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Clip description
Squid (Karl Hansen) takes Charlie (Darius Perkins) to the cinema, where Squid’s mother Mrs Peters (May Howlett) plays the piano to accompany the silent films. As they arrive, they bump into Johnno (Greg Stroud) and try to convince him to come to the movies instead of getting his hair cut as per his father’s instructions.
Curator’s notes
All the Green Year casts a nostalgic eye over the high jinks of young manhood in the 1920s; this scene is just one of the scrapes Charlie, Johnno and Squid get themselves into. The series also gives Charlie’s friendships a class subtext. Johnno, Charlie’s best friend, is more working class and Charlie’s parents consider him a ‘bad influence’. Squid, on the other hand, is considered a more appropriate pal – but is shown to be an irritating teacher’s pet who is the secret source of much of their trouble.
Interestingly, the story’s narrator, Charlie, is silent in this clip. He plays along with Squid’s plan to smuggle Johnno into the movies but shows his independence by not approving Squid’s handiwork with the clippers. As Karl Hansen plays him, Squid is eager for the approval of his friends but also smugly self-satisfied about his hair-cutting abilities. Combined with his failure to admit his mistake to Johnno, it makes Squid a difficult character to warm to in this clip.
The social status of the characters is conveyed simply and effectively through costume design. Mrs Peters is ostentatiously well dressed with fur stole and hat. In comparison to the neatly attired Squid and Charlie, Johnno has scruffier hair and is not wearing a tie. It’s a good example of how character information can be conveyed economically, without weighing down a scene with a lot of exposition.
