Win a double pass to When The Queen Came To Town The Hoopla

WHEN THE QUEEN STOLE AUSTRALIA’S HEART
It’s hard to imagine an event that so stirred a nation as the Queen’s visit to Australia in 1956. Think Cathy Freeman’s Gold medal win at the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games and then double it. It is estimated that 75 per cent of Australia’s population turned out to catch a glimpse of Queen Elizabeth II during her three-month tour.
But imagine you no longer have to. When the Queen Comes to Town captures the colour, excitement and devotion of the time brilliantly, and it is coming to a cinema near you.
It was the biggest event in the country’s history put on for the first visit to the southern hemisphere of a reigning monarch. The crowds couldn’t have been more excited.
In all 60 cities and towns the Queen visited Down Under, a grand entrance parade was put on. The 26-year-old opened parliaments, thanked war veterans, attended mayoral lunches, glittering balls, horse race meetings, sheep shows, steel works factories, coal mines and watched cows being milked.
Her schedule was prodigious – in some places she had five events to go to in a single day. Queen Elizabeth II went where ordinary Australians lived, she did not hold court waiting for the people to come to her. People often give Princess Diana whole credit for making the royals more human. In fact, Queen Elizabeth II had already revolutionised the way royalty interacted with the population on her visit to Australia in 1956.
When the Queen Comes to Town is a film about “fun, colour and good times,” says director Maurice Murphy (Fatty Fin, The Aunty Jack Show), “not about the things that divide us but about the things that bring us joyously together.”
The film is Murphy’s attempt to make a documentary fairytale, with the Queen as leading lady. He travelled the country interviewing people who had seen the Queen on this visit, and it is these interviews – seconded by the original colour footage – that really brings the film to life.
“I was not aiming for a story about the good old days, where life was better than now because in fact it was not. The story is about people who knew that they had done their best. They had helped to win a war, had given their children security and lived in a country with opportunities galore,” says Murphy.
“It was not a better Australia, but it was one full of hope. Imagine that!”
When The Queen Comes to Town features Australian legends Bert Newton as the Narrator and Lorraine Bayly as the storyteller.
when-the-queen-came-to-townTo celebrate its cinematic release on 27 November, The Hoopla is giving away 20 double passes to lucky readers.
Simply answer the question below and fill out the form to be in with a chance to win!
75 per cent of Australians turned out to see the Queen in 1954. Would you go if she came today? Why or who not?* Denotes required fields
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