Interview with Terry Gallacher: Operation Crowflight

On 15th December 1960, the film Operation Crowflight was broadcast on ABV2 (Australian Broadcasting Corporation in Melbourne).

Terry Gallacher, who directed the film, gave an interview in September 2009, from his home in France, about the background, the filming and editing of the production and it’s reception at the time.

Podcast: GTV9’s Opening Night 1957

Today, 19th January 2017, is the 60th anniversary of GTV9‘s opening night in Melbourne, Australia. To mark the occasion here is the first in a series of interviews given by Terry Gallacher about his time in Australia during the early days of Australian Television.

In April 2011 I recorded an interview with my father, Terry Gallacher, for the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia’s Oral History program, it was meant as a record of his career and experiences in Australia, covering looking for work since his arrival in Melbourne in 1956 and including his time at GTV9 as Senior Film Editor and later at ABV2 as Supervising Film Editor.

55 years ago today – Operation Crowflight Film ABV2

On the 15th December 1960, 55 years ago today, the Australian Broadcasting Commission in Melbourne (ABV2) premiered the film “Operation Crowflight” as part of it’s People programme.

My father Terence Gallacher was the director of the film, in 2010 he wrote three articles on the making, production and reaction to the film, in the interview below he ends by saying, “I was very proud of working on that film and very proud to have been working with the people who worked with me on it, terrific team.”

Terence Gallacher 1928 – 2014

Terence Michael Gallacher died on the 3rd October 2014, almost 69 years to the day he entered British Movietone News for the first time in 1945, he was eighty five.

Wedding Day and a combined operation

Sometime in August of 1958, Janet and I decided to fix a wedding date.  A church wedding had to be performed in the parish of the bride, but, at that time, Janet was living in the heart of Melbourne.

Jim Healy, at this time the film editor at GTV, had taken a rented house with his wife and they offered the address from which Janet would be married.  It was in Moorabbin.

For the Religious Department of ABC – Benedictine Monks

Not all clergy were against alcohol.  On one occasion, I made a film for the Religious Department at the ABC.  I think the producer was a Christopher Fry, who, later became a producer of some successful Australian television drama series, including The Flying Doctor series.

Giving a Lecture on film techniques 1960

On Wednesday 30th November, 1960, I gave a lecture to the Institute of Motion Picture Technicians in the preview theatre at Ripponlea.  The subject was “Films For Television” and I made a point of talking about multi-camera techniques (and the editing thereof). At the time I was Supervising Film Editor at ABV2 in Melbourne.

The main benefit of two-camera coverage of an interview is that it tends to put the person to be interviewed at ease.  In most cases, people are not used to speaking in front of a camera and, quite often, will freeze as soon as the camera is turned on.

The Sydney versus Melbourne rivalry

When I arrived in Melbourne in June 1956, the rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne was quite unknown to me.  In fact, apart from the stereotype Australian depicted in the United Kingdom, I knew nothing about the Australian way of life.

There were strange goings-on in Australia at that time.  In brief, the scene was that in both Sydney and Melbourne, three organisations were getting ready to launch television broadcasting,  A state broadcaster in each city and two commercial broadcasters in each city.

Cameraman tales: Harry Lehrer and his camera

12 June 1961, Harry Lehrer, a staff cameraman at ABV2 wrote me a letter which, in part said:

“… John, I believe, has already told you that I am no longer at the mercy of the A.B.C. for I had an unfortunate mishap when doing a film on yachting, I fell into the water, and being a Saturday evening when I returned to the studios I did not advise anyone of the accident.  Consequent to this, the powers that be deemed me to have been negligent and, as a result, and after a short period of suspension, I was given the bullet.  As we are auxiliary staff there was just nothing one could do to stop the injustice, so I am now freelancing”.

Colleagues: Mrs. Belfrage

In October 1958 ABV2 at Ripponlea decided to take on a programme producer. She was known as Mrs. Belfrage, the name Belfrage was familiar to me having heard the voice of the great Bruce Belfrage through the war years when he read the news and always announced who he was.