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THE CALLAHANS AND THE MURPHYS COME TO TOWN

Peter Wolfenden.

A riot at the Empire theatre Brunswick over a
film that the rest of Melbourne accepted as an
innocuous comedy/drama, exposed old social
and sectarian wounds.
his story caused a stir at the time, but
Tviewed from today’s relaxed approach to
Anglo-Irish relationships we have to wonder
just what the fuss was about! It is also a story
about a father and son both working in the
cinema business.
Harry Gratton Junior was a well-known
projectionist who started work in the “silent
days”. He operated at theatres including Hoyts
Circle and Plaza, Essendon and the Mayfair
in Bourke Street Melbourne. He trained many
future projectionists, including CATHS'
members Alan Windley and Ross King.

Harry started his working life in 1924, when
his father, Henry Gratton - also known as
Harry Gratton Senior - arranged for his son,
aged 15 to work at the Alhambra Theatre, The Empire c. 1950
located on the comer of Sydney Road and
Donald Street Brunswick. Harry Sr. at
this\time was manager of the Empire Theatre, patrons to the venue. The partners had made Scheduled to start at the Empire on Thursday
also located in Sydney Road Brunswick, near their fortune when they co-produced the first 24 November 1927, the doors were opened as
Dawson Street. He became manager as a result version of The Story of the Kelly Gang. usual at 6.50 pm. All was pretty much normal
of his skill in installing a Crossley gas engine until about 7.30, when Harry was approached
to power the electric generator for the Empire. The Empire Picture Theatre Company, in by a spokesperson for a group who felt that the
At the time only town-gas was reticulated in conjunction with Johnson and Gibson's film was insulting to the Irish population and
Brunswick, - no electricity. The owners of the Amalgamated Pictures, consolidated their should not be screened in Brunswick. (The plot
Empire felt it would be prudent to have Harry investment in the site by building the Empire, involved two feuding slum families, the
Sr. available whenever the gas engine was which opened on 27 June 1912. The theatre daughter of one having a baby by the son of
operating, and so offered him the position of was palatial by the standards of the day: a bold the other.) Many patrons were milling outside
manager. Harry's managerial skills were tested exterior, ornate plaster-work and carpeted wanting to come in. When the protesters saw
to their limit when The Callahans and the floors set it apart as stylish, comfortable and the extent of interest, they attempted to block
Murphys was booked in. innovative, including the gas engine/electric access to the ticket box. Two uniformed and
generator, already mentioned, installed by the two plain-clothes police materialised, but were
But first, let's set the scene for the action to future manager, Harry Gratton Sr. unsuccessful in controlling the protesters, who
come. The Empire came to be built on a site / were increasing in number.
previously occupied by Johnson and Gibson's In its early days, an evening's entertainment
Pictureland, which opened in about 1908. included vaudeville segments. By the time Harry contacted the local police station, where
This was a 1,000 seat open-air amphitheatre, Harry Sr. became manager, films had the duty officer realised that reinforcements
which boasted electric light (from a portable substantially filled the program, and such was were necessary. He phoned Russell Street
generating plant) for its films and to operate a the case when Harry tried to face down Police Headquarters and requested the Motor
searchlight which was used to attract and guide community anger over the Callahans and the Patrol. At this point about 200 potential patrons
Murphys.· It came into the were confronted by about 1,000 protesters
Empire as an MGM film, three blocking their way to the ticket box!
years after that company’s
formation.

Although essentially a simple
story about feuding working class
families, it had already raised the
ire of Irish-American Societies,
which arranged boycotts of
cinemas in some cities in the
USA. Naturally, this fact was kept
quiet by the distributors when it
reached Australia and, in fact, it
played uneventfully in city and
most suburban theatres.
Left: Still from the The Callahans and
the Murphys.
L to R: Sally O’Neil, Marie Dressler,
Polly Moran

14 CINEMARECORD # 93