Rupert Kathner (1904–1954) was an Australian film director best known for newsreels and low-budget films. He worked with Alma Brooks, an ex-barmaid, who co-produced, operated the camera, edited, co-scripted and acted in their films.[1] Kathner and Brooks were also "shady con artists and fugitives from the law",[2] sometimes described as the "Bonnie and Clyde" of the Australian film industry.
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Career [edit]
Kathner was born in Adelaide and educated at St Peter's College. He studied art under Hans Heysen and became a sketch artist. He broke into the film industry in the early 1930s by working on set designs. His first movie was Phantom Gold (1937).[3]
Kathner and Brooks achieved their first success with their "shocking [for the time] newsreels".[4] The most popular of these was about the unsolved murder case, The Pyjama Girl Murder. The newsreel was about to be distributed internationally when WWII broke out.
Kathner and Brook's features were essentially B-grade movies, and dealt with typically Australian topics such as Ned Kelly and horse-racing.
They were often in trouble with the law.[5]
Kathner died of a brain haemorrhage in 1954.[6]
Hunt Angels [edit]
Hunt Angels (2006) is a feature-length documentary which re-enacts Kathner and Brooks' "movie-making spree that took on the Hollywood barons, a corrupt police Commissioner and the (so-called)cultural cringe all in their passionate pursuit to make Australian films. On the run from police across thousands of miles, they would stop at almost nothing to get their films made."[7] Hunt Angels "uses an innovative digital composite technique whereby the characters come alive in the real world of Sydney in the 30's and 40's".[8]
The film was directed by Alec Morgan. It stars Ben Mendelsohn and Victoria Hill, playing the roles of Kathner and Brooks, and includes interviews with "real" people such as actor Bud Tingwell, filmmaker/distributor Andrew Pike, and Kathner's son, Paul F. Kathner.
Feature Films [edit]
- Phantom Gold (1937)
- Below the Surface (1938)
- Wings of Destiny (1940)
- Racing Luck (1941)
- The Kellys of Tobruk (1943) (unreleased}
- The Glenrowan Affair (1951), aka A Message to Kelly
Newsreels [edit]
- Australia Today - Lucky Strike at Larkinville (1938)
- Australia Today - Customs Officers Fight Against Drugs (1938)
- Australia Today - The Pyjama Girl Murder Case (1939)
- Australia Today - Fort Denison (1939)
- Australia Today - Man Eater (1939)
- Australia Today - Men of Tomorrow (1939)
Writings [edit]
- Let's Make a Movie (1945)
Unmade Projects [edit]
- Falling for Fame - project he tried to make with Stan Tolhurst prior to Phantom Gold, set against the background of the film industry[3]
- Diamonds in the Rough - proposed follow up to Below the Surface[9]
- a life of Adam Lindsay Gordon[10]
External links [edit]
- Rupert Kathner at IMDB
- Rupert Kathner at Australian Screen Online
- Rupert Kathner at the National Film and Sound Archive
Notes [edit]
- ^ Morgan
- ^ Kalina (2006)
- ^ a b Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p178
- ^ Edwards (2006)
- ^ "CLAIM FOR £150.". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) (NSW: National Library of Australia). 10 October 1942. p. 12. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- ^ "OBITUARY.". Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954) (Qld.: National Library of Australia). 5 April 1954. p. 3. Retrieved 19 August 2012.
- ^ Hunt Angels official site
- ^ Produced in association with Film Art Doco
- ^ "AUSTRALIAN FILMS.". The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954) (NSW: National Library of Australia). 3 February 1938. p. 8. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
- ^ "FILMING OF ADAM LINDSAY GORDON'S LIFE.". Border Watch (Mount Gambier, SA : 1861 - 1954) (Mount Gambier, SA: National Library of Australia). 27 May 1947. p. 1. Retrieved 18 August 2012.
References [edit]
- Edwards, Russel (2006) "Hunt Angels (Review" in Variety Accessed: 25 February 2008
- Kalina, Paul (2006) "When films short poppies hold their heads high" in theage.com.au Accessed: 25 February 2008
- Morgan, Alec (200?) "Lost City of the Senses" in Scan: Journal of Media Arts and Culture Accessed: 25 February 2008
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