The movie
Show notes
Welcome to episode 65 of See Hear. Give over to us with Body and Soul. 1982 - Australian cinema had an interesting assortment of releases. We Of The Never Never and Turkey Shoot. Monkey Grip and The Pirate Movie. ...... and then there was Starstruck. Musicals were something of a rarity....and with examples like Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, Xanadu, Can't Stop The Music and....shudder...The Apple, it's not hard to see why they weren't as common as in the glory days of MGM. However, director Gillian Armstrong was not going to be deterred. She did not want to be classified as "that director who makes period pieces" after the success of My Brilliant Career. So, after falling in love with Stephen Maclean's script loosely based around his memories of growing up in a pub in Sydney, she set about making Starstruck. It's essentially, an old fashioned "let's do a show" story with some songs in the new wave style of the day. Jackie has dreams of becoming famous as a singer. Her 14 year old cousin Angus is a publicity hound who is determined to get her to perform at the Sydney Opera House. What happens??????? Due to international timeline issues, my compadres Bernard and Tim were not able to join me for this show. HOWEVER......I am joined for a lengthy interview by director Gillian Armstrong herself to talk about her recollections of making the film, its genesis, the wonderful design that went into it, the bands who were considered to compose the music before The Swingers landed the gig (get ready to say "reaaaaaaaalllllly?") and a heap of other Starstruck things. Huge thanks to Gillian for being so generous with her time for the show. ANNNNNNNND....my great friend and Australian film buff, Paul Ryan joins me for a brief chat about his own love of the film, and it's place in Australian film history. Download the podcast from Stitcher, Spotify or the website at https://seehear.podbean.com/e/see-hear-podcast-episode-65-starstruck-featuring-interview-with-director-gillian-
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