The Life of Riley

OLIVE’S THIRTY EIGHTH POST

What’s in this post.

1. A song from our star, Olive Riley, almost 108.

2. Olive takes a call from the BBC

3. Olive tells about her Dad losing his arm and then gets bossy with her helper, Mike.

4. Mike talks about the Children’s fims he made in Canada, years ago.

5. Olive remembers a story about the horse who would not be left behind

6. Katya explains how Mike’s children’s movie, Tommy Tricker, brought them together when she was his interpreter in Russia.

7. Mike launches a plan to give something back to the kids in his movies, and attract Canadian readers to Olive’s blob at the same time

8. Eric reads Olive the latest comments from fans around the world
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Olive

Good Morning, everyone. It’s a lovely morning here in Woy Woy.

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Mike

Let’s start with a song, shall we, Ollie? One I like especially . Smile, smile, smile. with Christina helping you.

(First, a question to you, dear reader. The song below has had about 4400 hits in the two months that it’s been on offer.

That might sound like a lot but it’s actually a very small number of hits when you take into account that more than that number of people visit Olive’s site every day.

We can only assume that most people, maybe 99%, see the line which says, “click here” (It’s still below) and don’t bother.

That’s a shame because nothing beats our Ollie in the flesh. How often do you see a 108 year old singing a cheerful song?

So, if you want to give us some feedback on how you like the clips served up, as a click lin or an image, do drop us a note in the comments section that you’ll find at the top.

We always reply, as you can see. Thanks from both Mike and Olive.)

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1. The song.
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Now, here’s how we usually present our clips (it’s the same song as above)
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Click here. Ollie sings, Smile, smile, smile
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2. The BBC World Service .
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Mike

You sounded good on the BBC last night, Ollie. (Olive was interviewed by the BBC World News. Here, she takes the call from London, her first.)
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/programmes/outlook.shtml

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Click here. Olive speaks to the BBC (London).

Olive

I thought I was terrible!

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Mike

Nonsense! false modesty, my dear! ……. I think many people will want to know more about your family now, your Dad especially, Ollie.

So, for all of them, here’s how he lost his arm as you told it in our movie .

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3. Dad’s arm
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Click here. Olive tells about her Dad’s missing arm.
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Mike

I love the way you boss me around in that scene.

Olive

I didn’t do any such thing!. I said;

“Was that to your satisfaction, or shall we do it again?”

That’s not bossing you around, is it?

Mike

I’m kidding. ……Actually, I was glad you took over the directing.

That allowed me to propose you to the Guinness book of Records as the oldest movie director in the world.

And I did just that. But it was so much rigmarole, the application forms, etc. that I gave up.

Now, on to something else. Did you notice how clever that girl was, the one who played you in our movie, and who washed your Dad’s back?

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Olive

She was good and I told her so.

4. Kids’ films in Canada.
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Mike

Well, that leads to what I want to tell you about today. You know I used to make kids movies in Canada?

Olive

Yes, you told me. What was that one called ? You played me a song from it

Mike

Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveler. and the song I played you was composed and sung by Rufus Wainwright . (see 37th post)

Here’s Rufus at 12. He’s a huge star now.

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Here’s the song Rufus sang.

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Anyway, what I want to say is, whenever I’ve directed drama with kids, I’ve always used non actors, like that girl in our scene.

She was someone we just found there in Broken Hill the day before filming, and she was perfect.

It was the same in Canada when I was living there and making feature films with Rock Demers, my producer. I always used non pofessional children

Olive

Why?

Mike

Oh, because they were fresh and just so happy to be in a movie.

Quite unlike the professional kids who were often spoilt brats, not always, but often enough that I decided to do things differently

Olive

How did you find them?

Mike

It was a hard slog. In public schools in Montreal, Ottawa and even Toronto.

I was going to schools anyway to test my storyline. I’d borrow grade six and I’d tell them my story to make sure it was gripping.

If they were still and quiet, I knew I was on the right track. If they figeted, I changed it.

Here’s me telling the Tommy Tricker story round about 1988, acting all the parts as best I could.

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Olive

You look like you’re in pain.

Mike

Well, I was sometimes…………Anyway, I’d be telling and also looking at the bright faces in front of me.

I’d be thinking, “that boy looks like a good Tommy, and that girl looks like a possible Nancy. I wonder if they can act?”

So, then after finishing the story telling, I’d say.”Who wants to come up to the front and try for Tommy or Nancy, or Ralph?

It was amazing. Sometimes every kid in the class would want to try, and I’d have to go back another day.

Here’s two boys trying out for Ralph and Tommy. Take special note of the boy on the right.

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I ended up testing thousands of kids like that, always videoing the improvizations.

Olive

Why?

Mike

I needed to be able to prove to Rock, my producer, that it was worth the risk to use non professionals.

Here’s me with the camera with an improv. going on.

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It was a huge risk. These films cost millions and most people thought we were mad to use kids with no experience..

Rock took a lot of convincing. But when he saw my very best kids on tape, he was convinced.

Now, here’s the exciting part, Ollie. Last week, I found the old tapes, and tbey’re still playable. (you can see four audition tapes at the end of this post)

I’ve got hundreds of Canadian kids on tape, maybe more.

What a thrill that was to see talent just flame up in front of the camera! Maybe my greatest thrill, ever.

Olive

Why don’t you show them in Canada, to the kids themselves? I’m sure they’d be interested to see themselves after all this time .

Mike

I’m sure too, but who are they? I know my stars of course, the ones who actually made it into the movie, but the rest, I don’t have their names, addresses, anything.

They are all over 30 now , since this happened in 1988, and they were round about twelve at the time. So, how do I find them?

Olive

What was Tommy Tricker about?

Mike

The full title was Tommy Tricker and the Stamp Traveller. It was about the magic of stamps. Kids still collected stamps in those days.

What happens is that Tommy tricks Ralph into swapping a valuable Bluenose from his Dad’s collection.

Here’s the Bluenose, one of Canada’s most famous stamps, and very valuable, even today

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So Ralph has to get the stamp back. But it’s already been sent to another country, far away. Ralph has to travel, but how?

Ralph finds a magic formula which enables him to miniaturize himself into the picture on a stamp, and them mail himself where he needs to go as he chases the missing Bluenose.

Here’s Ralph riding in a picture. He’s inside another famous Canadian stamp, the Red Mountie. See? there behind the rider on the horse.

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Olive

Who’s that one?

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Mike

That’s Nancy. On the left is Ralph. Nancy is his sister. and that’s Tommy Tricker with the shades.

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5. Olive’s horse story
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Olive

I’ll tell you a story about a horse and it’s from a film too. It’s the most beautiful picture I ever watched.

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Olive

It must have been during the First world war, or maybe the Second, I don;t know. Anyway, the Australian soldiers were training over there with horses, about 20 horses.

Mike

They were going to war?

Olive

They was already in the war! Anyway, these horses were so clever. Ever time a soldier turned, the horse turned too. This way, that way, it didn’t matter, the horses kept up with the diggers.

Anyway, the day came when the war was over and the horses had to be left behind. The men was going home, see.

Oh, there was a great uproar about that from our soldiers because, of course they did not want to leave the horses behind. They got to love them so much

Anyhow, the troop ship came and the men pushed the horses back, they had to, even though it broke their hearts to be parted.

But there was one horse who was very stubborn. He was not going to be left behind, no fear.

So, when they dropped that thing on the side for the men to walk up…

Mike

The gangplank?

Olive

Yeah, this particular horse tried to walk up the plank with his soldier.

Mike

Really?

Olive

Indeed! But others shooed him back. Back you go! Then the gangplank came up and the ship left.

But the horse sprang into the water and started swimming after the boat.

So, the ship stopped and the soldiers shooed him back again. It went off angain, and again the horse swam after it and almsot caught up with the ship.

This happened again and again. Then, finally the horse was tired and began to sink. It started to get exhausted, you see.

Mike

What happened then?

Olive

The men on the deck said, ” We’re not going to see this faithful horse drown. He’s our pal.”

So, at last they took compassion on the horse and they lifted him on to the deck.

Mike

He became a stowaway?

Olive

During the whole trip the men took turns hiding him and feeding him and cleaning up his mess. And so they got him back to Australia.

Mike

Ollie, that’s an marvellous story. I wonder what the title was? Maybe some reader knows.

Olive

I dunno. I just thought of the story then, looking at your picture of the horse from your own movie.

6. Katya tells how she met Mike
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Katya

Olive, did you know that I met Mike because of his movie, Tommy Tricker?

Olive

Did you really?

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Mike

Mike came to the Moscow Film Festival with the film and I was his interpreter.

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Olive

Fancy that! When would that have been?

Katya

Round about 1989. I was very impressed because he was sitting beside me, watching his own film and laughing at his own jokes.

I liked that, that he still found his own film funny.

Later the kids came up to him and told him how much the loved it. That was special.

Olive

It was fate. A love that was meant to be.

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Katya.

In the break, as he was answering questions, he asked if I could get him a coffee.

He didn’t realize that this was still the Soviet Union and there was no way you could get someone a cup of coffee easily.

I was so embarrassed for my poor country but I had to try.

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In the lobby of the theatre, I found that there was a coffee counter but there was a huge line.

I knew I’d have to stand for two hours to get him a cup. What could I do?

I went to the counter in front of the whole line and I said in a timid voice; “Excuse me, a foreign visitor wants a cup of coffee.”

So, they took pity on me and gave me a cup. Foreigners were rare then, and important.

As I brought this little cup back to Mike, I was carrying it so carefully.

I don’t know why, but I felt I had my whole life in my hands.

Mike

What do you mean, Kat?

Olive

She had a premonition.

Katya

Then, when I finally gave it to Mike, he said; “I’m not fond of black coffee, can you get me some milk?”

That was too much. “There’s no milk” I said, “no milk anywhere. ” And you said, “Well that’s OK.”

Mike

Did I? I’ve forgotten all of this.

Olive

What a way to treat a woman!

Mike

Well, I didn’t know what you’d been through. I’m sorry, Love………. and you are still bringing me coffees!
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7. Mike launches the Canadian plan.
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Mike

We have to hurry. I want to show Ollie the audition tapes I found, and it’s almost her mealtime.

Now, Ollie here are my treasures, the day I found my Tommy Tricker, my Nancy, and my Albert who you’ve not heard about yet.

It all happened one amazing day in Ottawa . Incredibly cold outside, 40 below, and in this one school, after months of fruitless testing, there were my stars.

Here’s Antony Rogers, the best Tommy by far, my first glimpse!

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Click here, Tommy’s audition.

Mike

Here’s Jill Stanley , not as sure of herself, glancing at the camera, but very sensitive. She became Nancy

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Click here. Nancy comforts Tommy.

Olive

Oooaah. They are good. Even I can see that!

Mike

And here’s Andrew Whitehead who plays the bossy, nerdy, Albert.

He was not at the same school, but he was found the same day in freezing Ottawa. We still had real winters in those days.

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Click here. Albert being bossy.

Mike

Now, here’s two girls who didn’t make it, doing a scene I like a lot. 99% of kids didn’t make it of course.

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Two talented girls who did’nt make it
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Olive

That’s a funny scene. They got their revenge, didn’t they?

Mike

Now here’s my grand plan, Ollie.

I want to make very short clips of the hundreds of other kids I’ve found on the tapes, and then put them on the blog. Maybe just a still photo, if it’s too many.

The idea is that those kids, adults now of course, will find themselves and we’ll send them the full clip of their long forgotten audition.

Just like your blog, it won’t be a profit making thing. We’ll charge just whatever it costs to make the copies on a DVD.

You could call it a belated present for all those kids who tried so hard so long ago, and now probably have children of their own.

Do you agree?

Olive

Of course! It’s a lovely idea. But will it work?

Mike

Well, I’ve been in contact with Lois Siegal who was with me way back then, keeping track of the kids we tried.

She no longer has their names, but she promises me that she can get publicity in the Canadian press, on the CBC maybe, and when it’s announced, the people will find themselves.

It’s also of course a way to bring Canadians to your blog, or so I hope. You know , Ollie, we have almost no Canadian readers and I’ve no idea why.

That’s Lois behind Nancy, by the way.

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We’ll see what hapens. It might be just too much work. Right now there are three unknown kids in these clips .

The dark haired boy, Pascal somebody, I think. He plays with Tommy as Ralph, the one who’s tricked out of the stamp.

Then there’s the two girls. plotting revenge on a two timing loverboy

That’s a start on our search.

Now enough of that, Eric is waiting to read you comments, well, one comment at least. Go for it, Eric!

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Click here. Eric reads comment

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