
Cameraman Len Maguire (Bill Hunter) and assistant Chris (Chris Haywood) rush ahead of the entrants in the round Australia Redex Trials to capture footage. They set up at a dangerous corner to wait for the cars. When one crashes, the driver (Bruce Spence) voices his indignation. Summary by Paul Byrnes.
A superb sequence, with editing and music establishing a sense of adventure and sheer fun, before raising the serious question about the ethics of journalism – specifically the question of non-interference.
In Australia in the late 1940s, before the coming of television, Len Maguire (Bill Hunter) and his young sidekick Chris (Chris Haywood) cover the big news stories for the Cinetone newsreel company. An old-school cameraman, Len is loyal to the company, the Australian Labor party and the Catholic church, but times are changing. He struggles to maintain his principles in turbulent times.
Newsfront is a classic, a contender for the best film ever made in Australia. It documents a period of intense social and political turmoil, personalising the propaganda wars of the late 1940s, the rise of Robert Menzies and a politicised Catholic church, and the beginnings of feminism in the workplace – all with extensive use of real newsreels.
The film’s most original technique is the way it integrates new and old footage, shifting effortlessly between black-and-white and colour, sometimes in the same scene. This gives the film great immediacy, a sense that history is alive in the present.
Off-screen, the production is famous for behind-the-scenes arguments between writer Bob Ellis, writer–director Phillip Noyce and producer David Elfick. After they made extensive cuts, Ellis removed his name from the credits, a decision he later regretted. A restored DVD release now includes commentary from all three, in which Ellis says he now recognises it as amongst the best work he has done.
Notes by Paul Byrnes
This clip shows the first round of the Redex Reliability Car Trials held in Australia in 1953. The clip opens with black-and-white archival newsreel footage that shows cars leaving Moore Park in Sydney at the beginning of the race. The clip then cuts to the fictional film story and shows Cinetone’s camera operators, Len Maguire (Bill Hunter) and Christopher Hewitt (Chris Haywood), on the road covering the course. McGuire chooses a rugged stretch of road as the location to set up his camera to record footage and is soon rewarded when a car rounds a bend too quickly and rolls over.
Education notes provided by The Learning Federation and Education Services Australia
A newsreel entitled ‘Round Australia – Redex Trial Begins’ plays on screen.
Newsreel narrator Cars, cars and more cars as 30,000 people pack Moore Park, Sydney, for the start of the first Round Australia Redex Reliability Car Trial. One hundred and ninety-two vehicles cross the starting line at two-minute intervals on the first leg of the longest, toughest trial in the world. The Cinetone Holden film unit with cameramen Len Maguire and Christopher Hewitt will cover the entire course and you’ll be seeing all the action on this screen over the coming weeks.
Chris and Len overtake a carload of female race competitors.
Chris Jesus Christ!
Len What?
Chris Well, the way we’ve got to keep ahead of them all the time, why don’t we enter the bloody thing ourselves? We’ll probably win the prize.
Len Christopher, if our lives were ruled by logic, we’d all be in real estate.
Len pats the dashboard of his car.
Len There, there.
Len and Chris drive in the dark. It is now daytime and Chris yawns. They drive through a town and children run after their car waving flags.
Chris Good morning. How are you? Yee hoo.
Driving down a winding dirt road, Chris takes a corner too fast and almost loses control of the car. The car comes to an abrupt halt. Len gets out and looks at the road behind them and sees a ditch running across the road.
Len All right Christopher, this is the one. Get it set up will you?
One of the cars in the race is coming down the dirt country road. Len and Chris have set up their camera nearby and are filming the race. They see the car coming down the road and they look at each other knowing that the car will likely lose control on the dangerous corner. The car overturns and Chris runs over to help.
Len Oh, shit!
Chris Blimey … Are you alright?
Len You alright, mate?
The driver gets out and dusts the dirt from his clothes.
Driver You bloody bastards! You bloody bastard! You knew it was there. You could’ve warned us!
Len Yeah, I’m sorry mate.
Driver I oughta knock your bloody block off!
The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.