Monday 9 May 2016

Vale Reg Grundy ..and a cinephile mystery...

Folks the news is everywhere about Reg Grundy's death in Bermuda at the age of 92. The lion of TV, co-producer of the mighty ABBA: The Movie and generator of a million hours of game shows and soaps has passed on. I'm hoping that someone who knew at least a little of him and his work might send in something shortly. In the meantime there are obits in the Sydney Morning Herald and at MSN.

In checking out his "filmography" I came across this effort from 1974 titled Barry McKenzie Ogre or Ocker. It was allegedly shot in black and white, starred Tony Ward, at least he's listed before Barry Crocker, and then the cast list seems to draw heavily upon the cast of Barry McKenzie Holds His Own. No director is mentioned though that little political flea journalist from the 70s and 80s Michael Schildberger is denominated as the producer. I'd love to know if this is something that actually exists or is it one of those little jokes that occasionally shows up on IMDB.

More later hopefully.

2 comments:

  1. Barry McKenzie: Ogre or Ocker does exist, and can be found among the extra materials on the Umbrella Entertainment DVD for Barry McKenzie Holds His Own. This 50-minute b/w doco, produced by Ian Gonella and exec produced by Michael Schildberger, was a made-on-video television special to promote Barry McKenzie Holds His Own. Tony Ward appears as a reporter introducing and linking various segments, which include generous extracts from Barry McKenzie Holds His Own and interviews with the likes of Barry Humphries, Barry Crocker (Barry McKenzie) and journalist Ron Saw. I’ve yet to properly view this program, having quickly skipped through it this morning to answer your query. It’s likely the original video is held by Fremantle Media (successor Grundy Television), since the program is not held by the NFSA beyond being included in their copy of the DVD.

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  2. Love it. The ancillaries and peripheries are all part of a film.

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