''Racing Luck'' is a 1941 Australian

comedy film A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...

directed by

Rupert Kathner 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 ...

and starring

Joe Valli Joseph George McParlane (also spelled McFarlane and McPharlane; 13 August 1885 – 29 May 1967), known as Joe Valli, was a Scottish-Australian actor who worked in vaudeville and films. He had a long-running vaudeville partnership with Pat Hanna as ...

, George Lloyd and

Marshall Crosby Marshall Crosby (18 February 1882 – 1 January 1954) was a popular Australian actor and singer of film, theatre, radio and TV. He appeared in a number of shows for J. C. Williamson Ltd and was a leading radio actor, remembered for his role ...

.Reade p.125 The jockey

Darby Munro David Hugh "Darby" Munro (5 March 1913 – 3 April 1966) also known as "the Demon" or the "Brown Bomber" was an Aboriginal Australian jockey born in Caulfield. He was a three-time winner of the Melbourne Cup. Early life He was educated at M ...

, who had a cameo as himself, described it as the best Australian film he had ever seen.

Plot

Two World War I veterans, Blue and Darkie, save an old race horse from being put down. Bluey restores it to healthy using potions used on camels during the war. The horse starts to win races but Darkie gets too excited, suffers a stroke and dies.

Cast

– Darkie * George Lloyd as Bluey *

– Sir Reginald Franklin * Olga Moore – Sylvia Perry *

Keith Wood Keith Wood (born 27 January 1972) is an Irish former international rugby union player who played as a hooker for Ireland, the British & Irish Lions, Garryowen, Harlequins and Munster. He was nicknamed 'The Raging Potato' because of his bal ...

– Robert Franklin *

Connie Martyn Constance Elizabeth Martyn (4 December 1886 – 27 May 1971) was an Australian actress of stage and screen best known for playing Ma Rudd in ''Dad and Dave Come to Town''. Select filmography *'' The Woman Suffers'' (1918) *''Dad and Dave Come to ...

– Mrs Perry *

– Himself *

Raymond Longford Raymond Longford (born John Walter Hollis Longford, 23 September 18782 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian ...

Production

Rupert Kathner and his partner Alma Brooks set up a new company to make the movie, Fanfare Films. The film was shot in mid-1941 at a small studio in North Sydney. There were only a few location scenes, such as the flashback to a battle. It was known during filming as ''For Services Rendered''. Music was compiled from popular classics.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p195

Release

The film had a minor release. The critic from ''

The Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by ...

'' called it "one of the more amateurish local efforts" with "little entertainment value. Plot is trivial and jerkily developed, while the acting is at times painfully lame." ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' said that the film:

Shows that decent support pictures could be produced here for very little money, compared with previous more expensive ones. They must, however, have better production and direction and a better story than ''Racing Luck''.

Kathner and his partner Alma Brooks were later charged with conspiracy to defraud by investors in Fanfare Films, but were acquitted. They had earlier been accused taking money from someone who was not mentally competent.

References

Bibliography

* Reade, Eric. ''History and heartburn: the saga of Australian film, 1896-1978''. Associated University Presses, 1981.

External links

*
''Racing Luck''
at Oz Movies {{Rupert Kathner 1941 films 1941 comedy films Films directed by Rupert Kathner Australian comedy films Australian horse racing films Australian black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s Australian films