Rupert Kathner (1904–1954) was an Australian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

best known for newsreels and low-budget films. He worked with

Alma Brooks 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.Morgan Kathne ...

, an ex-barmaid, who co-produced, operated the camera, edited, co-scripted and acted in their films.Morgan Kathner and Brooks were also "shady con artists and fugitives from the law", sometimes described as the "

Bonnie and Clyde Bonnie Elizabeth Parker (October 1, 1910May 23, 1934) and Clyde Chestnut (Champion) Barrow (March 24, 1909May 23, 1934) were an American criminal couple who traveled the Central United States with their gang during the Great Depression. The co ...

" of the Australian film industry.

Career

Kathner was born in Adelaide and educated at St Peter's College. He studied art under

Hans Heysen Sir Hans Heysen (8 October 18772 July 1968) was a German-born Australian artist. He became a household name for his watercolours of monumental Australian gum trees. He is one of Australia's best known landscape painters. Heysen also produced ...

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).Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p178 Kathner and Brooks achieved their first success with their "shocking or the timenewsreels".Edwards (2006) The most popular of these was about the unsolved murder case, The Pyjama Girl Murder. The newsreel was about to be distributed internationally when World War II broke out. Kathner and Brook's features were essentially B-grade movies, and dealt with typically Australian topics such as

Ned Kelly Edward Kelly (December 1854 – 11 November 1880) was an Australian bushranger, outlaw, gang leader and convicted police-murderer. One of the last bushrangers, he is known for wearing a suit of bulletproof armour during his final shootout wi ...

and horse-racing. They were often in trouble with the law. Kathner died of a brain haemorrhage in 1954.

''Hunt Angels''

Hunt Angels ''Hunt Angels'' is a 2006 Australian docudrama, directed by Alec Morgan, starring Victoria Hill and Ben Mendelsohn. ''Hunt Angels'' was filmed in Sydney, Australia and opened in Australia on 30 November 2006 after premiering at the Melbourne ...

'' (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 Cultural cringe, in cultural studies and social anthropology, is an internalized inferiority complex that causes people in a country to dismiss their own culture as inferior to the cultures of other countries. It is closely related to the concept ...

'', 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." ''Hunt Angels'' "uses an innovative digital composite technique whereby the characters come alive in the real world of Sydney in the 30s and 40s". The film was directed by

Alec Morgan Alexander Mitchell Morgan (5 June 1908 – 10 March 1957) was an Australian rules footballer who played for the Hawthorn Football Club in the Victorian Football League (VFL). Family The son of David Morgan, and Mary Moir Morgan, née Mitche ...

. It stars

Ben Mendelsohn Paul Benjamin Mendelsohn (born 3 April 1969) is an Australian actor. He first rose to prominence in Australia for his breakout role in ''The Year My Voice Broke'' (1987) and since then he has had roles in films such as '' Animal Kingdom'' (2010) ...

and

Victoria Hill Victoria Hill (born 18 February 1971 in Adelaide) is an Australian actress, writer and producer. She is now based between Los Angeles, New York City and Sydney. Early life and career Victoria Hill is the daughter of Robert Hill, a former ...

, playing the roles of Kathner and Brooks, and includes interviews with "real" people such as actor

Bud Tingwell Charles William Tingwell AM (3 January 1923 – 15 May 2009), known professionally as Bud Tingwell or Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, was an Australian film, television, theatre and radio actor. One of the veterans of Australian film, he acted in his ...

, filmmaker/distributor

Andrew Pike Dr. Andrew Pike, OAM (born 1 January 1946) is an Australian film historian, film distributor and exhibitor, and documentary producer and director. Pike formed Ronin Films, an Australian film distribution company, with his first wife, Dr Merril ...

, and Kathner's son, Paul F. Kathner.

Feature films

* '' Phantom Gold'' (1937) * '' Below the Surface'' (1938) * ''

Wings of Destiny ''Wings of Destiny'' is a 1940 action war film directed by Rupert Kathner and starring Marshall Crosby and John Fernside. The film is about the activities of fifth columnists in Australia during the Second World War. ''Wings of Destiny'' was one ...

'' (1940) * '' Racing Luck'' (1941) * '' The Kellys of Tobruk'' (1943) (unreleased) * ''

The Glenrowan Affair ''The Glenrowan Affair'' is a 1951 movie about Ned Kelly from director Rupert Kathner. It was Kathner's final film and stars VFL star Bob Chitty as Kelly. It is considered one of the worst films ever made in Australia. Plot Artist Rupert Kath ...

'' (1951), aka ''A Message to Kelly''

Newsreels

* ''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

*''Let's Make a Movie'' (1945)

Unmade projects

*''Falling for Fame'' – project he tried to make with Stan Tolhurst prior to ''Phantom Gold'', set against the background of the film industry *''Diamonds in the Rough'' – proposed follow up to ''Below the Surface'' *a life of

Adam Lindsay Gordon Adam Lindsay Gordon (19 October 1833 – 24 June 1870) was a British-Australian poet, horseman, police officer and politician. He was the first Australian poet to gain considerable recognition overseas, and according to his contemporary, writer ...

Alma Brooks

Alma Brooks was an Australian filmmaker, best known for her association with Rupert Kathner. Although rarely mentioned in contemporary publications, she was a key partner in Kathner's filmmaking endeavours from the 1930s until his death in 1954. She co-produced, operated the camera, edited, co-scripted and acted in his films, and also participated in Kathner's less legal endeavours. This included involvement in a legal case in 1942 where she and Kathner were accused of defrauding someone of unsound mind. In 1944 they were in legal trouble again being charged with conspiracy to defraud investors of a proposed movie ''Kelly of Tobruk'' but were acquitted. In 1940, Brooks when working with an editor, was involved in a fight at a film production company.

Select filmography

*'' Australia Today – The Pyjama Girl Murder Case'' (1939) *''

'' (1940) *'' Racing Luck'' (1941) *''

'' (1951)

In popular culture

She was played by Victoria Hill in the film ''

'' (2006).Review of ''Hunt Angels''
at ''At the Movies''

References

Sources

Accessed: 25 February 2008

Accessed: 25 February 2008 * ttp://scan.net.au/scan/magazine/display.php?journal_id=5 Morgan, Alec (200?) "Lost City of the Senses" in ''Scan: Journal of Media Arts and Culture''Accessed: 25 February 2008

External links

*
Rupert Kathner
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

Rupert Kathner
at the

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

* at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

Alma Brooks articles
at

Trove Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text document ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kathner, Rupert Australian film directors 1904 births 1954 deaths