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On this Page 17
"SQUEEZE
A
FLOWER"
. "A gentle, smiling movie, like a
I pleasant day in the country." This
is Walter Chiari's view of the new
I Australian-made film in which he is
I a monk with a secret liqueur recipe.
By NAN MUSGROVE
Pictures by staff photographer Keith Barlow
and film unit photographer Harry Britton.
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DIRECTOR Marc Daniels, far right, at the
rehearsal table with the stars, discussing the
next takes for "Squeeze a Flower.'' Girl in
background is dialogue coach Pam Saunders.
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MOUNT PLEASANT lived up to its name when "Squeeze a Flower" was on location
at Mcwilliams' vineyard. Above, from left, Dave Allen as Tim O'Mahoney, Walter
Chiari as George Brothers admire the harvest piled in a gondola for the crushers.
FAMOUS American
film director Marc
Daniels has a down-to
earth theory about movie-
making. He believes that
a director should "see"
his film as a paying mem-
ber of the audience would
see it, and not as its artis-
tic creator.
Daniels is in Australia to
direct NLT Production Pty.
Ltd.'s "Squeeze a Flower,"
the third movie to be tnade
here in the past 12 months.
He stated his theory when
he walked into a rather high
flown discussion between his
three stars, Italian Walter
Chiari, American Jack
Albertsori, and Irishman
Dave Allen (beloved by
Australian televiewers).
They were in the last
place you'd expect to find
them - in a circle of chairs
in the dusty end of
Mcwilliams' Winery at Mt.
Pleasant.
The winery is an enormous
building, a great tin shed
with a great high roof and
steep stairs leading to the
crushers at one end and a
new extension, still with a
dusty dirt floor, at the other.
In the centre, great
barrels, many of them more
than 100 years old, hold the
maturing wine.
The fermenting grapes in
the crushers made the heavy
air heady, tipsy. The ther-
mometer in the cool heart
of the winery showed 105.
Down the dusty end, where
huge openings let the sun
in, the heat felt like 125, and
expanded the tin roof, mak-
ing it crackle.
The tipsy air and the
temperature brought on the
discussion about man's
natural resistance to over
civilisation.
Man had forgotten the
simple pleasures, the three
stars said. Albertson said TV
was the box that vaudeville
was buried in. Walter Chiari
said the telephone was the
perfect example of revolt
against civilisation.
"You ring someone up
and make an appointment to
talk to them," he said. "And
that's what you are doing
talking to them. But you
revolt - you want to talk
face to face."
Dave Allen agreed. He
said civilisation would never
override or replace the live
theatre - that it would exist
dil the end of time.
Daniels listened.
"You've all forgotten the
audience," he said. "They
don't care about simplicity
or civilisation, live or canned
-how their entertainment is
made. They just like it good.
"The only thing that
matters is what the audience
gets from the work of the
cast and crew.
"They don't get it better
in any paricular medium,
they just get it different."
Money's worth
If time, trouble, and dedi-
cation make a movie good,
the audiences that see
"Squeeze a Flower" will get
their money's worth. Marc
Daniels will see to that.
I first met him, saw him
in action, at Mcwilliams'
vineyard in the soft green
rolling foothills of the Great
Dividing Range, about six
miles from Cessnock, N.S.W.,
which Chiari gives a new air
with his pronunciation of
"Chessnock."
Daniels had moved his
cast and crew there for three
days - to film scenes that
he calculates will last maybe
four minutes.
To film them, everyone
worked like demons, from
sunrise to sunset and beyond.
The day I went to watch
them, it was just past mid-
day when the caT turned
into Marrowbone Road,
leading to the unit's location.
The dusty, country road led
past the winery and up the
hill to the vineyard, where
swathes of green vines in rich
brown earth bisected the
smooth green hills.
From the distance, the
cluster of brilliant beach
umbrellas crowning the hill,
the low-growing vines, the
studied movements round
huge gondolas of freshly har-
vested black grapes had a
primitive, "biblical look.
Close to, the biblical
impression vanished.
Continued overleaf

"SQUEEZE A FLOWER"

Continued from previous page

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ABOVE: Jack Albertson (Alfredo Brazzi) "hooked on lemon squash"
keeps his cool on the exciting day he was nominated for Hollywood's
Oscar as Best Supporting Actor. Jack's work was speeded up to get
him back to attend the Oscar presentations, when he was announced
the winner. BELOW: Albertson with Dave Allen, rehearsing a scene
at the winery, as the grapes are about to be tipped into the crushers.

Heat haze shimmered
round the movie equip-
ment, expertly handled by
bare - torsoed technicians
glistening with sweat. Light
cables snaked through the
vines, ladders were there for
high shots, a huge pressure
stove roared away, heating
water for the tea everyone
was demanding.

The three stars, sprawled
in their labelled chairs under
the umbrellas, were getting
their first taste of the un-

relenting late-summer heat.

Albertson and Allen looked
rather out of condition,
especially Allen, whose
thick, smooth skin, brought
to a snake-belly white by the
damp English air, seemed to
have attracted the sun like

a picnic attracts ants. He was
almost at blister point.

Albertson - a quiet man,
nominated the next day for
an Academy Award as best
supporting actor for his role
in "The Subject Was Roses"
-looked flushed, rakish.

Like mahogany

The only one who looked
as if he'd been born and
bred in the district was
Chiari, whose lean, athletic
frame was mahogany colored.
He'd twisted himself a crown

of grapeleaves to keep his
emerald-green towelling hat
raised off his forehead. His
only other garment was brief
swimming-trunks.

He had just described
"Squeeze a Flower" to me
as a picture "like a pleasant
day in the country," when I
became aware of Daniels.

"Walter, put your trousers
on and come here," he hol-
lered at Chiari.

Walter sprang to it, hur

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ried over to where Daniels
and a group of grape-pickers
were filming.

It was a brief scene. The

grape-pickers had to empty
their buckets of grapes (Cab-
ernet Sauvignons kept and
harvested late specially for
the film) into a huge gon-
dola, turn, and invite Walter
to an evening's fun.

He refused. One of them
asked him what he did at

night and he replied: "I think
a great deal." A grape
picking extra said: "That's
bad for your head."

After endless rehearsal,
takes and retakes (once the
roaring of the pressure stove
was picked up by the sound
equipment) Daniels was just

as enthusiastic as he had
been an hour earlier.

Assistant director Warwick
Freeman - who learned his
trade in the cavernous studios
at TCN9 - has the reddest
hair in captivity and a deli-
cate pink skin to match. He
looked like a refugee from
the Foreign Legion.

He wore shorts and long
socks, and between the two
his skin flamed like his hair.
He wore a flapping blue silk
hanky held, kepi-style, over
the nape of his neck by his
broad-brimmed hat, and
flourished a loud hailer that

brought a distant group of
grape-pickers into action.

An hour later, Daniels was
satisfied. The pressure stove
roared into action again, tea
was made, and Chiari, un-
ruffled, told me again that
"Squeeze a Flower" was "a
gentle, smiling movie, like
a day in the country."

It is hard to know what
it will be like, seeing it made
in odd scenes out of sequence,
but I do know it is a good
story-full of humor.

Walter Chiari plays the
central character, Brother
George, a monk from the
Abbey of Remani near Liv
orno, Italy. He makes and
sells "Liquore D'Oro," a
liqueur by the sale of which
the Abbey and its community

is sustained.

Reprimanded

Brother George believes
the Abbey doesn't get suffi-
cient profit from the distribu-
tor and demands more. He
is refused and his action dis-
closed to the Abbot (Alec
Kella way ).

The Abbot reprimands
Brother George, who takes
it as a sign from God that
he should leave the monas-
tery. He does so, signs on as

crew on a small boat to Aus-

tralia, is paid off in Sydney.

On the wharf he sees a
case of wine addressed to the
"Braza Wine Company,
Hunter Valley," believes it is
another sign from God.

He goes to the vineyard
owned by Alfredo Brazzi
(Jack Albertson) and man-
aged by his son-in-law Tim
O'Mahoney (Dave Allen) -
and, as "George Brothers,"
he gets a job.

Eventually he makes the

Remaní liqueur for the
Brazzis, calling it "Bel Fiore"
(Beautiful Flower) and send-
ing his share of the profits to
the Abbey, anonymously.

The story of the Abbot's
search for Brother George
makes a movie that certainly
should be refreshing.

The locations are beauti-
ful. Abbey scenes were shol
at St. Patrick's College.
Manly, known commonly,
but wrongly, as "The Car-
dinal's Palace."

Concentration

The beautiful grounds,
cloisters, and interiors and
St. Patrick's spectacular site
on a high promontory over-
looking the Pacific will look
wonderful in color. So cer-
tainly will Mcwilliams' Mt.
Pleasant vineyard.

City scenes include shots
on location at Tamarama
Beach, in Sydney's Australia
Square, at Rose Bay's over
water restaurant, Caprice,
and in the beautiful garden
of Mahratta, Warrawee (now
the Bank of N.S.W.'s train-
ing college).

Daniels was pleased with
the locations and his stars.

When I saw him at work,
I realised what "totally con-

centrated" meant. He shuts
off all outside interference,
lives inside the story.

He is ordinarily a most
courteous, gentle man, bul

once he starts work he turns

into an autocrat - a tough,
hard character who discip-
lines everyone.

He spoke to me sharply
because Jack Albertson, in a
filming break, did a soft-shoe
shuffle at my instigation,
while he was telling me
about being Phil Silvers' first
vaudeville partner.

"Quieten down, yoii two,"
Daniels bellowed - and told
me I'd broken Albertson's
concentration.

Daniels has a rehearsal
table wherever he is filming.
The table is the kernel of
his directorial method and is
fascinating to sit in on. As
soon as the scene is set, he
gets the actors round it.

"I like to find out if the
actors understand their parts,
hear their interpretations -
see if they've remembered
the audience," he said.

"I use the table as a
means of concentrating
everyone. We all get at the
script. We don't rewrite it so
much as refine it. Make it
sound more like real, make
it more acceptable to both
actors and audience. '

When I eventually got
Daniels unconcentrated
enough to talk to me,
"Squeeze a Flower" was
nearly finished.

"This will be a good feat
ure movie when it is put

together," he said. "It should
be extremely diverting.

"Take the stars. Walter is
just marvellous to work with
I sincerely mean this. He is
absolutely the most co-
operative, inventive, stimu-
lating actor I have met in
a long time.

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LEFT: Rowena Wal-
lace, as advertising
executive June Phil-

lips, with her associ-
ate. Tom Andrews,
played by Jeff
Ashby. Daniels be-
lieves Rowena is
going to be "an
important actress."

"Dave Allen takes direc-
tion well.

"Now Jack-Jack Albert
son, I knew before. He gives
a beautiful performance in
The Subject Was Roses.' He
can always be depended on
to give his very best"

Albertson is a tall man
who has been in vaudeville,
movies, TV, for a long time.

Now he's a man of no

age, but whatever his age is,

it becomes him.

He's got an undistin-
guished "no face," without
any caricature features, a
kind of anonymous face that
doesn't leap out and hit you
in the eye, an adaptable face
that fits any role.

Soon he will be seen
guest-starring in "Ironside,"
"Big Valley," "The Vir-
ginian," "Here Come the

Brides."

Albertson's role in "The

Subject Was Roses" is likely

to become his most famous.

Great elation

He won the "Tony" (the
theatre's "Oscar") for his
performance in the stage
play, and now has won the
movie Oscar as the "best
supporting actor of 1968" for
the same role.

News of his nomination
arrived that hot day in the
winery. He was tremend-
ously elated and happy.

"This is great, great
news," he said. "Now I can
say Fm a good actor and
know I've got backing!

"An actor, no matter how

good he is (and, by God, I'm
good!) is struggling against
overwhelming odds when he's
presented with poor mater-
ial. In 'The Subject Was
Roses' I was very fortunate
to have an extremely beauti-
fully written, developed, and

directed movie."

News of the nomination
arrived just before the lunch
break and I was amused to
see him, in all the brouhaha,
peel off his false, grey
moustache, and hand it over
to its creator, make-up girl

Monica Dawkins.

"Mind this for me," he
said, as he went off to cele-
brate with Mcwilliams' help.

Albertson is a man who
engenders warmth-I think
he would have been quite
the most popular man on the
lot. He enjoys people, was
just as much at home with
grape-pickers, technicians,
and general workers as with
the star group. He is a

natural entertainer.

Toward the middle of the
afternoon, I sat at the re-
hearsal table outside the
crushers, in a sort of rough
breezeway between buildings.

I said I had just been told
.it was "only 104 now." Dave
Allen said it had got cooler;
he reckoned it was dropping
-no more than 103. Albert
son said to me, "103, eh?
When it gets to 102 we'll
have to sell, I guess."

I asked him about his
nomination-was being nom-
inated the important thing,
or was the actual winning

the thing? He told me the
nomination was worth, say,
85 percent; winning added
the final 15 percent.

"It means a great deal
professionally. You get a
better choice of roles, the
money is greater - the
prestige that accrues from
the nomination creates a
demand for you.

"Since I am more or less
happy with what I have been
doing, the most rewarding
thing is the recognition from
the industry," he said.

Sits thinking

Albertson's norn ination
was an added excitement in
the making of "Squeeze a
Flower." It upped the tempo
of the production.

Dave Allen's talents,
directed by the Daniels
know-how, showed a develop-
ing potential I didn't expect.

Dave, offstage, is very
unlike his onstage self. He
is very quiet, introspective.
He sits around with his hat
tipped forward - thinking,
I guess.

I was very involved with
Dave and Judith Stott at the
time of their marriage, and
like many others wondered
how it would work, had my

doubts that it would stick.

It is sticking very well,
Dave told me. "It's a good
marriage," he said.

The Allens live a very
happy family life with their
three children. Judith has
never gone back to the stage.

Jono, son of Judith's first

HUSH! Directors at
work. At right: Marc
Daniels, in chair,
confers with his
assistant director,
Australian Warwick
Freeman, a young
man moving up in
the film industry.

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marriage, is now ten years
old. Adopted daughter Jane
is three, and "marvellous,"
and Edward (the Allens'
own son) is now 12 months.

Dave likes "Squeeze a
Flower," says it has a good
feeling about it - says that
when there's someone like

Daniels in charge, there is
nothing to saying lines.

"Squeeze a Flower" is his
first movie, and he is
interested in this new outlet
for his talents.

"Movie-making is a very
different process from TV,"

he said. "It is entertainment
by exhaustion. There are so

many technical things to
contend with. When you go

to a movie and have a

marvellous 90 minutes you

never think of all the ex-

hausting work that has gone

into it."

Dave so far has only
been part of the "paying

audience" that Daniels talks
about. He's seen "A Man For

All Seasons" eight times,
"The Lion in Winter" four

times-keeps on going over

and over.

Dave and Chiari were

kindred spirits and Albert
son was on side, too. They
were a most compatible trio.

After Walter's romantic
wedding during the filming,
Dave arranged Walter's
wedding reception at the
Ozone cafe at Watson's Bay,
where he and Judith did
their courting and had their
wedding celebration. Albert

son was one of the few
guests.

There was a great deal of
good fellowship in the
making of ^Squeeze a

Flower"-more than in most

films. I imagine the friend-
ship will be distilled into
that something extra that
will warm the hearts of its
waiting audience.

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THE ABBOT of Remaní (Alec Kelleway) and
monks gathered round him seek guidance as
7rfyPause on the steps of their Abbey. The
Abbey" is St. Patricks College. Manly.

-CUB A_. _ . _

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GREAT BARRELS in Mcwilliams' Winery at
Mt. Pleasant - some more than 100 years
old - overshadow the stars, from left. Allen,
Albertson, Chiari. Daniels rests at left.

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CAPRICE, Sydney's over-water restaurant, is
the scene of a dinner when Chiari proves his
knowledge of wine. Dave Allen, with Kirri ly
Nolan, in her first big film, as his wife. Maria.

$