Bill Collins introduces Shanghai Express

The ultimate vintage-film buff, Bill Collins shared his knowledge and passion with generations of Australians via Bill Collins’ Golden Years of Hollywood, which ran for 15 years on Network Ten and for 23 years on the FOX Classics channel. 

On this 2001 episode of Golden Years, Collins introduces the Marlene Dietrich vehicle Shanghai Express with a special prop that allows him to revel in nostalgia for Australia’s lost cinemas: a 1932 program for the movie from Sydney’s Prince Edward Theatre, price sixpence. In his characteristic measured, mellow tones, he reads out a review of the director Josef von Sternberg’s films, savouring each florid word and building excitement for the upcoming presentation.

Collins had a special knack for creating intimacy, drawing viewers in to share his delight in artefacts and anecdotes, and relishing classic films as you would ‘a magnificent gourmet meal’.