Despite the
dustjacket’s poor
representation of the
Sydney Harbour Bridge, especially
the mighty
pylons, this 1977
novel is a delight to read and
full of surprises , some of them personal.
The author , Sumner Locke Elliott , held in high esteem by Nobel Award writer Patrick White
, first came to prominence
when he wrote the controversial play,
Rusty Bugles, banned for "obscenity" because of its language , then watered down for
public
consumption . It
was based , in part, on Sumner’s
observations at the WW
ll Army camp at Mataranka , in the Northern
Territory, where Communist
author Frank Hardy was based , turning
out Troppo Tribune , and telling
yarns.
Another literary minded Communist
, Paul Mortier
, later an early manager
of the Darwin Workers’ Club, passed
through Mataranka. The plot , draws heavily on Sumner
Locke Elliott’s own life and
his involvement with theatrical
identities , like actress director Doris
Fitton, of the Independent Theatre , before he left for America in 1948 where
he became
prominent as a producer
of plays for
television. The main
character in the book is
orphaned at four
and brought up by a showgirl whose
career and marriage prospects come
to
a dead end when she is left
virtually holding the baby in
Sydney , his parents dying within days of each other, making her sharp tongued
and resentful as the years go by .
Elliott’s writer mother
died the day after he
was born resulting in him being the subject of a fierce custody battle between his aunts . The woman who raises the
waif in the book is based on one of those aunts. He becomes a small time actor, serves
time in Mataranka during WWll, goes overseas
and returns to
Australia as back up
to Peter Finch , heading to
Alice Springs to make a
movie...it has to be A Town Like Alice.
There is
considerable mention of
Sydney - the opening of the
Harbour Bridge (the cover fireworks ) by ALP Premier
Jack Lang in 1932 ,
cafes , department stores , Kings Cross , the
Japanese midget submarine
attack . The latter is of great interest to
this writer because he
lived at Kirribilli near the waterfront that night ;
mamma was out dancing
and she
rushed home across the bridge in a
blacked out tram. I
was later taken to
see one of the submarines when it
was put on public display - to raise funds for Red Cross, says the
book. Somewhere there is a photo
of me decked out in white
, holding an uncle’s hand , taken at that submarine
viewing .
The highly popular Australian
singer, Gladys Moncrieff , of Maid of the Mountain Fame, who
entertained troops is mentioned in connection with special
revues put on during the war years, some of the programmes for those events in the Little
Darwin theatre collection. And just this week on Magnetic Island this writer was shown a wedding certificate in which Gladys Moncrieff had been a witness. Sheet music for
songs mentioned by the
thwarted showgirl in the book have also
passed through Little Darwin’s
kitbag .
An absolute joy and extraordinary coincidence in the book is mention of a watermelon being given to a female journalist, who may have been based on Elliott's mother ...this blog having recently posted an item about sheet music for the Fox Trot song I'm Gonna Bring a Watermelon to My Girl To-night, sung by young Stella Lamond , mother of famous singer Helen Reddy. Book published by Simon and Schuster , New York.
The bridge in all its glory, the pylons robust .
