Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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This clip shows Mrs Williams (Rhondda Findleton) informing her children and the tenants of her Sydney boarding house that a new boarder, Mr Edmund (Robert Grubb), will be moving in. That evening her daughter, Cherry (Rebecca Smart), sits writing at her desk and as her mother opens the door Cherry hides her homemade barrister’s wig. The next morning Cherry introduces Mr Edmund to the household at the breakfast table and when two of the tenants speak to each other in Armenian everyone is surprised when he answers in the same language. In the final scenes the children follow this 'mystery man’ to see where he is going but as they race through The Rocks area they lose him.

Educational value points

• The clip uses a range of techniques to create a sense of mystery about the new boarder. The 'mystery man’ arrives in the evening, is first seen in dim light wearing a hat and coat, and is only seen fully by the viewer after he has been introduced to the other boarders through point-of-view technique, where the camera acts as the eyes of the character entering a scene. These elements draw on the traditional narrative convention of the arrival of a mysterious stranger who influences or changes the lives of the people he meets.

• A secondary plot line is quickly established in the clip and some of the characters of the film are introduced. Apart from the introduction of the mysterious stranger, Cherry is shown hiding her barrister’s wig from her mother. Her brother Sam is introduced and immediately labels Mr Edmund a spy.

• The clip has an atmosphere of the 1940s but is actually set in the 1980s. Elements that support the 'old world’ feeling include the sepia tones that dominate the interior, the old-fashioned dress, apron and hairstyle of Mrs Williams, Mr Edmund’s fedora and coat, the formality of the introductions at the breakfast table and the suggestion that Mr Edmund is a spy. It comes as a surprise, therefore, when the children rush into the streets in modern shorts, jeans and sneakers.

• Women left with a house but little other income, such as Mrs Williams, have traditionally taken in lodgers to help make ends meet. Boarding houses provide low-cost accommodation to short-term tenants or those who cannot afford to buy or rent property themselves. In reality widows are now often left with their husband’s superannuation and life insurance, or may be eligible for a pension.

• Boarding houses, an example of which is depicted in this clip, often house university students and tourists but also some of the most marginal and disadvantaged members of the community including people with disabilities and the mentally ill. According to a South Australian Department of Human Services 2003 report, the boarding house sector appears to be in decline as issues of financial viability, insurance requirements, the need for fire precautions and maintenance costs increasingly impinge on it, while the advent of retirement villages offers older widows an attractive alternative to running boarding houses.

• The clip is taken from the telemovie Mr Edmund, written by the Australian writer, actor and musician Steve J Spears (1951–). He is best known for his one-man play The Elocution of Benjamin Franklin (1976), which has been performed to acclaim throughout the world and shocked audiences of the day with its nudity. Spears has also published stage plays, children’s books and a collection of essays, In Search of the Bodgie (1989). In addition, he has written for the television dramas GP, Heartbreak High and A Country Practice.

• The music in the clip helps to enhance the mood of mystery and suspense. While Mr Edmund is being introduced to Cherry it is solemn, exotic and a little melancholic. However, in the later scenes showing the children following the 'spy’ through the streets, the music becomes comic to enhance the humour of these scenes.

• The telemovie Mr Edmund is from the much-awarded series More Winners, produced by the Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF). Under the direction of Patricia Edgar, who joined the Australian Broadcasting Control Board in 1975 and later became the founding director of the ACTF, a system of regulation was introduced in 1979 to improve the production of programs made specifically for children. The ACTF was then established to develop a local children’s television production industry and to ensure that Australian children would have access to quality Australian product. The Winners series, which preceded More Winners, was the ACTF’s first major production and was an outstanding success.

• All of the telemovies that were part of the Winners and More Winners series, including Mr Edmund, were published as novels by Penguin Books under the Puffin imprint.