original mermaid the

GUIDE ANITRA NELSON AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION SCREEN AUSTRALIAN ISSUE 31 ISSUE STUDY 1 he courageous long distance swimmer, Annette Kellerman, was born in 1886 in Sydney (Australia). In the early years of the twentieth cen- tury, she became renowned for impressive swims down rivers all over the world (and her attempts to swim the English Channel). Annette Keller- man originated an early form of synchronised swimming, toured as a vaudeville underwater performer and featured as a silent screen fi lm star. She scandalised Boston, too, by sporting a one-piece bathing suit! She was a woman ahead of her times in both physical prowess and expres- sive creativity.

The Original Mermaid (Michael Cordell 2002) presents Kellerman’s life story and exploits and refl ects on her free spirit as a swimmer and artistic performer. It features archival footage and stills sensually woven together by imaginative editing of abstract reconstructions of underwater diving and swimming.

This documentary offers material for discussion and analysis by students in higher secondary and lower tertiary levels, especially in: women’s and gender studies, sports journalism, social and cultural studies, history, sociology, performing arts and cinema studies.

This study guide identifi es some of the signifi cant themes in, and key questions to arise from, the documentary and provides references to print and Internet sources for students to explore. Quotes from the documentary script appear in boxes. ISSUE 31 AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION

2 A LIVELIHOOD

Annette Kellerman’s father designed a lucrative future for the 16-year-old references, see the section in this study swimming champion after an economic guide subtitled Competitive Australian downturn and the collapse of her moth- Women Swimmers.) Swimming, like er’s music business. In the fi rst stage, other sporting and performing activities, he helped established her as a fearless remains an unstable profession. long distance swimmer. If you were a swimming champion how Dad decided we needed to do something would you pay to demonstrate and de- drastic to attract public attention. velop your swimming talents and plan for your future? What are the ethics and She swam down the Yarra in 1904 and disadvantages of choosing one strategy then the muddy Thames. Next she man- over another? aged to position herself third in a race down the Seine against seventeen men! SELECT HISTORICAL BACKGROUND DETAILS I was the fi rst woman to race against men on the River Seine. From the outstanding women from the Annette Kellerman period, mentioned But the English Channel beat Annette here are two, Isadora Duncan and May Kellerman three times over. Gibbs, who are relevant to her creative and aquatic performances. Both were It was the most terrible ordeal I ever went born in 1877, ten years earlier than through. Annette Kellerman. Isadora Duncan was born in San Francisco, and while Contracted by the London Daily Mirror May Gibbs was also born overseas in 1905 she fought icy seas to repeat she migrated and became known as Captain Mathew Webb’s famous 1875 an Australian. Both their lives show feat. Few appreciate her audacity as well certain similarities with the experi- as Alison Streeter, the current ‘Queen of ences and achievements of Annette the Channel’, who has performed this she proposed to her press agent and Kellerman, whose many activities in- crossing forty times, but nowadays at producer, Jimmy Sullivan, and in 1912 cluded writing for children (Fairy Tales POSSIBLE CAPTIONS CAPTIONSPOSSIBLE CAPTIONSPOS- TOP-BOTTOM: GE PREVIOUS PAGE: POSSIBLE CAPTIONS OPPOSITE: POSSIBLE CAPTIONS (INSET: POSSIBLE CAPTIONS) THIS POSSIBLE CAPTIONS) POSSIBLE CAPTIONS OPPOSITE: (INSET: PREVIOUS PAGE: PA SIBLE CAPTIONSPOSSIBLE CAPTIONS POSSIBLE CAPTIONSPOSSIBL a point in history when she already had they embarked on a committed and encouraging role models and the ben- successful lifelong marriage together. efi ts of modern techniques. There is dispute over who manipulated It was desperation, determination and whom in these business relationships guts. and performing enterprises. One way of sifting through the evidence and After she had become well known for points in such arguments is to identify her courageous swims, Annette Keller- the needs and desires of all the con- ISSUE 31 man was attracted to the top dollars tributing parties. What do you think awarded vaudeville performers. Many of they each wanted and what did they AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION her and her managers’ career decisions manage to get? show a careful strategy of moving from one lucrative niche to another. Although many current champions capitalise on the opportunities asso- It was to Dad that I owe much of my suc- ciated with champion status to gain cess … other forms of income, a generation ago Shane Gould decisively created another Her father provided a critical support, life for herself at around the same time one assumes especially against her as the older Dawn Fraser had to deliver male detractors. After her father died groceries to earn her keep. (For print 3 som and Snugglepot managed there are mermaid tail costumes hanging on the clothes line. of the South Seas: and Other Stories, Sampson Low, Marsten and Co., Lon- Mermaids and mermen have been used don, 1926). In particular they represent in various ways as sexual symbols and the heights of female creativity and androgenous metaphors amongst many imagination in the formative period of cultures and throughout history. Some Kellerman’s life. associations with mystical sea folk are constraining, others are liberating. Do Isadora Duncan, who pioneered crea- you know the recent history of the fa- tive self-expression through dance, mous national mermaid sea sculpture like Annette Kellerman became an in- of the Danes? ternational sensation for defying the ex- pected behaviour of a woman. Duncan What other fi lms use mermaids or mer- railed against the contained physicality men as signifi cant characters, symbols of women and established an integrated or references? How does their use en- sense of being in her performances. For hance these stories and contribute to a both Duncan and Kellerman sexuality May Gibbs (www.maygibbs.com.au) separate mythology of sea folk? was part of their expressive ability and used words directly to show that

POSSIBLE CAPTIONS POSSIBLE CAPTIONSPOSSIBLE CAPTIONSPOS- SIBLE CAPTIONS POSSIBLE CAPTIONSPOSSIBLE character. Neither perceived sexuality women are capable of fabulous imagi- THE ‘PERFECT WOMAN’ nations that extended far into aquatic locations. Her Gumnut Classics: the In 1910 Dr Dudley Sergent of Harvard Famous Gumnut Adventures (Angus University nominated Annette Kellerman and Robertson Publishers, North Ryde, unique amongst women of her time. He 1985) has earned her a place in world claimed in his physical fi tness study of children’s literature. Her best known literally thousands of women that An- works include two water adventures: nette Kellerman was ‘the closest to Little Obelia and Further Adventures physical perfection’. Primary evidence of Ragged Blossom, Snugglepot and was that she had almost exactly the Cuddlepie (87–131) and Little Ragged same measurements as those esti- Blossom and More About Snugglepot mated for the ancient female icons: and Cuddlepie (41–86). Neither of these Venus de Milo and Diana. stories feature mermaids or mermen but rather ‘fi sh folk’. Their tails are append- She is almost exactly the same measure- ed like extended spines above rather ments as the estimated ones of the statue human seeming feet (Slender Long Tom of the most perfectly formed woman of and Mrs Butterfi sh illustration: 61) and ancient times. Venus de Milo. the cherubim-human Ragged Blossom as deviance but rather a natural dem- became their queen. In the illustration What do you know about Venus de Milo onstration of health and wellbeing. An- (79) of the laundry that Ragged Blos- and Diana? What did they represent in nette did not die like Isadora in a road their times and how have they ap- misadventure but she did go to court on peared in various periods since? What ISSUE 31 more than one occasion for speeding in is perfection? What are the common her open-air vehicle. and contrasting qualities of physical AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION capacity, stamina and beauty? Peter Kurth in Isadora: the Sensational Life of Isadora Duncan (London, Little, INDIVIDUAL ACHIEVEMENT Brown and Company, London, 2001: x) AND THE COLLECTIVE points out that she was perverse: ‘I hate MOVEMENT dancing … I am an expressioniste of beauty. I use my body as my medium, Many refer to Annette Kellerman’s just as the writer uses his words. Do not achievements in the context of the call me a dancer.’ women’s liberation movement of the 4 twentieth century. Indeed Annette Kel- ISSUE 31 AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION

imes in b d of her t oth p n ahea hy ... a woma sica and ex l prow pre ess ssiv 5 e creativity lerman makes an interesting case study heightening women’s sense of inferior- Annette Kellerman. However, they dealt to refl ect on the distinction between in- ity as much as helping them overcome with their fame and fortune in a variety dividual achievers and radicals leading their feelings of worthlessness. of ways. Their different perceptions of a movement for collective ends, for all their achievements and futures and the women. In dismissing what was consid- … they called me the Diving Venus, the life-changing decisions they have made ered ‘proper’ and going her own way, perfect woman … cannot be explained simply by history or was Annette Kellerman a ‘real’ feminist culture. In this section we point to a few or women’s liberationist? Annette Kellerman spread a philosophy examples and instances that inform any of the fundamental importance of wa- discussion of The Original Mermaid in I am going to be wonderful and everybody ter to the spirit and soul. Clearly these terms of themes relevant to philosophy, is going to admire me. thoughts were based on her own expe- history, sociology and performance. riences and sense of the signifi cance On the one hand throughout history of swimming and diving. She referred Dawn Fraser, born in 1937, won thirty there have been exceptional and ec- to physical ‘evidence’ of an evolution- Australian championships and thirty- centric women who have achieved ary connection between humans and nine world records, twenty-seven in as individuals and made themselves water. At the same time, she confl ated individual events and twelve in relays. public names in the process. On the health, beauty and happiness. See for She won the highest number of Olympic other hand, another breed of women instance one of her works—Physical medals of any Australian athlete. Like An- have consciously and conscientiously Beauty: How to Keep It (Doran, New nette Kellerman (www.herspace.com), sought collective, social and political York, 1918)—that is kept at the State she gained notoriety by being charged advances for all women. Library of Victoria (www.statelibrary.vi with misconduct that included refusing c.gov.au). to wear an uncomfortable swimsuit. While any discussion of this distinction In Dawn Fraser’s case it resulted in revolves around the impossibility of Those enrolled in history, gender and a ten-year ban and expulsion by the neatly separating the two ends of the women’s studies might like to contem- Australian Swimming Union (ASU). She spectrum, Annette Kellerman’s abuse plate and discuss whether it is reason- was charged with disobeying the team of the ‘perfect woman’ ideal later in her able to conclude that Annette was more manager and the ASU for not wearing life is a good example to highlight the interested in creating an individual an offi cial swimsuit and for marching in distinction. In the fi lm we hear her admit impression than in furthering the col- the opening ceremony against instruc- that being identifi ed as the ‘most perfect lective interests of women as worthy of tions at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in woman’ had defi nite drawbacks. the rights already given to men? One 1964. The details are provided in her can follow Annette Kellerman’s story autobiography and biographies: for in- I complained bitterly to Jimmy that I didn’t scene by scene and discuss how this stance, one by Anthony Sedunary Dawn want to be known as a dummy with no proposition fares at each stage of her Fraser: Australian Swimming Legend brains. Mother thought it was awful. life, in her distinctive performances and (Reed Elsevier, Port Melbourne, 1996). other activities. Do you think this kind of response might After she became an acclaimed swim- still happen? Are representatives of ming champion and silent screen fi lm COMPETITIVE AUSTRALIAN the media and sporting associations star, Annette cashed in on her fame by WOMEN SWIMMERS still preoccupied by the dress and the providing distance health and physical behaviour of women and sportspeople? education for housewives. At this point Over the last fi fty years Australia has If so, in what ways? Annette Kellerman advertised referenc- continued to produce far more than its es to herself as the ‘perfect woman’ to fair share of international women swim- The dust jacket of Dawn Fraser’s autobi- encourage all those with less impressive mers, women like: ography—Dawn: One Hell of a Life, Syd- measurements to enrol in her school. ney, Hodder, Sydney, 2001—reads: Her programs were demanding: she • Dawn Fraser sternly recommended walking fi ve to (www,dawnfraser.com.au) A multiple gold medal winner over three ISSUE 31 ten miles per day and just two meals. • Shane Gould consecutive Olympics, a constant record (www.ShaneGould.com.au) breaker, a rebel, campaigner, National AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION There is nothing more liberating than swim- • Susie O’Neill Living Treasure, Swimmer of the Century, ming … All life’s shackles are washed away (wwwsusieoneill.com.au) international sports ambassador, Austral- with the waves. ian icon, publican and politician. Dawn has For profi les of elite athletes and swim- lived a remarkable life and done most of it Annette Kellerman pointed to her own ming legends, see the web site of the hard way. story to convince other women to aspire Shane Gould’s manager Rob Wood- to be like her. She promised them results house—www.elitesports.com.au Shane Gould, born in 1956, made her provided they changed their lifestyles name at the 1972 Olympic Games in and followed her routines. In this way Many women swimmers have faced Munich. She was the fi rst woman to win 6 she could be seen to be exploiting and similar opportunities and prejudices as three individual swimming gold medals in world record time and at one point Anthony Sedunary in Susie O’Neill certain sports and sporting activities? held every world record from 100 me- (Young Achievers series, Heineman Has increased mobility—globalisa- tres to 1500 metres. She had become Library, Melbourne, 2000). tion—altered these natural national famous at thirteen but by sixteen she advantages? What other national fac- concluded that life had to mean more The preoccupation of competitive tors infl uence the development of elite and retired to have a family and wholly swimmers with training regimes and athletes? alternative life. Now she has re-inte- diet is highlighted in Anita Selzer Swim- grated her sporting talent into her life ming (Australian Sportswomen series, Compare a 1986 46-minute docu- (www.ShaneGould.com.au). Macmillan, South Yarra, 2000). How mentary, Women in the Surf with many ex-Australian women swimmers some more recent examples of surf- In his foreword to Tumble Turns: an have taken up healthy lifestyle educa- ing achievements by women. Search Autobiography (HarperCollins, Sydney, tion to earn an income? How ‘healthy’ in fi lm catalogues, for instance in the 1999) Michael Wendon describes Shane is this? National Collection of Screen and Gould’s impact and various sides: Sound on the ScreenSound Australia POSSIBLE CAPTIONS Her swimming career was like a high- decibel concert that had such an impact it left your ears ringin…She was half of a courting couple, she was a commercial entity. She was also, in time, a married person, a parent, an adult, a homemaker, an income earner, an aware inhabitant of our fragile planet, a spiritual being and a friend. These roles held much more at- traction than the role of swimmer in the black-lined, chlorinated environment from which she had emerged.

The 1995 Telstra Swimmer of the Year, Susie O’Neill, was born in 1973. Once she had won a gold medal in the 200 metres butterfly at the 1998 World Championships in Perth, she became the fi rst Australian woman to have won gold medals at the Olympic Games, Commonwealth Games, Pan Pacific Games and the World Championships. AUSTRALIAN BEACH CULTURE web site (www.screensound.gov.au), Later that year, by the end of her races for more recent fi lm footage and on the in Kuala Lumpur (Malaysia), she had In the driest continent on earth, coastal web site of Malcolm Gault-Williams earned more gold medals (ten) than settlement, public ownership of beach (www.legendarysurfers.com) for more any other person in the history of the strips and low costs for camping has information. What has, and hasn’t, Commonwealth Games and carried the made seaside locations community changed over the years? Australian fl ag at the closing ceremony. gathering places. But she was painfully shy and tended PERFORMANCE to fi nd performing more stressful than ‘In today’s beach culture, hedonistic, anar- exhilarating. She has recently retired chic, irreverent, healthy and fun, Kellerman Vaudeville was against the sensibilities from swimming. is writ large.’ (From the synopsis for The her French musical mother, but Annette ISSUE 31 Original Mermaid, Hilton Cordell Produc- Kellerman had always wanted to be ‘a Susie was 14 years old when she gave her tions—www.hiltoncordell.com) fi rst class actress’. AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION fi rst television interview. It was one of the most uncomfortable experiences of her life. If this beach culture offered a democrat- Even as a child she loved to make a grand She was dazzled by the bright lights and ic opportunity for the talent of Austral- entrance and hoped everyone held their could only manage three short answers: ian youths to demonstrate and develop breath. yes, no and thank you. The interview was their swimming talent, did it mean that over in seconds, and the television sta- ordinary Australians were any closer to Vaudeville gave Annette Kellerman the tion later called the timid youngster ‘Shy elite competitive swimmers? chance to transform freak underwater Susie’. acts into artistic performances. She How do distinctive natural environ- began her London Hippodrome acts ments predispose different nations to by playing instruments and dancing, 7 then built up to underwater ballet after Annette Kellerman from A Daughter of To wide acclaim, the well-known actress removing her frock to reveal her frilly suit the Gods (www.silentsmajority.com). If Esther Williams starred as Annette Kel- and making a dive … her state of dress/undress was a way to lerman in the Million Dollar Mermaid attract attention, it is clear she wanted (Mervyn LeRoy,1952). As a result of this She was provocative. She was sexy. And admiration not seduction. MGM production that is widely available that was the image she wanted to create. on video today, the cinematographer She was trying to expand the artistic George Foley was nominated for an Soon entertainers from the USA called boundaries of cinema … Academy Award in 1952. Esther Wil- for Annette Kellerman. She became a liams comments on Annette Kellerman, veritable strip ‘tease’ and a lofty im- For twenty-fi ve years Annette Keller- the production of this biopic and her age of the desired, not just admired, man toured the world in stage shows. own performance in the documentary, woman. She nominated as the highlight of her The Original Mermaid. According to her stage career an impersonation of Anna sister, Annette was disappointed in the Vaudeville provided live audiences that Pavlova as the dying swan supported by portrayal of her husband in this screen she missed when she turned to screen a ninety piece orchestra at the Metro- version of her life. However, Ester sug- roles in Neptune’s Daughter, Venus of politan Opera in New York. It was one of gests Annette felt uncomfortable with P: THE DIRECTOR MICHAEL CORDELL. MICHAEL THE DIRECTOR P:

TO ANNETTE BOTTOM KELLERMAN, RECENTLY. the South Seas (1924) and so on. the few performances that she believed her own portrayal too. There is evidence would make her mother proud of her. for this argument in the documentary: ‘Esther was more beautiful than I but I STORIES AND STYLES concede nothing from the waist down.’ Interestingly the autobiography that Es- The Original Mermaid is an unexcep- ther Williams wrote with Digby Diehl was tional documentary in that the autobio- called The Million Dollar Mermaid too graphical script is ordered chronologi- (Simon & Schuster, New York, 1999). cally and it is structured and interrupted by commentators like Esther Williams, Biopics are a challenging genre. The Annette Kellerman’s sister and ‘Queen award-winning Shine (Scott Hicks, of the Channel’ Alison Streeter. The 1996) inverts the usual tale of tal- remarkable aspect of the documentary ent being recognised and provides is the sensual illustration of Annette an interesting contrast with the An- Kellerman’s life through reconstructed nette Kellerman story. Search in fi lm abstract sequences with special edit- catalogues, for instance in the National ing effects. Collection of Screen and Sound on the ScreenSound Australia web site (www. The fi lm-makers might have adopted screensound.gov.au), for other biopics different styles to frame and infl uence like Dawn! (Ken Hannam, 2000) based the story. For instance, the reconstruc- on Dawn Fraser, to compare with the tions might have been deemed unnec- Million Dollar Mermaid. Make contrasts essary and instead the existing archival with documentaries about Australian footage might have been treated with swimming champions and vaudeville imaginative editing techniques of vari- performers. ous kinds—suggest some. Also, imag- Nothing beats the feeling of a thousand ine retelling this story in different ways. This study guide was written by Dr Anitra eyes staring at your every move. Think of different genres that might have Nelson, Research Fellow, Australian Hous- been used as frameworks for highlight- ing and Urban Research Institute, Faculty However there are indications that she ing distinct themes and arguments. of the Constructed Environment, RMIT helped to create the concepts and University: [email protected] ISSUE 31 cinematic styles of the fi lms she was A current day champion tells the story asked to perform in and, if this is true, of her swimming career in a book sim- This study guide was produced by ATOM. AUSTRALIAN SCREEN EDUCATION silent film performances provided a ply called Susie O’Neill (Pan Macmillan For more information about ATOM study further avenue for creative self-expres- Australia, Sydney, 2000) and comprising guides or The Speakers’ Bureau visit our sion. Apparently her infl uence made her over 140 annotated photos. Imagine us- web site: www.metromagazine.com.au the quasi-hero of certain adventurous ing these stills as the basis for a docu- or email: [email protected] fi lms in which she drove the action. A mentary. What impact would this style Daughter of the Gods (1916) was a veri- of presentation make on an audience? table extravaganza: a one million dollar How might you add atmosphere and budget paid for over 20,000 extras and interest to the story? for sets kilometres in length. The Silents 8 Majority web site includes four stills of