Page 17 - CinemaRecord #87

behaviour for a woman. However, Les loving Veronica would have approved greatly loyalty by showing slides of the war action at
maintained that the confident and carefree when Harry seized on its unbridled popularity. the Empire Theatre."
Veronica was unabashed by any criticism, and For one week, he invited members of the
never changed her lifestyle because of it. audience at the Empire to dance Ragtime on The war action naturally saw the local press
stage, the audience being the judge. One can give it extensive front page coverage. But one
One suspects that she would have loved imagine what it must have been like to see of Harry's more spectacular enterprises was
Ragtime music. That musical craze captured carefree young couples participating without equally exciting since the paper gave it the
the imagination of all and sundry; the fun inhibition. Later on, because of this success, same prominence as the war. In 1917, it was
Harry brought Hazel Morris from America to revealed that Harry had taken over an
perform her worldwide hit “Who'll Dance entertainment place known as the
Ragtime with Me”. Amphitheatre which then stood alongside the
Brunswick railway station near Victoria Street.
The rest of Harry's career in Brunswick was This place had been built the year before as a
conducted against the gathering momentum boxing stadium, but an ultra-conservative
and controversy through the conscription issue Brunswick Council refused to grant the owners
of the First World War. The year of 1915 saw a permit for that purpose. Harry, in his own
another colour added to his audience's rich inimitable style, soon took it over and turned
tapestry: khaki. Harry never enlisted, so he it into a venue that featured top line vaudeville
never wore the khaki. Many a soldier home on acts.
leave, or those waiting to be sent to the war
zones, must have sought relief by attending The build up to the opening night was such a
Harry's spectaculars. stunning success that, on 29 January 1915, the
Brunswick and Coburg Leader saw fit to report
Those who did not join up were often cruelly, this in a complimentary article on its front
and without substance, called shirkers (another page. "Mr Harry Watson the popular manager
word for cowards). One can only wonder, of the Amphitheatre has gone to enormous
under those circumstances, if it was only the trouble and expense to secure for his patrons
fact that Harry was widely thought of as being the best available artists in the profession." The
an American that saved him from being amount of talent mentioned in the article is far
labelled as one of them. Some substance to this too much to detail here. But something must
was provided by a short article in the Medium be said of Harry's spectacular opening night
printed in 1917, the year that America joined build up, for it sounds like something that set
the War, "Mr Harry Watson has showed his all of Brunswick abuzz with excitement. Prior

CINEMARECORD # 87 17