Australia's film industry was a very mixed bag in World War Two - barely any features, but some excellent newsreels, such as this one. It's introduced by Damien Parer, who was a newsreel star of the time, given plenty of publicity even before his untimely death - and deservedly so because some of the photography is truly stunning. It's about the battles around Salamaua, one of the many, many battles in New Guinea that weren't Kokoda.
Parer gets right in there - as in, we see grenades being thrown. The biggest jolt for me came from seeing Japanese corpses. There is also some very 1940s attitudes to Japanese locals.
But still, its full of powerful images and is an important film in our cinematic history.
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Monday, April 13, 2015
Script review - "Dad and Dave Come to Town" by Frank Harvey (1938)
One of the advantages of the internet age is research is becoming easier - there's a full script of Dad and Dave Come to Town, my favourite early Aussie movie at the National Archives. It's a copy registered with the copyright office, from the days before such things were automatically given. Sole credit is given to Frank Harvey for writing it even though Ken G Hall says he extensively used a team of gag writers as well around this time.
The look of the script is a little different to what we're used to today - it's two columns, the one on the left being visuals the one on the right being dialogue. But after a while you get used to reading it.
The thing that first struck me most is how many subplots this film. A few pages in and we hear about Joe Rudd's sore tooth, neighbour Bill Ryan wanting to marry daughter Sally, Bill's dad Ryan and Dad arguing, a fox is loose, daughter Jill runs a successful store in town, Dad borrowed 300 pounds from an uncle... it's all set up.
The script is broken down into sequences, normally of a comic variety - Joe getting his tooth removed, Bill asking Dad if he can marry Sally and Dad thinking he wants to buy a dog (this is first rate comic writing), an old man telling Dad he wants to get married, Dave shows off his new invention, Dad and Ryan argue about a paddock one wants to buy, they hear about the death of "Uncle Alf" and Dad and Dave argue about Dave going along.
In the city Dad finds he's inherited a house and fashion store; Dad is inclined to sell but Jill wants to make a go of it; there is comedy with the new housekeeper Miss Quince; then on their first morning in the city Dad and Dave get up comically early to feed the chooks; Dad and Dave have comic adventures trying to run a bath.
At Cecile's we meet Rawlins and Sonya who seem to be baddies - Rawlins makes a joke about Entwistle not being interested in women. Then we meet the baddie Pierre described in the script big print as "presumably a Frenchman, but in forgetful moments dropping into Jewish idiom" who tells Rawlins he wants the Rudds to run the shop but only make small profits - he wants to buy it eventually and doesn't want them to sell to a higher bidder who might make it successful; his ace in the hole is a one thousand pound promissory note between him and the late Alf Rudd. We also meet Pierre's cocky but honest press agent, Jim Bradley, who is ignorant of his boss's schemes.
Dad and Dave arrive at Cecille's and there are shenanigans with mannequins. They meet Entwistle and there are some comic misunderstandings; Entwistle is described in the script big print as "effeminate without being revolting". Dave meets a model called Myrtle. Jill tells Rawlins she's not impressed with how out of date the store is and it's clear Entwistle has ideas so she tells him to implement them; Dad puts Jill in charge of the store. Dave is flirting heavily with Myrtle.
Warned by Rawlins about Jill Rudd's acumen, Pierre sends Jim Bradley over to make friends with the Rudds. There is a comic set piece involving Dad and some twin elevator operators, then him trying to drink out of a water fountain and being mistaken for Santa. Jim meets Jill and after being confused about her being the boss, the two banter and clearly like each other.
Three days later Jill's plans have revived the business but some of the dresses she was going to sell are in Pierre's widow. Dad - who has arrived in top hat and tails as per an Entwistle make over - thinks "there's a nigger in the woodpile somewhere". Dad sabotages the sale (not very convincingly) with the help of Myrtle.
Entwistle dobs on Sonia for trying to sell Cecille's stock on the sly. Sonia admits it and Jill fires her; Sonia gives an unexpectedly moving little speech about how hard it is to be an in store model, all the dehumanising work involved and Jill pities her and changes her mind; Sonia thanks her by telling Jill about Rawlins' treachery. Jim pops in and arranges a date with Jill.
There's some comic misunderstanding between Dad and a customer wanting treatment for her foundations. Jill forces Rawlins to resign (so he'll have less trouble finding another job) and appoints Entwistle in his place. Jim and Jill go out on a date, talking about a movie they've just seen (some "meta" dialogue about whether she thought the hero of the film was too fresh) and Rawlins heckles them; Jim knocks out Rawlins. Jim quits Pierre and goes to work for Jill.
Dad decides to hold a fashion show to promote the business which he decides to turn into a manufacturing concern - Jill to design dresses for mass appeal and the firm to manufacture them. Dad gives a speech about the importance of investing in what you believe in and we launch into a montage of Jim Bradley promotion for the store.
Ryan arrives in the city and heckles Dad - there is a comic scene where they are lifted up on a crane and carried through the city while arguing. Jim talks Dad into appearing in a radio broadcast (Ken Hall often used this joke and based it on Bert Bailey and Cecil Kellaway's real life habit of going "I will not do it" and then doing it.)
There's a not particularly funny extended sequence where Dad and Dave stuff up a radio broadcast - but according to Jim Bradley its a big success.
The Rudds are about to launch their fashion line with a show when Pierre calls in his one thousand dollar payment. Feeling low, Dad cooks up a billy in the kitchen and is seen by Mum. Dad admits he borrowed a lot of money from the bank to pay for the fashion shop. Mum gives him this speech where she tells him to pull his finger out and fight - but also says the money is his to do with as he likes and she fires Mrs Quince because she can look after her man. It's not much of a subplot for her but it is integral to the film.
The fashion show goes ahead with Dad and Dave keeping guard to ward off Pierre's goons.The fashion show was surely influenced by the Astaire-Rogers film Roberta. Pierre sends in the bailiffs and Dave and Entwistle try to fight them off with the help of Myrtle.
They succeed and the show is a massive success but Pierre demands payment right now. Ryan comes to the rescue, bailing out Dad - "where I come from a man stands by his mates". And all is well.
The film finishes with a sequence at Ruddville - Dave is with Myrtle, Jim with Jill, Billy with Sarah. The script doesn't have the final last line of the movie about populating or perishing.
Overall it's a very strong script, with an effective central situation and solid humour. Some of the comic set pieces I don't feel worked such as Dad sabotaging Pierre's show, and the radio show - and the script has an indication of anti Semitism that I didn't pick up from the film. There is a great deal of warmth in all the family and friends of the Rudds, a touching bit involving Sonya, and first rate rom com banter between Jill and Jim. It remains one of our best comic scripts, even if purely on a craft level.
The look of the script is a little different to what we're used to today - it's two columns, the one on the left being visuals the one on the right being dialogue. But after a while you get used to reading it.
The thing that first struck me most is how many subplots this film. A few pages in and we hear about Joe Rudd's sore tooth, neighbour Bill Ryan wanting to marry daughter Sally, Bill's dad Ryan and Dad arguing, a fox is loose, daughter Jill runs a successful store in town, Dad borrowed 300 pounds from an uncle... it's all set up.
The script is broken down into sequences, normally of a comic variety - Joe getting his tooth removed, Bill asking Dad if he can marry Sally and Dad thinking he wants to buy a dog (this is first rate comic writing), an old man telling Dad he wants to get married, Dave shows off his new invention, Dad and Ryan argue about a paddock one wants to buy, they hear about the death of "Uncle Alf" and Dad and Dave argue about Dave going along.
In the city Dad finds he's inherited a house and fashion store; Dad is inclined to sell but Jill wants to make a go of it; there is comedy with the new housekeeper Miss Quince; then on their first morning in the city Dad and Dave get up comically early to feed the chooks; Dad and Dave have comic adventures trying to run a bath.
At Cecile's we meet Rawlins and Sonya who seem to be baddies - Rawlins makes a joke about Entwistle not being interested in women. Then we meet the baddie Pierre described in the script big print as "presumably a Frenchman, but in forgetful moments dropping into Jewish idiom" who tells Rawlins he wants the Rudds to run the shop but only make small profits - he wants to buy it eventually and doesn't want them to sell to a higher bidder who might make it successful; his ace in the hole is a one thousand pound promissory note between him and the late Alf Rudd. We also meet Pierre's cocky but honest press agent, Jim Bradley, who is ignorant of his boss's schemes.
Dad and Dave arrive at Cecille's and there are shenanigans with mannequins. They meet Entwistle and there are some comic misunderstandings; Entwistle is described in the script big print as "effeminate without being revolting". Dave meets a model called Myrtle. Jill tells Rawlins she's not impressed with how out of date the store is and it's clear Entwistle has ideas so she tells him to implement them; Dad puts Jill in charge of the store. Dave is flirting heavily with Myrtle.
Warned by Rawlins about Jill Rudd's acumen, Pierre sends Jim Bradley over to make friends with the Rudds. There is a comic set piece involving Dad and some twin elevator operators, then him trying to drink out of a water fountain and being mistaken for Santa. Jim meets Jill and after being confused about her being the boss, the two banter and clearly like each other.
Three days later Jill's plans have revived the business but some of the dresses she was going to sell are in Pierre's widow. Dad - who has arrived in top hat and tails as per an Entwistle make over - thinks "there's a nigger in the woodpile somewhere". Dad sabotages the sale (not very convincingly) with the help of Myrtle.
Entwistle dobs on Sonia for trying to sell Cecille's stock on the sly. Sonia admits it and Jill fires her; Sonia gives an unexpectedly moving little speech about how hard it is to be an in store model, all the dehumanising work involved and Jill pities her and changes her mind; Sonia thanks her by telling Jill about Rawlins' treachery. Jim pops in and arranges a date with Jill.
There's some comic misunderstanding between Dad and a customer wanting treatment for her foundations. Jill forces Rawlins to resign (so he'll have less trouble finding another job) and appoints Entwistle in his place. Jim and Jill go out on a date, talking about a movie they've just seen (some "meta" dialogue about whether she thought the hero of the film was too fresh) and Rawlins heckles them; Jim knocks out Rawlins. Jim quits Pierre and goes to work for Jill.
Dad decides to hold a fashion show to promote the business which he decides to turn into a manufacturing concern - Jill to design dresses for mass appeal and the firm to manufacture them. Dad gives a speech about the importance of investing in what you believe in and we launch into a montage of Jim Bradley promotion for the store.
Ryan arrives in the city and heckles Dad - there is a comic scene where they are lifted up on a crane and carried through the city while arguing. Jim talks Dad into appearing in a radio broadcast (Ken Hall often used this joke and based it on Bert Bailey and Cecil Kellaway's real life habit of going "I will not do it" and then doing it.)
There's a not particularly funny extended sequence where Dad and Dave stuff up a radio broadcast - but according to Jim Bradley its a big success.
The Rudds are about to launch their fashion line with a show when Pierre calls in his one thousand dollar payment. Feeling low, Dad cooks up a billy in the kitchen and is seen by Mum. Dad admits he borrowed a lot of money from the bank to pay for the fashion shop. Mum gives him this speech where she tells him to pull his finger out and fight - but also says the money is his to do with as he likes and she fires Mrs Quince because she can look after her man. It's not much of a subplot for her but it is integral to the film.
The fashion show goes ahead with Dad and Dave keeping guard to ward off Pierre's goons.The fashion show was surely influenced by the Astaire-Rogers film Roberta. Pierre sends in the bailiffs and Dave and Entwistle try to fight them off with the help of Myrtle.
They succeed and the show is a massive success but Pierre demands payment right now. Ryan comes to the rescue, bailing out Dad - "where I come from a man stands by his mates". And all is well.
The film finishes with a sequence at Ruddville - Dave is with Myrtle, Jim with Jill, Billy with Sarah. The script doesn't have the final last line of the movie about populating or perishing.
Overall it's a very strong script, with an effective central situation and solid humour. Some of the comic set pieces I don't feel worked such as Dad sabotaging Pierre's show, and the radio show - and the script has an indication of anti Semitism that I didn't pick up from the film. There is a great deal of warmth in all the family and friends of the Rudds, a touching bit involving Sonya, and first rate rom com banter between Jill and Jim. It remains one of our best comic scripts, even if purely on a craft level.
Sunday, April 05, 2015
Book review - "The Ellis Laws" by Bob Ellis
Entertaining collection of essays from Ellis where he talks about simple rules of life eg power flows to the most boring man in the room. It's very well written and funny with some genuine original thought in there - Ellis' writing picks up when hes not just consistently bagging the Liberal Party and broadens his horizons a bit.
Book review - "Heaven and Mel" by Joe Eszterhas (2012)
Train crash reading - awful but you can't look away. It's also highly entertaining - Eszterhas is a very good writer, even if he does come out of this story almost as bad as Mel Gibson. It's based on the time he wrote a script about the Maccabes for Gibson, which was never made - I remember when it was announced most people assumed it was just a sop to get people off Mel's back about anti-Semitism and that seems to be the case. But there was a long development process which meant several meetings between Eszterhas and Mel, resulting in some memorable encounters.
Everything Mel does in the story feels authentic and all to true - the grey skin, chain smoking, concerns about his balding head, railing at God for turning him old, bitter rants about his second wife, the constant outbursts of rage, entourage of priests and others, innate intelligence (he's no dummy, look at his career), obsessions with enemas and oral sex, receiving blow jobs from women at dinner parties, genuine love for his daughter, sense of humour, desire to confess, overwhelming unhappiness, bitching about Brian Hegeland and Randall Wallace, Richard Donner being the only director he had a good word for, threatening to hire hit men to kill his ex, wanting to convert Jews to Christianity, hating John Lennon.
Eszterhas comes out of it as a dick too - firstly, writing the book at all; almost bragging about ignoring his father for the latter's anti Semitic writing in the 30s and 40s despite all the good his father did for his son since then (cutting the guy off from his grandkids?); taking the job with Mel and not quitting despite what sounds like constant anti-Semitic rants; allowing his 15 year old son to go to Costa Rica and hang out with Mel when he knew Gibson had a temper; only resigning after Gibson had directed his first draft (Eszterhas quotes some dialogue from it which sounds pretty terrible). Eszterhas leaves out the fact he's had only something like one credit in the last 15 years, and by leaking a letter about Gibson he was replaying his old trick against Mike Ovitz back in the early 90s when he was more of a Hollywood player; calling Mel mad because he didn't like Eszterhas' script. He also says he's started having the occasional drink of wine because his doctor said it was okay - the guy was/is an alcoholic, he shouldn't be drinking at all.
I actually wound up having more sympathy for Gibson than Eszterhas - Gibson is clearly a tormented person given a lot of bad lessons by his father who is still alive and has messed with his head; fame and power hasn't been healthy to him - since the 1980s he's been bombarded by people who want to use him. He's managed to channel his madness into some truly memorable cinema - not just as actor but also director and producer. He's full of rage, can't let go of his addictions, probably doesn't have any real friends and is bonkers - but at least he's not a self righteous holier than thou clown.
Still Eszterhas can write and this was so much fun to read.
Everything Mel does in the story feels authentic and all to true - the grey skin, chain smoking, concerns about his balding head, railing at God for turning him old, bitter rants about his second wife, the constant outbursts of rage, entourage of priests and others, innate intelligence (he's no dummy, look at his career), obsessions with enemas and oral sex, receiving blow jobs from women at dinner parties, genuine love for his daughter, sense of humour, desire to confess, overwhelming unhappiness, bitching about Brian Hegeland and Randall Wallace, Richard Donner being the only director he had a good word for, threatening to hire hit men to kill his ex, wanting to convert Jews to Christianity, hating John Lennon.
Eszterhas comes out of it as a dick too - firstly, writing the book at all; almost bragging about ignoring his father for the latter's anti Semitic writing in the 30s and 40s despite all the good his father did for his son since then (cutting the guy off from his grandkids?); taking the job with Mel and not quitting despite what sounds like constant anti-Semitic rants; allowing his 15 year old son to go to Costa Rica and hang out with Mel when he knew Gibson had a temper; only resigning after Gibson had directed his first draft (Eszterhas quotes some dialogue from it which sounds pretty terrible). Eszterhas leaves out the fact he's had only something like one credit in the last 15 years, and by leaking a letter about Gibson he was replaying his old trick against Mike Ovitz back in the early 90s when he was more of a Hollywood player; calling Mel mad because he didn't like Eszterhas' script. He also says he's started having the occasional drink of wine because his doctor said it was okay - the guy was/is an alcoholic, he shouldn't be drinking at all.
I actually wound up having more sympathy for Gibson than Eszterhas - Gibson is clearly a tormented person given a lot of bad lessons by his father who is still alive and has messed with his head; fame and power hasn't been healthy to him - since the 1980s he's been bombarded by people who want to use him. He's managed to channel his madness into some truly memorable cinema - not just as actor but also director and producer. He's full of rage, can't let go of his addictions, probably doesn't have any real friends and is bonkers - but at least he's not a self righteous holier than thou clown.
Still Eszterhas can write and this was so much fun to read.
Book review - "A Maverick Life: The Jack Kelly Story" by Linda Alexander (2011)
The best possible book that could have been written about Jack Kelly, best remembered today as "the guy who played Maverick who wasn't James Garner". It's extremely well researched with great access to Kelly's surviving relatives and plenty of newspapers and magazines that have been gone through. Kelly should be honoured someone has gone to this effort to write such a book about him.
It doesn't change the fact that he didn't have that interesting a career. His non Maverick credits are spectacularly unimpressive, despite Kelly starting as a child star - support parts in Forbidden Planet and To Hell and Back, the lead in some forgotten films (Hong Kong Affair, Love and Kisses), some theatre, lots of guest stints, being host of Sale of the Century. It's not very impressive, especially when compared to co-stars Jim Garner and Roger Moore - there aren't even that many decent cult favourites on there, apart from a Cold War flick The Commies are Coming.
Kelly was a household face at least with his hit TV series but when that was cancelled he was dumped by his studio (Warner Bros) he displayed a real knack of plunging into obscurity - you'd have thought he'd be able to star in a couple of low budget films at least, even in the late 60s, but he didn't. Rod Taylor was once up for the role of Bart Maverick - one feels he would have used it as more of a springboard to do more.
Alexander, his extremely diligent biographer, blames this on part on his drinking - Kelly was an alcoholic, albeit a highly functioning one, which prevented his career from reaching its full potential and helped kill his two marriages. She's too polite to say (or doesn't believe) another reason: that he was basically was a bland actor, who suited the 50s but not so much the late 60s. Even his name is kind of bland.
Kelly was no dummy though - even as his acting career wound down, he managed to hold on to his money, moving into real estate. He became Councilman then Mayor of Huntington Beach and had a great "third act" to his life - he might have risen higher had he not died of a heart attack in 1992.
Kelly's life was a little more interesting than his career - he had a model mum, actress sister (Nancy Kelly from The Bad Seed which I didn't know), started as a child actor, did a lot of MC work, was best mates with Desi Arnaz and adored JFK. Still, despite Alexander's sterling work I did find this heavy going at times - all the talk about Kelly's love for cooking and opinions on things and his endless, endless guest appearances on TV. It is the last word on Jack Kelly to be sure - I just hope her next subject is a little more noteworthy.
It doesn't change the fact that he didn't have that interesting a career. His non Maverick credits are spectacularly unimpressive, despite Kelly starting as a child star - support parts in Forbidden Planet and To Hell and Back, the lead in some forgotten films (Hong Kong Affair, Love and Kisses), some theatre, lots of guest stints, being host of Sale of the Century. It's not very impressive, especially when compared to co-stars Jim Garner and Roger Moore - there aren't even that many decent cult favourites on there, apart from a Cold War flick The Commies are Coming.
Kelly was a household face at least with his hit TV series but when that was cancelled he was dumped by his studio (Warner Bros) he displayed a real knack of plunging into obscurity - you'd have thought he'd be able to star in a couple of low budget films at least, even in the late 60s, but he didn't. Rod Taylor was once up for the role of Bart Maverick - one feels he would have used it as more of a springboard to do more.
Alexander, his extremely diligent biographer, blames this on part on his drinking - Kelly was an alcoholic, albeit a highly functioning one, which prevented his career from reaching its full potential and helped kill his two marriages. She's too polite to say (or doesn't believe) another reason: that he was basically was a bland actor, who suited the 50s but not so much the late 60s. Even his name is kind of bland.
Kelly was no dummy though - even as his acting career wound down, he managed to hold on to his money, moving into real estate. He became Councilman then Mayor of Huntington Beach and had a great "third act" to his life - he might have risen higher had he not died of a heart attack in 1992.
Kelly's life was a little more interesting than his career - he had a model mum, actress sister (Nancy Kelly from The Bad Seed which I didn't know), started as a child actor, did a lot of MC work, was best mates with Desi Arnaz and adored JFK. Still, despite Alexander's sterling work I did find this heavy going at times - all the talk about Kelly's love for cooking and opinions on things and his endless, endless guest appearances on TV. It is the last word on Jack Kelly to be sure - I just hope her next subject is a little more noteworthy.
Book review - "Sir Quixote of the Moors" by John Buchan (1895)
John Buchan's first novel isn't very long but it is hard going. It's about a Frenchman in Scotland in the late 17th century who falls in love with a woman who is engaged to another. It feels like the subplot to a longer novel - there is some decent action when the Frenchman goes on the run to start off with (it's the time of the Convenanteers) but there's not nearly enough of it. Written in a florid style it's pretty dull.
Thursday, April 02, 2015
Movie review - "Land of the Pharaohs" (1955) **
A bit of an odd man out on Howard Hawks' resume, lacking humour, lightness and bantering dialogue, not to mention that great bonding between friends he could capture. You can't blame him for having a crack at an Ancient World epic in 50s - Warners probably dangled a lot of money at him, and he likely figured any idiot could make one and clean up - but it seems the period made him freeze a little creatively.
Jack Hawkins is ideally cast as the driven pharaoh who wants to build a massive thief-proof tomb for himself - not the most interesting goal because it's dumb (he wants to stash treasure in there). It's not particularly relatable - not like lust or revenge or any of the standard plots, it's just stupid. Joan Collins is meant to be a femme fetale because she wants his money but her actions make more sense than Hawkins'. So too does captain of the guard Sydney Chaplin, who wants to sleep with Collins.
James Robertson Justice is good as the captured slave building the temple and some of the spectacle is truly epic - it's all up there on screen, and you really feel like you're watching a pyramid being built. It seems like a lot of pointless hard work and effort, so it's hard to get too involved.
Collins tries but was out of her element at this stage in her career - she's not helped by acting in blackface. Dewey Martin is hilariously miscast as Justice's son; he has a romance with a slave girl that's basically forgotten.
There is a memorable finale with Collins being buried alive along with Hawkins' idiot best friend and idiot servants. Visually ravishing, stiff, dramatic misfire.
How could he have made this work? Maybe about a bunch of construction engineers building a pyramid - architects, etc. That could've worked. Hawks struggles without humour.
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