Billy's Epic Journey

Many of those that attended our weekly summer screenings in the Grand Garden Theatre (held in the backyard of my parent's home) might not remember the thrill of watching super 8 movies whilst seated in lawn chairs in the dirt amongst the peas and carrots.

On the evening captured here on video (below) our host Doug fires up the projector and sits back in the beanstalks to enjoy the rarely revisited (and somewhat pointless) 'Billy's Epic Journey' - a slice of life in the big city. Behind the projectionist, we can see Paul tending to a bit of impulsive weeding before the main feature, bless his little heart.


This film was Bill's only entry in the 1975 Philum Film Festival. Even with the shameless poster promotion at the snack bar that evening (see photo) his movie failed to win any awards and became a bit of a long lost memory for most. But thanks to Blogger, we can relive the journey, which may be noteworthy now only for the drastic changes on display in the background. Due to 30 years of tree growth, the city skyscrapers are no longer viewable from the top of Queen Elizabeth Park, as they are here. And while the bubble dome still remains in place today, the entire surrounding landscape of the plaza was demolished and reconstructed in 2005. Perhaps it's time for a 2008 'reshoot' of Billy's Epic Journey'. As long as Bill hasn't rid himself of the classic Epic yet.