| What happened to the movie? I worked on footage for it on
and off for another year but we never finished it and Howard died in
1972 (?) without completing it. At times I've wondered about why I didn't push Howard more to complete the film but I'd stopped in frustration. I found it too hard to hold him together and work with him. I never said 'no' other than the offer to share his bed, and when he said something like 'Can we shoot it in anamorphic?' would borrow lenses and shoot a test while debating about what we'd do with the existing material.. Howard was gay, an alcoholic and intelligent, sensitive and always passionate about music. That whole mix eventually lead to him one day in getting off a tram, going to the top of the housing commission flats in Fitzroy, drinking a bottle of Scotch and jumping to his death. Every day's shoot was difficult. I was the only one with a 'real' job, money and a car so I'd organise booze, lights and equipment and make sure the talent where going to be there. Then I'd have to get Howard out of bed, feed him a few beers (in summer he'd switch to cider) and get him to the location. By then, he was clear and competent but the story line was never written down and kept changing (boy meets girl, boy loses girl, boy finds girl became ...boy finds boy etc.) and whole rolls of stuff were dumped. I'm surprised that he's dropped out of the radar of pop history (there is a nice mention here on the Milesago site). This is my attempt to assuage some of the lingering guilt that surrounds all friends of those who choose suicide. It was sad to see there was no credit for his Masters footage on the ABC history doco. As much as it matters, it would give him some place in our records of that time. |