Page 31 - CR-93

It was not long before the lads found themselves wives, who joined the business with enthusiasm. The
first wife to join Westland Talkies was Rene, nee Catherine Ellen Nairn. She was my mother's sister,
and thus Alf and his company became part of my life as well. Alf and Rene were not blessed with
children, but my mother's children were certainly blessed by a couple who supported them throughout
their lives. Consequently, my involvement was mostly with the northern section of the business. Alf
actually introduced Rene's sister, Molly, to his friend Cliff Moffitt.

Rene had first met Alf at a dance run by Toc H, in Christchurch. He was the captain of the Crichton
Cobbers' Club, a gym team, which was run by Toc H. Talbot House was an international Christian
movement which provided rest and recreation for many. Alf attended Toc H reunions for the rest of his
life. Gym skills from that time served him in good stead in his later life.
"Of course, soldiers being soldiers, Talbot House soon became known by its initials TH, and then, in the
radio signallers' parlance of the day, as Toc H. It opened on 11 Dec 1915. For most of the Great War
Talbot House offered an oasis of sanity to the men passing through." - From Toc H website history.

At that time, Alf's job was in Westland, showing pictures, as movies were then called. After their
marriage in 1933, the couple bought a house at Three Mile, near Hokitika (famous as the scene of the
Stanley Graham slayings recorded in the movie Bad Blood.)
Fred, Stan and Alf at the Ikamatua Hall
Westland Talkies was initially based in Ross, servicing a regular circuit of seven communities

Rene suddenly became a business woman. Her job was to do accounts, order films, help to load and unload gear, sell the tickets, help put the heavy
screen in place, set out benches or chairs, issue “Pass-outs”, and look after numerous passengers, including one especially wide-eyed kid.

The programme, as I remember it, contained short topical films, a newsreel, a travel documentary, a picture parade, a cartoon, and a serial for its
first half. The newsreel was important, it being the only visual news available in depth, since newspapers contained few images in those days. The
cartoon gave universal pleasure, and that pleasure remains today. A good serial was always a drawcard. I suspect now that they were rather awful,
but adults loved them as much as did children. I will always have the memory of the well filling up at the end of the episode, the stagecoach going
over the cliff, and the walls of a fantasy house closing in on the hero. The second half, after an intermission of music and ads, was the time for a
full-length picture. The community had gathered, as a whole, for this. It was a
cemented part of life in the
country.

For many years, all film was in
black and white. Very few
were in colour. The screen was
a standard size. Later, when
CinemaScope and VistaVision
were developed, the image
had to be shrunk or a special
lens used. We once watched a
film with very tall and thin
shapes - hilarious, but only
Lobby cards from An Ideal Husband (1947) once!

On Rene's first night showing pictures, they were on their way home from Ruatapu
when they slid into the side of a bridge, such were the roads on the Coast at the time.
The truck had to be tied to the side of the bridge to stop it falling in the river. Loaded
with their gear, this made for an anxious time until help arrived.

On another occasion, they chose to stay in the hall for the night, on the stage, after
the movie was finished. The work for two people was exhausting, and they needed
rest. In fright, they woke in the early hours to find something tugging at their feet.
Their socks were being pulled from their feet and were disappearing through the
rather large gaps in the slatted wooden floor. They pulled them back and, to their
Burliet Truck – on Black’s Drive
horror, found large rats hanging on to the toes of the socks.

CINEMARECORD # 93 31