Strike Me Lucky

Strike Me Lucky
Theatrical poster
Directed by	Ken G. Hall
Produced by	Ken G. Hall
Written by	Vic Roberts George D. Parker
Starring	Roy Rene Yvonne Banvard
Music by	Hamilton Webber
Cinematography	Frank Hurley
Editing by	William Shepherd
Studio	Cinesound Productions
Distributed by	British Empire Films (Australia) Universal Pictures (UK)
Release dates	16 November 1934 (Australia)[1] 1935 (England)
Running time	87 mins
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	₤9,000[2][3][4]

Strike Me Lucky is a 1934 comedy musical film starring popular stage comic Roy Rene in his first and only film.

Synopsis

‘Mo’ McIsaac and his sidekick Donald try to find work to support a young orphan girl he finds dancing for pennies in the street, Miriam, unaware she is really the missing daughter of rich aristocrat, Major Burnett. Gangster Al Baloney and Mae West impersonator Kate kidnap the girl and Mo is blamed for her disappearance. He and Donald take off into the bush looking for a gold mine (a storyline inspired by the 1930 expedition to find Lasseter's Reef), where they are attacked by a tribe of aboriginal cannibals before discovering their names are cleared. Other plots include a young couple, Margot Burnett and Larry McCormack, finding love, and a ballet of dancers performs periodically.

Cast

Production

This was the first movie from Cinesound Productions that was not based on a play adapted from a novel. It was an entirely original story and Hall later admitted there were three different scripts.^[7] The final script was credited to the team of Vic Roberts and George D. Parker. Roberts also wrote some lyrics for songs used in the movie, while Parker doubled as dialogue director. The original working title was Swastikas for Luck.

Cast member 'Baby' Pamela Bevan was only five years old and was advertised as "Australia's Shirley Temple".^[8] The female ingenue part was played by 18 year old actor from amateur theatre and an acting family, Lorraine Smith.^[9]

Cinesound almost doubled the size of their studio to make the film, and also in anticipation for what they thought would be a boost in production following the introduction of a film quota.^[10] Shooting took place in June and July 1934, going for seven weeks.

Rene was paid ₤70 a week for his performance,^[4] which was high for an Australian actor in films, third only to Bert Bailey and George Wallace. He later admitted he did not enjoy acting on film as he missed the stimulation of a live performance and disliked the repetition.^[2]

Reception

The movie's world premiere was held in October 1934 coinciding with the opening of the extension of Cinesound's Studios at Waverly. NSW Premier Betram Stevens was present.^[11]

The film was not a success at the box office, despite a strong reception at first, particularly in Sydney and Melbourne.^[12] (It earned £1,817 in its first four days at the Sydney Capitol.^[13]) Director Ken G. Hall claims it was the only one of his films not to go straight into profit, blaming the poor script and Roy Rene's awkwardness in front of the camera as opposed to a live audience.^[14] He also felt that Rene was too adult in his humor. "He was a very funny man, wonderfully talented," said Hall later. "But he wasn't a 'family' comic. You didn't take the kids."^[15]

The film was refused registration under the quality clause of the New South Wales quota act, but still found release through Cinesound's associated company, British Empire Films.

Reviews were not strong. The critic from the Sydney Morning Herald stated that:

One must, in fairness, record the fact that...[the] audience... seemed to enjoy the film immensely. Every new exploit by "Mo" created a running fire of laughter.... [But] He is a good deal less funny than before. On the stage he gained most of his effects through a partly extempore style. He would play straight at the audience, and wait patiently, wearing his inimitably grotesque expression, until each roar of mirth had died away. But... the cinema audience and the figure photographed on celluloid exist in different worlds. Picture-goers can scream their heads off, yet the film sweeps onward heedless and detached. That is why the antics of "Mo" now seem rather artificial, not to say forced. An experienced director of Hollywood farce could perhaps have reshaped the comedian's style to fit the new medium; but Mr. Ken Hall has made only an amateurish job of things... all the actors have the air of novices in a suburban repertory show. As for the plot and the dialogue, one had best relapse into a resigned silence.... Brings in kangaroos and emus and incredible burlesque aborigines for the mere sake of showing them. A good deal of American influence comes in, too. For no discoverable reason Miss Yvonne Banvard goes through her part in exact and avowed impersonation of Mae West. The gangsters all talk American slang.^[16]

A shortened version was released in England but attracted little attention.^[2][17]

Although Rene had a contract with Cinesound for further films he never made another movie in his life.^[18] However he did manage to modify his performance style to enjoy considerable success on radio.^[19]

References

External links

• Strike Me Lucky in the Internet Movie Database
• Strike Me Lucky at Australian Screen Online
• 'Strike Me Lucky: Social Difference and Consumer Culture in Roy Rene’s Only Film' by Lesley Speed at Senses of Cinema Issue 52
• Strike Me Lucky at National Film and Sound Archive
• Strike Me Lucky at Oz Movies