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Clip description
Aliens broadcast a warning on the radio. Shirley’s mother Rita (Marion Johns), her father Reg (John Llewellyn) and suitor Harold (Helmut Bakaitis) don’t take any notice. Shirley tells the gang it’s up to them to help the aliens.
Curator’s notes
It’s the aliens in Shirley’s house who drive her crazy. Rita, Reg and Harold represent the conservative life Shirley wants to escape from. Little wonder she identifies more with the alien voice in Luna Park than those in suburban Drummoyne. It’s a very funny scene. Referring to Orson Welles’s infamous War of the Worlds radio broadcast in 1938, Rita says it’s a mean prank. Reg couldn’t care less and Harold just wants to take Shirley out for an ice-cream. It’s clear to Shirley that everyone in the ‘straight’ world has lost touch with reality.
The film uses black-and-white imagery for Shirley’s domestic life and rich colour to show how she comes alive when hanging out with the gang. There’s a wonderful spirit of anarchy and absurdist humour in the gang’s motorbike ride. Why not take the jukebox on the road?
The advertising jingle playing on the kitchen radio in this clip is the Aeroplane Jelly Song (1938).
