Night Club (1952 film)

Last updated

Night Club
Directed by A. R. Harwood
Written by A. R. Harwood
Produced byDavid Bilcock
StarringJoey Porter
Joff Ellen
CinematographyLarry Heitman
Edited byBarbara Baxter
Production
company
Cambridge Films
Release date
1952
Running time
55 mins
CountryAustralia
Budget£7,000 [1]

Night Club is a 1952 Australian film musical directed by A. R. Harwood. It is a remake of Harwood's 1938 film, Show Business . [2]

Contents

Plot

Singer Nina Fleming persuades playboy Bill Winters to get his wealthy woolgrower father James to back a show starring her. Bill goes to a country town to work on the script . He meets some local variety acts and persuades James to present them in a city night club act. The show is a success despite the efforts of Nina to stop them.

Cast

Production

This was Harwood's first feature in a number of years. The production budget was provided entirely by Melbourne documentary firm Cambridge Films. [3]

The cast were mostly taken from vaudeville, stage and radio, with a number of vaudeville acts appearing. Joan Bilceaux was a blues singer and runner up to Miss Victoria; Joff Ellen was a comedian; Colin Crane had appeared in Show Boat. [4] Harwood cast his daughter as the ingenue and himself as a detective (under the name of "Alex Roy"). Said Harwood at the time:

Comedy is the keynote of the show. That's what the film public is demanding these days. Revivals of old Pat Hanna and George Wallace slapstick comedies are proving an outstanding success.The response demonstrates that the public wants a hearty laugh . . and so that's the type of Australian film I'm concentrating on. [2]

Shooting began on 5 July 1952, partly at the Park Orchards cabaret, near Ringwood. The club was visited by licensing police during filming. [4] [5] Sound was recorded "wild" on a simple wire recorder, making it impossible to synchronise in post production. [1]

Release

Harwood claimed he was so pleased with the comedy team of Joey Porter and Joff Ellen he wanted to put them in another movie together, about Brisbane's show business train. [2] However, Night Club only achieved a limited release and was a failure at the box office, proving to be Harwood's last movie. [1]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joey Bishop</span> American entertainer (1918–2007)

Joseph Abraham Gottlieb, known professionally as Joey Bishop, was an American entertainer who appeared on television as early as 1948 and eventually starred in his own weekly comedy series playing a talk/variety show host, then later hosted a late-night talk show with Regis Philbin as his young sidekick on ABC. He also was a member of the "Rat Pack" with Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis Jr. and Peter Lawford. He is listed as 96th entry on Comedy Central's list of 100 greatest comedians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Randell</span> Australian actor (1918–2005)

Ronald Egan Randell was an Australian actor. After beginning his acting career on the stage in 1937, he played Charles Kingsford Smith in the film Smithy (1946). He also had roles in Bulldog Drummond at Bay (1947), Kiss Me Kate (1953), I Am a Camera (1955), Most Dangerous Man Alive (1961) and King of Kings (1961).

Joff Ellen, was an Australian entertainer, actor and comedian.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Melbourne Athenaeum</span> Theatre in Melbourne, Victoria

The Athenaeum or Melbourne Athenaeum is an art and cultural hub in the central business district of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Founded in 1839, it is the city's oldest cultural institution.

Oscar Brodney was an American lawyer-turned-screenwriter. He is best known for his long association with Universal Studios, where his credits included Harvey, The Glenn Miller Story (1954), several Francis movies and the Tammy series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ronald Shiner</span> British stand-up comedian and comedy actor (1903-1966)

Ronald Alfred Shiner was a British stand-up comedian and comedy actor whose career encompassed film, West End theatre and music hall.

<i>The Square Ring</i> 1953 film by Basil Dearden

The Square Ring is a 1953 British tragi-comic drama, directed by Basil Dearden and made at Ealing Studios. It stars Jack Warner, Robert Beatty and Bill Owen. The film, based on a stage play by Ralph Peterson, centres on one night at a fairly seedy boxing venue and tells the disparate stories of the fighters and the women behind them.

<i>Hotel Sahara</i> 1951 British comedy film

Hotel Sahara is a 1951 British war comedy film directed by Ken Annakin and starring Yvonne De Carlo, Peter Ustinov and David Tomlinson. It was produced and co-written by George Hambley Brown.

<i>Dad and Dave Come to Town</i> 1938 film by Ken G. Hall

Dad and Dave Come to Town is a 1938 Australian comedy film directed by Ken G. Hall, the third in the 'Dad and Dave' comedy series starring Bert Bailey. It was the feature film debut of Peter Finch and is one of the best known Australian films of the 1930s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Neva Carr Glyn</span> Australian actress (1908–1975)

Neva Carr Glyn or Neva Carr Glynn was an Australian stage, film and radio actress born in Melbourne to Arthur Benjamin Carr Glyn, a humorous baritone and stage manager born in Ireland, and Marie Carr Glyn, née Marie Dunoon Senior, an actress with the stage name "Marie Avis". She had one half-sister Gwendoline Arnold O'Neill and two half-brothers Sacheverill Arnold Mola and Rupert Arnold Mola. She was named "Neva" after a great-aunt, who was a contralto of some quality. Both spellings of her surname appear in print roughly equally and apparently arbitrarily.

Harmony Row is a 1933 Australian musical comedy directed by F. W. Thring and Raymond Longford and starring popular stage comedian George Wallace. It marked the film debut of Bill Kerr.

A Ticket in Tatts is a 1934 musical comedy film starring popular stage comedian George Wallace as an accident-prone stablehand. It was the last of three films Wallace made for F. W. Thring.

Show Business is a 1938 Australian film musical directed by A. R. Harwood and starring Bert Matthews. It is considered a 'substantially lost' film, with only rushes from a single minor scene left.

Alexander Roy Harwood (1897–1980), better known as A. R. Harwood, or Dick Harwood, was an Australian film director and producer who also worked in exhibition. He was inspired to become a filmmaker when he was posted to Tahiti to work for an insurance company and watched the shooting of Never the Twain Shall Meet (1925). He returned to Australia and produced and directed The Man Who Forgot (1927).

<i>The Avenger</i> (1937 film) 1937 Australian film

The Avenger is a 1937 Australian film directed by A. R. Harwood.

<i>The Secret of the Skies</i> 1934 Australian film

The Secret of the Skies is a 1934 Australian film directed by A. R. Harwood about a bank robber who crashes an aircraft in remote bush. The story was inspired by the 1931 disappearance of the Southern Cloud flown by Sir Charles Kingsford Smith.

Spur of the Moment is a 1931 Australian film directed by A. R. Harwood. It was one of the first Australian talking movies.

Waltzing Matilda is a 1933 Australian film directed by and starring Pat Hanna. It features Coral Browne.

John Hennings was a theatrical scene painter and theatre manager in Melbourne, Australia.

Henry Richard Harwood was an Australian actor and theatre manager.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 215.
  2. 1 2 3 "MELBOURNE-MADE FILM FULL OF LAUGHS". The Argus . Melbourne. 25 October 1952. p. 14. Retrieved 5 April 2012 via National Library of Australia.
  3. "WOT, NO CATTLE!". The Mail . Adelaide. 12 July 1952. p. 7 Supplement: SUNDAY MAGIC. Retrieved 25 August 2012 via National Library of Australia.
  4. 1 2 "Joan's going into movies..." The Argus . Melbourne. 1 July 1952. p. 3. Retrieved 5 April 2012 via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Coincidence, says Keith". The Argus . Melbourne. 8 July 1952. p. 5. Retrieved 6 April 2012 via National Library of Australia.