Identity and culture: Australia and the UK
The following clips have teachers’ notes related to this topic:
It’s war! from the television program 1915 (PG)
The recruiting drive is on and throughout the bush there are more than enough young men willing to drop everything for the adventure of war. Billy (Scott Burgess) and Walter (Scott McGregor) have been waiting for this moment with barely suppressed excitement.
‘The occasional, odd chilled glass of amber fluid’ from the feature film The Adventures of Barry McKenzie (PG)
Aunt Edna (Barry Humphries) takes Bazza (Barry Crocker) to meet distant upper class relatives, the penniless and pompous Gorts. Sarah Gort (Jenny Tomasin) takes Bazza to a country ball, where he is constantly insulted by an upper class twit. Barry’s mood improves when he discovers a back room full of Australians having a party.
Birthday party from the home movie Archibald Family: Family Scenes and Outings in Sydney: Home Movie (PG)
This clip, shot by the Archibald family, shows a little girl’s birthday party in the early 1930s. Girls, all dressed in white dresses and with bobbed hair, play ‘Ring-a-ring o’ roses’ and ‘Oranges and lemons’ before they sit down to eat party food.
The media from the sponsored film Australia Post – Royal Tour (G)
This clip shows the process by which the PMG must meet the needs of the media during Queen Elizabeth II’s 1954 royal tour.
‘The gentleman’s war is over’ from the feature film Breaker Morant (PG)
In a lonely, windswept hill camp, far out in the veldt, Captain Hunt (Terence Donovan) instructs Captain Taylor (John Waters) to execute Boer prisoners brought in by Morant (Edward Woodward). When Morant queries the order to shoot prisoners, Hunt tells Morant that these are Lord Kitchener’s new orders, confirmed to him personally by Colonel Hamilton. Morant looks uneasy at the…
‘This is what comes of Empire building’ from the feature film Breaker Morant (PG)
Morant (Edward Woodward) and Handcock (Bryan Brown) march to their executions. Their lawyer, Major Thomas (Jack Thompson) lingers in their makeshift cell – which looks to be a stable – to consider the epitaph that Morant has requested: ‘And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household’, taken from Matthew 10:36.
Menzies home movies from the documentary Canberra Files, The (PG)
This montage of clips from the Menzies Home Movie Collection features footage from Menzies’ wartime tour in 1941, including Tobruk, Palestine, Cairo, Jerusalem, Khartoum and England during the Blitz. It ends with close-ups of the ‘Rulers of England’ including the Duke and Duchess of Portland, Duke of Kent, Lady Astor, Lord Beaverbrook, Oliver Lyttelton, David Lloyd George, CB Attlee, Ernest…
The Duke of Gloucester’s opening speech from the newsreel Centenary Celebrations of Melbourne, Victoria (G)
On the steps of Parliament House in Melbourne, the Duke of Gloucester delivers a speech on behalf of his father King George V, which declares the city’s centenary celebrations open. At the conclusion of the speech, the crowd in attendance gives three cheers. A brass band accompanies the beginning of the parade past Parliament House.
The electric Kooka stove from the advertisement Electric Stove Cinema Advertisement: Banish Drudgery (G)
‘Mrs Sydney’ (Pat Firman) prepares an evening meal for her husband with her newly acquired electric range while a voice-over emphasises the stove’s economy and efficiency. At the end of the advertisement, she asks to camera: ‘you’ll all eventually cook with electricity so why not now?’
Empire Day pageant from the other historical footage Empire Day Pageant (G)
The camera captures a group on a horse and carriage; a woman dressed as Queen Victoria; and various groups of children dressed in costumes. Costumes include dressing up as Indians; Red Cross volunteers and Australian Troops; Chinese women; and band members in ‘black face’. A small group of uniformed men with rifles march past the camera from left to right, ...
‘It’s cold-blooded murder’ from the feature film Gallipoli (PG)
Communications with headquarters have been cut during a disastrous attack at The Nek. As the men of the 10th Light Horse Regiment wait to learn if they too must go over the top, Frank (Mel Gibson) rushes to bring word that the attack has been postponed. The telephone rings, indicating the lines are working. Frank is too late.
‘White gold of Australia’ from the feature film Heritage (G)
The great granddaughter of Biddy O’Shea has flown to the Northern Territory station run by Frank Morrison, great grandson of James, to talk about their future together, but they disagree about his ‘prehistoric’ views of a woman’s role. Frank (Franklyn Bennett) is a federal MP, who sees his future on the land in the harshest part of the country. His…
Setting up camp from the documentary Home of the Blizzard (PG)
This piece of documentary footage captured by Frank Hurley between 1911 and 1913 during Mawson’s Antarctic expedition, shows Lieutenant Belgrave Ninnis and Dr Xavier Mertz setting up their tent. Another shot shows them lying in their reindeer sleeping bags for warmth.
Education and public health from the documentary Land Short of People (G)
The voice-over describes Australia’s education and health services in positive terms. It mentions the challenges of educating children over Australia’s vast distances. Children play in a sandpit in a playground; others play on swings in a school ground; and another group plays ring-a-ring-a-rosy. Older students are shown entering a home science high school. Boys learn life skills in a swamp…
Recreational activities from the documentary Marvellous Melbourne: Queen City of the South (G)
This clip shows the Henley-on-Yarra regatta and celebrations; the agricultural showgrounds and ‘fair barrackers at a football match’. Each segment is introduced with an intertitle.
Lord Denman, governor-general from the other historical footage Naming of the Federal Capital of Australia: The Ceremony (G)
This clip shows the governor-general Lord Thomas Denman arriving at the naming ceremony of Canberra. A royal salute is fired before Lord Denman lays a foundation stone.
Codenamed Marcoo from the sponsored film Operation Buffalo – Colour Record (PG)
The explosion of Marcoo, one of the four nuclear fission bombs tested at Maralinga between September and October 1956.
‘Something to fall back on’ from the documentary A Personal History of the Australian Surf: Being the Confessions of a Straight Poofter (PG)
Michael’s father told young Michael that the world was divided into three groups, ‘fools, crooks and gentlemen’. By deciding to be an artist (theatre director) young Michael fell into the fool category. His father argued medicine would give him ‘something to fall back on’. However, Michael follows his instinct.
Debutante ball from the documentary The Queen Goes West (G)
Longreach’s debutantes are presented to the accompaniment of the bagpipe.
Beginning of The Rocks from the documentary The Rocks: Sydney, Australia (PG)
This clip uses old paintings and engravings to trace the early history of the Rocks area from its inception.
‘Take time by the forelock’ from the documentary Skyway Express (PG)
This clip shows the first two minutes of the travelogue Skyway Express. It was produced in the late 1940s for exhibition in the cinema. It shows the start of a passenger plane journey to London. The clip covers the journey from Sydney to Darwin by DC-3. The opening credits and roll up set the scene.
A ride in the old bus from the feature film Splendid Fellows (G)
Mr McBride (Frank Bradley) takes Monty (Frank Leighton) to Mascot to meet the ‘flying parson’ (Eric Colman). Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, playing himself, offers to take them for a joyride over Sydney.
