Popdown Progress

Earlier this year wipednews.com covered psychedelic music lover PETER PRENTICE’s quest to rediscover lost ’60s underground film, Popdown. Here, in an exclusive feature he updates readers to the progress made so far… THINGS have moved on considerably since Easter, with the most significant event being the hastily arranged summer screening of two reels of Popdown material salvaged by Eric Liknaitzky at Contemporary Films in London. The screening was attended by as many of the Popdown crowd as I could muster at such short notice, and was principally organised in order to check the print of what was expected to be a full-length version of the film; possibly the selfsame 46m print that was screened at the Scala in September 1984. Sadly, this wasn’t the case. It transpired that what we had were two virtually identical 25m edits, both severely truncated yet containing sequences omitted from the Scala print. Quite what the purpose of these edits was, nobody in the production can recall; but after analysing the better quality of the two prints, it appears they DO contain elements of the version released theatrically in 1970 (according to my calculations, they contain around 17m 47s of the 46m 42s print screened at the Scala, plus an additional 7m 15s of ‘new’ material). Amongst this new footage were two important sequences for some reason left out of the Scala print altogether: Andy Ellison’s performance of ‘Another Lucky Lie’, and a memorable busking sequence involving Jumping Jack Norris and the legendary London street singer Meg Aikman. Unfortunately, despite their surprise inclusion and the retention of the Kevin Westlake & Gary Farr, Dantalian’s Chariot and Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity sequences, the edits lacked all trace of the film’s other key musical sequences; in particular those featuring Blossom Toes, Nanette Workman, Luiz Bonfa and the Speck of Dust – a children’s act put together especially for the film. Furthermore, Popdown was far more international in scope than many people realise – with an unusually cosmopolitan cast list and sequences filmed on location in Cannes, Paris, St. Moritz and Miami – but apart from a few scattered glimpses of the sequences shot in Cannes, this aspect of the film was almost entirely absent.As you might imagine, I left the screening feeling profoundly deflated. This sense of despondency was to prove short-lived, however, as a week later came news that twelve reels of 35mm negative had been found in a box marked “Popdown (1970)” at the Hong Kong warehouse storing Fred Marshall’s film library. In addition, another reel was found amongst the negative of one of the filmmaker’s later productions. These I had shipped directly to Kaleidoscope in the West Midlands for storage purposes and eventual restoration/transfer. Their discovery was the result of an enquiry I had made into a large trunk of 1/4 inch soundtapes listed amongst the inventory, the contents of which I would dearly like to have shipped over at some stage because I believe they may contain some of the recordings used in Popdown. Funding remains my biggest problem. I had to borrow another substantial sum to get the 35mm negative material sent over, and there is still no sign of a benefactor on the horizon. Bizarrely, Middlesex University expressed an interest in the library at one point, but that interest quickly evaporated once they learnt of the kind of sums involved. In August it looked as though a white knight had arrived in the shape of the BFI. The team behind their excellent Flipside DVD arm was shown the better of the two Contemporary edits and immediately invited me up to their Stephen St. HQ for a meeting. Sadly, despite expressing initial enthusiasm for my proposal of a single DVD release comprising a specially reconstructed Popdown, Chelsea Bird and The Free Life (Fred Marshall’s most ambitious film, shot on location in various south-east Asian and Australasian countries in the early seventies), Fred’s post-London productions fell (unsurprisingly) outside of their remit. My most pressing concern, therefore, is finding the capital required for the restoration/ transfer of the Popdown 35mm negative and the transportation costs of The Free Life material – both of which are going to be expensive undertakings. Compared to Popdown, there is almost a surplus of Free Life material in Hong Kong. The inventory contains not only the 35mm negative, but a 16mm print, 35mm work prints and even three reels of 1 inch videotape; a measure of the importance Fred Marshall attached to the film. Similarly, the vast majority of the 1/4 inch soundtapes belong to its soundtrack. Described by the filmmaker as a modern adaptation of Homer’s Odyssey, The Free Life starred Nancy Kwan and took several years to complete, eventually surfacing in the mid- to late seventies as Asian Odyssey. Just as with Fred Marshall’s earlier films, distribution appears to have been practically non-existent, with screenings limited to the occasional film festival – a fate that was to befall many of Marshall’s subsequent productions, and one of the primary reasons why his films are today almost universally unknown. The search goes on, both for a full-length print of Popdown and for all those with the slightest connection to Fred Marshall or the film. Many key personnel have been located or have come forward since April; perhaps the most noteworthy being editor Michael Foale, a central figure in the making of the film and a man pivotal to any attempted reconstruction. I’m delighted to report that Michael has already volunteered to help out should a reconstruction prove feasible. Thanks to wipednews.com, the wonderful Hernán Rubin has also been able to contact me. Hernán helped Michael edit the film and has been a marvellous fillip to the project, rounding up his friends Erich Juhacsz (who played Ulysses in The Free Life), John Ruiz Poleo and Juan Carlos Golik, all of whom were part of Fred Marshall’s inner circle in London. Together, with the help of Erich’s son, Harun, and Hernan’s poet friend Jósbel (who have been unstinting in their efforts to help with project), they have helped to shed important new light on the filmmaker’s activities during the early seventies – an area that has gone largely uncharted up till now. Hernán also possesses precious colour frames of Popdown‘s famous ‘Lady Godiva’ sequence: another of those scenes frustratingly missing from the Contemporary edits. Mention must also be made of the continued support I have received from all those ‘in the loop’; in particular Popdown‘s Executive Producer, Richard de Clare – someone I’ve always been able to turn to for advice and encouragement. I can’t let this opportunity pass without acknowledging the sterling efforts of Chris Perry and his team at Kaleidoscope. Along with his colleagues Simon Coward and Gordon Hendry, who has completed the restoration of the 16mm excerpts, Chris more than anyone has had to bear the brunt of the constant changes of plan that seem to have dogged the project over the past few months. I’m sure Chris’s heart must sink every time he receives an e-mail headed ‘Popdown’! Where do we go from here? In the short-term, it’s all about finding the money for the restoration/transfer of the 35mm material and the transport of as much of the library as possible. Long-term, my objectives remain much as they were in April. Whether those objectives are achievable, only time will tell; but one thing I CAN promise, and that is no matter how many obstacles are put in my way, I won’t rest until not just Popdown, but each and every one of Fred Marshall’s films has seen the light of day. POPDOWN SOUNDTRACK (25m) POPDOWN SOUNDTRACK (46m 00.01 – Unknown. Herb Alpert/’It’s a Knockout’-type library music (0.36) 00.37 – Classical prelude/Spoken Introduction by Fred Marshall (0.17) 00.54 – Unknown. Classical piece (1.01) 01.55 – Kevin Westlake & Gary Farr: ‘Everyday’ (0.30) 02.25 – Brian Auger & The Trinity: ‘Tiger’ (0.09) 02.34 – Brian Auger & The Trinity: ‘Black Cat’ (0.19) 02.53 – Unknown. Hammond organ instrumental with female backing vocals [“yeah-yeah”] (1.50) 04.43 – Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity: ‘Why (Am I Treated So Bad)’ (0.48) 05.31 – Unknown. Reprise of classical piece? (1.02) 06.33 – The Grapevine: Opening 90 seconds of ‘Things Ain’t What They Used To Be Anymore’ (1.31) 08.04 – Brenton Wood: ‘Catch You On The Rebound’ (2.05 complete) 10.09 – Andy Ellison: ‘Another Lucky Lie’ (1.37) 11.46 – Unknown. Calypso-type instrumental [use of vibraphone suggests the involvement of Michel Hausser] (1.09) 12.55 – Unknown. Biographical busker song with references to Jumping Jack Norris and Meg Aikman [Don Partridge?] (2.12) 15.07 – Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity: ‘Break It Up’ (2.46) 17.53 – Unknown. Hammond organ instrumental [not included on 46m edit] preceded by three female screams (0.52) 18.45 – Unknown: Male screams and guitar effects [Dantalian’s Chariot?] (0.38) 19.23 – Dantalian’s Chariot: ‘The Madman Running Through The Fields’ (3.43 complete, but with edit) 23.06 – Unknown. Jazz/Bossa instrumental [use of vibraphone suggests the involvement of Michel Hausser] (1.03) 24.09 – Luiz Bonfa & Maria Toledo: Unknown instrumental with wordless ethereal female backing vocal and truncated closing narration by Fred Marshall (0.31) 25.40 – Unknown. Closing library instrumental (0.08)   00.01 – Classical prelude/Spoken Introduction by Fred Marshall (0.19) 00.20 – Unknown. Classical piece (1.04) 01.24 – The Idle Race: ‘On With The Show’ (1.50) 03.14 – Kevin Westlake & Gary Farr: ‘Everyday’ (0.31) 03.45 – Brian Auger & The Trinity: ‘Tiger’ (0.08) 03.53 – Brian Auger & The Trinity: Introduction of ‘Black Cat’ (0.19) 04.12 – Unknown. Hammond organ instrumental with female backing vocals [“yeah-yeah”] (1.50) 06.02 – Luiz Bonfa: ‘Amor de Solidao’ (1.16) 07.18 (i) Unknown. Uptempo pop song [more 1964/5 than 1967/8] (1.08) 08.26 – The Grapevine: Opening 90 seconds of ‘Things Ain’t What They Used To Be Anymore’ (1.29) 09.55 – Unknown UK-based American school [The Young Folks?]: ‘Who Is The Leader Of Your Gang’ [1968 Demo recording of a Tony Colton/Ray Smith composition] (2.49 complete) 12.44 – Luiz Bonfa: Unknown Latin instrumental (1.46) 14.30 – Unknown. Lengthy instrumental (2.43) 17.13 – Chris Barber’s Band: ‘Catcall’ (1.37) 18.50 – Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity: ‘Why (Am I Treated So Bad)’ (0.50) 19.40 – Blossom Toes: Closing 90 seconds of ‘The Remarkable Saga Of The Frozen Dog’ (1.30) 21.10-  Brenton Wood: ‘Catch You On The Rebound’ (2.05 complete) 23.15 – Brenton Wood: ‘Baby You Got It’ (1.23) 24.38 – Fred Bongusto: ‘Gi’ (0.26) 25.04 – Brenton Wood: A very brief snatch of ‘Two-Time Loser’ (0.16) 25.20 – Unknown. Uptempo [language unknown] all-girl pop song (1.54 complete) 27.14-  Brian Auger & The Trinity: ‘Isola Natale’ (3.09 complete) 30.23 – Lord Sitar: ‘In A Dream’ (1.37) 32.00 – Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity: ‘Break It Up’ (2.41 complete) 34.41 – Female/male screams and guitar effects (0.15) 34.56 – Dantalian’s Chariot: ‘The Madman Running Through The Fields’ (3.43 complete, but with edit) 38.39 – Unknown. Jazz/Bossa instrumental [use of vibraphone suggests the involvement of Michel Hausser] (1.02) 39.41 – Julie Driscoll, Brian Auger & The Trinity: ‘Kind Of Love-In’ (1.09) 40.50 – Nanette [Workman]: ‘I’m Going Out (The Same Way I Came In)’ (2.20 complete) 43.10 – Blossom Toes: ‘Love Is’ (1.58) 45.08 –  Luiz Bonfa & Maria Toledo: Unknown instrumental with wordless ethereal female backing vocal and closing narration by Fred Marshall (1.34)

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