Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This black-and-white newsreel clip shows a comic depiction of two men working on a building site. One checks his watch and they rush to a pub before the doors are closed at 6 pm. The men are permitted to enter the pub and are given 20 minutes’ drinking time before being asked to leave. The men drink quickly and then leave the pub in an inebriated state, while the narrator voices the view that the licensing laws force people to drink too fast. The soundtrack includes the tunes 'Little brown jug’ and 'There’s a tavern in the town’.

Educational value points

• During the First World War (1914–18) Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia introduced laws that resulted in pubs closing at 6 pm. One of the main reasons for this closing time was that while Australian men were away fighting it was seen as morally corrupt for those at home to spend their evenings in public houses. In addition, there were concerns that extended hotel opening hours kept men from their families and caused them to waste the household money. Churches and temperance organisations also wanted to keep the consumption of alcohol to a minimum.

• Nonconformist churchmen and -women had been pressing for the prohibition of alcohol or, failing that, the curtailment of drinking hours, for many years prior to the outbreak of war. In every state and territory the Women’s Christian Temperance Union was a formidable propagandist body that applied pressure to politicians from all parties. The War greatly strengthened the temperance campaign.

• Instead of encouraging moderate drinking habits, the early closing time led to what became known as the 'six o’clock swill’ (drinking large amounts quickly). Men rushed to the pubs and often drank quickly in order to consume their post-work drinks before closing time. The pubs generally became frantic during the final hour before last drinks were served, and petty criminals catered for further drinking in 'sly-grog shops’ after hotel closing hours.

• Women were not allowed to drink in the public bars in hotels. Instead they drank (generally shandy and wine) in a separate room called the 'ladies’ saloon’.

• In 1937, Tasmania was the first state to change the 6 pm closing time to 10 pm, followed by NSW in 1955, Victoria in 1966 and SA in 1967.

• During the clip the narrator not only describes the events on screen but also seems to be personally involved in the action in real time, with comments such as 'Let’s watch; what are they going to do?’ and 'This looks convivial’. This style of commentary provides a sense of immediacy and engagement with the action, as well as offering context.

• The clip is taken from a newsreel made in 1938, when newsreels were a major source of information for Australians. Before the introduction of television in Australia in 1956, newsreels were the only audiovisual medium available to report major events such as sport, entertainment, disasters and discoveries. They were usually shown in cinemas before feature films, but some small cinemas ran newsreels exclusively.

• The newsreel was produced and directed by Rupert Kathner, who made short films, newsreels and feature films throughout the 1930s, 40s and early 50s often in collaboration with his filmmaking partner Alma Brooks (c1910–88). The most famous of the feature films was The Glenrowan Affair (1951). Kathner died in 1954, aged 50, and his life and adventures are the subject of the 2006 movie Hunt Angels.