AN AUDIENCE WITH JUDITH LUCY AND BOB FRANKLIN
NINETEEN years ago, I took a lift up to the top floor of the Como Hotel in South Yarra to interview Judith Lucy and Bob Franklin - two of the stars in Tony Martin’s film, Bad Eggs. I was nervous because only six months before, Billy Idol had thrown my tape recorder out the window of a nearby room because he didn’t like how my face had reacted to something he’d said.
But I’d also had good experiences at the Como - interviewing Stephen Fry was a highlight - how could it not be? - and the Shania Twain interview had gone so well, she’d asked me to lunch afterwards. Not like that! It was more “we’re getting lunch, do you want to join us?” And my response was, “I have a deadline.” The Zwars left Germany five generations ago - but I still can’t shake the Teutonic ties to duty.
So there I was, back at The Como, interviewing Judith and Bob. And I was a big fan of both. It’s risky interviewing people you admire because if it doesn’t go well, all those times they’ve brought you laughter and joy become meaningless. Fortunately, it went well.
JUDITH Lucy says she was so petrified the first time she saw her new film, Bad Eggs, she downed a bottle of wine during the screening to calm her nerves.
”It was a small preview screening with a lot of alcohol,” says Lucy, who plays a hard-nosed crime reporter with a soft spot for Mick Molloy. “As the lights were going down I saw (Bad Eggs director) Tony Martin grab a beer and I thought, `Gee, that's a good idea.’ So I grabbed a bottle of wine and a glass.
”By the end, I was completely drunk. Basically, when I knew a scene with me was coming up, I would scull. And, consequently, when friends asked me how it went the next day, I told them I couldn't remember the last 20 minutes of the film.”
Since then, Lucy has sat through a “dry” preview of the film and says Martin, who pumped his life savings into the project, deserves to be proud.
Lucy can hold her head high as well. Her stellar work in Bad Eggs, as well as in Molloy's Crackerjack, sends a resounding “eff you” to the people at NIDA and VCA, who wouldn’t allow her into their respective acting courses.
“I very much wanted to be an actor,” she says. “I was one of those tragic school children who was a debater and lead in the school play.
”Yes, I was Annie Sullivan in The Miracle Worker, where I had to deliver the line: `Rats. Rats. We used to play with the rats because we didn't have toys.'
”After that, I auditioned for NIDA and VCA and they both pretty much told me to go away. NIDA, in fact, told me I needed an operation on my nose. That kind of knocked me about in the confidence stakes.
”Soon after, I moved to Melbourne and thought, `Oh well, the acting thing is a bit of a chip, I'll give stand-up comedy a go'. Ironically, I've come full circle.”
Lucy quickly formed alliances with comics Martin, Bob Franklin (The Craic) and Molloy, who has now played her love interest in both Crackerjack and Bad Eggs.
This week, morning breakfast radio hosts tagged the Lucy-Molloy on-screen partnership as “Australia's answer to Bogart and Hepburn”. But Lucy bristles at any mention of breakfast radio. Franklin’s not too shook on it either.
”What the hell's going on with the energy of those people?” he said.
Lucy: “It's got to be drug-induced, surely.”
Franklin: “I think it would be better if breakfast radio announcers spoke similarly to the way their listeners were feeling first thing in the morning.”
Lucy: “The interesting thing about breakfast radio is that it brings out the very worst side of humanity.
”I was doing a show on breakfast radio not so long ago where the competition was that you had to ring up and confess something to a friend on the other line.
”So this person rings up and confesses to her boyfriend that she's been sleeping with her boyfriend's best friend for five months.
”It clearly was for real. The boyfriend was unbelievably upset, got pissed-off with the radio station, which I was thrilled about, and hung up.
”And there was this excruciating pause before the presenter said: `Well, you've just won $1000'.”
Was it worth it?
”It was just horrible,'' Lucy said. “Mind you, I am back on Fox in the afternoon -- 4pm to 6pm. I've sold part of my soul, but not the whole thing.”
Franklin and Lucy both know Bad Eggs will be likened to Crackerjack coz of the Martin-Molloy thing, the Village Roadshow thing and the fact both films star Molloy, Lucy and Bill Hunter.
Lucy: “Still, it's unfair to compare the two.”
Franklin: “Crazy. Crackerjack 2, I heard someone call it the other day.”
For the record, Bad Eggs is darker and more ambitious than Crackerjack. But, like Crackerjack, it’s consistently hilarious and Hunter nearly walks away with the movie.
Lucy: “Bill Hunter. Where do you start with Bill? He's the big Australian. He's fantastic. I just don't know whether it's more fun acting with him or drinking with him.”
Franklin: “He was raised by a family of Bears.”
Lucy: “There's no one you can mention who he hasn't worked with.
”The guy's first two films were On the Beach, where he had an affair with Ava Gardner, and the Sundowners, where he hung out with Robert Mitchum. That's a fairly good introduction to the business. He then went on to share a house with Julie Christie and Alan Bates in London. Frank Sinatra once approached him and said, `Get out of my way, punk.'
”He just has a million stories. Knows everybody.”
Franklin: “When someone has that much presence and gravitas it's always going to make the comedy more effective.”
As the interview closes, Lucy says she’s loved working on Bad Eggs and would trade stand-up for filmmaking in a heartbeat.
Lucy says: “I can't help thinking if you asked the majority of comedians: `Do you want to keep performing in pubs late at night to a bunch of people who'll throw things at you and demand that you show them your tits? Or would you prefer to work on a feature film where you're picked up, dropped off, dressed, get great free food, and you're not responsible for the script?' I reckon they'd choose the film. I'd do another movie. Absolutely.”