It's kind of inviting chuckles to describe someone as a giant of the Australian film industry, particularly in the 1930s, but there's no doubt F.W. Thring was one of its leading lights, up there with Ken G. Hall and Stuart F. Doyle. In particular it was Thring's rivalry with Doyle which led to the creation of many stupendous cinemas (the best Australia's ever had, really - some still exist today), and the creation of rival film studios; he helped turn Hoyts into an entertainment giant, set up radio stations, created his own production company, produced a raft of films (shorts and documentaries as well as features) and stage shows. It was a rich legacy and Thring deserved a biography. But would it sell? After all not many people remember or even watch his stuff today? So why not add the son - far more famous and (to be honest) entertaining? This is the first dual father and son biography I've read but it really works and this was a terrific book.
F.W. Thring had an amazing life and career: country town upbringing (from Wentworth), stints as a bootmaker and conjurer before finding his niche running cinemas in Tasmania; an early marriage with a woman that resulted in a kid but he soon shunted both off wife and daughter to South Australia while he made his name in Melbourne; running a waxworks in Melbourne that led to marriage to the boss' chubby daughter (his first wife conveniently died) and a career as an exhibitor, at which he was very successful, including being managing director of Hoyts, enabling to buy a mansion in Toorak; then setting up Efftee Studios.
Efftee's output is a mixed bag - Thring obviously had a lot of skills, including organisation, salesmanship, and an eye for a good property (eg he made vehicles for Pat Hanna and George Wallace, he produced Collitts Inn for the stage), but he really wasn't a good director. It's a shame he couldn't have stayed producer and helped secure better exhibition for his films and gotten others to direct - but maybe then it wouldn't have been less fun and Thring wouldn't have gotten involved in movie making in the first place.
His personality remains a little sketchy - a chubby man over fond of a drink, who had an eye for the main chance and who loved show biz; who perhaps also liked Donald Warne (Fitzpatrick hints at an affair). His most touching relationship is that with his daughter; he died before he got to know his son well. It's interesting to wonder what would have happened had Thring managed to live at least another couple of years - I like to think he'd make a couple of decent features. My own one-that-got-away: a big screen adaptation of Collitts Inn.
Thring Jnr was a different kettle of fish - flamboyant, outrageous, a genuine character. He didn't have his father's drive to make money but he certainly had ambition, appearing on radio and using his family's money (Thring Snr left a decent amount behind when he died) to fund a theatre company. Its hard to gauge how good an actor Thring Jnr was because so many of his film appearances are essentially cameos but Fitzpatrick's book makes a claim that he could, when presses, turn in some brilliant work on stage.
In a sense it didn't matter because Thring Jnr had such a vibrant big personality that he seemed to get work soon and easily - even if he was around today it's easy to imagine him being cast as villains in the latest blockbuster. He made several trips to London, drawing attention in a performance of Salome, acting opposite Vivien Leigh and Laurence Olivier, going a long run in a stage version of Doctor in the House, getting cast as a series of villains in Hollywood blockbusters (all good movies too: The Vikings, Ben Hur, King of Kings, El Cid). Then, when surely a decade at least of well paying work around the world was his for the taking, he elected to come home. Why is a bit of a mystery - but it seems he was simply homesick and enjoyed being a big fish in a small pond.
The Australian film industry of the 60s through to 80s never really used Thring in anything other than cameos but he enjoyed better parts on stage, including a long successful association with the MTC. He was a genuine institution in Melbourne, even becoming the King of Moomba and having a one person show. He never found happiness in his personal life - gay from the get-go, he never seems to have a sustained romantic relationship... apart from one with a good female friend who he made the mistake of marrying (it ended badly: he encouraged her to have an affair, she had one with Peter Finch, Thring Jnr lost his nut). However he could be an inspiring teacher and devoted mentor. A many of many contradictions who had a genuine talent - perhaps not exploited as well as it could have been (he dulled his edge with too much drinking), far too mean to his mother, but who nonetheless left his mark.
I loved reading this book. Wasn't as wild about the internal monologue bits, but I can understand why they were there. Some excellent scholarship, tremendous interviews, very well written.
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