louise homfray in alvin purple

I forced Laura to watch Alvin Purple last night, because I believe it to be an unpleasant but necessary component of being an Australian. What a surprise to see Louise Homfray in it, though in fact it is filled to the brim with people who have Crawfords heritage (some of whom, like Jacki Weaver, went on to arguably bigger things, and others of whom essentially didn't: not sure where Elli Maclure fits in to those reductive categories). Louise Homfray is uncredited, though she does have one line, which at least is not about how she runs a boarding house or how the neighbours can't keep it down after 10 o'clock, though clearly this character could have said either of those things. 

Alvin Purple hasn't aged well, but with AP the question of whether it could have aged well or badly was never really the point. It's oddly sophisticated in places you weren't expecting, and ridiculously pat everywhere else. Alvin himself is a slightly more nuanced character than you might remember but that could just be lazy writing/conceptualisation, rather than anything else. There are some special features on the DVD, a documentary (of sorts) by Brian Trenchard-Smith apparently from the time (at least, it has worn-out-video lines through it) including, strangely, some deleted scenes. Also, some interviews from ten years ago or was it longer, when the DVD was released. It is here I think where Tim Burstall passively aggressively complains about Penne Hackforth-Jones refusing to do nude scenes and dismisses her character as a girl who did a psychiatry course at university. Yes, but, that's how anyone gets to be a psychiatrist. I'm not sure what other qualifications he thinks are needed, though clearly he was hoping willingness to be nude is one of them. 

d4 - petty cash

A lot to love about this episode originally broadcast 1 August 1973. Great actors, like Bill Hunter (as usual, playing a vicious crim)

Keith Eden, playing the part of Russell Ward (so, obviously, not the same name as the extremely famous historian Russel Ward).* 

Gerry Duggan, what an amazing face! As Charlie Reid. 

Peter Adams as Harold Jones 

And, wonderfully... 

This time, they call her Louise Homfrey, probably so she could still collect the dole or something, I don't know. She plays Mrs. Adams, and her boarding house (oh yeah, of course she runs a boarding house - of course she does) has her name in big letters out the front, which might have made Peter Adams feel a bit weird. Or seen. 

Also, kudos to Marie Redshaw who is terrific as 'Mrs. Jones', an ebullient drunk who doesn't leave the living room for any of her scenes or if she does she takes the gin bottle with her. 

A while ago I was very excited about the fake (of course they're fake, it's not real) newspaper headlines in Homicide, you don't often see them in D4 though but here's one! Bad capitalisation irregularities and all.  

One more novelty - for this episode the usual final scene announcer Bruce Mansfield is dispensed with, and I think Gerard Kennedy is given the job of telling us everyone's sentences, but whoever it is, they're not credited. Mansfield is back the following episode but not the one after it. Go figure. 

PS! 

The building in the first picture is 503 Orrong Road. It seems it no longer has a wall around it as it once did. 

* In fact, although Eden is credited as playing 'Russell Ward' in the show, actually it's a false name and his name is something that sounds a bit like Russell Cock but it can't be can it.