How to MAGA - (Make (the) ABC Great Again) - A Facebook conversation between Ben Cho, Geoff Gardner, David Hare

BEN CHO

When I was young and couldn’t sleep I would stay up until 1am or 2am and watch all kinds of RKO and Rank movies on the ABC that would play through the night. What happened to all these titles? You never see them on iView, you never see them broadcast anymore on ABC. We need to lobby the ABC to release them again either on their digital channel or iView. Get David Stratton to film new intros! 

2020 MAGA = Make ABC Great Again!

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  Geoffrey Gardner It used to be believed that the ABC had bought the rights to the complete Rank Film library in perpetuity for a fixed upfront sum. They played them endlessly and in the process a few films popped up that even the archivists had thought to be lost. There were some genuine rarities on display including Lothar Mendes JEW SUSS which someone at the ABC confused with Veit Harlan's anti-Semitic version made in Germany during the war. So the ABC only screened Mendes film once, probably got some sort of half-assed complaint and dropped it forever from the schedule. Given that the ABC now has a digital channel WHICH IT CLOSES DOWN IN THE EARLY EVENING there would be nothing to stop the ABC running through the Rank Library yet again without spending more than a penny or two. 2020 MAGA

  David Hare: Mendes' 1934 Jew Suss is superior to the Harlan if that's of any interest. The Harlan itself is difficult to find (unsurprisingly) although it's out there but is not quite the shocklckfest it's often reputed to be. But it's becomes impossible to talk about these films and even Harlan these days.
  

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