GRAHAM KENNEDY REVEALS

Part 3

By Henry Gay

In the play, based on the letters, I used the last paragraph of a letter as the final part with the friend,. Jim Murphy, asking me what did I do about answering re the “affair”.

I replied, “I just wrote back to Graham telling him to pull himself together.”

Graham mentions two people from the early days at 3UZ , former Sales Manager, Bill Holmes and Dick Magree, who played an important part in Graham’s film career, as he was the first to write a screen script for Graham.

During the 1950s and 60s Dick Magree was the Continuity Manager at 3UZ and as a part time earner he wrote comedy scripts for an early Crawford TV production based in a schoolroom.

Cricket mad Dick was also an amateur potter, making tiles, at which later he became professional, leaving radio to have a successful career in tiling and pottery.

Like so many other radio people, Dick began his career in country radio, where he gathered a fund of stories. His story about a junior radio announcer, is one of the funniest I have heard and later, at a funeral, Dick told mourners too, who at first were shocked but he brilliantly added a rider:

It was about a talented radio announcer, pianist, singer and occasional song writer, Ron Cadee, who was later known, for obvious reasons, as “Cadee the Ladee”.

Ron worked at a Melbourne radio station where many of the male staff had their names converted to female counterparts.

For instance, football commentator, Phil Gibbs , was known as “Phyllis”, etc, but I didn’t know what name Jim Archer was called. Jemina?

When our family migrated to Hervey Bay I was surprised to learn that Ron lived on Fraser Island and even more surprised when I saw him conducting a show on local TV with Rugby League players. Locally Ron wore a kaftan.

Dick told me the following story: A young 17-year-old Ron Cadee had been at the country radio station for a fortnight when one day he asked the Manager, Keith Barnes, if he could have a private talk with him.

Barnes agreed and as Cadee began Barnes interrupted him saying, “Look,. Ron, I understand your problem. There are men who chase sheilas and there are men who chase men and I’m aware that you belong to the latter..”

“Oh, Mr. Barnes, it’s worse than that.”

“Barnes replied, “What is it then, Ron?”

Ron Cadee took a deep breath, looked at his manager, saying, “You see, Mr. Barnes, I’m in love with you.”

Sixty years later at Keith Barnes funeral, Dick told the mourners the above story. For a moment there was the sound of silent shock waves wafting through the funeral parlour, but it was broken when Dick added, “You see, no matter who it was, everyone loved Keith.”

But back to the first film Graham made. t was in 1954 Graham appeared in his first film, an advertising short to be featured in theatres, advertising Sennitt’s Ice Cream, scripted by the then 3UZ’s Continuity manager, Dick Magree.

Along with his mentor, Nicky, Graham were French Foreign Legionnaires who had lost their way in the desert, both suffering from the cruel rays of the sun when, all of a sudden. they are saved by finding two tubs of Sennitt’s Ice Cream.

I am indebted to Dick Magree who wrote the following in 2005: “Lew Bennett, 3UZ General manager, was friendly with one Roy Driver, manager of Herschel Films.

Roy asked Lew to recommend a writer and I got the job. Consequently I could always take time off if Herschel Films needed me.

“Sometimes they would present me with some film they had shot and I would have to write words to fit. Other times, as in the case of the Sennitt’s Ice Cream bit I was asked to plan the thing.

“I remember starting off asking Nicky what he and Graham would want to do in the film.

Nicky asked for £10 and £5 for Graham. I think I got about £7

The second film in which the aforementioned Dick Magree , was employed as an extra along with Graham in 1956 was Stanley Kramer’s On The Beach, starring Gregory Peck, Fred Astaire, Ava Gardner and Tony Perkins

However, the night club scene in which Graham was one of its patrons, filmed at night with other Australian actors, was left on the cutting room floor.

The highlight at that time for me was the Frank Sinatra concert. Frank, at the time married to the lovely Ava. Years later, on meeting the poet and writer, Robert Graves, author of I, Claudius and the best book about

WWI Goodbye To All That, I wanted to ask him if he went to bed with Ava as he wrote an essay about the time she visited him on his Greek Island as he was certainly infatuated with her for his essay read more like a literary Fanny Hill.

Mr. Graves was certainly smitten with Ava. Who could blame him?

Graham’s third film, based on the John O’Grady’s best seller ‘They’re A Weird Mob’, became a successful film. Graham appeared as himself . More of his film career later..

As mentioned earlier everyone at Channel 9 was aware of Graham’s sexual orientation and it was only on rare occasions that it was used as the basis for a practical joke.

There is a story about a visiting comedian who referred to Graham’s sexual preference on IMT and was on the next plane back to the USA Maybe the story was apocryphal but I remember seeing the comedian at the Tivoli Theatre singing ‘Christmas Island’. This was before television .

Gerald Stone, in his book, Who Killed Channel 9, mentions the fact that Sir Frank Packer didn’t like Graham because he thought he was a homosexual.

I don’t know who suggested it to Graham Kennedy but there was a bright young attractive Production Assistant, Wendy, who was really a young 19-year-old boy. who liked wearing girl’s clothes, having the voice like an angelic 13-year-old choir boy.

Wendy used her wonderful voice in a choir. Wendy, at the time, not aware of this story, wondered why Graham called in to her office to say hello, was even more puzzled why Graham dropped his pencil twice on the floor near her legs as he crawled around retrieving the pencil.

Wendy said Graham lost interest in her when he discovered she didn’t have testicles.

In writing the above I emailed a copy of this to Wendy who replied: “Believe it or not I was surprised discovering Graham was interested in politics. On reading of the formation of the Pauline Hanson party, One Nation, he was keen in finding out more about one of the persons involved with her.

Climax

■ (R). 95 minutes. Now available on DVD.

For those who are unaware of Gaspar Noe’s previous work as a film-maker, then they should approach Climax with caution.

Those who are will be in for one hell of a ride, a sensory assault made with Noe’s usual mix of technical brilliance and thematic nastiness, and one which will leave most audiences completely exhausted.

A group of twenty dancers, rehearsing at a closed-down boarding school located next to an unknown forest, begin a journey into darkness when they discover that the sangria they are drinking has been laced with LSD.

Everyone reacts differently, but as their inner desires start to surface, it seems as if not everybody will survive this growingly aggressive experience.

Noe invests a number of cultural, social, and gender-based themes in his uninhibited characters, and like Irreversible, I Stand Alone, and Enter The Void, totally immerses us in the unsettling world he has created.

Visually astounding (an early one-take dance sequence is truly jaw-dropping), with a pounding 90’s EDM score to match, this is inventive, confronting cinema at its best, for those who can take it.

RATING - ****½

Hostiles

■ (MA). 133 minutes. Now available on DVD.

Filled with substantial talent in front of and behind the camera, this thoughtful western/drama makes for compelling viewing.

Set in 1892, the story follows Captain Joseph Blocker (Christian Bale), who is assigned the task of escorting ailing Cheyenne chief Yellow Hawk (Wes Studi) back to his homeland in Montana , and though filled with a seething hatred for the Indians, Blocker reluctantly agrees.

During the journey, Blocker’s group first pick up Rosalee Quaid (Rosamund Pike), whose family have been massacred by the Comanche, then Philip Wills (Ben Foster), a soldier who will soon be tried for murder.

As the mission continues, Blocker’s outlook on his captives will slowly change.

Co-writer/director Scott Cooper (Out Of The Furnace, Crazy Heart, and who re-teamed with Bale for the recent mystery/thriller The Pale Blue Eye) vividly recreates a time and place, helped considerably by magnificent cinematography and a strong music score.

The film’s main flaw is the lack of depth given to the Native Ameri- can characters, which somewhat unbalances Cooper’s ambitious vision. A strong cast also includes Stephen Lang, Peter Mullan, Timothee Chalamet and the late Scott Wilson.

RATING - ***½

Annihilation

■ (MA). 115 minutes. Now streaming on Netflix.

This intelligent, extremely wellcrafted effort from Oscar nominated writer/director Alex Garland (Ex Machina, 28 Days Later, Men) is absolutely mesmerising, one that has deservedly built up a devoted cult following.

After what looks like a meteorite crashes into a lighthouse on the US coast, an otherworldly phenomenon starts to overtake the area, and it is beginning to increase in size, meaning it will eventually threaten populated areas and major cities.

A team of five (which includes Natalie Portman and Jennifer Jennifer Jason Leigh) are sent in to investigate what strange occurrences are taking place within its colourful, translucent walls.

Garland builds his story slowly, gradually revealing what the team are up against, and it makes for hypnotic, fascinating viewing.

Performances are terrific, and the look and sound of the film is first-rate.

Oxygen

■ (M). 101 minutes. Now streaming on Netflix.

Alexandre Aja, whose body of work as a director has been variable at best, delivers his best film since High Tension (2003), the knockout horror/thriller that put him on the cinematic map.

The less you know about the plot the better, suffice to say that Elizabeth (Melanie Laurent) wakes up in a medical chamber, and has to figure out how she got there and why, before her dwindling oxygen supply runs out.

Although Aja’s visual clues gives away some plot turns way too early, there is still much fun to be had, and this works better than the somewhat disappointing Ryan Reynolds film, Buried (2010).

Slick and well-paced, and despite its one chamber setting, the film zips by quickly, indicating that the film-makers have successfully drawn the viewer in. Laurent does well in her confined setting, while Mathieu Amalric is perfectly cast as the voice of the A.I. central computer, M.I.L.O. The interaction between Elizabeth and M.I.L.O certainly reminded me of Donald Cammel’s classic 1977 film, Demon Seed.

RATING - ***½

- Aaron Rourke

■ Barry Fitzgerald is best remembered for his role as the grumpy elderly priest Father Fitzgibbon in the 1944 film Going My Way Barry Fitzgerald was a wonderful Irish character actor and appeared in more than 40 films.

William Joseph Shields was born in Walworth Road, Portobello, Dublin, Ireland in 1888.

His father was a columnist for The Dublin Evening Telegraph.

Young William was a top rugby player at school. He had a sister Una and his younger brother Arthur Shields also became an actor in films.

William began acting with The Abbey Theatre when he was 41 and adopted the stage name of Barry Fitzgerald so that he could continue his day job as a civil servant and be paid for both jobs.

In 1929 Barry performed in two Sean O'Casey plays, The Silver Tassle and Juno And The Paycock on London's West End

His film debut in 1930 was as the orator in the film version of Juno And The Paycock which was directed by Alfred Hitchcock and also starred John Laurie, who later became famous in Dad's Army.

Barry was cast in his first Hollywood film The Plough And The Stars in 1936 which was directed by John Ford

Barry was not a tall man and was 5'4".

His films included The Dawn Patrol, How

Whatever Happened To ... Barry Fitzgerald

By Kevin Trask of 3AW and 96.5 Inner FM

Green Was My Valley, The Sea Wolf, The Story Of Seabiscuit, Two Years Before The Mast and Union Station

He was nominated for two Academy Awards for his role in Going My Way as Best Actor and also Best Supporting Actor.

The Academy changed the rules after this happened so that no actor could be nominated in two categories.

Barry won the Best Supporting Actor and Bing Crosby took home the crockery for Best Actor in Going My Way

Several years later Barry accidentally knocked the head off his statuette whilst practising his golf swing at his home and the Academy replaced it for him.

Paramount Studios cast Bing and Barry together in two other films Welcome Stranger and Top O' The Morning

In 1952 Barry was delighted to be back in Ireland filming The Quiet Man. He was working with the director John Ford and his co stars John Wayne and the beautiful Maureen O'Hara

His brother Arthur also had a small role in the film.

Barry never married.

He once said, "I was terribly busy. Then one day I realised that I was older than I thought."

His final film Cradle Of Genius was shot in Ireland in 1961.

Barry Fitzgerald died of a heart attack at the age of 73 in a nursing home on January 4, 196,1 in his beloved home town of Dublin

He had been under medical care since undergoing a brain operation two years earlier.

Barry Fitzgerald became a favourite of filmgoers throughout the world during his career Kevin Trask Kevin can be heard on 3AWThe Time Tunnel - Remember WhenSundays at 10.10pm with Philip Brady and Simon Owens. And on 96.5 FM That's Entertainment - Sundays at 12 Noon. www.innerfm.org.au