rhythm and placement of the hero’s outfit: whether he begins a scene with jacket on, or shirt, or pants only, and whether he makes additions or subtractions in the course of the scene (this is not a sarcasm).

Sweat in this film is like blood in a Jean-Luc Godard film — formal, not mimetic; there is no homage to the great, noir sweaters of earlier Holly­ wood cinema (Elisha Cook jun., for instance, or Jack Weston). Not that one is worried about fidelity to real life: so the people in Body Heat don’t look or behave like people trapped in a heat­ wave. This leaves the function of heat as even more clearly a metaphor for moral and sexual situations.

Body Heat is one of the American films of the past decade which directs attention to its film noir nostalgia and its narrative similarity to specific H ollyw o-od f o r e b e a r s (Doubl e Indemnity): noir plot, noir imagery and a very noir fatal woman. The film shows her destroying a greedy chump and tells us little else about her. She is not explained. Unlike Ned. whose past ’is simply empty, her past is secret, and hence dangerous; it involves a double, a swap of identities with a schoolmate for fraudulent purposes, as well as a plainness not in harmony with her new lifestyle. The last shot, the image which puts the seal on the film, is a close camera move around her face behind sunglasses on the beach below the m ountains. If the shot says anything, it is that she is a glacial enigma. We aren’t even asked to con­ sider that she might be human, weak, conflicted, contradictory or a victim of her own passions (as we are variously in

Out of the Past, Detour, and Lady From like the initial fire image, with Ned Shanghai); we must supply that impulse watching a part of his childhood burn from our memories of noir films. down in the distance (an initial noir So what is Body Heat doing with film gesture: a hero whose past has burnt noir) It doesn’t retain the imagery but out and whose present is negligible). At fractures the narrative form, as Alain the film’s climax there is an excellent Robbe-Grillet does. It doesn’t turn the shot-reverse shot, pivoting around Ned form inside out for revisionist purposes, (nearest the camera), in which the as Robert Altman and his goofy Philip woman he takes to be his obsession — Marlowe do in The Long Goodbye. It in white on a black field — is sub­ offers a critique of American society, stituted by his other nemesis, his old but seemingly by rote, because that, friend the detective, also white on too, is part of the old noir form. black, as the two poles of his personal What is it doing with noir stylistics? life come together to crush him.

Kasdan keeps his film solidly within the The final absence, the missing thing old Hollywood mise en scene tradition; which separates Body Heat from old but that’s not necessarily a noir style. It noirs, is energy. There are two or three is cool and distant, with languid acting, snappy dialogue lines which remind one unhurried transitions, a relaxed atti­ of the old form, but the film is not tude toward the initiation of scenes, and powered by them, not awash with them. lots of slow camera movements. The It is not obsessed by the poetic ver­ use of locale is neither as specific nor as nacular, the virtuosity, the condensed integrated as most noirs were; Body power of noir dialogue, one of the pin­ Heat’s places are discrete, unconnected; nacles of Hollywood scriptwriting. their physical relation is unimportant. Body Heat has no: “ You don’t go Some are used for alienating effect, fishing with a .45” ; “ Over here, such as the Walker mansion (an Canino” ; “Nobody’s all bad, but she impersonal sign, material but not a part comes the closest”; “ Lady, I don’t have of living); others are well lived-in by the time” ; “ We’re sisters under the mink” ; characters, particularly the cafe where “Your future is all used up.”

Ned and his friends lunch. But none of Body Heat also avoids the energy of the places is energized by action or by characterization. Its people don’t that precise noir strategy, the mapping perceive and respond to their world of interior geography in terms of through the knowledge of their doom, second-by-second potential. In other or the awareness that they can’t win so words, Body Heat is not interested in they might as well do it big. This par­ Anthony Mann. ticular heritage of romanticism to film This is not to deny the quality of the noir is missing. The film is about losing, mise en scene, which is often striking, but it is not about style. And it does

M atty Walker (Kathleen Turner) and N ed Racine (W illiam H urt): the destroyer and the patsy.

Lawrence Kasdan's Body Heat.

Best o f Friends

not, as even the coldest and most arbi­ trary noir-related films (Alfred Hitch­ The Best of Friends cock’s) do, invite the audience to be close to its characters, no matter how Jim Murphy flawed they or their world may be. “ A Friendly Film” proclaims the These things are not necessarily true main title, which is a nice welcome; this of all the American genre nostal- must be a film by folks who are warm­ gia/pastiche/remake films of recent hearted and pleased to see you. No years. There is a separate strain of films doubt they are just that. But as the film which intersect with them, but which churns on its way, it puts a strain on the have a rather different purpose. In the friendship. A dozey dog is friendly, but case of Body Heat, the purpose is to who wants to spend 97 minutes in the maintain the genre structure, the narra­ dark with one? tive form, the mise en scene style, the The Friendly Film Company’s pro­ references, the worldview/ideology, duction The Best of Friends is an while at the same time making sub­ attempt by scriptwriter Donald Mac­ tractions, removing elements, referring donald to make a contemporary light one back so that we supply (and in comedy-romance which examines the doing so, note the omissions and the age-old battle of the sexes in terms strategy) the expected material. Such recognizable to today’s Australian films hollow out types. They leave the audience — which means it takes a static signs of a style, but they remove cynic’s approach to sentiment, and perhaps its most attractive aspect: there are at least three scenes in which energy.

Opera House, Sydney Harbour and Body Heat is an excellent example of Harbour Bridge are prominent. this. Finally, something is missing, Melanie (Angela Punch McGregor) leached out — is it meaning? is it is a television personality of some pleasure? is it simply energy? — and unspecified talent and Tom (Graeme what is left is ritual, a reflexive rela­ Blundell) is an accountant. At the film’s tionship between the viewer and the opening, he is calling at her trendy twoobject, which like post-modernist art storey terrace with flowers to wish her depends on our sim ultaneously “ happy anniversary” — it is 20 years supplying absences and considering the since they met at school, and they have been the best of friends ever since. Tom entire process.

It is like slicing open a fruit to find is the fellow who makes Melanie laugh, everything in its proper place inside — with whom she feels most comfortable, seeds, pulp — but dry as dust. It is not on whom she can rely. He once made a like the hot wet kiss at the end of a pass at her at school, but she said she hollownose slub. That is the point of didn’t like skinny boys, so their friend­ ship has been platonic thus far.

Body Heat.

However, since she has just been Body Heat: Directed by: Lawrence Kasdan. given the brush-off by a lover and he Producer: Fred T. Gallo. Screenplay: Lawrence has been stood up by a date, they go out Kasdan. Director of photography: Richard H. to dinner, get drunk and end up sleep­ Kline. Editor: Carole Littleton. Production ing together. The romantic quotient of designer: Bill Kenney. Music: John Barry. Sound: Maury Harris. Cast: William Hurt (Ned Racine), this one-night stand is created with the Kathleen Turner (MattyWalker), Richard Crenna line, “ I wonder what it would be like; it (Edmund Walker), Ted Danson (Peter Lowenmight do us both good” , which unfor­ stein), J. A. Preston (Oscar Grace), Mickey Rourke (Teddy Lewis), Kim Zimmer (Mary Ann), tunately is the tone of much of the Jane Hallaren (Stella), Lanna Saunders (Roz dialogue.

Kraft), Carol McGuinness (Heather Kraft), N ext m orning, M elanie ca n ’t Michael Ryan (Miles Hardin), Larry Marko remember much, but decides that (Judge Costanza). Production company: Ladd Company. Distributor: Roadshow. 35mm. 113 repeat performances are not in order. mins. U.S. 1981.

She loves him too much (a subtle dis­

Rich and Famous

tinction from being “ in love”) to spoil the perfect friendship. And that might have been that, but for her forgetful­ ness in omitting to take her Pill on the fateful night. Presto, she’s pregnant!

This development enables Tom to per­ suade her to let him move in under the same roof. But, No! She won’t marry him, a ticklish point with her hoitytoity and daft mother (Ruth Cracknell) and his working-class and daft mum and dad (Moya O’Sullivan and Les Foxcroft). While Tom and Melanie do an “ odd couple” routine about the trials of living together (he’s tidy, she’s not; he cooks the meals and has a tan­ trum when she’s late home from work), the audience is roused to apathy over the big question: will Tom get her to the altar?

Such a plot might be made to work, but only with vastly more wit and style than assembled by the creators of this bland and inconsequential concoction. I found the central characters quite unin­ teresting for a start, and this is a severe handicap in any type of film, let alone a light comedy when the audience is supposed to chuckle indulgently at the foibles of the characters.

D irecto r M ichael R o b ertso n ’s insistence on low-key, naturalistic delivery of dialogue results merely in limp performances. Angela Punch McGregor, in a couple of argumen­ tative scenes, manages to get out of the rut momentarily, but Graeme Blundell is humdrum throughout. There isn’t one comfortable performance in the film, let alone a genuinely comic one. “ Bit” contributions are either over­ acted or feeble, and the extras who pop­ ulate scenes in a hotel and department store might just as well have waved their Equity cards as additional proof that they were being paid to be in the background. In short, the film lacks strong, pacy direction that can animate the scenes in tune with a comic spirit.

The script, too, must carry some of the blame for the leaden pace because it is heavy with pointless small-talk (“ Who’s your date?” — “Just a girl” — “ Didn’t think it was just a boy”) which

could have been eliminated to great advantage. While the actors manage to avoid making such exchanges acutely embarrassing, they can’t prevent them sounding like ponderous padding which retards the momentum of the film.

Director of photography David Gribble has given the film such a pris­ tine look that it resembles the unreal world of the television commercial (which, on reflection, isn’t entirely out of character with the performances). In one shot, Melanie inside a closed car is lit with such unlikely evenness that you wonder whether they took the roof off the vehicle to let the sun stream in.

Shadows can be seen in an interior of St Mary’s Cathedral, but don’t seem to exist anywhere else.

If the film looks like a television commercial, the characters are not much more believable than those “ reporter” fellows who smear dirt on your tennis dress before washing it in Slue gunk, or who drop from heli­ copters into supermarket carparks to inquire of remarkably unfazed shop­ pers what they think about margarine.

Donald Macdonald may well be able to honestly claim acquaintanceship with people like M elanie, Tom, their families and friends, but that doesn’t excuse him writing a film about them.

The Best of Friends: Directed by Michael Robertson. Producer: Tom Jeffrey. Screenplay by Donald Macdonald. Director of photography: David Gribble. Editor: Ron Williams. Art Director: John Carroll. Sound: Tim Lloyd. Music: Brian King. Cast: Angela Punch McGregor (Melanie), Graeme Blundell (Tom), Ruth Cracknell (Iris), Henri Szeps (Lilo), Sonja Tallis (Pammie), Serge Lazareff (Colin), Alan Becher (Jim), Graham Rouse (James), Les Foxcroft (Mr Malone), Moya O’Sullivan (Mrs Malone), Grace (Deborah Gray), Mark Lee (Bruce). Production company: The Friendly Film Com pany.

Distributor: Hoyts. 35mm. 97 mins. Australia.

1982.

Rich and Famous Brian McFarlane You can tell Rich and Famous is directed by an old man because, unlike most films in recent memory, it presents New York as a beautiful city.

Apart from that, the fact thqt George Cukor is 82 is irrelevant — except perhaps for the way experience shows in the film’s narrative fluency, its superb handling of dialogue, and the way it sets up opportunities for two gifted actresses to surpass their previous efforts and work together wittily and sympathetically. In matters like these, Cukor has had plenty of time to prepare himself.1

Concluded on p. 193

Under (he influence o f Veuve Clicquot, friends become lovers: Tom (Graeme Blundell) and Melanie (Angela Punch McGregor). Malcolm R obertson ’s The Best of Friends.

1. Too much publicity has no doubt been given to Cukor’s age, but that is no excuse for the extraordinary patronage (and emptiness) of the review in The A ge (January 29, 1982). The reviewer speaks of the film as “totter[ing] along in a rather geriatrically-wayward fashion” and finds it “ beyond praise and beneath contempt — or should that be the other way round” . Does he know what he means to say? As if afraid to be caught enjoying a film which may prove un­ fashionable with the now people, he hedges his bets by describing it as, “ an enjoyable, superbly soppy piece of entertainment that is saved from com­ plete ludicrousness by some realist and an alm ost sublim inally pervasive tone of self-mockery” .

My italics are intended to draw attention to, respectively, the condescension and muddle-headedness that permeate the review.

It is not my habit or aim to have at

CINEMA PAPERS April - 171

We try harder . . . because . . .

We are not the largest, but we are proud to be one of the major international completion guarantors in the world. Motion Picture Guarantors Inc., together with its associated companies, has guaranteed completion of more than 200 films since 1970, including feature length movies with total budgets in excess of $35,000,000.

Our policy is to assist the producer in every possible way with counsel and expertise. We conceive our job as helping the Production Team maintain its objectives: M O V IE FIN ISH E D — O N TIME - O N B U D G E T ! , Frequently producers have told us that we were of material help in spotting difficulties early and assisting in their solution.

We are able to offer bonding for the largest-budget films as well as smaller, at strictly competitive rates. Our no-claim bonus is the most attractive in the industry.

We w ill be pleased to consider bonding your next movie and invite enquiries by telex or telephone (collect).

In Australia: In New Zealand: SYDNEY: Film Services (02) 2901588. Telex AA 24771 WELLINGTON: 859-049. Telex 31337 MELBOURNE: (03) 699 9077. Telex AA 30900

Like any product, a movie has to be packaged properly if it's going to be a success.

And success in thé movie business means business at the box office.

So how do you go about publicising the fact you've got a terrific new movie?

Enter D. Worland & Company.

We specialise in promoting new films and have been involved in the successful launch of many fine Australian productions.

Everything from logo design, market research and press ads to a total launch including television and radio commercials, posters and press kits.

W E'LL MAKE YOUR MOVIE MAKE MONEY So, if you want your movie to be shown in the best light, contact Diane Worland or Omar Sehic at D. Worland & Company.

They’ll give you an audience.

D. Worland & Co.

The Basement, 418 St. Hilda Road, Melbourne, 3004. Phone (03) 26 6124.

R o n a ld M a th e s o n (J o n B la k e ) is a lo s e r w h o f a n ­ ta s iz e s a b o u t w in n in g . F ir e d f r o m h is j o b a t a n e n g in e a s s e m b l y p l a n t , h e a t t e m p t s to s a t i s f y t h o s e f a n t a s i e s b y s t e a l i n g a P o r s c h e 9 3 0 T u r b o . O n h i s j o u r n e y h e is a c c o m p a n ie d b y a w o m a n , h is im a g e o f h e r in c r e a s in g ly e r o tic . . .

Freedom is directed by Scott Hicks, fo r producer Matt Carroll, from a screenplay by John Emery. It stars Jon Blake, Candy Raymond, Jad Capelja, Bud Tingwell, M ax Cullen and Chris Haywood.

Top: Ron (Jon Blake) is refused a jo b at the cement works. Right: Ron and Sally (Jad Capelja) and the Porsche. Below: Annie (Candy Raymond) and Ron.

Freedom.

SWANSON ON

SWANSON The Hollywood story for all time! " Quite simply, the best film-star autobiography ever w r i t t e n The Times SALLY BARTLE. FILMCREWS FREELANCE AGENCY. 3RD FLOOR, STANBETH HOUSE, 26 CUSTOM ST EAST, AUCKLAND. NEW ZEALAND. PHONE 779-033.

16/35 6 PLATE I N F

T O

E R

R S

C A

I N L

E E

ONLY 4 YEARS YOUNIG AND IN GREAT CONDITION ALSO, A 16mm 4 PLATE INTERCINE PHONE: MIKE BALSON AH. (02) 997 5643

LIGHTS John B. Masson & Associates P/L. 78-80 Stanley Street, Collingwood Victoria, 3066. Australia.

SALE » HIRE A film by MARTA MESZAROS French dialogue with English sub-titles

It

With

"

ISABELLE HUPPERT •LILI MONORI *JAN NOWICKI “ This magnificent movie . . . Beautifully photographed in grainy textured colours that remind you of the paintings of Surat. A good movie, like a good painting, is worth more than a single viewing.”

M o v ie a n d v id e o m a g a z in e s ; c in e m a b o o k s a n d p a p e rb a c k s ; v id e o c a s s e tte s ; o r ig in a l c a s t a n d s o u n d tr a c k a lb u m s ; c a rd s , m o v ie p o s te rs ; p e rs o n a lity p h o to g ra p h s ; b la n k v id e o ta p e s .

O p e n se v e n d a y s a w e e k : M o n -F ri 10.30am - 5 .3 0 p m ; S a t 9am - 5 p m ; S u n 12 n o o n - 5 p m .

Shop 4, 4 Avoca Street, South Yarra, 3141 (off Toorak Road).

Phone: (03) 267 4541. Car parking nearby.

Richard Deutch, SUNDAYTELEGRAPH

Brighton Bay Twin Cinema 294 Bay Street 5963590

Daily (incl. Sunday) at 5.30 & 8.15 pm.

Also Sat & Sun at 2.30 pm and Wed at 11.00 am.

A Sharmill Films Presentation

Government and Film In Australia Ina Bertrand and Diane Collins Currency Press, Sydney, 1981

Sam Rohdie It is difficult to place Bertrand and Collins’ ‘history’ of the relations of the Australian state to the Australian film industry. On the one hand, it narrowly focuses on the industry, but aggres­ sively delimits itself to not considering the few films the industry produced (Australian) or the majority of films it imported (Hollywood), so that any arguments/policies/relations dis­ cussed are given no relation to films screened — one might just as well have been writing of automobiles or pencils: “This historical narrative is not.con­ cerned with Australian films as texts or objects, but with the place of film in Australian society . .

(The book begins with this declara­ tion of seeking to find the place of something which it does not try to understand.)

On the other hand, the consideration of the industry is inadequate for the lack of any theory or concepts of the capitalist state (and colonial) which is liberalized as “governments”, a serious lack in a work concerned with the rela­ tions of the state to a major capitalist industry. The state becomes a series of successive governments pressured by groups to which it does or does not respond, a testament variously to the strengths/weaknesses of groups or weaknesses/strengths of governments — thus the book’s notion of “Aus­ tralian society” , social democracy made benign and banal. No knowledge is offered of the economic and ideo­ logical and social structures of the Aus­ tralian state, and little knowledge is evident of historical factors beyond dates and lists of names and person­ alities and committees and commis­ sions, so that much if not all of the richness and conceptual interest of the subject is reduced to a thin line of a form of narrativity which proceeds: “At 9:45 pm on 28 November 1962, the Senate appointed a Select Com­ mittee to investigate means of encouraging Australian productions for television . .

The narrative explicative framework is causative at the lowest possible level: no intervening structures of the state, of class, of ideological forms, of political practice are allowed to interrupt the this-happened-then-that-happened history: “But preference for British (includ­ ing Australian) films, and its corol­ lary of discrimination against Amer­ ican films, were outcomes of the increasing dominance of Hollywood over the international film market from the end of the First World War. To take such action implied critic­ ism of the United States, an increas­ ingly important ally of Australia, particularly after the Second World War: it could not be taken lightly.”

The chain of logic is linked by a series of nominations calling out to each other from ‘Hollywood Domi­ nance’ to ‘Protectionism’ to ‘Friend­ ship’ to ‘Free Marketing’, a sweep of continuity concluding in the simplicity ' “it could not be taken lightly”. What are excluded by these means are the col­ lapse of the international market after 1930, the attempts at economic self-suf­ ficiency within the capitalist world con­

sequent on the Depression (Australia was within the imperial market), the power of American capital in Aus­ tralia generally and within the film industry in particular, the inadequate market of Australia to support film production without state subsidies not forthcoming for the liberal economic ideology of the Australian state, and the fact that Australian capital was more than content to serve and admin­ ister the interests of American capital.

Essentially, the story the book tells is of an Australian state (and states) at first giving little support to an Aus­ tralian film industry (though state policies in the 1920s and ’30s resulted in considerable banking and industrial concentration; the various film dis­ tribution /e x h ib i t i o n monopolies formed were part of this general econ­ omic development), and then giving support until by the mid-’70s it actively began to subsidize a national industry.

So, it is the story of progress (the emergence of an Australian film), of enlightenment (a state taking a hand in culture), and of tasks yet to be done (a future). (The middle section of the book, concerned with ‘Film as Educa­ tion’ though peripheral to the industry/state relation, essentially retells the same story of progress and of an ever-brightening dawn.)

The progress of the story occurs by means of two mechanisms: pure even­ tuality (“By the end of the ’30s the total failure of the quota legislation was depressingly apparent: by March 1937 Cinesound was the only company left in production”), and an interpretative framework provided by the comings and goings of pressure groups which are named as “moralists” / “loyalists” / producers / exhibitors / distributors (these categories have no social struc­ tural or class place, nor are they related to economic structures except in a certain technical division of labor).

Moralists, loyalists and producers come together to pressure the state to intervene either to establish an Aus­ tralian film or to delimit an American presence. Distributors and exhibitors, however, organized into a few large monopoly formations dependent on the import and distribution of American films, have a more ‘liberal’ notion of the state, do not want it to intervene in the industry and are not concerned with an Australian film production, for the capital risks involved and for the more certain profits of American film imports. For the most part, the big monopoly companies aligned to banks and foreign capital prevail, but in the end (the past 10 years) contrary pres­ sures have been asserted and with these have emerged Australia and an Aus­ tralian film.

There is something in that story, but for it to make sense the role of capital needs to be understood, particularly for its economic and social control over the state, and, equally, the structures of films made in the past decade — what was and can be Financed (it is at this level where capital is involved that censorship works and only peri­ pherally by “moralists” or “loyalists” on state committees).

Certainly, the slightly chauvinist pro­ gressive idyll of Australian cultural advance is false and the same capital interests that were concerned not to encourage Australian film production have now found it to their benefit to do so and have used the Australian state successfully to that end.

The aggressive avoidance of the book in understanding the very Australian

film whose presence now on the screen it celebrates is unfortunate; had the writers been less aggressive they could have demonstrated how the debate about Australian film from the 1920s onwards, concerned with the construc­ tion of an Australian film (modest, realist, serious) as opposed to the domi­ nant Hollywood film related to an economic and ideological debate about Australian independence and film production as such.

The small producer groups were intent upon defining an independent Australian anti-Hollywood product and something of that survives in the films of the early ’70s, particularly the crazy comedies of Bruce Beresford and Tim Burstall. The exhibitor/distributor interests tied to American films not only did not encourage an Australian production, but conceptualized the cinema in relation to the narrative models of Hollywood, models which an Australian neo-realism, however feebly and inadequately, sought to contest.

If social positions and the role of the state have somewhat shifted, ideologi­ cal differences concerned with an Aus­ tralian film remain. By concluding their history as the realization simply of an Australian production, the formation of an industry, without placing these within a wider context of the develop­ ments of the state and of capital, or in relation to the forms of the films made and shown in Australia, is to conclude that debate with a pedestrian ease inadequate to the past and to the present, and to be genuinely care-less in the guise of academic care (dates and boards forever sitting) of the com­ plexity and interest of Australian film industry.

Recent Releases Mervyn Binns This column lists books released in Australia, as at January 1982, which deal with the cinema or related topics. All titles are on sale in bookshops.

The publishers and the local distributors are listed below the author in each entry. If no distributor is indicated, the book is imported (Imp.). The recommended prices listed are for paperbacks, unless otherwise indicated, and are subject to variations between bookshops and states.

The list was compiled by Mervyn R. Binns of the Space Age Bookstore, Melbourne.

Popular and General Interest The Art o f Heavy Metal Animation for the Eighties Text by Carl Macek Heavy Metal/New York Zoetrope/Gaumont, SI 1.95 The adult comic strip art of Heavy Metal magazine is featured in animated form in the film Heavy Metal. This book is about the artists and the making of the film. Numerous illustrations in color.

Cluck!

Jon-Stephen Spink Virgin/Nelson Aust., S 10.95 An amazing tongue-in-cheek survey of the chicken in films, when they have appeared or even been referred to. Including script excerpts and stills.

Hollywood Colour Portraits Edited by John Kobal Aurum/Dent Aust., S24.95 (HC) Full-page color portraits of Hollywood stars from the late 1930s through to the ’50s. A great nostalgia collection.

In A Glamorous Fashion Robert La Vine Allen and Unwin/Allen and Unwin Aust., S29.95 (HC) The great years of Hollywood costume. All the famous designers are dealt with in detail, with a foreword by Cecil Beaton.

James Bond in the Cinema John Brosnan, 2nd edition Barnes/Tantivy/Oaktree Press, SI7.95 (HC) An entertaining and in-depth assessment of the world’s most popular and durable literary and screen super-spy.

M*A *S*H David S. Reiss Arthur Barker/Hodder and Stoughton, S8.95

CINEMA PAPERS April - 175

S o u n d track A lbum s C L P

i n

a

t

e

b

y

o

. L

F r

i l

a

i m

t

i t

m

New Sound Tracks and Cast Recordings

o

r

e

REDS $ 1 0 . 9 9 ; NAPOLEON $ 1 0 . 9 9 ; MARJORIE M ORNINGSTAR $ 1 2 . 9 9 ; THE FRENCH LIEU ­ TENANT’S WOMAN $ 1 1 . 9 9 ; THE SEA WOLVES $ 1 3 . 9 9 ; VALENTINO $ 9 . 9 9 ; DRACULA $ 9 . 9 9 ; QUO VADIS $ 1 1 . 9 9 ; JAWS $ 9 . 9 9 ; THE EUROPEANS $ 1 0 . 9 9 ; CROSS OF IRON $ 1 3 . 9 9 ; MARRY ME A LITTLE ( O R I G I N A L C A S T , S O N D H E I M ) $ 1 2 . 9 9 .

y

d

14 WHITING ST., ARTARMON, 2064, TELEPHONE: (02) 439 4122 (02)43 2957

Mail orders welcome; add $ 1 .5 0 post/packing

SE R V IC E S PROVIDED

------ R E A D IN G S R EC O R DS & B O O K S ------13 2 d T o o ra k R o ad , S O U T H Y A R R A . T e le p h o n e (0 3 ) 2 6 7 18 8 5 We

NIGHT 7247/FU JI/AG FA PROCESS & WORK PRINT 7240/50 PROCESS ONLY.

8

PAGE AGE BUCKS PTY LTD

DAY

CINEMA BOOKS, MAGAZINES, POSTERS & RECORDS

Full 16mm service:7247/FU JI/G EVA PROCESS & WORK PRINT. 7240/50 PROCESS & WORK PRINT. B /W NEG. POS & OPTICAL SOUND NEGS. WET GATE (AT NO CHARGE), ANSWER PRINTING ON E/COLOR & EKTACHROME.

CINEMA BOOK SALE 20%

Control

m o v ie

FOR

THE

c o v e rs ,

10%

o ff p a p e r b a c k s .

p o s t e r w ith e v e r y p u r c h a s e .

M O N TH

O F A P R IL

ONLY!

Write now for a free current list of titles available.

W E A R E O P E N 7 D A Y S A WEEK

3 0 5 -3 0 7 S W A N S T O N ST, M E L B O U R N E 3 0 0 0 P hone: (0 3 ) 6 6 3 1 7 7 7 ; 6 6 2 3 0 4 0

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■

A U S T R A L IA N

F IL M

U N D E R W R IT E R S P T Y . L IM IT E D

■ ■

F o r e n q u irie s c o n ta c t one o f o u r e x p e rie n c e d d ire c to rs : J a c k G a rd in e r

o ff a ll h a r d

F re e

WET GATE (AT NO CHARGE), CRI, 1/NEG, 1/POS, INTERDUPE. BULK RELEASE PRINTING. REDUCTION FROM 35mm PICTURE & SOUND. B /W RELEASE PRINT. NEG MATCHING. PRINTS FROM PRINTS.

. C in e F il m L abo rato ry

are open 7 days a week

— Quality

C a l G a rd in e r —

Production/Customer Liaison.

NIGHT RECEPTION IN

■ ■ ■ B ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ B B

r

day

> n1

D e c e p t io 14 w h i t i n g ^STREET

)

■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ ■ B B B B B B B B

WISHES TO HEAR FROM PRODUCERS OF FEATURE AND DOCUMENTARY FILMS W HO REQUIRE BACKING NEXT FINANCIAL YEAR

Please contact Ann) Macdougall Richard Baker Shann Turnbull

(02) 233 5563 (02) 233 5562 (02) 233 5340

Level 52 MLC Centre, MARTIN PLACE SYDNEY 2000

Book Reviews

The inside story of television’s most popular show, with a foreword by Alan Alda.

Mel Brooks’ History o f the World Part I Mel Brooks and Jeff Smith, $6.95 An illustrated story of the hilarious Mel Brooks film.

Punch at the Cinema Presented by Dilys Powell Robson/Hutchinson Group Aust., $17.95 (HC) A collection of articles, cartoons and caricatures from Punch magazine featuring classic films and famous stars.

Saddle Aces o f the Movies Buck Rainey Barnes/Tantivy/Oaktree Press, $27.50 (HC) A comprehensive coverage of the Hollywood cowboys, with more than 200 illustrations and one of the most complete filmographies compiled.

Together Again!

Garsin Kanin Doubleday/Doubleday Aust., $29.95 (HC) The stories of the great Hollywood teams, from Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers to Woody Allen and Diane Keaton, plus the Marx Brothers and many more. Illustrated.

The Warner Brothers Cartoons Will Friewald and Jerry Beck Scarecrow Press/James Bennett, $18.95 (HC) A filmography of the animated shorts produced by Warner Bros and a tribute to the people who created them. Not illustrated.

Biographies and Filmographies The Films o f Alan Ladd M. Henry and R. De Sourdis Citadel/Davis Publications, $25.50 (HC) A new addition to the range of “ Films of . . books with a complete coverage of all Alan Ladd’s films, full cast details, story and stills.

Barbra A Biography of Barbra Streisand Donald Zee and Anthony Fowles New English Library/Australasian Publishing Co., $19.95 (HC) An illustrated biography of the very popular vocalist and screen star.

Before I Forget James Mason Hamish Hamilton/Thomas Nelson, $25 (HC) The autobiography of one of Britain’s leading screen stars. The story of a very successful career.

Elvis Albert Goldman Allen Lane/Penguin, $19.95 (HC) The unvarnished story of the pop music and film star idol, and the extravagances that led to his death.

Diana Cooper Philip Ziegler Hamish Hamilton/Thomas Nelson Aust., $25 (HC) The life and times of one of the best-loved British actresses.

Gregory Peck Michel Freedland Coronet/Hodder and Stoughton, $5.95 An auth o rized biography with num erous illustrations, including those from the star’s private album, now in paperback.

Ingrid Bergman — M y Story Ingrid Bergman and Alan Burgess Sphere/Thomas Nelson, $5.95 The best-selling autobiography of a screen super­ star, now in paperback.

James Wong Howe: Cinematographer Todd Rainsberger Barnes/Tantivy/Oaktree Press, $23.95 A camera-eye view of motion picture history focused on the life and art of the most celebrated cinematographer.

Jane Fonda Fred Lawrence Guiles Michael Joseph/Thomas Nelson, $25 (HC) The life and career of a very successful but controversial actress, who has triumphed over personal tragedy in her early life.

Joyce Joyce Grenfell herself and friends Futura/Doubleday Aust., $4.50 A biography/autobiography edited by the late British actress’ husband, Reggie Grenfell, and Richard Garnett. Now in paperback.

Mae West Fergus Cashin W. H. Allen/Hutchinson Group, $19.95 (HC) The first complete biography of Hollywood’s most irreverent comedienne and America’s most original aphorist.

Marilyn Norman Mailer Hodder and Stoughton/Hodder and Stoughton, $12.95 A new edition of this illustrated appreciation of the career of the famous film actress.

Marilyn Lives Joel Oppenheimer Delilah/Putnam/Imp., $11.50 A pictorial homage, with a brief but illuminating text, to the life and career of the Hollywood legend.

McQueen Tim Satchell Sidgwick and Jackson/Hutchinson Group, $16.95 A large format, well-illustrated biography and career survey of the late screen actor Steve

McQueen.

The Movie Greats Barry Norman BBC/Hodder and Stoughton, $24.95 (HC) A new collection following the author’s The Holly­ wood Greats, based on the BBC television series, covering Marilyn Monroe, Peter Finch, Groucho Marx, Jack Hawkins, Edward G. Robinson, Robert Donat, Gracie Fields, Leslie Howard and Charlie Chaplin.

Peter Sellers Alexander Walker Weidenfeld and Nicolson/Hodder and Stoughton, $16.95 (HC) The authorized and probably definitive biography of Sellers, by a leading film chronicler and critic.

P.S. I Love You 1925-1980 Michael Sellers William Collins/William Collins Aust., $15.95 (HC) A personal insight into the life of Peter Sellers by his son.

Raising Caine William Hall Sidgwick and Jackson/Hutchinson Group, $16.95 (HC) An authorized biography of British actor Michael Caine, the Cockney-born star “who beat the system” .

Richard Burton Paul Ferris Weidenfeld and Nicolson/Hodder and Stoughton, $24.95 (HC) A new biography of Richard Burton, who has come in for more than his share of media coverage over the years, but one which endeavors to generate more respect for his acting career.

Topol Topol Weidenfeld and Nicolson/Hodder and Stoughton, $27.95 (HC) The autobiography of Chaim Topol, the Israeli actor who starred in the film of Fiddler on the Roof and many other films, including For Your Eyes Only.

Viveca . . . Viveca, An Actress . . . A Woman Viveca Lindfors Simon and Schuster/Ruth Walls, $20.95 (HC) The autobiography of the Swedish actress which highlights the problems of being an actress and, at the same time, trying to remain oneself.

The Whole World in His Hands S. Robeson Citadel/Davis Publications, $25.50 (HC) A pictorial biography of the famous Negro singer and actor, Paul Robeson, covering his work for his people and his career on the stage, film and radio.

Directors Close Up: The Contemporary Director Edited by Jan Tuska Scarecrow Press/James Bennett, $27.95 (HC) The third and last in the series. The previous two titles covered The Contract Director and The Hollywood Director.

The Films o f Carl-Theodor Dreyer David Bordwell California U.P./Australia and New Zealand Book Co., $32.95 (HC) The most extensive book published on the work of Dreyer, which highlights the challenge his work offers to the dominant filmmaking styles.

Francois Truffaut Annette Insdorf Papermac/MacMillan Co. Aust., $6.95 An authoritative study of the work of Francois Truffaut and a loving tribute to the man.

Images at the Horizon Werner Herzog New York Zoetrope/Gaumont, $4.95 A workshop with Werner Herzog conducted by Roger Ebert at the Facets and Multimedia Centre, Chicago, U.S., April 17, 1979.

Critical The Celluloid Closet Homosexuality in the Movies Vito Russo Harper and Row/Book and Film, $20.95 (HC) A chronological and thematic history of the por­ trayal of homosexuality and lesbianism in films.

The Feature Film as History Edited by K. Short Croom Helm/Cambridge U.P., $21.90 (HC) A consideration of feature films showing their potential as historical source material. Seven essays by various film historians.

Film on the Left William Alexander Princeton U.P./Australian and New Zealand Book Co., $17.50 A survey of documentary films in the U.S., from 1931 to 1942.

French Cinema o f the Occupation and Resistance Andre Bazin Ungar/Ruth Walls, $18.50 (HC) The Birth of a Critical Esthetic — Foreword by Francois Truffaut A collection of articles and reviews which show the critical development of the man who was largely responsible for the growth of today’s French cinema.

Hemingway and Film Gene D. Philips Ungar/Ruth Walls, $8.50

A survey of the films that have been made based on Ernest Hemingway’s novels, and the difficulty the scriptwriters have had in translating them into film.

Hollywood in the Seventies Les Kayser Barnes/Tantivy/Oaktree Press, $8.50 A comprehensive overview of the major trends and new directions of Hollywood filmmakers and producers.

The Hollywood Social Problem Films Peter Roffman and Jim Purdy University of Indiana Press/Imp. A survey of Hollywood films on madness, despair and politics, from the Depression to the 1950s.

Hollywood’s Vietnam Gilbert Adair Proteus/Doubleday Aust., $19.95 (HC) A survey of all the films that covered the war in Vietnam, from The Ugly American to Apocalypse Now. Ideology and the Cinema: Social Representation in the Cinema and other Media Bill Nicholla Indiana U.P./Imp., $18.95 A detailed discussion of the aesthetics and ideology in films, using as examples Blonde Venus and The Birds, plus various documentary films.

Loser Take All: The Comic Art o f Woody Allen Maurice Yacowar Ungar/Ruth Walls, $9.95 A new edition, now in paperback, on the work of filmmaker and actor.

Overexposures: The Crisis in American Film­ making David Thompson Morrow/Quill/Imp., $11.20 A collection of articles/film reviews by the author of A Biographical Dictionary o f Film.

Film History Classic Australian Film Stills Photographica, $6.95 Twelve postcards in a plastic clip, featuring scenes from famous Australian films from 1900 to 1940.

Film and Fiction The Dynamics of Exchange Keith Cohen Yale U.P./Book and Film, $20.95 (HC) An overview of the dynamics of artistic change and exchange in the late 19th Century and early 20th Century.

The Kindergarten o f the Movies: A History o f the Fine Arts Co. Anthony Slide Scarecrow/James Bennett, $16.95 (HC) A chronicle of the activities of the Fine Arts Film Company, its films, directors and stars.

The Magician and the Camera Erik Barbow Oxford U.P./Oxford U.P., $19.50 (HC) The role of the magician in the development of the cinema — as inventor, exhibitor and producer. The special effects wizards of today owe the development of their craft to the magicians of the silent days.

Screening o f the Past Lary May Oxford U.P./Oxford U.P., $29.95 (HC) An exploration of how the film industry has shaped society from the Victorian to modern times.

A Short History o f the Hungarian Cinema New York Zoetrope/Gaumont, $6.95 A paperback booklet printed in English in Hungary, giving an illustrated survey of Hungarian filmmaking.

Reference American Family Life Films Judith Trojan Scarecrow/James Bennett, $29.95 (HC) A listing of films (16mm) that illustrate American family life, past and present.

The Encyclopedia o f Animated Cartoons Series Jeff Lenberg Arlington House/Imp., 529.95 (HC) Features every animated cartoon series made since 1909. Divided into three sections: Silent Cartoons, Theatrical Sound Cartoons and Television Cartoons.

Encyclopedia o f Musical Film Stanley Green Oxford U.P./Oxford U.P.. 529.95 (HC) A comprehensive reference book with more than 1600 entries, answering hundreds of questions about musical films and their stars.

The English Novel and the Movies Edited by Michael Klein and Gillian Parker Ungar/Ruth Walls. $9.95 Twenty-seven essays which discuss films based on novels and answer such questions as “Are works of literature superior to their movie versions?”

Films For, By and About Women Kaye Sullivan Scarecrow/James Bennett, $33.75 (HC) An alphabetical listing of films giving an outline of the content of each, plus a directory of film sources and Filmmakers, and a bibliography.

Reference Guide to the American Film Noir 1940­ 1958 Robert Ottoson Scarecrow/James Bennett, 518.95 (HC) A descriptive filmography on films in the A m e ric a n f i l m n o ir c a te g o ry , w ith a

comprehensive bibliography.

The Screen Image o f Youth: Movies About Children and Adolescents Ruth M. Goldstein and Edith Zornow Scarecrow/James Bennett, 526.95 (HC) An extensive list of films, with an outline of the content of each, plus index and source details.

Scripts The Blue Angel The Novel by Heinrich Mann and the Script by Josef Von Sternberg Ungar/Ruth Walls, $8.50 A book combining the novel and the script of the film, for instant reference and comparison.

Time Bandits Michael Palin and Terry Gilliam Hutchinson/Hutchinson Group, $10.95 The illustrated screenplay of the fantasy comedy film from the Monty Python people.

Television Australian TV — The First 25 Years Edited by Peter Beilby Nelson/Thomas Nelson, 514.95 A nostalgic year-by-year survey of Australian tele­ vision, with all the funny, embarrassing and historic moments remembered. Illustrated throughout.

The American Vein Christopher Wicking and Tise Vahimagi Button/Bookwise, 59.95 Not a new book but previously overlooked. A look at the films made especially for television in the U.S. Those Fabulous TV Years Brian Davies Cassell Aust./Methuen Aust., 514.95 An illustrated history of Australian television: the personalities, the highs and the lows. A nostalgic feast.

Visions Before Midnight Clive James Pan-Picador/William Collins, 55.95 A collection of television criticisms from The London Observer, 1972-76.

Filmmaking The Craft o f the Screenwriter John Brady Simon and Schuster/Ruth Walls, $25.50 (HC) Interviews with six celebrated scriptwriters; Chayefsky, Goldman. Lehman. Schrader, Simon and Towne.

The Master Handbook o f Still and Movie Titling for Amateurs and Professionals Elinor H. Stecker TAB Books/ANZ Book Co., $22.50 (HC) A comprehensive text on the subject.

Stop Motion Animation Don Dohler Dohler/Imp., 56.95 A step-by-step guide.

Timing for Animation Harold Whitaker and John Halas Focal Press/Butterworth. 532.95 (HC) A text on the important aspect of animated film­ making: timing.

The Way to Write for Television Eric Paice Elmtree/Nelson Aust., $13.95 The complex art of writing for television is covered in this book, which aims to guide the student through the pitfalls.

Non-Cinema Associated Titles Australian Melodrama: Eighty Years o f Popular Theatre Eric Irvin Hale and Ironmonger/Wild and Woolley, $19.95 (HC) An illustrated history of early Australian theatre.

Australian Music Directory Edited by Peter Beilby and Michael Roberts AMD/Kingfisher Books, 514.95 A comprehensive survey of the whole music scene in Australia, plus reference sections on everything associated with the industry.

Rock Lens Rock Photography by Bob King and Edited by Glenn A. Baker Cassell Aust./Methuen Aust., 514.95 A collection of photographs of rock music artists — local and overseas visitors. A local example of the flood of books now available on rock and popular music.

Novels and Other Film Tie-ins Go Slowly, Come Back Quickly David Niven Hamish Hamilton/Nelson Aust., 514.95 Following his two popular autobiographical volumes, David Niven has come out with a novel based on his experiences in Hollywood.

Puberty Blues Kathy Lette and Gabrielle Carey McPhee Gribble/Kingfisher, S4.95 A new edition of this novel about two teenage girls growing up. Now a film on release from Limelight Productions, directed by Bruce Beresford.

Mad Max 2 Terry Hayes, George Miller and Brian Hannant, Novelisation by Carl Ruhen.

Q.B. Books/Gordon and Gotch, 53.95 The book of the sensational sequel to Mad Max, starring Mel Gibson. ^

CINEMA PAPERS April - 1 7 7

cinema commercial without leaving the country.

Colorfilm has taken delivery of a Dolby Stereo Optical Sound Camera.

Its the first in the Southern Hemisphere, the third of its kind and only the sixth Dolby camera in the world.

The Dolby System is a remarkable combination of full optical stereo sound, with frequency response to 12kHz, and Dolbys own noise reduction system.

W hat that means to you is sound on the screen as good as the sound you get at home from your hi-fi.

The same sound system used in ‘Star Wars’ ‘Apocalypse Now’ ‘Quadrophenia’ and ‘Superman’ to name just a few.

Give Les McKenzie a ring, and he’ll tell you how to work with us so your next commercial sounds as good as it looks.

Colorfilm.

35 Missenden Road, Camperdown NSW 2050.

Australia.

Telephone (02) 5161066 LeoBurnett43700

Production Survey Continuedfrom p. 161

Exec, producer ................. Ron Saunders Shooting stock....................... Ektachrome Scriptwriter .......................... John Palmer SOLOMON ISLANDS Cast: Robin Harrison, Bernadette Bencini, Synopsis: The work of Narritjin Maymuru Asst producer....................... Ron Hannam Jonathon Leigh, David Fiannigan, Ellen and his son Banapana as visiting artists-in- Prod, company .................. Film Australia 2nd unit photography...........Yoram Gross Freeman, Mark Watson, Jack Harris, Paul Studios residence at the Australian National Producer..................................Don Murray Smith, John Dick, Judith Storey, Hardy University, Canberra.

D irector...............................Graham Chase Length ......................................... 15 mins Stow, Meta McCaffery.

Gauge............................................... 16mm Scriptwriter ....................... Graham Chase BRISBANE INTERNATIONAL — Synopsis: A dramatized film designed to Photography..........................Dean Semler Shooting stock......................Eastmancolor Reclamation promote an understanding and acceptance Sound recordist......................... Bob Hayes Progress ........................... Post-production 1982 WORLD’S FAIR of an increasing program of replenishing Editor ..................................... Sue Horsley Dist. company .................... Film Australia Scheduled release..............................1982 Adelaide’s beaches. A "1940s” detective Producer.............................................. DonMurray Asst producer......................Ron Hannam Synopsis: Three animated films for release Prod, company .................. Film Australia wanders through Adelaide trying to D irector............................................. DavidBarrow in Kiribati (Gilbert Islands) to instruct the Dist. company ....................Film Australia Unit manager .......................Martin Cohen discover who stole the beach.

Scriptwriter ....................... David Barrow inhabitants in the use of a newly-installed Producer.......................... Elizabeth Knight Gauge............................................... 16mm Photography.............................Ross King sewerage plant.

Shooting stock......................Eastmancolor Director......................................... GrahamChase Progress..........................

Awaiting release Editor ............................Nancy Davenport Asst producer......................................PamEnnor Asst producer......................Ron Hannam Scheduled release..............................1982 Length ................................... 1 5 x 2 mins A TASTE OF SOUTH AUSTRALIA Length ..........................................12 mins Synopsis: Nine short films about energy Synopsis: A series of 10 films ranging from LET’S TALK ABOUT IT Gauge.............................................. 16mm and one each about science, sport, the arts, 8 minutes to an hour, recording the cultures Prod, company ............................Newfilms Progress.......................... Post-production film, agriculture and architecture. For the of the Solomon Islands at the time of Producer........................................... JustinMilne Dist. company .................... Film Australia Synopsis: One in a series of technical films Director.............................................JustinMilne Australian pavilion at the 1982 Knoxville Independence.

Producer.............................................. DonMurray on the construction of Brisbane Airport.

World’s Fair.

Director .................David Haythornthwaite Scriptwriter ............................Peter Welch Scriptwriter ...........David Haythornthwaite Photography ........................... Peter Smith Sound recordist..................Toivo Lember Photography .......................... Kerry Brown STAYING UP FRONT Editor ......................................Andrew Ellis Sound recordist................................... BobHayes DEFENSIVE DRIVING ON YOUR MARK Editor ...................................Martin Downs Prod, company ....................Film Australia Exec, producer ................. Ron Saunders Asst producer.......................Ron Hannam Length ......................................... 15 mins Prod, company .................. Film Australia Prod, company ....................Film Australia Dist. company ..................... Film Australia Gauge............................................... 16mm Lighting ................................Bruce Gailey Dist. company .................... Film Australia Dist. company ..................... Film Australia Producer..........................................MacekRubetzki Director ...........................Stephen Ramsay Length ......................................... 60 mins Shooting stock......................Eastmancolor Producer......................... Elizabeth Knight Producer............................................PeterJohnson . Gauge.............................................. 16mm D irector.............................................. GregReading Synopsis: A promotional film for South Photography.......................... Andy Frazer Photography........................ Kerry Brown Sound recordist................................... RodSimmons Australian tourism and wines, intended for Shooting stock-................... Eastmancolor Asst producer......................... Pam Ennor Editor .......................... Michael O’Donnell Editor ............................John Mandelburn the Japanese market.

Length ...........................................20 mins Progress .........................Awaiting release Length ......................................... 11 mins Asst producer..........................Gerry Letts Gauge................................................16mm Synopsis: Three films dealing with sex Gauge..............................................16mm Unit manager .....................Colleen Clarke education for use in the classroom. 1: Male Progress ..........................Post-production Synopsis: A film on defensive driving sponsored by the Department of Transport and Female. 2: Birth day. 3: Puberty.

Synopsis: A promotional film for the 1982 Lighting ................................. Ian Plummer Length ......................................... 24 mins for use in high schools and driving schools.

Commonwealth Games.

Gauge............................................... 16mm Shooting stock....................................7247 LIFE AT SEA OPERATION CELLULOID FROGS Progress ..........................Awaiting release Prod, company ....................Film Australia Prod, company ................ Kingcroft Prods Synopsis: A documentary designed to Prod, company .................F ilm Australia increase the awareness among ownerDist. company ..................... Film Australia Dist. company ..................... Film Australia Dist. company .................... Film Australia drivers of the business side of the long­ Producer..............................Peter Johnson Producer............................................PeterJohnson CRIME DETECTION Producer................................. John Shaw distance trucking industry.

Director............................... Brian McDuffie Director............................... Terry Ohilson D irector.................................. Dietmar Fill Prod, company ............................Victorian Scriptwriter ........................Brian McDuffie Scriptwriter ........................ Terry Ohilson Scriptwriter . : .........................Dietmar Fill Film Corporation Photography.......................... Mike Kings Photography .......................... Dietmar Fill Editor ...............................Peter Whitmore Scriptwriter ............................. Lyn Ogilvy Length .................... .....................12 mins Sound recordist................................. HughGeorge Asst producer.......................................RonHannam THE WEEKLY’S WAR Exec, producer ............ Vincent O'Donnell Gauge.............................................. 16mm Editor ...................................... Bill Stacey Camera assistant .........................Bibi Fill Prod, co-ordinator............... Don Dennett Prod, company ....................Film Australia Synopsis: A day in the life of a seaman in Unit manager ...........................Gus Slack Length ..........................................20 mins Dist. company ..................... Film Australia Prod, secretary ................Joanna Stewart G affer................................................ PeterDoig Gauge................................................16mm the Royal Australian Navy.

Length ..........................................25 mins Length ...........................................20 mins Producer.......................... Suzanne Baker Shooting stock...........Eastmancolor 7247 Director..........................

Stephen Ramsay Gauge...............................................

16mm Gauge..........................................35/16mm Progress ................................... Production Progress ................................... Production Scheduled release..............................1983 Scriptwriters ..................Stephen Ramsay, Scheduled release..................August 1982 MY COUNTRY, DJARRAKPI Scheduled release........... November 1982 John Edwards Synopsis: A public relations film for the Photography........................ Kerry Brown Synopsis: A training film on the techniques Australian Army,depicting a full exercise Prod, company .................. Film Australia of crime detection. Made for the Victoria Sound recordist................Rod Simmons and the need for this type of training.

Dist. company .................... Film Australia THE GAMES Police.

Editor ................................... Ray Thomas Producer....................................Ian Dunlop Asst producer.................. Nigel Saunders Prod, company ....................Film Australia Director..................................... Ian Dunlop PARASITES Unit manager ........................Gerald Letts Scriptwriter ..............................

Ian Dunlop Dist. company ..................... Film Australia Camera assistant ..................... Jim Ward A GOOD SCHEME Producer..............................Peter Johnson Photography........................ Dean Semler, Prod, company .................. Film Australia Gaffer................................... Bruce Gailey Ian Dunlop Dist. company ....................Film Australia D irector................................ Nick Torrens Prod, companies......................... Victorian Sound recordists ............. Esdras Giddy, Producer...................................John Shaw Length ........................................180 mins Scriptwriter ...........................Nick Torrens Film Corporation, Jeff Doring D irector....................................Dietmar Fill Gauge............................................... 16mm Photography......................... Andy Frazer Shooting stock..................... Eastmancolor Vincent O’Donnell Productions Editor ....................................... Ian Dunlop Scriptwriter ............................Dietmar Fill Sound recordist....................................BobHayes Progress...........................Post-production Director ........................Vincent O’Donnell Asst producer.................. Rosemary Gow Photography .......................... Dietmar Fill Asst producer................................. ColleenClarke Scheduled release..............................1983 Scriptwriter ........................ John Sullivan Narrators......................Narritjin Maymuru, Asst producer...................................... RonHannam Unit manager................................. ColleenClarke Synopsis: The story of Australia in the Photography....................................... AlanCole Ian Dunlop Camera assistant .......................... Bibi Fill Length ......................................... 90 mins 1940s, as seen through the eyes of some of Sound recordist..................................... IanRyan Length ............................................ 550 ft Length ......................................... 20 mins Gauge.............................................. 16mm Editor ..................................Robert Martin Gauge.............................................. 16mm Gauge............................................... 16mm the journalists who worked on The Aus­ Progress...... ,.................... Pre-production Exec, producer .................Kent Chadwick Synopsis: Narritjin Maymuru shows the Shooting stock.....................Eastman 7247 tralian Women’s Weekly.

Synopsis: The official film for the XXII Technical adviser..............Elizabeth Raut relationship between one of his bark Progress................................... Production Commonwealth Games to be held in Additional photography..........Leigh Tilson paintings and an important site on his Scheduled release..........................August1982 Brisbane in 1982.

Length ...........................................20 mins Manggalili clan land.

Synopsis: Episode in the series of biological Gauge..............................................

16mm science films.

Progress .....................................In release IMPACT OF MINING: N.D.O. VOLUNTEERS Synopsis: A documentary on the involve­ MEASURE OF CARE ment of four young people in the Duke of Prod, company ....................Film Australia REPRODUCTION Edinburgh’s Award Scheme in Australia.

Prod, company ....................Film Australia Dist. company ..................... Film Australia Made by the Department of Youth, Sport Producer............................. Peter Johnson Prod, company ....................Film Australia Producer.............................................. DonMurray and Recreation.

Dist. company .....................

Film Australia D irector............................... David Roberts Director.................David Haythornthwaite Producer................................. John Shaw Scriptwriter ......................... David Roberts Scriptwriter ...........David Haythornthwaite CITYSCAPE Director ................................. Dietmar Fill Asst producer.......................... Ian Adkins Photography......................................KerryBrown, Scriptwriter ............................Dietmar Fill Prod, company .................Pepper Studios HAIR OF THE DOG Cindy Fraser Length ............................: ............20 mins Photography..........................Dietmar Fill (Working title Alcohol Abuse) Gauge............................................... 16mm Producer................................. Max Pepper Sound recordist..................Rod Simmons Asst producer.......................

Ron Hannam Shooting stock...... .............Eastmancolor Editor ................................ Stewart Young Director...................................Max Pepper Prod, company ............................Victorian Progress ............................ Pre-production Camera assistant ..........................Bibi Fill Asst producer.......................................RonHannam Scriptwriter ................................Rob Bath Film Corporation Scheduled release .............................. 1983 Length .................................... 3 x 16 mins Photography....................... Paul Dallwitz, Narrator.............................................RobinWilliams Gauge.............................................. 16mm Scriptwriter ........................ Russell Porter Synopsis: A film to show how the Natural Length ..........................................27 mins Craig Phillpot Shooting stock...................

Eastman 7247 Exec, producer ............Vincent 'O’Donnell Disasters Organization is helping to Gauge.............................................. 16mm Sound recordist........... Bryndon Wooding Prod, co-ordinator............... Don Dennett Progress.......................... Awaiting release establish and support the various State Progress .................................. Production Editor ................................. David Hipkins Scheduled release.............

August 1982 Adviser...............................Dr Jan Fraillon Synopsis: Two television films on the work Emergency Services.

Synopsis: All living creatures have seven Exec, producer ................. Ron Saunders Prod, secretary ................Joanna Stewart of scientists in the Kakadu National Park Length ....................................... 15 mins things in common — one is reproduction.

Length .........................................

20 mins where Australia’s largest uranium mines Gauge..............................................16mm Gauge............................................... 16mm have been found.

Shooting stock....................Eastmancolor NARRITJIN AT DJARRAKPI Progress ................................... Production Cast: John Paul Bell.

(Parts 1 and 2) Scheduled release......... October 1982 RIGHT HERE AND NOW Synopsis: A film designed to impart a basic Synopsis: A short film about early detection understanding of architecture and the Prod, company .................. Film Australia IT STANDS TO REASON of alcohol abuse. Produced for the Health Prod, company ........Keith Hounslow Film general principles of urban design.

Dist. company ..................... Film Australia Commission. and Video Prods Prod, company ...................Film Australia Producer.................................. Ian Dunlop Producer...............................Rob McAuley Sponsor............ Army Training Command D irector................................... Ian Dunlop Director............................Keith Hounslow Producer............................. Peter Johnson Scriptwriter ............................. Ian Dunlop Scriptwriter ..................... Keith Hounslow DANGERMEN IF YOU’RE MISSING ART D irector...................Paul Woolston-Smith Photography............................Ian Dunlop Photography.......................... Len Heitman Scriptwriter ............ Paul Woolston-Smith Sound recordist....................... Jeff Doring Prod, company ....................... Seethrufilm Prod, company ............................Victorian Photography.............................. Ross King, Editor ...................................... Ian Dunlop Asst producer........................ Ron Hannam Producer.............................. Gus Howard Length ......................................... 12 mins Film Corporation Peter Viskovich Asst producer................. Rosemary Gow Director........................ Michael Caulfield Gauge..............................................16mm Scriptwriter .........................Jeremy Press Sound recordists .................Howard Spry, Camera assistant .................. Jon Rhodes Scriptwriter ......................Malcolm Purcell Shooting stock...................

Eastman 7247 Exec, producer ............

Vincent O’Donnell Rob Stalder Narrator....................................Ian Dunlop Photography ...................... Geoff Simpson Length ......................................... 15 mins Synopsis: A film to encourage school Editor ...............................Richard Hindley Length ............................... 1782 ft/1402 ft Sound recordist....................Peter Barker leavers to consider joining the Army as an Gauge...............................................

16mm Prod, designer.................Wendy Dickson Gauge.............................................. 16mm Editor ........................... Catherine Murphy apprentice. For the Department of Defence.

Progress ................................... Production Asst producer........................................ IanAdkins Shooting stock..............Ektachrome 7252 Exec, producer .................. Ron Saunders Synopsis: A short film about the arts in Vic­ Continuity............................Pamela Willis Synopsis: The life of Manggalili clan leader Length ......................................... 20 mins toria. Made for the Ministry for the Arts.

2nd unit photography......... Russell Dority Narritjin Maymuru and his family in Arnhem Gauge............................................... 16mm G affer............ \......................... Derek Neal SANDRINGHAM PROJECT Land.

Shooting stock..................... Eastmancolor Make-up ............................. Edwina Archer Synopsis: A dramatized account of the Tech, adviser ......... Maj. David Carpenter MUSIC FILMS correct procedures and dangers associated Prod, company ....................Film Australia NARRITJIN IN CANBERRA Length ...........................................25 mins with the use of detonating cord, and Dist. company ..................... Film Australia Prod, company ............................Victorian Gauge.............................................. 16mm Producer......................... Elizabeth Knight demonstrating various applications.

Prod, company ....................Film Australia Film Corporation Shooting stock....................Eastmancolor D irector.............................................. GregReading Dist. company ..................... Film Australia Composer...........................David Hertzog Scheduled release................... March 1982 Producer....................................Ian Dunlop Photography...................... Kerry Brown Exec, producer ............ Vincent O’Donnell Synopsis: A program designed to generate Director .................................... Ian Dunlop Editor ................................ Denise Hunter TAKEN BY STORM Music adviser.................... Lorraine Milne a greater appreciation of the Army Training Scriptwriter .............................. Ian Dunlop Asst producer..........................Pam Ennor Length ..........................................16 mins System.

Prod, company ....................Stella Prods.

Photography ......................... Dean Semler Length ......................................... 20 mins Gauge............................................... 16mm Sound recordists ......... Rodney Simmons, Gauge............................................... 16mm Producer.....................Nicholas Cockram Progress................................... Production Esdras Giddy Shooting stock......................Eastmancolor Director ..................... Mario Andreacchio Synopsis: A series of animated films about Editor ....................................... Ian Dunlop Progress ...........................Post-production Scriptwriter ............................Hardy Stow KIRIBATI AID music for educational distribution. Made for Asst producer............... Rosemary Gow Synopsis: A documentary about the traffic Photography...............Geoffrey Simpson, (Working title) the Victorian Education Department.

John Foster Narrator............ , .....................Ian Dunlop modifications and community consultation Prod, company .................. Film Australia Length ........................................... 1448 ft in Sandringham; for the Department of Sound recordist............... Robert Cutcher Producer................................ Don Murray Editor ........................... Catherine Murphy Transport.

Gauge.............................................. 16mm

VICTORIAN FILM CORPORATION

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN FILM CORPORATION

Concluded on p. ,183

CINEMA PAPERS April - 181

A lre a d y m a n y in u s e in A u s tr a lia b y T V S ta tio n s , P r o d u c tio n H ouses and G o v e rn m e n t D e p a rtm e n ts

tífíÍy lm

W ith o u t d o u b t th e h ig h e s t q u a lity , lo w e s t c o s t e d itin g m a c h in e a v a ila b le to d a y .

4 P la te fro m $ 6 ,5 0 0 M odel M .D .1 6 P la te fro m $ 1 3 ,7 5 0 M odel D .3

There are many fíne Film Editing Machines available today BUT: Only SCHMID can offer the following facilities in what is the best value package available in Australia today.

• 4, 6, and 8 plate designs.

• Super 8, 16mm and 35mm capabilities, as well as dual format combination units readily available.

• Studio Quality, Sound Transfer, Re-recording and Mix facilities.

These features release you from the frustrations and delays you have experienced and enable you to have

We stock all Rosco products

Filters • Roscoblood • Colorine lamp-dip

L ig h t in g a n d d im m e r c o n t r o ls f o r th e s m a ll te le v is io n s t u d io

__ / W e s to c k RDS C a t-k its — th e w o rld ’s m o s t c o m p a c t lig h tin g s y s te m fo r o n -lo c a tio n vid eo.

LSC FOCAL 1

T V a n d th e a tr e lig h tin g

The widest range of exceptional quality luminaries

We have large stocks of lamps, gaffer tape and dulling spray. Everything for your lighting needs.

T H R E E M R T S S E R V IC E S Head O ffice: 109 YORK STREET, SOUTH MELBOURNE, VIC., 3205 AUSTRALIA TELEPHONE: (03) 690 1022

total in-house control over your Sound and Editing functions.

There is an extensive range of models and options to suit every need.

Call us for further information.

FILMTRONICS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD 33 HIGGINBOTHAM ROAD, GLADESVILLE, N.S.W. PHONE: (02) 807 1444. TLX: AA25629

FILM IN G IN

SU PER 16?

We’ve got Australia’s first Cooke Vario Kinetal Super 16mm zoom lens, and the latest Super 16 Aaton LTR 7 — all for hire.

Lem ac Cine Rentals 237 C hurch St Richmond, Vic., 3121 (03) 429 2992 Not only but also, Arriflex, cinema products, Eclair NPE, DR70, GSAP, and Bolex cameras, Zeiss superspeed lenses and Aspheron converters, Angenieux zooms from the Superfast T1.3 1644 to the 12-240mm zoom, filters, camera and suction mounts, camera prompters, lighting and sound gear — get our new catalogue!

Film Censorship Listings

Film Production Design/Part Two

Film Production Design/Part Two Continued from p. 146 — who specialize in doing precisely that. They are collectively known as Art Departments. In film history these people, in conjunction with imaginative directors, were responsible for earning for Hollywood, and hence, by proxy, the entire world film industry, the name of the Dream Factory. The images of cinema and the form of cinema have become part of our collective consciousness through this essentially visual medium. This facility exists within Australia as well, believe it or not.

Art direction in this rebirth of Australian films has certainly helped to sell our films abroad, but is largely confined to the reproduction of past or present reality, and is generally executed without the overall design of the film in mind. The recreation of reality for

Film Censorship Listings Continuedfrom p. 147 Easy (videotape): S. Norvell, U.S., 76 mins, Videolink, S(f-h-g) Electric Blue 002 (videotape) (b): A. Cole/A. Power/R. Cook, Britain, 60 mins, L & M Imports, S(i-h-g) Erotic Adventures of Candy (reconstructed version)

(c): G. Palmer, U.S., 2042.60m, Cinerama Films, S(t-h-g) La beta (videotape) (d): A. Dauman, France, 94 mins, Star Video, Sfi-h-g) Maniac (reconstructed version) (e): A. Garron/W. Lustig, U.S., 2370.10m, The House of Dare, Vff-h-g) Paul, Lisa and Caroline (pre-censor cut version): P. Balakoff, U.S., 2332.40m, Cinerama Films, S(f-h-g) The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (f): L. Sultana, U.S., 2280.60m, Blake Films Vic., Sfi-h-g) Private Lessons: R. Ben Efraim, U.S., 2370.60m, Sunn Classic Prods, Ofsexual exploitation of a minor) The Senator’s Daughter (videotape): Joyeaux

Prod./Cal Vista Video, U.S., 65 mins, Videolink, S(i-h-g) Vista Valley PTA (videotape): B. Spinelli, U.S., 78 mins, Videolink, S(i-h-g)

(a) Previously shown on April 1979 list. (b) Revised version passed “ R” with eliminations (July 1980 list). (c) Previously shown on June 1981 list. (d) Reconstructed version previously passed “ R” (October 1977 list) (e) Previously shown on June 1981 list. (f) Previously shown on June 1976 list.

Films Registered Without Eliminations For General Exhibition (G) Daughter and Father: Lap-Yan Film Co., Hong Kong, 2593.29m, Golden Reel Films Kings of the Square Ring (16mm): Y. Kawan, Japan, 1129.91m, Landmark Films ■ The Lieutenant and I: Progressive Trading, Hong Kong, 2472m, Golden Reel Films O labroukos balanter: C. Carajopoulos, Greece, 2800m, Apollon Films The Terror of Tiny Town (16mm): Astor Picture Corp., U.S., 603m, Valhalla Films Thanasi sfixe ki alio to zonari: C. Carajopoulos, Greece, 2600m, Apollon Films Tobi: Blau Films, Spain, 2468m, Spanish Films Wizards of the Water (16mm): A. Rich, Australia, 1031m, Alan Rich The Women Soldiers: Golden Gate Film Co., Taiwan, 2057.33m, Joe Siu Int'l Film Co.

Not Recommended for Children (NRC) Absence of Malice: Columbia Pictures, U.S., 3127.02m, Fox Columbia Film Dist., 0(adult theme)

Continuedfrom p. 181 THE 1934 LONDON TO MELBOURNE AIR RACE Prod, companies.......................... Victorian Film Corporation, Outrider Films London Director (British u n it)....................... Mike Harris Scriptwriter ..................... Jeremy Press Exec, producer ............ Vincent O'Donnell Length ..........................................48 mins Gauge................................................16mm Progress ................................... Production Synopsis: A dramatized documentary about the classic air race, being filmed in Australia and England for Victoria’s 150th Anniversary celebrations.

Attack of the Killer Tomatoes: Four Square Prods, U.S., 2370.48m, G.L. Film Enterprises, L(i-l-g) Daughter of Devil Fish: Not shown, Thailand, 2575m, Lilond, V(i-l-j) Evil Under the Sun: Brabourne & Goodwin, Britain, 3179m, Guo Film Dist., V(i-l-i) Gli Irrfermleri della mutua: Cinecidi-Ascot-Cineraid.

Italy, 2373m, Cinema Italia, Ofadult concepts) The Man From Snowy River: G. Burrowes, Australia, 2908m, Hoyts Dist., Vfi-l-j) O kotsos exo apo to N.A.T.O.: P. Philippou, Greece, 2650m, Apollon Films, S(i-l-j), V(i-l-j) On Golden Pond: B. Gilbert, U.S., 2956.13m, Cinema Int'l, L(f-l-i) O xevrakatos romios: P. Philippou, Greece, 2450m, Apollon Films, Ofadult concepts) Permanent Vacation (16mm): Cinesthesia Corp., U.S., 789.84m, Australian Film Institute, Ofadult concepts) Starstruck: Elfick & Brennan, Australia, 2880.15m, Hoyts Dist., Lfi-l-j), Ofnudity)

For Mature Audiences (M) California Dolls: MGM, U.S., 3095.57m, Cinema Int’l, Vff-m-j), Ofnudity) Death Valley: E. Kastner, U.S., 2398.37m, Cinema Int'l, Vfi-m-g) The Descendant of Wing Chun: Sunrise Film Trading

Co., Hong Kong, 2494m, Comfort Film Enterprises, Vff-m-g) Dreadnaught:

Peace Films Prod., Hong Kong, 2539.80m, Dynasty Film Dist., Vff-m-j) From the Life of the Marionettes: Personafllm, W. Germany, 2852.72m, Valhalla Films, Ofemotional stress, nudity, adult concepts) Goodbye Saigon: Amino Logo, Hong Kong/Vietnam, 2780.44m, Comfort Film Enterprises, Vfi-m-g) Heatwave: H. Linstead, Australia, 2509.92m, Roadshow Dist., Vfi-m-j), Lff-m-j) Insaf ka tarazu: United Producers, India, 3700m, Skd Film Dist., Vfi-m-j) Jacob: Everybody’s Allowed to Cry (16mm): L.

December 1981

Production Survey

film is so easily achieved with money and recourse to the right photographs or magazines for reference, but this sort of approach rarely tells an audience anything it does not already know, which is ultimately boring; whereas a contemporary setting accurately observed with wit, a fantastic setting treated with bold, broad strokes, or a past setting that takes some liberties with the accuracy of the period, can be pure magic.

The great period pieces of British and American cinema would opt for the visually impressive over historical accuracy every time, which would have not given rise to any pedantic complaints, since the designs would have been based on fact, and their appearance on film has engendered their absolute authority. I repeat that reality itself is not enough to make a setting felt; it must be wrought to produce its best performance — to surpass itself.

Bugden, Australia, 504.71m, Sydney Filmmakers Co­ op., Ofemotional stress, adult theme) The Kid With the Golden Arm: Shaw Bros, Hong Kong, 2347m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Vff-m-g) .........

The Last Duel: Not shown, Taiwan, 2475m, Golden Reel Films, Vff-m-g) Love In First Class: Italian International Film, Italy/France, 2537.81m, N.S. Prods, Ofsexual allusion) The Love Suicides at Sonezaki (16mm): KodoshaKimura Prod., Japan, 1195.73m, Japan Information Service, Vfi-m-j) Mad Max 2 (reconstructed version) (a): Kennedy Miller Enterprises, Australia, 2565.70m, Warner Bros (Aust.)

Martial Club: Shaw Bros, Hong Kong, 3007m, Joe Siu Int’l Film Co., Vff-m-g) Mr Kwong Tung and the Robber (16mm): Wang Cheung Enterprises, China, 1027m, Chinese Cultural Centre, Vfi-m-g) One Man Jury: Manson Int’l, U.S., 2743m, Reid & Puskar, Vff-l-g) The Phantom Killer: Raymond Chow Prod., Hong Kong, 2593.58m, Dynasty Film Dist., Vff-m-g) The Pursuit of D.B. Cooper: M. Taylor Prods, U.S., 2733.Otm, Roadshow Dist., Sfi-l-j), Lff-m-j)

STREET KIDS

The production design concept is a tool that is available to Australian filmmakers to further unify their work. The production designer is not just an art director, with an overblown title and salary, who will not get his hands dirty; he is a means to realizing film articulately and comprehensively. I have explained this function, not as a self-justification but as an exhortation to filmmakers in this country to continue to dream and grasp for aims beyond their usual rather than taking that which is easily within reach, hiding behind the past, perpetuating dead myths and copying others’ marketing gambits.

It does work, proven by our theatrical exports of Circus Oz and M om m as Little Horror Show and the success of the Mad Max films. “That which gives dreams their audacity is that they can be realized.” 1 ★ 1. Le Corbusier, architect.

The Security: New Force Films, Hong Kong, 3214m, Lilond, Vfi-m-j) Tourist Trap: J. Carroll, U.S., 2454.14m, Reid & Puskar, Vfl-m-g) Un osplte gradito per mia mogll (b): L. Hengst, W. Ger­ many, 2409m, Cinema Italia, Sfi-l-j), Ofadult themes)

For Restricted Exhibition (R) Angie Baby (videotape): Cal Vista Video, U.S., 82 mins, Videolink, Sff-h-g) The Burning (pre-censor cut version): Miramax Prods, U.S., 2482m, Filmways A’asian Dist., Vff-m-g) The Centerfold Girls (videotape): Dimension Pictures, U.S., 93 mins, Video Classics, Vff-m-g) Countess de Sade’s Slave Mansion (videotape):

Bizarre Video Prods, U.S., 61 mins, R. O’Neill, Ofbondage) The Golden Lady (videotape): K. Carele/P. Cowan, Britain, 89 mins, Videolink, Sfi-m-g), Vfi-m-j) The Great Escape From Women’s Prison (videotape):

Omni Video Cassettes, Hong Kong, 95 mins, J & P Video Tape Hire, Vfi-m-g) The Joy of Fooling Around (videotape): J-C Ramon, Greece, 94 mins, Videolink, Sfi-m-g), Vfi-m-g) Whose Life le ft Anyway?: Cooney Schute Prods, U.S., 3235m, Cinema Int'l, Lfl-m-j), Ofnudity) (a) See also under "Films Board of Review". (b) Previously shown in an English-language version as King, Queen, Knave (October 1974 list).

Julia (videotape): Lisa Rim, W. Germany, 84 mins, Blake Films Vic., Sff-m-g) Les fruits de la passion: Argos/Terayama, France/ Japan, 2192m, Pan American Prods, Sfi-m-j), Ofsadomasochism theme) Love Me Deadly: Cinema National, U.S., 2565.70m, The House of Dare, Ofnecrophilia theme) Mad Max 2 (a): Kennedy Miller Enterprises, Australia, 2593.58m, Warner Bros (Aust.), Vff-m-g) Mad Max 2 (reconstructed version) (b): Kennedy Miller

Enterprises, Australia, 2565.70m, Warner Bros (Aust.), Vff-m-g) Paris Killers (videotape) (c); Chan Wan Hung, Hong Kong, 80 mins, J & P Video Tape Hire, Sfi-m-g), Vff-m-g) ■ Sextoons (16mm): Saliva Films, U.S., 778.87m, Valhalla Films, Sff-m-j) Slaves in Cages (reconstructed version) (d): B.

Kobenhaven, Denmark, 1645.80m, Cinerama Films, Sff-m-g) The Stud and the Nympho: R. Shaw, Hong Kong, 2844.58 m, Joe Siu int’l Film Co., Sfi-m-g), Vfi-m-g) Tapestry of .Passion (reconstructed version) (e): Essex Picture Co., U.S., 1756.94m, 14th Mandolin, Sff-m-g) Vanessa (videotape): Not shown, W. Germany, 88 mins, Blake Films Vic., Sff-m-g)

(a) See also under “ Films Board of Review” . (b) See also under ’’Films Board of Review". (c) Previously passed “ M" with deletions (March 1975 list). (d) Previously shown on August 1981 list. (e) Previously shown on September 1981 list.

Films Registered With Eliminations For Restricted Exhibition (R) The Best of the New York Erotic Film Festival (a):

Saliva Films, U.S., 2482m, Valhalla Films, Sff-m-f)

Synopsis: A documentary on the urban street life of homeless children in Mel­ bourne. Made for television release.

Prod, companies.......................... Victorian Film Corporation, York Street Film Productions THROUGH A LOOKING GLASS — A Dist. company ............................. Victorian FILM ABOUT DRAMA Film Corporation Prod, companies........................ Victorian Producer........................... Kent Chadwick Film Corporation, Directors............................................LeighTilson, Vincent O'Donnell Productions Rob Scott Producer............................ Kent Chadwick Scriptwriters ..........................Leigh Tilson, Director......................... Vincent O’Donnell Rob Scott, Length ......................................... 20 mins Kent Chadwick, Gauge............................j ................ 16mm Adrian Tame Progress ................................... In release Photography......................................LeighTilson Synopsis: A film for drama teachers about Sound recordist................................... RobScott the elements of drama. Made for the Research adviser ............ Alex McDonald Education Department.

Research assistant..............Linda Joseph Length ...........................................48 mins Gauge............................................... 16mm A TOAST TO MELBOURNE Shooting stock......................................Fuji Progress ................................... Production Prod, companies.........................Victorian Scheduled release.................. March 1982 Film Corporation, Cambridge Film Productions

Deletions: 23m (50 secs) Reason for deletions: Sfi-h-g) Cousin Jedd Rides Again (16mm): Scorpio, U.S., 510m, 14th Mandolin, Sff-m-g) Deletions: 10m (55 secs) Reason for deletions: Sfi-h-g) Danish Sailors: Palladium, Denmark, 2486m, Blake Films Vic., Sff-m-g) Deletions: 15.5m (34 secs) Reason for deletions: Sfi-h-g) Electric Blue 006 (revised version) (videotape) (b): Electric Blue Int’l, Britain, 54 mins, Electric Blue (A’asia), Sff-m-g) Reason for deletions: Sfi-h-g), Lfi-h-g) The First Time (reconstructed pre-censor cut version) (c): Essex Picture Co., U.S., 1673.23, 14th Mandolin, Sff-m-g), Ofsexual violence)

Deletions: 50.4m (1 min., 50 secs) Reason for deletions: Sfi-h-g) Teenage Swingers (16mm) (pre-censor cut version): T. Taylor, U.S., 603.46m, 14th Mandolin, Sff-m-g) Deletions: 6m (33 secs) Reason for deletions: Sfi-h-g) (a) Previously shown on September 1981 list. (b) Previously shown on September 1981 list. (c) Previously shown on September 1981 list.

Films Refused Registration All the Loving Neighbors (16mm) (pre-censor cut version): Cine Cal Prods, U.S., 555m, 14th Mandolin,

Sff-h-g) 4 In A Bed (16mm): Jack Films, U.S., 628.50m, 14th Mandolin, Sff-h-g) Hot Rackets (videotape): S. Norman, U.S., 72 mins, Videolink, Sff-h-g) The Possession (16mm): Not shown, U.S., 658.60m, 14th Mandolin, Sff-h-g) Small Town Girls (pre-censor cut version): W. Dancer, U. S., 1983.30m, Cinerama Films, Sfi-h-g) Sweets For the Suite (16mm): Cine Cal Prods, U.S., 678m, 14th Mandolin, Sfi-h-g) Teenage Sex Kitten: Superbitch Prods, U.S., 1716.40m, A.2. Associated Theatres, O fsexual violence)

Films Board of Review Mad Max 2 (a): Kennedy Miller Enterprises, Australia, 2593.58m, Warner Bros (Aust.)

Decision reviewed: Classify “ R" by the Film Censorship Board.

Decision of the Board: Uphold the decision of the Film Censorship Board.

Mad Max 2 (reconstructed version) (b): Kennedy Miller Enterprises, Australia, 2565.70m, Warner Bros (Aust.)

Decision reviewed: Classify “ R” by the Film Censorship Board.

Decision of the Board: Classify “ M” .

Private Lesson» (c): R. Ben Efraim, U.S., 2370.60m, Sunn Classic Prods.

Decision reviewed: Refusal to register by the Film Censorship Board.

Decision of the Board: Uphold the decision of the Film Censorship Board. (a) See also under “ For Restricted Exhibition". (b) See also under “ For Mature Audiences” . (c) Previously shown on November 1981 list.

Dist. companies.................. Victorian Film Corporation, Filmways Producer........................... Kent Chadwick Director ................................... John Dixon Length ......................................... 38 mins Gauge............................................... 35mm Shooting stock......................................Fuji Progress.................................... In release Synopsis: A documentary about Mel­ bourne for national and international cinema release.

THE UNSUSPECTING CONSUMER Prod, company ............................Victorian Film Corporation Dist. company ............................. Victorian Film Corporation Director .................................. Peter Green Scriptwriter ............................ Peter Green Exec, producer ............Vincent O’Donnell Length .........................................12 mins Gauge............................................... 16mm

Shooting stock.................... Eastmancolor Progress ...........................Post-production Scheduled release....................June 1982 Synopsis: An animated film on the pitfalls of the marketplace. Made for the Department of Consumer Affairs.

A SLICE OF LIFE Set designer.................Geoff Richardson Construction manager.................Ian Doig Stunts........................................ Phil Brock Nihill (Pam), Lulu Pinkus (Addy), Gwen Soares (Mei Lin).

Synopsis: A madcap, musical comedyadventure wheretheflying super hero returns to crush theevil Mr Midnight, who plans to rid New York of its immigrants.

Associate producer...... Brian D. Burgess

★

CINEMA PAPERS April - 183

A fully professional quality C R Y S T A L -S Y N C C a s s e tte D IC K

D o lb y

R e c o rd e r

S M IT H /S O N Y

TC -D PR O 5

Compare these specs to a Nagra R e c o rd e r: • 40 to 16000Hz ± 3db. • W ow and Flutter less than 0.15%. • Signal to noise ratio 64db. • Full mixing using separate level controls on tw o inputs. • Transistorised low level active mixer gives extra gain. • One VU meter monitors input/output level. The other continuously monitors crystal pilot tone on both record and playback.

R e so lve r: • Locks TC-D5PRO recorder to 50Hz mains or external sync pulses. • Wide lock-in range.

• Manual mode to allow salvage of tapes made w ith near flat batteries, etc.

• Simple automatic operation. • Contains in-built 240Vac power supply to operate recorder.

ffl have been making documentary films for a number of years and

I have always been amazed that most sound recording is still being performed by cumbersome reel-to-reel tape recorders. .

After making a film in Antartica last year, where I found myself riding on a dogsled perched on a huge and heavy Nagra, I f in a lly d e c id e d to g e t to w o r k a n d d e s ig n a reliable and rugged cassette unit suitable for crystal lockincf This conversion of the Sony TC-D5PRO is the result.

For the documentary film industry, especially out on location, our TC-DSPRO unit should have enormous advantages. t

i 7 C&- SlvLt f f i ,

O N L Y A V A IL A B L E F R O M : D IC K S M IT H ELEC TR O N IC S

THE OPEN PRO G RAM ofthe

Australian Film and Television School

Recorder: $1450 NO W $850 Resolver: $275 NO W $150 both plus sales tax if applicable

PROFESSIONAL PRODUCTS DIVISION PHONE: (02J 888 3200

EARTH WEEK 82

SIR WILLIAM McKELL MEDIA AWARD The Annual Award for

FREE! *

In f o rm a tio n on our short-term, specialized courses conducted th r o u g h o u t A u s tra lia for film, television and radio professionals

*

C a ta lo g u e s for our tra in in g m a te r ia ls available in print and on film and video tape

Get iri for your chop now . Drop us a line or call us at: T h e O p e n P ro g ra m , Australian Film and Television School PO Box 126, N O R T H RY D E NSW 2113 Telephone: (02) 887 1666

Excellence in Environmental Reporting

For the writer, director or originator of a printed, broadcast or televised feature on the environment.

PRIZES: $500 and plaque in each category $1000 overall commendation Closing date for entries $ pm June 30,1982.

Entry forms from State Pollution Control Commission, Box 4036, G.P.O., Sydney 2001 (02) 266 0661

.

Jacki Weaver

Jacki Weaver Continuedfrom p. 124 Paradoxically, though, he is very positive about exactly what he wants, I suppose because he has worked a lot in a television frame­ work.

But a lot of us can’t handle free­ dom. I mean, I can sometimes, and sometimes not. Every job I start on, I feel as though it is the first job I am doing. There is a lot of instinc­ tive things now after 20 years that I know, like coping with cameras and things, but every job is like a new one, and the way a director creates a working situation for the cast is very important.

You have done a lot of comedy, the Australian brand of which might best be described as “grotesque”, not so much in reference to your parts, but certainly to the tone of the work. Do you feel more comfor­ table inside that or inside the more refined wit-sharpening of some­ thing like ‘They’re Playing Our Song’?

David Williamson could do what Neil Simon does and I would like to see him do more of that sort of comedy. Yet, comedy is so hard to do. I remember some of the funny bits in The Removalists just not being there in the film, even though it was the same actors doing them.

Tony Buckley is a good editor, but there is something about comedy timing that is mathematical, and comedy is so much harder than drama.

I have just finished reading the Jack Lemmon biography. He tells a wonderful story about the old man on his death-bed saying, “ I’m dying. It’s far worse than I thought it would be. I’m terrified and it’s worse than anything I imagined, except for one thing.” And his mate

Peter Cummins, K ate Fitzpatrick and Jacki Weaver in Tom Jeffrey’s The Removalists.

leaned over and said, “ What’s that?” And he said, “ Playing comedy is harder.” And he is right . . . not that I’ve died. Well, not that often anyway.

S om ething like Stork and They re Playing Our Song are so different, but I wish somebody here would start writing like Neil Simon. I suppose it is understand­ able that I am having a slight love affaire with Neil Simon at the moment, after two years of doing his play. If I ever meet him, you know, it is going to be very strange, like meeting a parent one has never met before, because I have been saying his words all this time. The same if I ever meet Carol Bayer Sager because I have been playing her for two years.

Even though it looks primitive

John Waters a n d Jacki Weaver in ‘T hey’re Playing Our S o n g ’.

now, I felt very much at home in Stork. We worked hard on that — and I really have a soft spot for it.

But I am not as fond of Alvin, and I hated Alvin Rides Again, even though I accepted a part in the tele­ vision series. I don’t think Tim’s ever forgiven me for doing The Seagull at the Nimrod, instead of Alvin Rides Again.

That is true. It does rely on cari­ catures like Paul Hogan, who I think is great, and I must admit that there are parts of Trial By Marriage that really make me laugh. But it is that kind of broad thing you were saying, and I would love us to get into those other areas.

It is essentially a matter of direc­ tion, I think. What we lack most are directors. Michael Aitkens, who did Trial By Marriage, writes well; I think that had we been directed naturally, it would have been a lot better for the program.

I have also gone off having a live audience during taping. Its value is that it helps with your timing, because you have to leave laughter space. But I was talking to one of the actors from Barney Miller, which I think is a terrific series, and he said there were audiences for the first couple of series, as for Welcome Back Kotter, but after a while, when cults grew around some of the characters, the audiences used to go off their faces and it became impossible to work.

had been done by a commercial station it might have been differ­ ent. I just wish it had worked, and I don’t know why it didn’t.

I certainly don’t think any of the so-called critics who write for news­ papers know why it didn’t and I wish they would shut their traps, because most of them haven’t the first idea about making comedy. It is no longer good enough for them to say, “ Well, I am a normal viewer, and therefore I have every right to write for the normal viewer.” If you are going to write about something to which people have given many months of great thought and care, you have to know what you are talking about and not simply sit at a typewriter and, in a couple of minutes with a few illchosen words, demolish. If you do, the public unfortunately will still say, “ Oh, it didn’t get a very good write-up.” To which, rather help­ lessly, I’ll say, “Yes, but look at the idiot who did the write-up.”

The kind of thing that happens is illustrated by the case of Blow Out, which is a terrific film. John Waters, who is an actor and should know better, said to me, “ I didn’t read one good review of that, so I didn’t bother with it.” And we had to say to each other, “ Yes, but look at the fools who wrote the reviews.”

I think it is a lack in this country.

Newspapers seem to care so much about the level of sports writing, but when it comes to the arts . . .

Of course, that is not to say that there aren’t some really good critics here. Even when you disagree with them you feel that because they know and care about the subject, it is fair enough. H. G. Kippax of The Sydney Morning Herald is one of those I respect enormously, though he often says I am dreadful.

Why do you think “Trial By Mar­ riage” didn’t quite make it?

I am sure every good critic has an off-day . . .

I think it had a good producer and a good writer, and I think if it

It’s possible I am sometimes not as good as I could be. ★

A lot of Australian comedy is based on caricature rather than charac­ ter, which is only to describe it, not to say it’s bad. A lot of American comedy, Neil Simon in particular, works more at establishing charac­ ter, even if it finally doesn’t go all the way . . .

CINEMA PAPERS April - 185

A SPE C IA L O FFER O N A A T O N F R O M FILM W EST...

W eVe ‘stopped -down' the asking price on 4 current m odel A ATONfe \ You know about cameras. So you know AATON. Because it's the best. And you've heard too many who use one, say so.

So here's an offer you'll find hard to refuse. At Filmwest we've got 4 current model AATON 16mm and Super-16 cameras that we're prepared to talk turkey on, to clear our stocks. It's a great opportunity to get into the best and quietest Super-16 on the market today (23db±1db).

There are many reasons for choosing AATON. Our special deal is just one more! Call us today.

SYDNEY PERTH MELBOURNE SINGAPORE

Filmwest Pty, Ltd. 75 Bennett Street, Western Australia 6000.

Phone: 3251177, 3251423.

Telex: AA94150 FILMWA Cables “ Filmwest" Perth.

Alex McPhee Filmwest Pty. Ltd. C /- M edia Specialists 71 Palmerston Cres.

South Melbourne 3205, Victoria.

Phone: 6999677.

Percy Jones Motion Picture Services 17 Lochinvar Parade, Cariingford, New South Wales 2118.

Phone: 871 2253.

Filmwest Re. Ltd. Suite 185, Raffles Hotel, 1-3 Beach Road, Singapore 0718.

Phone: 3386044, 3361509 Telex: RS36389 FLMWST. Cables: “ Raflotel".

FILMWEST B

Importers and distributors of AATON cameras throughout Australia, New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia.

ADELAIDE FILM SERVICES TEL 2 6 4 2 2 3 7 OFFICE 3 Patterson Close Vista S.A.509] POSTAL ADDRESS PO Box436 Nth. Adel.

SA.5006

M O T IO N PICTURE LIGHTING EQUIPM ENT RENTAL

r

(7

-Q? G-----f Od

TITLES

OPTICAL

EFFECTS

&

for

GRAPHIC PTY. LTD.

MOTION PICTURE f and

AUDIO VISUAL

60 WHITING ST., ARTARMON, NSW, 2064

Shooting in —

ANAMORPHIC WIDE SCREEN TELEVISION

[0 2 ]

439-5611

and all

A/V FORMATS

4 ------;WV V

CLIFFORD HAYES

E D IT O R F e a tu re s: Mad Max, W e of the Never Never

<èV A & J C a s t in g A g e n c y

TV Series, Film and Videotape C a s tin g a n d M o d e llin g C o n s u lta n ts

Phone: (03) 592 3695 Mail to: 50 Warleigh Grove, North Brighton, Victoria 3186

5 Axford Crescent, Oakleigh Sth. 3167

Telephone (03) 570 4407

W a n te d

Investors in documentary on life and works of Aboriginal artist, Yirawala MBE. Would consider co-production.

THE STATE OF THE ART LOCATION RECORDING

Cine S ervice com pact video _ H

☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆

i

M o rn in g S tar P roduction s P .O . Box 439, P o tts P o in t, N S W 2011 P hone: (02) 357 4194

D O N ’T M I S S T H E B U S !

C H A R L E S C R A IG ha s a ra n g e o f v in ta g e b u s e s

FILM VIDEO & PRODUCTION SPECIALISTS SOUND RECORDING DUBBING AND EDITORIAL SERVICES FILM TO VIDEO TAPE TRANSFERS 16MM & SUPER 8MM QUALITY FILM DUPLICATING & REDUCTION PRINTING

☆ VICTORIAN AGENTS FOR TUSCAN REELS & CANS

235 moray st. * sth. melbourne 3205 p.o. box 328 phone (03) 699 6999

Charles Craig 722 Doncaster Rd., Doncaster 3108

Telephone (03) 568 6973 A.H. (03) 848 1465

Clark Film Services FOR: Air conditioned make-up wardrobe trucks.

Air conditioned individual artist’s facilities.

All your transport management needs.

RING SYDNEY (02 ) 997

2368

(Ralph and Sue Clark)

(02 ) 981

16 2 2

(Agent)

1981 London Film Festival

1981 London Film Festival Continuedfrom p. 135 A rv e lla G ray die d in S e p te m b e r 1981. As he says a b o u t his m usic, “ T he blues — th a t’s w h e re we cam e fro m . M usic can ch a ng e, b u t you d o n ’t fo rg e t th e b lu e s.”

The film m ig h t be a little lo ose a ro u n d th e edges, b u t its c h a rm is as easy as a s tro ll a lo n g th e sid ew a lk.

R e m in is c e n c e s h a v e a w a y o f c ry s ta lliz in g s o m e th in g a b o u t an elusive p e rs o n a lity , b u t Lo re n zo de S te fa n o in h is firs t m a jo r d o c u m e n ta ry as d ire c to r tru s ts his ca m e ra . In Talmage Farlow he a llo w s o n e d ig r e s s io n a b o u t th e le g e n d a ry jazz g u ita ris t. P ia nist J im m y Lyon d e s c rib e s how he was playin g in G re e n s b o ro , N o rth C a ro lin a , d u rin g W o rld W ar 2 w hen th e d o o r o p en ed and “ in co m e s th is tall d rip of w a te r” c a rryin g a g u ita r. Tal F arlo w p laye d a few songs w ith Lyon: “ I th o u g h t he was o u tsta n d in g .

I w o n d e re d w h at a g u y like th is was d o in g in G re e n s b o ro , N o rth C a ro lin a . He said he w as a s ig n -p a in te r.”

Tal F arlo w w e n t on to b e co m e “ The W o rld ’s G re a te st Jazz G u ita ris t” as he w a s b ille d in th e 1 9 5 0 s . T h e n he d is a p p e a re d , s h u n n e d fa m e and d e voted h im s e lf to a q u ie t life in a se a sid e re tre a t w ith his w ife and his m usic. De S te fa n o d e liv e rs th e p h o to g ra p h s , the re co rd c o v e rs and the c lip p in g s q u ickly: it is of m a rg in a l co n c e rn . T his is not a film a b o u t w h y a g re a t m u s ic ia n gave up th e b rig h t lig h ts, n o r is it a sc a lp e l jo b — try in g to fin d o u t w h a t m ake s a m u sicia n tic k . A se rio u s ^fe z z e n th u s ia s t him se lf, as well as b e in g a ssista n t e d ito r on The Black M arb le a n d The Blue Lagoon, De S te fa n o m et Tal F arlo w in 1978 and fo u n d him “ one of th e m o st fa scin a tin g and g e n u in e p e rs o n s I have ever m et — g ifte d to th e p o in t of g e nius, q u ie t in th e m a n n e r of an a rtis a n ” . These are th e q u a litie s th a t sh in e th ro u g h th is s u p e rb film . A s G e o rg e B en son says at th e b e g in n in g , “ Tal F arlo w m eans h a rm o n y and a h u m b le p e rs o n .”

T his b le n d o f th e m an and his m u sic is th e H o ly G rail of d o c u m e n ta rie s on fa m o u s m u s ic ia n s . T h a t L o re n z o d e S te fa n o has rea ch e d it w ith his firs t film Is a c re d it to h im s e lf and his s u b je ct.

188 - April CINEMA PAPERS

In te re ste d in “ th e c re a tive w a y” , he b ro u g h t F arlow to g e th e r w ith C a na dia n g u ita ris t Lenny Breau and film e d them . “ Jazz m u sicia n s play fo r each o th e r ra th e r tha n th e p e o p le o u t fro n t” , says F a rlo w . “ T h e y ta lk to e a c h o th e r m u s ic a lly .”

E d w a rd T h o m a s ’ p re c is e ly -fra m e d ca m e ra ca tch e s th e m o m e n ts w hen the eyes g lin t and we he ar so m e th in g w h ich F a rlo w d is c o v e r e d fr o m h is s ig n ­ p a in tin g , “Some sig n s have snap]” So it

The Weavers, fro m James B. B row n’s

is w ith jazz. “ Y ou ju s t lo ose n up an d you can d o w h a t you w a n t to d o .” T h e sn a p is th e re to o w h en The Tal F arlo w T rio , w ith T o m m y F lanagan on p ia n o an d Red M itch e ll on bass, are re h e a rsin g fo r the s e ll-o u t c o n c e rt w h ich fo rm s th e fina l scen es of th e film .

T h e re a re scen es o f F arlo w at hom e and s ig n -p a in tin g “ Fat C h a n ce ” on his bo at, as well as c o m m e n ts fro m Red N o rv o , A r t D ’ L u g o ff a n d F a r lo w ’s V ie n n e se w ife Tina, b u t th e se a rise as n a tu ra lly as th e fre q u e n t im a g e of the la n ky N orth C a ro lin ia n c o a xin g a m e lo d y fro m his g u ita r. S o u n d re c o rd is ts Jo h n D ild in e a n d F ra n k lin S te ttn e r h a ve a c h ie v e d c le a n r e c o r d in g s o f "F a s c in a tin g R h y th m ” , “ C h e ro k e e " , “ F la m in g o ” , “ L o n g h o rn B lu e s” , “ A u tu m n in New Y o rk ” and “ J o rd u ” , to nam e a few.

T hese je ll w ith F a rlo w ’s qu ie t vo ice and s e lf-e ffa c in g p e rso n a lity.

D ire cto r and m u sicia n have a ch ie ved a ra re cre a tive c o m m u n io n — w ith th e m u sic as sole e n try p o in t. As th e g u ita ris t c o m m e n ts b e fo re he is a b o u t to ta ke the trio on stage fo r th e New Y ork co n ce rt, “ W ith a jazz trio th e re ’s p ro b a b ly m o re in te llig e n t ‘ta lk ’ g o in g on on stag e th a n t h e r e e v e r c o u ld b e in th e a u d ie n c e .” .

B e fo re B ob Dylan, The W eave rs w e re th e c o n scie n ce of a g e n e ra tio n . For a m o m e n t in 1980, in C a rn e g ie Hall, the y w e re to g e th e r fo r th e ir last co n ce rt. They a re o ld e r, of co u rse , and th e voices w h ich ca rrie d th e m essa ge of p o litic a l fo lk m u sic in th e 1950s fo u n d th e s tra in a bit to o m uch at tim e s. B ut the y w e re g re e te d as old frie n d s by an e xh ila ra te d au d ie n ce , so m e of w h o m w e re n ’t a ro u n d w h e n th e g ro u p w a s b la c k lis te d by th e H o u s e U n - A m e r ic a n A c t iv it ie s C o m m itte e — th e y knew such son gs as “ Tzena Tzena” , “ The H a m m e r S o n g ” , “ W im o w e h ” and “ G o o d n ig h t Ire n e ” fro m th e r e c o r d in g s o f o th e r s lik e T h e K in g sto n T rio, P eter Paul and M ary, and T rin i Lopez. "I kn o w th is c o n c e rt w ill be o u r la st” , says th e fe isty Lee Hays fro m his w h e e lch a ir, and it was. On A u g u s t 26, 1981, he d ie d , b u t n o t b e fo re Ja m e s B.

B row n

c o m p le te d

s h o o tin g

The Weavers: Wasn’t That A Time?.

The

Weavers: Wasn’t That A Time?, fo r w h ic h he had re u n ite d P ete S e e ge r, R onn ie G ilb e rt, Fred H e lle rm a n and Lee Hays.

T h e re are, in fact, ‘tw o ’ film s : th e film B row n in te n d e d to m a ke a b o u t th e g ro u p an d th e ir tim e s , s u p p le m e n te d w ith fo o ta g e ta ke n o f th e m pla yin g at a p re ­ a rra n g e d p riv a te p ic n ic ; an d th e film of th e p h o e n ix w h ic h a ro s e at th a t p ic n ic and w e n t on to p re p a re an d g ive its last s e ll-o u t c o n c e rt. A t firs t th e tw o a p p e a r m is m a tc h e d . L ike a tim e m a c h in e g o n e crazy, the y tu m b le in to on e a n o th e r so th a t p a s t a n d p re s e n t e n tw in e a n d d is o rie n ta tio n is fin a l. O r is it?

In a d d itio n to T he W eave rs and B row n, th is film ne ed s an a u d ie n ce . It is a live t h in g . W h a t w o u ld h a v e b e e n an in te re s tin g c o m p ila tio n a b o u t a g ro u p of p e o p le , ch e ris h e d on ly by fo lk m u s ic ia n s and ag eing fans, evolves by d e g re e s to a film a b o u t fo u r s u rv iv o rs w h o c o m p ris e a le ge nd a c c e s s ib le to all. B row n d id n ’t set o u t to film an e x p e rie n c e , b u t th a t is w h a t he, and we, have.

Archive_______________ If th e re w e re a n y d o u b t th a t th e a c tiv itie s o f c in e m a p re s e rv a tio n is ts rated a p o o r th ird , if th e fo s s ils rated at all, th e 1981 Festival d e m o n s tra te d all to o c le a rly th a t c in e m a histo ry, at le a st in so m e of its fo rm s , has b e c o m e d e c id e ly u p -m a rk e t. In p o p u la r te rm s , te le v is io n can a ssu m e s o m e o f th e c re d it. T h a m e s ’ Hollywood and G ra n a d a ’s Camera, both a im e d a t r e c r e a tin g as c lo s e ly as p ra c tic a b le th e o rig in a l in te n tio n s o f th e film m a k e rs , s p u rre d a w id e n in g in te re s t in e a rly film s in g e n e ra l a n d s u c h p a r t i c u l a r m a t t e r s a s e a r ly c o lo r pro ce sse s an d th e c o rre c t spe ed . T he s p in -o ffs have g o n e in ail d ire c tio n s .

A t th e 1980 Festival, M a rtin S co rs e s e le c tu re d a b o u t his c a m p a ig n to p e titio n E astm an K o d a k to d e v e lo p ne g a tive and p o s itiv e s to c k s th a t w ill n o t fad e, th e BBC p ro d u c e d a d o c u m e n ta ry on th e w o rk o f th e N a tion al Film A rc h iv e and, flo w in g d ire c tly fro m th e Hollywood se ries, th e re is th e collaboration between th e BFI and

Thames TV to present four ‘silent1films at

1981 London Film Festival

p e rfo rm a n c e s fro m a c a s t h e a d e d by R a sm us R asm usse n, R ich a rd L u n d and N ils E lvfors.

R e ce n tly re s to re d by th e NFA fro m a p rin t fo u n d in th e B e a m ish M u s e u m , C o D u rh a m , C h a rle s B ra b in ’s Twinkletoes (1926) is a c h a rm in g , a lb e it s a d ly -d a te d , a d a p ta tio n o f T h o m a s B u rk e ’s 1917 s to ry

Twinkletoes: A Tale of Chinatown.

s p e c ia l s c re e n in g s . T h e firs t o f th e se was A b e l G a n c e ’s Napoleon. F a ith fu lly re c o n ­ s tru c te d by K evin B ro w n lo w a n d w ith a new s c o re b y C a rl D avis c o n d u c tin g th e W re n O rc h e s tra , it w as scre e n e d at th e 1 9 8 0 L o n d o n F e s tiv a l. S u b s e q u e n t s c re e n in g s have m a d e it a c u lt-film in B rita in a n d in th e U.S. T h e s e co n d film , K in g V id o r’s 1928 “ in tim a te e p ic ” The Crowd, a ls o s c o re d b y C a rl D a vis c o n d u c tin g th e W re n O rch e stra , w a s th e piece de resistance at th e 1981 Festival.

In lin e w ith th e h a p p y c o in c id e n c e o f re n e w e d in te re s t in th e s ile n ts an d th e L o n d o n F e s tiv a l’s 25th A n n iv e rs a ry , a n u m b e r o f s p e c ia l e v e n t s w e r e o rg a n iz e d . R u n n in g c o n c u rre n tly w ith th e m a in p ro g ra m w e re: a re tro s p e c tiv e o f 60 film s , an e x h ib itio n o f p a s t c in e m a e q u ip m e n t — in c lu d in g a K alee M o d e l 7 p r o je c to r a n d a T e c h n ic o lo r 3 - S tr ip c a m e ra — p re s e n te d b y th e P ro je c te d T h e a tre T ru s t o f B e rk h a m s te d , th e la u n c h in g o f th e B FI’s M u se u m o f th e M o v in g Im a g e p ro je c t fo r th e S ou th B a n k, an d th e N FA ’s d is p la y o f s tills and d e s ig n s fro m p a s t L o n d o n fe s tiv a ls a lon g w ith a s p e c ia l p r o g r a m o f a r c h iv e tre a s u re s . A ll re c e iv e d m o re th a n casu al in te re st.

In 1975, o n e o f th e m o st re m a rk a b le p riv a te c o lle c tio n s o f e a rly c in e m a w as d is c o v e re d in S w itz e rla n d . A sse m b le d d u rin g th e firs t d e c a d e s o f c in e m a in a J e s u it s e m in a ry by its A b b e , J o se f Joye, it n u m b e rs s o m e 2500 film s . M o st o f th e c o lle c tio n has s u rv iv e d and, w ith th e a p p ro v a l o f C in e m a th e q u e S uisse, was a c q u ire d by th e NFA. T he A rc h iv e has s in c e be en ra c in g a g a in s t tim e to c o p y th e fra g ile tre a s u re , b u t s to c k an d la b o r c o s ts have h a m p e re d th e p ro je c t. S o fa r o n ly a b o u t 2 0 0 f ilm s h a v e b e e n d u p lic a te d . F rom th e s e th e A rc h iv e ’s E la in e B u rro w s , D on S w ift a n d C lyd e J e a v o n s s e le c te d e ig h t film s an d fo u r e x tra c ts .

J o y e p e rc e iv e d an e d u c a tio n a l use fo r film , so he b o u g h t film s re p re s e n tin g e v e ry g e n re fro m all le a d in g c o u n trie s of p ro d u c tio n . T h e re is a ‘w id e va rie ty.

L u c ia n N o n g u e t’s 1905 L’inquisition fo r P ath e is a flin c h in g ly p a lp a b le ta b le a u x

o f to rtu re as a C a rd in a l w a n d e rs fro m o n e to rm e n te d h e re tic to a n o th e r, w h ile The Clown and his Donkey (1910) is a ra re e x a m p le of th e w o rk o f an e a rly B ritis h a n im a to r, C h a rle s A rm s tro n g , u sing w h ite -o n -b la c k silh o u e tte s.

T h e c o lle c tio n in c lu d e s tw o film s S id n e y O lc o tt d ire c te d fo r K alem . The firs t, The Lad From Old Ireland (1910), w a s d e s c r ib e d in B io sco p e a s “ A ro m a n c e o f th e E m e ra ld Isle . . . th e firs t p ro d u c tio n eve r m a d e on tw o c o n tin e n ts ” a n d is a s tra ig h tfo rw a rd ro m a n c e a b o u t h o w T e rry O’C o n n o r (S id n e y O lco tt) e m ig ra te s to New Y o rk to fin d his fo rtu n e , a s k in g h is s w e e th e a rt A ile e n (G e n e G a u n tie r) to w a it fo r him . Ten ye a rs pass a n d T e r r y h a s b e c o m e a w e a lth y p o litic ia n , b u t he d o e s n ’t fo rg e t A ilee n.

W hen she w rite s, d e s c rib in g how th e b a ilif f s a re d u e , T e r r y s a ils h o m e im m e d ia te ly .

A lth o u g h th e en d sce n e s a re m issin g , T e rry an d A ile e n p re s u m a b ly m a rry and re tu rn to th e U.S. O lc o tt m a n a g e d to film on lo c a tio n in Ire la n d and N e w Y o rk so th a t so m e o f th e fo o ta g e (ru ra l Ire la n d and T e rry as a c o n s tru c tio n w o rk e r in New Y o rk) has d o c u m e n ta ry value. T h e re is a l s o s o m e f a s c i n a t i n g t r i c k p h o to g ra p h y on th e lin e r to Ire la n d w h en T e rry im a g in e s A ile e n in his arm s.

T he se co n d , The Railroad Raiders of ’62 (1911), is th e s to ry (la te r film e d by B u ste r K ea ton) o f th e C ivil W a r ra id led

by C a p ta in A n d re w s in A p ril 1862 w hen U n io n is t sp ie s a tte m p te d to c a p tu re “ T he G e n e ra l” , a C o n fe d e ra te lo co m o tive .

O lc o tt’s d ra m a tic c o n s tru c tio n o f th e ch a se is h ig h lig h te d b y s o m e c ris p c ro s s ­ c u ttin g , p e rs p e c tiv e c o m p o s itio n s and lo c a tio n film in g . T he p rin t is in e x c e lle n t c o n d itio n .

T h r e e f ilm s d e t a ile d t u r n - o f - t h e c e n t u r y in d u s t r ia l p ro c e s s e s . The Making of a Modern Newspaper is a v a lu a b le little p ro m o tio n film by th e L u b in Co in 1907 an d fo llo w s th e p ro d u c tio n of th e Philadelphia Record fro m th e fro n t de sk to h o m e d e live ry. T he E dison Co m a d e Expert Glass Blowing in 1909 and, a lth o u g h c o n te m p o ra ry re vie w s d e s ­ c rib e d it as “ friv o lo u s ” , its d o c u m e n ta ry

va lu e has in cre a se d w ith tim e , sin ce it sh o w s a c ra fts m a n d e m o n s tra tin g his s k ill at m a kin g n o ve lty glass o b je cts. A nd th e m o to r c a r p ro d u c tio n lin e was e v i­ d e n tly re a ch in g G e rm a n y in 1911 w hen

Blick in eine automobilfabrik (A Glimpse inside a Motor Car Factory) w as m a d e as an o p tim is tic p ro m o tio n film fo r O pel cars.

T he e xtra c ts w e re a b risk ru n a ro u n d of s o m e o f th e fe a tu re s in th e co lle c tio n .

T he sto rm sce n e fro m W illia m V. R anous' 1909 p r o d u c tio n o f King Lear, fo r V ita g ra p h , w as scre e n e d p re s u m a b ly to sh o w e a rly s p e cia l e ffe cts — in th is case th e s to rm w a s c re a te d b y d ir e c t s c ra tc h in g of th e e m u lsio n .

The St B a rth o lo m e w N ig h t M assa cre scenes fro m Le Huguenot (1909) fo r G a u m o n t is a s w a s h b u c k lin g e x a m p le of th e w o rk o f L o u is F e u illa d e in h is fo rm a tiv e yea rs. T he c o llis io n sce n e in M im e M is u ’s d ra m a tiz a tio n o f th e T ita n ic d is a s te r fo r C o n tin e n ta l-K u n s tfllm in

1912, in nacht und eis (In Night and Ice), is m e m o ra b le fo r so m e ra th e r o b v io u s use of m o d e ls an d h yste rica l a ctin g by the d o o m e d o ffic e rs . A n d an e x tra c t fro m on e of the series of a d v e n tu re s u b a lte rn film s fo r C la re n d o n d ire c te d by Percy S tow , Lieutenant Rose and the Chinese Pirates (1910), w as n o ta b le less fo r th e d a rin g a n tics of Rose (P.G. N o rga te ) than f o r t h e in v e n t iv e s p e c ia l e f f e c t s e m p lo y in g e x p lo s iv e s a n d b a c k p ro je c tio n as th e p ira te s a re d e stro ye d in th e ir lair.

By fa r th e m o st im p re s s iv e fin d to date is a s u p e rb p rin t o f a p re vio u sly lo st s m u g g lin g d ra m a , Havsgamar (Sea V u ltu re s ), w h ic h V ic t o r S jo s t r o m d ire c te d fo r S ve n ska B io g ra fte a te rn in 1916. T he S w e dish Film In stitu te c o ­ o p e ra te d w ith th e NFA in p ro v id in g the o rig in a l in te r-title s fo r th e re sto ra tio n .

Havsgamar is a b o u t how th e u n solved m u rd e r of a C u sto m s o ffic e r c o n tin u e s to h a u n t a sm a ll c o m m u n ity w hen, 15 yea rs la te r, his lo o k a lik e son succe e d s to th e jo b . It is a m a tu re and a c c o m p lis h e d film , n o ta b le fo r its s o ftiy -lit in te rio rs , ru g g e d c o a s ta l lo c a t io n f ilm in g , a c u te c o m p o s itio n s an d u n ifo rm ly u n d e rsta te d

M o n ic a "T w in k le to e s ” M in a si (C o lle e n M o o re ) is a C in d e re lla -ty p e in n o c e n t in a b a c k -s tre e t w o rld w h e re v ic e and c rim e have sn a re d m ost. S he d a n ce s in a m u s ic -h a ll an d d re a m s firs t o f e m u la tin g h e r la te m o th e r ’s e a rlie r m u s ic -h a ll succe ss, th e n g ra d u a tin g to cla s s ic a l ballet. S u rro u n d in g he r a re c h a ra c te rs who have c o m p r o m is e d t h e ir a s p ir a tio n s : h e r b e s o tte d d a n c in g in s tru c to r R o sele af (playe d le c h e ro u s ly

by W a rn e r O la n d ), he r k in d ly fa th e r (T u liy M a rs h a ll) w h o has, u n k n o w n to his d a u g h te r, b e c o m e a s o m e tim e th ie f, and th e je a lo u s and s p ite fu l C issie (G la d ys B ro c k w e ll) w h o re s e n ts T w in k le to e s fo r he r y o u th fu l in n o c e n c e and fo r th e c ru e l fa c t th a t she has u n in te n tio n a lly c a p ­ tiv a te d C is s ie ’s h u s b a n d , th e c h a m p io n b o x e r C h u c k L ig h tfo o t (K en ne th H a rlan ).

G ra d u a lly th e y b e c o m e a w e b w h ic h s m o t h e r s t h e v iv a c io u s d a n c e r .

A lth o u g h s h e a c h ie v e s m o m e n ta r y a c c la im at th e L im e lig h t m u sic hall, her s e lf- r e s p e c t is s h a tte r e d w h e n th e v e n g e fu l C issie tu rn s Dad M in asi in to th e h a w k -fa c e d In s p e c to r T e rrito n (W illia m M c D o n a ld ) of S c o tla n d Y ard. H er h o p e s a m e m o ry , T w in k le to e s s a d ly te lls th e k in d ly and u b iq u ito u s w ino, H ank (L u cie n L ittle fie ld ), th a t sh e is g o in g fa r aw ay.

In a le tte r to th e Festival o rg a n iz e rs , C o lle e n M o o r e e x p la in e d h o w s h e in s is te d on tw o e n d in g s : th e B u rk e v e rs io n w h e re T w in k le to e s d ro w n s , and T w in k le to e s on a fa rm w h e re she is la te r re u n ite d w ith h e r fa th e r, n e w ly re lea sed fro m p ris o n , and C h u c k w h o has fin a lly d iv o rc e d C issie. S he le ft e x h ib ito rs th e c h o ic e as to w h ic h e n d in g s h o u ld be used. In v a ria b ly the y cho se th e la tte r, and it is th is v e rs io n w h ic h s u rvive s in th e B e a m ish p rin t.

T he re s to ra tio n is a d m ira b le , p re ­ s e rv in g Ja m e s C. Van T re e s ’ m o d u la te d p h o to g ra p h y an d c o m p o s itio n s w h ic h m ir r o r th e n a rra tiv e , c h a n g in g fro m b rig h t su n n y o p e n in g scen es to d a n k L o n d o n fo g -e n s h ro u d e d s tre e ts at n igh t.

S o m e sho ts, such as th e on e of T w in k le ­ toes, b a c k -lit, ta lk in g to a d ra u g h t h o rse n e a r a s tre e t-m a rk e t, a re riv e ttin g . The d re a m s e q u e n ce s, w h e re T w in k le to e s im a g in e s h e rs e lf as a fa m o u s b a lle rin a a ris in g fro m th e a rra n g e m e n t o f tea le a v e s in a c u p , a n t ic ip a t e B u s b y B e rk e le y 's p o lis h e d e n se m b le s. O th e r visu a ls a re also cle a n ly e x e cu te d : fro m T w in k le to e s ’ b lu rre d d o u b le -v is io n a fte r R oseleaf has s p ik e d he r d rin k , to her ra p tu ro u s re c e p tio n at th e L im e lig h t, w h e re she is seen d a n c in g in th e p u p ils of C h u c k ’s eyes.

T hese te c h n ic a l flo u ris h e s , ho w e ver, do n o t save an e s s e n tia lly p e d e s tria n and m e lo d ra m a tic plot, and th e film re m a in s a m e re v e h ic le fo r th e m is c h ie v o u s and e ffe rv e s c e n t ta le n t of C o lle en M oo re.

M e ria n C. C o o p e r a n d E rn e s t B. S c h o e d s a c k ’s C h a n g (1927) is n o t a lo st film — or, at least, it was th o u g h t n o t to b e u n til r e c e n tly w h e n U C L A F ilm A rc h iv is ts fo u n d to th e ir h o rro r th a t th e ir p rin t had d e te rio ra te d be yo n d re p a ir.

T hen, a lm o s t c o in c id e n ta lly , a 3 5 m m d i­ a ce tate safe ty p rin t w ith th e o rig in a l tin te d scen es was fo u n d in th e N a tu ra l H isto ry M u se u m in L o n d o n . It w as th is p rin t th a t was s c re e n e d at th e Festival a lth o u g h , as Kevin B ro w n lo w re a s s u re d th e a u d ie n ce , th is s o rt of th in g w ill be d o n e w ith it “ n o t to o m an y tim e s ” .

Chang was th e re s u lt of S c h o e d s a c k an d C o o p e r’s o p in io n th a t d o c u m e n ta ry film m a k in g h a d b e c o m e d u ll. T h e y c o n c e iv e d a plan w h e re b y the y c o u ld film on lo ca tio n , b u t d re s s up th e p ro d u c tio n u s in g H o lly w o o d d r a m a t ic v a lu e s .

D e sp ite p ro b le m s on lo c a tio n in n o rth e rn

CINEMA PAPERS April - 189

SUPER-fl SERVICES PTY. LIMITED

A PROFESSIONAL SUPER- 8 mm LABORATORY N ow offering high quality video duplicating as w ell as our regular services.

• • • • • • • •

Reduction Printing — 16mm to Super-8mm Super-8mm to Super-8mm Duplication Blow-ups Super-8mm to 16mm Super-8mm to Video Transfers Magnetic Striping Pre-striped Prints Cartridge Loading Sound Transfers

For further details contact

SUPER -8 SERVICES PTY LIMITED Suite 2,1 st Floor, Adler House 8 West Street, North Sydney 2060 Phone: (02) 929 4690

HELPING MAKE MOVIES HAPPEN IN A U S IR A LIA S IN C E ‘ .........."

□

FILM « T V PRODUCTION TECH N ICAL S E R V IC E S □ AND SU P P LIES

□ AUDIOVISION Contact Daryl Binning: AUDIOVISION PTY LTD. ★ L o c a tio n f ilm a n d TV lig h tin g s e rv ic e s .

Ph. (09) 330 5070. * E q u ip m e n t re n ta l — L ig h tin g , c a m e ra s , 15 Denny Way, Alfred Cove, W. A e d itin g , g e n e ra to rs , e tc .

A u s tra lia n Film a n d T e le v isio n S c h o o l

ö UTTJjJ ü 35m m & 16mm Negative Cutting, ,

CHRIS ROWELL PRODUCTIONS 139 Penshurst Street, ^Willoughby, MSW 2068 Telephone (02) 411 2255y

FOOD FOR BUSINESS On-site film and television catering

Ca te r in g

FOOD FOR PLEASURE Production parties

FOOD FOR EVERY OCCASION Phone (02 ) (02 )

981 1622 997 5 1 7 1

P.O.Box269 , Newport Beach, 210 6

F u lltim e

P r o g r a m

T r a in in g

C o u r s e s

A pplications are now being called for full tim e courses beginning in M arch 1983 ' T hree-year diplom a course Training in C am era Sound Editing Production M anagem ent W riting/R esearch for film and television Screenw riting course Maximum term 12 months Applicants for both courses must be . . . .

• resident in Australia • able to submit a portfolio of work with their application • mature, dedicated, knowledgeable and creative.

The AFTS is a statutory authority funded by the Federal government.

Full time AFTS students are paid a living allowance while training, plus dependants’ allowances where applicable.

All applications must be on the appropriate official application form, available (with Fulltime Program course brochures) from: AFTS Recruitment Officer, PO Box 126 North Ryde NSW 2113 (02) 887 1666 AFTS Melbourne representataive, PO Box 373, North Melbourne 3051 (03) 328 2683 (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) Closing date:

Wednesday 7 July 1982

1981 London Film Festival

S ia m , th e y b ro u g h t in a film a b o u t a S ia m e s e fa m ily p io n e e rin g a new p a tch o f ju n g le . T h e fa th e r, K ru, ca p tu re s a b a b y chang (e le p h a n t) an d ke e p s it. T h e to rm e n te d m o th e r chang re scu e s he r b a b y, p re c ip ita tin g th e re tu rn o f th e G re a t H e rd — u n s ig h te d sin ce th e yo u th o f th e w ise m en in th e n e a rb y villa g e .

T h e d ra m a -d o c u m e n ta ry a p p ro a c h s p o tlig h ts c r o s s - c u r r e n ts w h ic h a re n e v e r e n tir e ly re s o lv e d . T h e s tilte d a m a te u r a c to rs , re c re a tin g asp e cts of th e ir d a ily lives fo r th e c a m e ra , a p p e a r a w k w a rd an d m is p la c e d , an d it is c le a r th a t if S c h o e d s a c k an d C o o p e r had b e c o m e b o re d w ith R o b e rt F la h e rty’s film s , th e n d ire c tin g p a rtic ip a n ts in situ re ve a le d Its ow n p ro b le m s .

T h e ir te c h n ic a l a tte m p ts to en live n th e a c tio n o s c illa te b e tw e e n m o m e n ta ry s u c c e s s an d d is a s te r. W a rm ly -to n e d e x te rio rs a re g e n tly m ixe d w ith co ld in te rio rs , s e p ia sun sets, b lu e -tin te d n ig h t sc e n e s and ric h m a g e n ta c a m p fire s . B ut A c h m e d A b d u lla h ’s lo q u a c io u s in te r­ title s s tre tc h fa r b e yo n d th e c h a rm in g : a s h o t o f a b a b y b e a r — “ M a ’m, de ar, p le a s e t e ll m e a b e a r s t o r y ” ; th e e le p h a n ts in a kra a l — “ M a n ’s b ra in o v e rc o m e s th e E le p h a n t’s b ra w n ” ; and K ru to his e le p h a n t — “ B rin g m e a le n g th of s u g a r-c a n e , O v e ry sm a ll d a u g h te r.”

T h e be st m o m e n ts in C h a n g b e lie th e o v e ra ll aim . K ru ’s fa m ily p a c k in g up for the night includes touching grab shots of th e ro u n d in g up o f th e p u p s and p ig le ts, and th e g re e n -tin te d ju n g le sh o ts of m o n k e y s sw in g in g in th e tre e s and tig e rs in th e u n d e rg ro w th reve al an eye for u n r e h e a r s e d a c tio n . T h e s e t - p ie c e e le p h a n t c h a rg e th ro u g h th e villa g e , film e d in M a g n a s c o p e , is a c o m ­ m e n d a b le m o n ta g e — c u ttin g fro m S c h o e d s a c k ’s c a m e ra in a re in fo rc e d p it to C o o p e r’s in an o v e rh a n g in g tre e .1 A lth o u g h th e film 's th e o re tic a l basis is la rg e ly b a n k ru p t, it is, n o n e th eless, a v a l u a b l e f i l m , s h o c k i n g in t h e c o n s e r v a tio n - c o n s c io u s 1980s, y e t a m o m e n t o f e x p e rim e n ta tio n fro m th e m en w h o la te r g o t it rig h t w ith King Kong.

H o lly w o o d c e le b ra te d th e co m in g of s o u n d w ith “ a ll-s ta r v a u d e v ille and revue e n te rta in m e n t” an d it w a sn ’t long b e fo re th e B ritis h c in e m a p ro v id e d its own h o m e -g ro w n pa stich e . T he NFA has re a s s e m b le d A d ria n B ru n e i’s E lstre e C a llin g , m a d e fo r B ritish In te rn a tio n a l P ic tu re s in 1930, fro m v a rio u s so u rce s.

T h a t ’ s E n te r ta in m e n t, B r it is h - s ty le , I . T h e film was a lm o s t b o ile d d u rin g processing and because the scene was impossible to reshoot, each blank frame had

to be time-exposed on a step-printer. It is for this reason that the charge scene appears grainy and jerky.

Adrian Brunei’s 1930 variety compilation, Elstree Calling, restored by the British National Film Archive.

su ffe rs as m uch fro m th e la ck of a g o o d p re ss o ve r th e p a st 50 ye a rs as fro m the fa c t th a t th e a p p e a l o f th e m u sic hall in th e 1920s is n ’t e x a ctly tim e le ss.

P re d icta b ly, how ever, n o t all of it is fo rg e tta b le . Lily M o rris sin g s tw o ch e e ky n u m b e r s , ‘ ‘ W h y A m I A lw a y s th e B rid e s m a id ” an d “ He’s O nly A W o rkin g M a n ” , th e T h re e E dd ie s s lid e e ffo rtle s s ly th ro u g h “ D ance A ro u n d in Y o u r B o n e s” an d T e d d y B row n (la rg e e n o u g h fo r tw o P au l W h ite m a n s ) a n d h is O rc h e s tra p e rfo rm an a c c e p ta b le “ A in ’ t M is b e h a v in ’’. The ite m s a re lin ke d by T o m m y H a n d le y d o in g a ro u tin e fo r a te le visio n ca m e ra , w h ile G o rd o n H a rke r d e s p e ra te ly trie s to g e t his h o m e m a d e set to w o rk b e fo re th e sh o w is over.

S o m e o f th e c o m e d y s k e tch e s have

some excellent gags: such as the attempt to inject a sense of culture Into the show

by re c itin g the s o lilo q u y fro m Hamlet d u rin g a m a g ic act, and D o na ld C a lth ro p and A n n a M ay W o n g ’s b u rle s q u e of a scen e fro m The Taming of the Shrew w h e re he rid e s ro u n d in c irc le s w h ip p in g a m o to r-c y c le w h ile she th ro w s fu rn itu re and c u sta rd pies. T he film in clu d e s fo u r d a n ce ro u tin e s in P athe ste n cil c o lo r and an in te rp o la te d item d ire c te d by A lfre d H itc h c o c k w h e re a h u s b a n d re tu rn s ho m e to his a d u lte ro u s w ife (“ O f no in te re s t w h a te v e r” , he to ld F ra n c o is T ru ffa u t).

P e rh a p s th e m o st u n fo rtu n a te a sp e ct of E lstre e C a llin g is th a t it la cks th e style of th e s a tirica l s h o rt w ith w h ich th e Festival p ro g ra m m e rs in tro d u c e d it.

W a lte r C re ig h to n ’s T he S h a m in g of th e TVue (1930), fro m a d e a d p a n s c rip t by B eve rle y N ichols, w ith Joa n C la rkso n , R oy R o y s to n a n d D o u g la s B yn g is e x q u is ite ly tim e d . It was n o t e n tire ly c o in c id e n ta l th a t it was m a d e when D o ug las F a irb a n ks and M ary P ick fo rd w e re a p p e a rin g on stage in L o n d o n in

The Taming of the Shrew.

U ntil th e NFA fo u n d a 35m m ne g a tive of F ritz L a n g ’s H o u se b y th e R ive r (1950), it su rv iv e d as a h a n d fu l of b a tte re d 16m m p rin ts and w as th e ra re s t Lang film still e x t a n t . N o w r e s t o r e d to p r i s t i n e c o n d itio n , it w as s c re e n e d to an a u d ie n c e c o n s is tin g o f a fe w Lang e n th u sia sts.

B ased on A la n H e rb e rt’s 1921 novel Floodtide, a b o u t a n o v e lis t w h o s tra n g le s his s e rva n t g irl, d u m p s her b o d y in to a riv e r, th e n use s th e e x p e rie n c e as m a te ria l fo r his ne xt p ro je c t, th e film e ch o e s such o th e r Lang film s as S c a rle t S tre e t in its th e m e of c re a tiv ity g ro w in g o u t of de ath, as well as p o in tin g fo rw a rd to the o v e rla p p in g a p p e a ra n c e s o f g u ilt and in n o c e n c e in B e y o n d a R e a so n a b le D o ub t.

T h e d is c o v e ry o f th e n e g a tiv e is fo rtu ito u s in th e lig h t of th e p re s e n t re ­ e v a lu a tio n of Lang and th e re -th in k in g , in an e x tra -a u te u ris t sense, of th e L a n g te x t.2 ★ 2. See Stephen Jenkins (ed.), Fritz Lang: The Image and the Look, BFI, 1981.

Phil Taylor

TO ADVERTISE IN

CMjFJMA R in g

Fritz L a n g ’s H ouse by the R iver.

P eggy N icholls: M elbourne 830 1097 or 329 5983 CINEMA PAPERS April - 191

The Quarter

Saura, Spain and Mama

Mama, Anna represents Foreign Aid, as it is to Anna that the Mama looks for protection Continuedfrom p. 127 against her family’s plans to kill her. Anna’s role as foreign aid is highlighted by her return to the what is basically a comedy, flaps and fumbles use of English at specific moments of the film. while trying to fly, against all laws of physics, his On the personal level of their relationship, it is oversized kite. the Mama who steps in, in her psychic form, to Despite much amateur calculation and aid Anna as she weeps in a cave after realizing encouragement from Anna, his attempts are her husband’s infidelity, dispensing wisdom on doomed to failure. His involvement in such the nature of love and marriage. Their relation­ unpragmatic and unproductive activities receives ship and its operation on two different levels is dire warnings from the Mama that his allow­ typical of the blend in this film of political and ance will be cut off. Her response is typical of individual concerns. governmental attitudes towards those who func­ The friction between members of the family, tion in society as dreamers — writers, poets and the family and the Mama, and between Anna painters. and her now contrite husband, culminates in the The youngest grand-daughter in the film also final scene: the anticipated day of the Mama’s lives in a dream world full of the fears and fan­ 100th birthday. In another of the psychic scenes tasies of childhood, that runs parallel to those of the film, Juan has returned, willed by Fer­ which have been revealed of the adults in the nando to appease the distressed Mama who film. She experiments with a tale she has heard pines for her son’s presence on her birthday. which rings of witchcraft and voodoo, and that Luchi lays siege in trying to make him return to involves jamming her finger in her bedroom her. Natalia dances a heady flamingo in her door and watching it turn black at sunrise. She bewitching dress in front of a boggle-eyed lives peripherally and vicariously around the Antonio. Fernando tries to realize his affection adults, picking magpie-like at the scraps of for Anna by acting out the words of advice the details of their lives which they leave uncovered Mama has given him. Anna reassumes her behind them. maternal role with Natalia when she offers her a cup of hot chocolate, which Natalia scornfully refuses. And eventually the Mama has the fit he Mama oversees all these activ­ which the family has been greedily awaiting. ities from her bedroom, or at the Despite Anna’s attempts to give her medicine, times when she is ceremoniously the Mama appears to die. brought to the dinner table. Her But there is an unexplained gust of wind, bedroom is a web of memories, scat­ curtains flap and the Mama comes back to life. tered with photographs and infused withShe her casts own out those who have plotted against her, reminiscences which she verbalizes to including the sym­ the weak and feeble-minded Fer­ pathetic Anna, who she draws to her bosom as nando, as would any leader after an attempted the only non-partisan member of the group. coup. The state is stronger for having dealt with Her undefined illness, which manifests itself in those who worked against it. The film leaves its recurrent and perilous fits, eased only by medi­ interior setting and returns to the outside world, cine, is the subject of individual pathos in its the camera looks back reflectively on the house concern with the frailty of old age, but is also where the events have taken place. symbolic of the weakness of the state, that which Most characters in the film, in keeping with the Mama most ultimately represents, when its concerns, have a certain childlike quality to beset by self-in terested groups in the them: Anna in her failure to see the realities of community. the situation she has stepped back into; Antonio In the capacity of her relationship with the in his willing seduction by Natalia and nail-

Saura, Spain and Mama

T

The Quarter Continuedfrom p. 109 th e F eatures D ivisio n of th e Film and T e le visio n P ro d u c tio n of A u s tra lia in S ydn ey, th e ch a n g e s w e re d e b a te d by c o n c e rn e d p ro d u c e rs . K ath lee n N o rris, e x e c u tiv e d ire c to r of th e AFI, a tte n d e d to p re se n t th e A F I’s case, e xp la in in g th e lo g is tic a l and co st p ro b le m s of s c re e n in g so m any film s.

D e spite le n g th y and often heated d is c u s s io n — N o rris re p o rte d ly having to ld p ro d u c e r-d ire c to r M ich ae l T h o rn ­ h ill to g o blow a s u g g e stio n o u t his e a r2 — no a g re e m e n t was reached. The F TPAA did , how ever, a p p o in t a s u b ­ c o m m itte e of S ue M illike n (p ro d u c e r and FTPAA F eatures D ivision p re s i­ de nt), David Roe (p ro d u c e r and e x­ ex e cu tiv e d ire c to r of th e AFI) and H e n ry C ra w fo rd (p ro d u c e r and AFC c o m m is s io n e r) to e x a m in e th e issues and re p o rt back.

An e x tra o rd in a ry m ee ting was then c a lle d fo r M a rc h 11 in S y d n e y . A m o tio n was then passed that: “ T he FTPAA s tro n g ly urg e s th e AFI to re c o n s id e r th e in tro d u c tio n of a p re -s e le c tio n p ro ce ss in th is y e a r’s A w a rd s and th a t th e AFI ra tio n a lize its sc re e n in g s c h e d u le to m a xim ize in d u s try vo tin g by in cre a sin g the n u m b e r o f s c re e n in g s of e lig ib le film s to fo u r in S ydn ey and M e l­ b o u rn e (e x c e p t th a t th is n u m b e r be v a rie d fo r film s th a t have had a s u b ­ sta n tia l relea se o r a re in release 2. The National Times, March 7.

192 - April CINEMA PAPERS

d u rin g th e AFI scre e n in g sche du le) and th a t th e AFI scree n all e lig ib le film s o n c e in o th e r c a p ita l c ity ven ue s.”

The next day a d iscu ssio n was held w ith FTPAA m e m b e rs in M e lb o u rn e .

The a ttitu d e th e re , a c c o rd in g to Sue M illike n , was s lig h tly d iffe re n t to th a t of th e ir S ydn ey colle a g u e s. M o st w e re not o ve rly co n ce rn e d a b o u t th e p re -s e le c ­ tio n p ro cess, b u t w e re m o st w o rrie d a b o u t th e sm all n u m b e r of w o rk in g voters.

N o rris says th e ch a n g e s w e re m ade o n ly a fte r g e ttin g n e a r - u n a n im o u s a g re e m e n t fro m an in d u s try survey. B ut o n ly a few p e o p le w e re co n ta cte d , m any in fo rm a lly ove r lunch, and som e of th o se co n su lte d su b s e q u e n tly vote d a lon g w ith th e FTPAA m o tio n . Had a se rio u s su rve y been u n d e rta ke n , the n u m b e r co n su lte d w o u ld have been 10 tim e s as large, w ith all in d u s try b o dies and g u ild s be in g co u rte d fo r op in io n s.

It is also, I th in k, fa irly in su ltin g to m any to p p ro d u c e rs and film p e o p le (p a r­ tic u la rly th o s e n o t living in S ydn ey) th a t the y w e re ig n o re d .

As o f M arch 19, N o rris said th e AFI had still not co m e to any a g re e m e n t w ith th e r e le v a n t g u ild s a n d asso cia tio n s, b u t stre sse d th e AFI was “ se n sitive ” to th e o p in io n s exp re sse d .

O ne c o m p ro m is e s o lu tio n th e AFI and th e FTPAA a re c o n s id e rin g is a k in d o f e x p a n d e d p r e - s e le c t io n pro cess. N am ely, th e AFI w ill a p p o in t fo u r ju ro rs fo r each o f th e 13 ca te ­ g o rie s, and ho ld s c re e n in g s o f all film s in M e lb o u rn e and S ydney. If o th e r AFI m e m b e rs w ish to see all th e film s, the y can and th e ir vo te w ill be co u n te d . For

biting remorse afterwards as he tries to save his marriage. Luchi cries like a baby when she pleads with her husband to stay and not return to his lover. And the Mama, though having adult realization of the schemings of her family and dealing mature advice to Anna and Fernando, is happiest when dwelling in the world of her childhood.

O

n her birthday she is thrilled to be lowered from the ceiling in a garland-bedecked chair as she was when she was a little girl. She relishes her food as a child with lip­ smacking delight. The shabby and shambling Fernando has never lived in an adult world Ironically, the ruthless girls with their scheming ways display no childish attributes. It is in them that Anna most expects to find those traits.

The images in the film are rich and potent: the stark landscape on which the memorial scene for Jose is held beside his tombstone, and from which the pink and cream house juts put incon­ gruously. The scene of the birthday party stands out in its sumptuousness. The film is sprinkled with Spanish elements such as the flamenco dancing and the religious pictures which feature in the house and particularly in the^Mama’s bedroom. These particulars give credence to a statement made by Argentinian Norman Brinski, that not only is the work of Saura imbued with his own personal interests in indivi­ duals, and his life under Franco, but with the whole Hispanic, including Latin-American, culture, from which he and other Spanish artists stem — writers like Carlos Fuentes, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and artists like Goya, who bring a world rich in imagination to Western culture. * References

,

Program of San Sebastian Film Festival 1979.

Marsha Kinder, “Carlos Saura: The Political Development of Individual Consciousness”, Film Quarterly (Spring 1979, pp. 14-25).

1 ^ Annette Insdorf, “ Spain AlsoRises” , Film Comment (JulyAugust 1980, pp. 13-17).

Vicente Molina-Fox, New Cinema in Spain, B.F.I. publication.

e x a m p le , if e ig h t A F I m e m b e r s a c c re d ite d to vo te fo r th e e d itin g A w ard see all the film s, th e total n u m b e r of vote s cast in the ed itin g p re -se le ctio n is 12. N a tu rally, if no AFI m e m b e r m akes it th ro u g h all the scre e n in g s, th e ju ry p re -se le ctio n w ill stan d. V o tin g will be by se cre t ballot.

O nce a d e cisio n is rea che d on the p re -se le cte d film s, th o se film s w ill be again scree ne d in th e ca p ita l citie s fo r AFI m e m b e rs to vo te on.

In the ory, th is is an a cce p ta b le c o m ­ pro m ise , as both system s can be tested a g ainst each oth er. U n fo rtu n a te ly, the sch e m e m ay be re n d e re d useless if the da te of p rin t clo su re is ch a ng ed , as is u n fa irly be in g u rg ed by th e AFI, to June 30. T his w o u ld m ean th e n u m b e r of e lig ib le film s w o u ld leap fro m 28 to p e rh a p s 42. T he n u m b e r ne ed ing p re ­ se le ctio n scre e n in g s w o u ld increa se likew ise.

O nly one p ro d u c e r at th e seco nd FTPAA m ee ting was know n to s u p p o rt th e cha n g e of date; his film w o n ’t be re a d y by M ay 21.

O bvio usly, th is is an issue th a t has to be re s o lv e d im m e d ia te ly . T e m p e rs ha ve a lre a d y be en ra is e d a n d , if in fla m e d again, th e th re a te n e d b o yco tt of th e A w a rd s by som e p ro d u c e rs and org a n iza tio n s co u ld happen.

If th e AFI aw ard s a re bo yco tte d , w ho w o u ld run any su b s titu te aw ards? The FTPAA co u ld step in, o r an a sso cia tion o f g u ild s fo rm e d sp e cia lly to m anage th e m . N either, how ever, seem s d e s ir­ able, as no o th e r b o d y o r b o d ie s can cla im to be as o b je ctive as th e AFI. If the g u ild s ran th e A w a rds, fo r insta nce , it is c o n ce iva b le th a t only

p a id -u p m e m b e rs w o u ld be allow ed to vo te in th e ir re le va n t c a te g o rie s (e.g., on ly ACS m e m b e rs fo r Best C in e m a ­ to g r a p h y ) . B a s ic a lly , th is is w h a t ha p p e n s now, b u t th e re are e x c e p ­ tio n s (n o n -g u ild m e m b e rs w ith s u ffi­ c ie n t e x p e rie n c e can vo te at pre sen t).

The AFI has been in tra n s ig e n t on th is p o in t and sh o u ld be a p p la u d e d . As so o n as any g ro u p is a llo w e d to e x c lu d e o t h e r , e q u a lly - q u a lif ie d peop le, th e fa irn e s s of th e system is op en to abuse.

E qually, if th e FTPAA, say, o r A c to rs ’ Equity, had a c o n tro llin g voice, it co u ld b e co m e p o litic a lly e x p e d ie n t fo r A u s ­ tra lia n film s w ith fo re ig n e le m e n ts (actors, w rite rs ) to be e x c lu d e d fro m c e rta in ca te g o rie s — if n o t b a rre d a lto g e th e r. T he AFI m ay have w ell d e m o n s tra te d th e d iffic u lty of p ro ­ v id in g a le g a lly -c ris p d e fin itio n of an “ A u s tra lia n film ” , b u t a lo ose d e fin itio n is b e tte r than a to o -re s tric tiv e one.

O ne c o u ld also raise d o u b ts a b o u t th e a b ility of any g ro u p o r g ro u p s to c o ­ o rd in a te the A w a rd s on at le ast a th re e sta te basis.

No, th e AFI is the b o d y w h ic h can best run th e A w a rds. It is not e n tire ly fre e of o u ts id e p re s s u re s (the A F C ’s kee nn ess to have th e 1978 A w a rd s in P erth is on e e xa m p le ), b u t it is fre e r of v e s te d in te re s ts th a n c o m p a ra b le bo dies.

H o ld in g th e A w a rd s is a lso im p o r­ ta n t fo r the AFI if it is to m a in ta in a s ig ­ n ific a n t in d u s try p ro file . T he AFI o p e r­ ates m any of its a c tiv itie s o u ts id e th e in d u s try at large; th is is one of its

Concluded on p. 194

Rich and Famous

Film Reviews Continued from p. 171 In some ways, Rich and Famous is the film Cukor has always been want­ ing to make: that is, one in which the women are not only more sympathetic and intelligent than the men, but are ultimately allowed by 'the script to be so. As Gary Carey says in his essay on Cukor in Cinema: A Critical Dic­ tionary2 (and he is referring specific­ ally to Katharine Hepburn): . . more and more, as the decade [the 1930s] progressed, the heroine was given her come-uppance. Having had her high adventure with life, she was brought up short and asked to prove her femininity by submitting to male domination.”

Nevertheless, Carey rightly claims, “ no matter what the script may say, the women in Cukor’s films are always superior to the men in their intelligence, their sensibility and the sheer vibrancy of their presence.”

With the two women in Rich and Famous, Cukor no longer needs even a token gesture towards bringing them to (male) heel.

I cannot predict what the radical feminists will make of Liz (Jacqueline Bisset) and Merry (Candice Bergen), but writing merely as one who has always liked women (even before it was compulsory) I find it rewarding to see how Cukor, abetted by Gerald Ayres’ screenplay, has brought them to the ultimate realization that they are the best things in each other’s lives.

As everyone must by now know, the film is a re-make of the 1943 Warners’ film Old Acquaintance in which Bette Davis and Miriam Hopkins played the Bisset and Bergen roles. This film was in turn based on John van Druten’s play of the same name, and, whatever is to be said for the Davis-Hopkins duo, there is not much to be said for van Druten. The play is a pedestrian matinee piece, schematic in its treat­ ment of the career woman and the housewife-novelist, and it is only the intelligence and wit of the Warners’ ladies that lifts the film clear of cliche.

Rich and Famous does not, of course, always avoid cliche, but it fills in the contours of its women’s lives with more entertaining detail, and is more truly interested in their feelings. Liz and Merry are old college friends and the film focuses on four occasions in 20odd years of their lives.

The first is 1959 when, in a stun­ ningly-lit and romantically-scored night scene, they are leaving Smith College — Merry going to California with Liz’s former beau, Doug (David Selby), and Liz urging them to “have a wonderful life” .

The second is 1969, UCLA, where Liz is being introduced at a lecture as academically successful and identified with feminist politics, as Merry comes rushing in with her daughter. This is perhaps the most richly-textured of the four main sections, as Liz and Merry size up each other’s achievements. They are subtly differentiated by voice, dress, walk and hairstyle, so that Liz’s rest­ lessness within the success which Merry another reviewer, but I mean to express dissatisfaction with a review of a film by a major filmmaker, one that never bothers to sort out, let alone substantiate, its critical formulations.

2. C inem a: A C ritical D ic tio n a ry , ed.

Richard Roud, Seeker and Warburg, 1980, p. 239.

L iz H a m ilto n (Jacqueline B isset), the su ccessfu lly-serio u s novelist, a n d M erry (Candice Bergen), a secretive writer o f trash.

George C ukor’s Rich and Famous.

admires her for and Merry’s not-quitesatisfaction in her Malibu house and apparently happy marriage play against each other in a lively tension. Merry has written a boxful of trashy novels in her spare time and this section of the film ends with Liz, back in New York, persuading her publisher to read it.

Beverly Hills, 1975, and Merry is being interviewed on television and we watch her watching herself. Everything in the decor of her new house, in her costume, in the lighting of the scene points to her fabulous success as a best­ selling novelist. Her increasing com­ placency is counterpointed by Liz’s continuing edginess with her kind of success. It is the kind that wins academic respect — and a cramped apartment — and the film (i.e., Cukor and his production designer, Jan Scott) is absolutely knowing about what mise en scene can reveal of character.

Doug, Merry’s husband who loves (?)

Liz, wants Merry to divorce him and wants Liz to “ stop being Merry’s best friend” . All these scenes are very per­ ceptive in their emotional coloring: nothing in the feeling between married Doug and Merry or between divorcing Doug and Liz generates the same kind of response as do the enduring ups and downs of friendship between the two women.

The 1981 New York sequence finds Liz appropriately ensconced at the nice, dowdy Algonquin and Merry, also appropriately, at the plushy Waldorf Astoria. Merry has at last written a “ real book” and Liz is on the panel to judge the Book of the Year. Having got over Doug’s departure, Merry is, as she says, now “ a woman of proven talents sitting by the fire playing the piano” , while Liz, her reputation high enough to get her on to the panel, is bedding young men who quote Lawrence and Eliot in bed.

Inevitably the friendship is pushed towards breaking point and there is a fight that recalls — and obliterates — the slanging match in The Turning Point. (Cukor makes the moment of physical violence inevitable and important; Herbert Ross appeared to enjoy it as a spectator sport, like mud­ wrestling.)

Without quoting at length from G erald A yres’ often very witty dialogue, or describing camera set-ups that reinforce the complementary natures of Liz and Merry, or indexing the way the feeling between them varies and grows, it is hard not to sound arbitrary when I say that the final scene is earnt. It ought to be merely senti­ mental (“ My oldest friend — what else have we got in life?”) and of course in part it is, but it is still saved by its wit (“ Our oldest enemies?” “ They’re beginning to look alike.”) and by the film’s sense of lives that have “ achieved a helluva lot” . Merry leaves her New Year’s Eve party to join Liz at her country hearth, and the film closes on a long-held shot of the two women flank­ ing the screen, the glow of the fire and the gleam of glasses between them.

It is, as I recall, an almost exact copy of the end of Vincent Sherman’s 1943 film, and a very good ending it is. Like the whole film, it has real warmth and, for the 1980s, makes a quite audacious appeal to audience feeling.

Like last year’s highly successful The Four Seasons, Rich and Famous is at least partly a hymn to friendship. Like the earlier film, it acknowledges the potential for irritation and jealousy in any close relationship; it also applauds the hard-won durability of the feeling that keeps these disparate women together.

Cukor is a great director of women (he is also a great director of men — vide James Mason in A Star is Born, Cary Grant and Lew Ayres in Holiday, Aldo Ray in The Marrying Kind) and he has achieved from Bisset and Bergen the best performances of their careers. For a while into the film, one wonders if they can possibly transmute the basically novelettish outline of the story as Davis and Hopkins did. They don’t come to their roles with the reson­ ance of a long line of star successes and the confidence of established screen personage that their predecessors did.

At first I wondered if it was a matter of their age, but though Hopkins was six years older in 1943 than Bergen in 1981, Davis was two years younger than Bisset. They certainly seemed more mature, but this probably had less to do with their ages than with the sorts of knowledge of them the audience brought to its perception of them.

As it is, Cukor has a harder job than Sherman in creating two full-throttled

star performances, but he brings it off.

Bergen, in the easier role, is marvel­ lously funny and touching, very con­ siderably extending her range as actress, comedienne and star. Bisset’s role is trickier, partly because her sexual questing is never really explained or built in. There is an element of cliche in the assumption that the intellectual woman should be sexually unfulfilled and therefore prone (to use the term loosely) to cramped coitus in an aero­ plane loo or a pushover for an 18-year old Don Juan of the streets.

Bisset works away intelligently to fill out the role, and under Cukor’s direction, with its eye for the externals that reflect what is going on inside, she and Bergen age from (roughly) 20 to 40 as convincingly as any two actresses I remember.

As for the others, if John Loder and Gig Young hardly mattered in 1943, David Selby and Hart Bochner are practically invisible in 1982 as Merry’s husband and Liz’s latest bed-mate. In a way, the final declaration of faith in the women’s friendship might have been more striking if it had been seen to outline more substantial also-rans.

Nobody else matters, though there are nice little in-jokes in having scenarist Fay Kanin as the college professor welcoming Liz to UCLA, and in some of the party guests (e.g., Marsha Hunt, Christopher Isherwood). As to actors, the film is a duet and the instrument has been tuned by a master.

Cukor is back in familiar territory — the area between private and public selves, the persistence of a relationship in the teeth of competition and jealousy — and he is back with his powers intact. That is to say, Rich and Famous is a graceful, witty and civilized enter­ tainment, a pervasively intelligent reflection of contemporary mores.

Rich and Famous: Directed by: George Cukor.

Producer: William Allyn. Screenplay: Gerald Ayres, based on a play by John yan Druten. Direc­ tor of photography: Don Peterman. Editor: John F. Burnett. Production designer: Jan Scott. Music: Georges Delerue. Sound editor: Paul Hockman.

Cast: Jacqueline Bisset (Liz Hamilton), Candice Bergen (Merry Noel Blake), David Selby (Doug Blake), Hart Bochner (Chris Adams), Steven Hill (Jules Levi), Meg Ryan (Debby), Matt Lattanzi (Jim), Daniel Faraldo (Ginger), Nicole Eggert (Young Debby), Fay Kanin (Prof. Fields). Produc­ tion company: MGM. Distributor: CIC. 35mm.

117 mins. U.S. 1981.

CINEMA PAPERS April - 193

10 YEA R S IN THE BUSINESS OF SHORT FILM PRODUCTION 40 IF

YOU

I NT ERNAT I ONAL NEED

PRODUCTION

CONTACT P.O.BOX

ASSISTANCE

ANDREW 30 0

VIAL

CROWS

AWARDS OR

FILM

NEST

WANT

PROD.

N. S. W.

A FILM

MADE

P/L.

2065

PHONE (02) 922-3297

MOVIE BOOK WANTED Buff wishes to purchase 1971 book titled

SALES

• R E N TALS SER VICE LIGHTINGFILM •TELEVISIO N •STA G E -

Allan Dwan: The Last Pioneer

by Peter Bogdanovich Contact: Warren Spence c/o Australasian Post, 61 Flinders Lane, Melbourne 3000 Phone: (03) 652 1244

The Quarter Continuedfrom p. 192 s tre n g th s . B ut it m u st also p ro m o te in d u s tr y in v o lv e m e n t. O c c a s io n a l s e m in a rs an d o p e n m e e tin g s a re in s u ffic ie n t. T he A w a rd s, w ith its high d e g re e of in d u s try c o -o p e ra tio n and fe e d b a c k (the fra c a s th is yea r being a p e rfe c t e xa m p le ), gives th e AFI that vita l co n ta c t. It is now u p to the A Fi to b a la n c e its d e s ire to c h a n g e th e A w a rd s a g a in st th e re a lity of be in g p a rt of an in d u s try . It is a te st by w h ich the AFI w ill be ju d g e d .

Ulla Ryghe U lla Ryghe, e d ito r of nin e of In g m a r B e r g m a n ’ s f ilm s , in c lu d in g Th e Silence, Persona and Hour of the Wolf, has jo in e d T he A u s tra lia n Film and T e le v is io n S cho ol as a ctin g he ad of th e E d itin g W o rk s h o p .

R yghe has ta u g h t at th e S w e dish Film In stitu te , M cG ill U n ive rsity, T he C y p ru s B ro a d c a s tin g C o rp o ra tio n and in S w iss T e le visio n . S he has e d ite d fo r th e C a n a d ia n N a tion al Film B oa rd and been a fre e la n c e d o c u m e n ta ry d ire c to r in M o n tre a l and T o ro n to . S he cam e to A u s tra lia fro m P aris w h e re she had been w o rk in g on In te rn a tio n a l C o -p ro ­ d u c tio n s fo r th e S w e d ish Film In stitu te .

AFC Changes T he M in is te r fo r H o m e A ffa irs, Ian W ilso n , has a n n o u n c e d th e a p p o in t­ m e n t o f S ir Ja m e s C ru th e rs as p a rt­ tim e c h a irm a n of th e A u s tra lia n Film C o m m is s io n . T he a p p o in tm e n t is fo r a th re e -y e a r term .

C ru th e rs has had a lo ng ca re e r in the

194 - A pril CINEMA PAPERS

m e d ia in d u stry, sta rtin g at th e Perth

Daily News in 1939. In 1959, he was a p p o in te d g e ne ral m a n a g e r of T V W -7 w ith a b rie f to set up P e rth ’s firs t te le ­ visio n statio n. He su b s e q u e n tly jo in e d the b o a rd of d ire c to rs , and, in 1976, b e c a m e c h a ir m a n a n d m a n a g in g d ire c to r, b e fo re re tirin g in 1981.

C r u t h e r s is a ls o a c o m m it t e e m e m b e r of the C h ild re n 's T e le visio n F o u n d a tio n a n d has re c e n tly be en a p p o in te d a d ire c to r of th e b o a rd of U n ited T e le ca ste rs S ydney.

Ray B e a ttie has been a p p o in te d a p a rt-tim e c o m m is s io n e r of th e AFC fo r a th re e -y e a r te rm . B ea ttie has had a long in vo lve m e n t w ith th e film in d u stry and is c h ie f e xe cu tive of A tla b A u s tra lia and p re s id e n t of th e Film and T e le ­ v is io n P r o d u c tio n A s s o c ia tio n o f A u stra lia .

B e a ttie be gan his ca re e r at C o lo r­ film in 1958, b e co m in g s e n io r m a n a g e r in 1960. In 1962, he jo in e d Eric P orte r S tu d io s w h e re he e s ta b lis h e d and m a n ag ed th e P o rte r P ro ce ssin g Film L a b o ra to ry. His a s so cia tio n w ith A tla b be gan in 1966, as sales m an ag er, b e c o m in g c h ie f e xe cu tive in 1970.

T he re tirin g p a rt-tim e c o m m is s io n e r is David W illia m s, w h o was a p p o in te d to the AFC in 1979. W illia m s, o n e of th e m o st a ctive s u p p o rte rs o f a local film in d u stry, is g e n e ra l m a n a g e r of the G re a te r U n ion O rg a n iza tio n .

ATAEA T h e A u s t r a lia n T h e a t r ic a l a n d A m u s e m e n t E m ploye es A s so cia tio n has re ce n tly a n n o u n ce d th e re su lts of its m a n a g e m e n t e le c tio n s . T h o s e e le cte d were: Lynn G ailey — v ic e ­ p re s id e n t; S im o n J e n k in s — s e cre ta rytre a s u re r; Peter M cG ill — assista nt se cre ta ry; Ju lie Ja m e s Bailey, Sam B ie n sto ck, C o lin Ford, David H ensler, Lo u is Irving , Ken M cS w a in, R onald

John B. Masson & Associates Pty. Ltd. 78-80 STANLEY STREET, COLLINGWOOD VICTORIA, 3066. AUSTRALIA. Telephone: (03) 41 4245 After hours: (03) 850 2020 N elson, S usan O w en, G reg T aylo r, Ian W a lke r, G e o rg e Ryan, Jack S c h u b e rth — exe cutive . R e p o rte d ly, 35 p e r ce n t of A T A E A m e m b e rs (1650) vote d.

O n e o f th e m a jo r is s u e s o f th e e le ctio n was w h e th e r D am ien S ta p le to n w o u ld b e r e tu r n e d as s e c r e ta r y tre a s u re r. S ta p le to n was s u b je c te d to s o m e p a r tic u la r ly u n fa v o ra b le p r e ­ e le c tio n p re s s , p a r tic u la r ly in th e S y d n e y film n e w s p a p e r, Filmnews, w h ich ran a h ig h ly e m o tio n a l c a m ­ p a ig n ag a in st S ta p le to n (“ L ike any T o ry up a g a in st it, he ’s ru n n in g on his re co rd and a c a m p a ig n of s m e a r ’n ’ fe a r” , etc.).

A c c o r d in g to Film news , S im o n J e n k in s d e fe a te d S ta p le to n by 11 votes. B ut th e issue d id n ’t fin is h the re .

S t a p le t o n c a lle d a n e m e r g e n c y m e e tin g of th e A T A E A fe d e ra l c o u n c il and c h a lle n g e d th e e le c tio n resu lts, sa yin g not all m e m b e rs re ce ive d b a llo t p a p e rs. A m o tio n was the n passed e ffe ctive ly d e c la rin g a s ta le m a te u n til a new e le ctio n is held.

T h is o n -o ff e le ctio n has o b v io u s ly ra ise d s e rio u s q u e s tio n s a b o u t th e A T A E A ’s h a n d lin g o f su ch s im p le p ro ­ c e d u re s as a d e m o c ra tic vote. A ny new d e v e lo p m e n ts w ill be vie w ed w ith g re a t in te re s t b y all in th e film in d u stry.

ATOM T he A u s tra lia n T e a ch e rs o f M e d ia (p u b lis h e r o f Metro) has la u n ch e d a new se rie s o f s tu d y g u id e p u b lic a tio n s , e n title d “ A u s tra lia n F e atu re F ilm s in th e C la s s ro o m ” . T he firs t w a s re lea sed to c o in c id e w ith th e A u s tra lia n p re m ie re of Puberty Blues in M e lb o u rn e . (B ru ce B e re s fo rd ’s film w as th e s u b je c t o f th e firs t g u id e .)

C u rre n t re s o u rc e m a te ria l is ne ed ed to a ssist in any s tu d y o f A u stra lia n fe a tu re film s. In clu d e d in th e s tu d y g u id e s w ill be re v ie w s , p ro d u c tio n d e ta ils, p h o to g ra p h s , s to ry b o a rd an d

n a rra tiv e in fo rm a tio n , c la s s ro o m a c ­ tivitie s, issues fo r d is c u s s io n , in te r­ view s a n d b a c k -u p re so u rce s.

A p o s te r-s ty le fo rm a t is a lso be in g used to a llo w c la s s ro o m d is p la y , and th e re is th e o p p o rtu n ity to a c q u ire in e x ­ pe n sive cla ss sets. P u b lic a tio n of th e s tu d y g u id e s w ill c o in c id e w ith key re le a se d a tes of th o s e film s se le cte d as s u b je c t m a te ria l.

A T O M is an in d e p e n d e n t, n o n -p ro fit m a k in g a s s o c ia tio n w h ic h d ra w s its m e m b e rs h ip fro m p rim a ry , s e c o n d a ry and te rtia ry m e d ia te a c h e rs an d in s titu ­ tio n s, th e m e d ia in d u s try an d p e o p le fro m th e c o m m u n ity w ith a b ro a d in ­ te re s t in th e m ass m ed ia .

For m o re in fo rm a tio n re g a rd in g th e A u s tra lia n T e a c h e rs o f M e d ia and th e “ A u s tra lia n F e atu re F ilm s in th e C la ss­ ro o m ” series, co n ta c t: Lee B u rto n , S e c re ta ry A T O M , P.O. Box 265, C a rlto n S o u t h , V ic . , 3 0 5 3 . T e le p h o n e : (03) 341 4344.

Ken Watts to Adams Packer Ken W atts has jo in e d A d a m s P a cke r as m a n a g in g d ire c to r a fte r s ix -a n d -a h a lf y e a rs as fu ll-tim e c h a irm a n o f th e A u s tra lia n Film C o m m is s io n .

W a tts b e c a m e c h a irm a n o f th e AFC in M ay 1975 a fte r 25 ye a rs w ith th e A B C , d u rin g w h ic h tim e he w as d ire c to r and c o n tro lle r of te le v is io n p ro g ra m s , in itia tin g th e c u rre n t a ffa irs p ro g ra m , This Day Tonight, an d fin a lly a s s is ta n t g e n e ra l m a n a g e r-T V fro m 1972 to 1975.

W atts re p re s e n te d th e A B C an d A u s ­ tra lia at UNESCO c o n fe re n c e s , w a s a d e le g a te to th e E u ro p e a n B ro a d ­ c a s tin g U n ion and has been a m e m b e r of th e A u s tra lia n Film an d T e le visio n S c h o o l’s C o u n cil.

W a tts re c e n tly b e c a m e th e c h a ir­ m an of th e A u s tra lia n C h ild re n ’s T e le ­ v is io n F o u n d a tio n . +

B&W PRINTS

■. CO CD

U JO O

§as n rO O

a CMCM

At CPL we produce top quality hand enlarged B/W prints from your original B/W or . colour negatives, we make B/W internegatives from your original transparencies and B/W copy negatives from B/W or colour artwork. All prints are hand finished and a service exists for photographers who may require negative numbering and on­ premises negative filing. All instructions for cropping and tonal effects are carefully followed resulting in fine photographic prints for industry, commerce and advertising.

SIZE 10" x 8"

STATS

$9.00 $11.00 $12.00

12" x 10"

$10.00 $13.00 $15.00

15"x12"

$13.00 $16.00 $20.00

2 0 "x 1 6 "

$18.00 $24.00 $28.00

2 4 "x 2 0 "

$24.00 $32.00 $36.00

TIME

2 hours

COPY NEGS

PHONE: 240 8408

DISPLAY REPROS

48 hours

INTER NEGS

B&W PROCESSING 135/120 $5.00

PER ROLL

4" x 5" $3.00

PER SHEET

10" x 8" $7.00

PER SHEET

SPECIAL PROCESSING & TEST OR CLIP ROLLS

+100%

PER ROLL OR SHEET

NEGATIVE NUMBERING $1.00 per 120 roll $1.50 per 135 roll

6 hours

PROOFS

SUNDRY:

Printing $1.50 Bulk Mural Enlargements 4"x5" $12.00 4"x 5" $12.00 io"x 8" $5.00 Sepia Toning FROM ORIGINAL Line Conversions io" x 8"$20.00 TRANSPARENCIES WE PRODUCE HIGH QUALITY 12" x 10" $7.00 Specialised HIGH QUALITY 5 * 4NEGATIVES AS 4" x 5"

PER SHEET

PER SHEET

COPY NEGS ARE MADE FROM REFLECTION ART TO SIZE 30" x 40"

AN INTERNEGATIVE STEP TO B&W PRINTING

PER SHEET SUPERPROOFS “

1 6 "x 2 0 " $ 2 0 . 0 0

Print Effects PricesbyNegotiation

SALES TAX: Above prices do not include sales tax. Unless a V.S. number is supplied sales tax will be added at a rate of 30%.

OVERTIME: Overtime by negotiation.

LIABILITY: Every care is taken with clients film/order, however in case of loss CPL liability is limited to the re­ placement of sensitised material only.

PHONE: 240 8408,1st Floor, 462 Chapel Street, SOUTH YARRA.

•JJ W hy are the w orld’s technicians using m icron radio m icrophones?

“ TEST D R IV E ” one and find out!

For further information contact the sole Australian distributor FICS Australasia Pty Ltd jr 4 k

•.

^ .

--

'

NSW: 8 Oungafe Lane. Sydney 2000 Tel: 264 1981 Telex:AA26664.

VIC: 77 City Rd, Sth Melbourne 3205 Tel: 62 1133 Telex:AA30912 OLD: 28 Baxter S t.. Fortitude Valley 4006 Tel: 52 8816 Talex:AA42054 WA: 172 Railway Pde.. Leederville 6007 Tel: 381 7707 Telex:AA93625 SA: 239 Anzac Highway, Plymplon 5038 Tel: 293 2692 Telex:AA89857

In Singapore, Malaysia, the Far East, Indonesia and Australia .. . you’re in

FILMWEST COUNTRY Since 1967 we've been making films that promote and entertain. Cinema and television commercials that sell. Also, we make films and documentaries for sale.

We are fully equipped, fully staffed with the best equipment and some of the most creative people in the business, capable of handling everything from scripts to music, shooting to screening.

Along the way we've won " many awards. So if you'd like to win an award for your next film or commercial, call us, in Perth or Singapore, We'd like to show you what we can do.

Here's where you'll find us:

FILMWEST Q FILMWEST Pty Ltd 75 Bennett Street, East Perth 6000, Western Australia. Phone 3251177, 3251423.

Cables ‘‘Filmwest” Perth Telex AA 94150 FILMWA FILMWEST Pte Ltd Suite 185, Raffles Hotel, 1-3 Beach Road, Singapore 0718. Tel: 3361509, 337 8041.

Telex RS 36389 FLMWST. Cable Raflotel

Importers & distributors of AATON cameras, Sachtler Tripods, KEM Editing Machines and other famous name equipment.

are most

FILM SETS 88 Warrigal Road, Oakleigh, Melbourne 3166

For further information on the largest

■ Studio 75' x 46' with 14' to lighting grid.

■ Large three sided paintabie fixed eye.

range of lighting filters in the world,

■ Good access to studio for cars and trucks.

■ Design and set construction service available, h

contact the sole Australian agents for Rosco.

Dressing rooms, wardrobe, and make-up facilities.

FOR STUDIO BOOKINGS, PHONE: Alex Simpson,

(03)568 0058, (03) 568 2948

ÎJSW 8 Dungate Lan*. Sydney 2000 Tal: 264 1981 Telex:AA26664.

VIC: 77 City Rd, Sth Melbourne 3205 Tel: 62 1133 Tetex AA30912 » " i ar Forti,ude Vall#V 4006 Te,: 52 « S « Telex:AA42054 1J2 Railway Pde.. Leederville 6007 Tel: 381 7707 Telex:AA93625 SA: 239 Anzac Highway, Ptympfcn 5038 Tel: 293 2692 Telex:AA89857

FUJI INTRODUCES AVERY BRIGHT IDEA.

wmi S to r e b e lo w 10 C ( 5 0 'F )

MS

S to re b e lo w

10 C (5 0

F] total

o a rK n e s s

ON CORE

FUJICOLOR NEGATIVE FILM

FUJICOLOR NEGATIVE FILM UNG STEN TY P E 3200K)

ms SB § ‘

„

Fujicolor A250 high-speed tungsten type color negative film is available in both 16mm and 35mm.

H e r e ’s s o m e n e w s t h a t s h o u l d lig h t u p y o u r s m ile : t h e w o r l d ’s f ir s t h i g h - s p e e d t u n g s t e n t y p e c o l o r n e g a t iv e f ilm f o r m o t io n

p ic t u r e s w it h a n e x p o s u r e

in d e x o f

2 5 0 is h e r e ! it ’s F u jic o lo r A 2 5 0 . . . a n d it’s t h e m o s t s e n s it iv e m o t io n p ic t u r e f ilm a v a ila b le t o d a y .

I m a g in e t h e p o s s ib ilit ie s . w o m a n in a d i m

N o w y o u c a n c a p t u r e t h e s o f t f a c ia l f e a t u r e s o f a

r o o m . O r t h e m is t i n g g r e y s o f a g e n t le r a in a t d a w n . O r e v e n t h e

k a le id e s c o p e o f c o lo r s lu r k in g in a n u n d e r w a t e r re e f. A ll In n a t u r a l lig h t . A ll w it h o u t c o a r s e g r a in . A ll o n F u jic o lo r A 2 5 0 .

S o t h e n e x t t i m e y o u ’ re f a c e d w it h a d if f ic u lt s c e n e , t h i n k o f F u jic o lo r A 2 5 0 .

W it h a n e x p o s u r e i n d e x o f 2 5 0 , it’s s u r e

"Ik \

t o b r ig h t e n y o u r d a y !

35m m TYPE8518*16m m TYPE8528

/f §

\

\

[j [j

| |

HjJJ FUJICOLOR NEGATIVE FILM D is trib u te d in A u s tra lia by

m .

H A N IM E X

Old Pittwater Rd., Brookvale, N.S.W. 2100. Ph: 938-0240.

282 Normanby Rd., Port Melbourne, VIC., 3207. Ph: 64-1111.

17 Dover Street, Albion, OLD., 4016. Ph: 262-7555.

Hindmarsh Avenue, Welland, S.A., 5007. Ph: 46-9031.

22 Northwood St., Leederville, W.A., 6007. Ph: 381-4622.

169 Campbell Street, Hobart, TAS., 7000. 34-4296.

Industrial Division NAM E: .............................................

ADDRESS:

Postcode:

Telephone:

. t O F A N E W D IM E N S IO N V U

FILM S O U N D M HXIN

Compumix III automation and Dolby Stereo — a new era for the film produce who is looking to a standard of sound mixing and optical track quality that * will be technicallytequafto4any\hlngpffered anywhere in*the w orld., '

.*

»

*

*

.„

W f

_ar:

®

.

V. 'S

.r -

-

121

DOLBY STEREO

Q

A