“Wayne Fontana had a hit in 1966 titled Pamela, Pamela with the lyrics, ‘I remember so well when Laurel and Hardy were shown at the flicks’ (C8),” notes Allan Gibson of Cherrybrook. “So, depending on where you lived, ‘the talkies’ had different names: movies, pictures, flicks and now bioscope.” Allan adds that “Don Bain can download an app, aptly named Bioscope,” but, judging by the reviews, some from World Cup viewers (How much money did you scam by taking 100 taka from each of us?), the result would be a long ball to no one.
“Haven’t been to Cloncurry since the ’70s,” says Vic Prociv of Rosehill. “But the local theatre, owned by Bob Katter snr, was the Bio Talkie Theatre, with ‘Bio’ made of ordinary incandescent light bulbs.”
John Ure of Mount Hutton has another lost in France (C8) memory: “In 2015, my wife and I were on a street corner in Amiens, studying a map as we tried to find our way to the Jules Verne Museum. A smartly dressed young woman asked if she could help and then went out of her way to guide us. On learning we were Australian, she simply said: ‘We owe you so much’. We’d just been visiting the WWI battlefields and cemeteries, which made this comment particularly touching.”
“When a website asks you to accept or reject cookies, does it necessarily follow that you are considered a CAD and will be served spam instead if you decline?” wonders Mary Carde of Parrearra (Qld).
Granny’s go-to film guru, Janice Creenaune of Austinmer, agrees that Death in Brunswick (C8) warrants a shout-out in the wake of the passing of the great Sam Neill “and let us not forget that the fabulous soundtrack (heavily influenced by Greek folk music) by Phil Judd and Peter Volaris, won Film Score of the Year at the 1991 APRA Music Awards. Great cast, great music, another great underrated independent Aussie film.”
“I was fortunate to meet Sam Neill many years ago at an art show and spent some time speaking with him,” writes Peter Skrzynecki of Eastwood. “He had just made Omen III (The Final Conflict) where he played Damien Thorn, the antichrist, which I had seen. When I asked him why he accepted a role like that, he replied. ‘They offered me an indecent amount of money’. And, tilting his head to one side, smiled.”
Column8@smh.com.au
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