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will not come out. Louise seizes the opportunity to take lead vocals. From the side of the stage, Billy's family urge him to sing from the heart. He begins to apply his more refined and personal voice to the delight of the audience. Louise is spun off stage, thwarting her attempt to hijack the show and leaving Billy to complete the show in a new voice that belongs to him alone. He receives a standing ovation as the spirit of
Holiday watches on approvingly from the back of the audience, blowing a kiss and then walking away.
335:." Louise also manipulates her way into a backing vocal position in Billy's act. Meanwhile, Casey mentions to Kate that she has heard Billy singing "I Had Too Much to Love Last Time" around the house. Kate then digs up an old record in which Billy sang "I Had Too Much to Love Last Time" as a duet in a refined voice with Louise, but with Louise hogging the spotlight. This convinces Billy's family and friends to join together and force him to use this voice again, believing that he is "not lost, just dozing."
568:"It's unclear exactly what we're meant to make of the changes that result from Billy's discovery", wrote Tom Ryan, "for Wherrett seems more interested in the opportunities they provide for production numbers... Perhaps (Billy's) acceptance of the gift nature has bestowed upon him is supposed to represent his first step towards self discovery... But what is one then to make of the eventual restoration of the old Billy?"
565:, she called the film "hackneyed (and) terminally slow... The characters are one-dimensional and the dialogue is appalling." Paul Byrnes called the film "a folly of substantial proportions (that) dies a thousand deaths before it's over", but spoke highly of the "heartfelt and true" scene in which Cullen sings "Am I Blue?"
31:
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When Billy sings "What a Night, What a Moon, What a Boy", it leads both Julie and Kate to call his sexuality and gender identity into question. Kate confronts him about this, saying to him, "It's as if she's inside you." Record company executives also begin to express interest in Billy, considering
338:
That night, Billy opens the set with "It Must Have Been Easy for You", as Louise oversells her backing vocals to force her way into the spotlight. Billy's old band return to the stage unexpectedly and begin to play "I Can't Get
Started." He then attempts to sing in the Holiday voice, but finds it
319:
In the studio, he records "I Want the Whole
Fairytale" in the Holiday voice, though the record company soon force him to drop the band and record as a solo artist. Kate tells him that he has "locked up his heart", but he insists on pursuing this career opportunity. Walking through an empty train
320:
station, he sings "I Had Too Much to Love Last Time" in a more refined version of his original voice. Later, he records "Mr. Exhilaration" in the
Holiday voice. This becomes the title track of his new album, which tops the charts in Australia upon release. The band continue on with Rob (
423:
in three weeks, inspired by his vivid memory of Cullen's performance as
Holiday. Wherrett picked up the project as he was drawn to the premise of "a middle-aged man getting a second chance at life and love", and later connected this to his diagnosis as
410:" in hindsight, pointing out that "both trace the journey of the central character to the point where they must speak/sing in their own voice (with) dream sequences, some dance spectaculars, and a climax almost exactly alike." Both also pay homage to
342:
That night, Billy and Casey sit on their house roof and she reflects that she is glad to have taken after him. Billy then visits Kate at her hairdressing job the next day, offering her a rose and singing "I'll Do
Beautiful Things to Your Heart".
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which lifted into the air. As the weather was especially windy, an additional crew member also had to hold the cameraman in place as the platform was lifted up. The shot was finished after 17 takes, which shut down King Street for six hours.
191:, the film revolves around a man named Billy Apples, played by Cullen, whose life and music career are stagnating until he is visited by Holiday's spirit and finds himself gifted with her voice. Despite finding a receptive audience at the
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in a radio serial, despite the fact that his mother performs the voice of Meggs in reality. In the film's climax, he develops the confidence to use his real voice and become famous for who he really is. In
Wherrett's autobiography,
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on the mouth of Sid's trumpet as he plays "I Can't Get
Started" at the back of the bus, pulls back to the driver's seat as Sid delivers the line "We can't get started!", then leaves the bus and continues into the air, becoming a
276:" in his newfound Holiday voice to a transfixed audience. Later that night he tells Kate, "I felt different. Released. New." His daughter Casey is again embarrassed in front of her friends as they witness Billy recreate
540:
implications of the story, and makes clear that the voice Billy develops by the end of the film is meant to sound like a third, more refined voice, not a return to the voice he had in the first place.
362:, based on the infamous 1974 incident in which Sinatra was held hostage by Australian trade unions after calling a local journalist a "two-dollar whore." (This later became the basis for the 2003 film
304:". Billy seems to resent the projection of others onto his performance as Holiday, but never comments on this directly. At one stage, he hallucinates a vision of himself in the mirror wearing a
226:) - a divorced, middle-aged man who owns a hardware store in Newtown. In his spare time, he plays trombone and sings lead vocals in The Billy Apples Band. He is dating a woman named Kate (
571:
Cullen himself was also critical of the film, telling an interviewer that he thought "the gimmick went too far". However, the film was a critical success when it debuted at the
284:" dance on their street, but this moment leads to a discussion between them about his newly-awakened emotional state. Riding Sid's late-night bus to the end of the line at
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and several other distributors for international territories. Cullen recalled several Cannes attendees telling him the film had genuinely moved them and made them cry.
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504:, who won an AFI award that year for Best Musical Score. It was produced in Sydney, Australia, with co-production, instrumental performances and engineering by
557:, "is that Billy is neither black nor female." While feeling that the "glossy, dramatic musical numbers" were the film's strength and recalled the films of
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in the role of showbiz reporter Leo Coote. One night after a performance, while drinking in a local bar with
Whitburn, Cullen spontaneously sang "
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316:." Billy rejects the offer of a recording contract at first, but is later peer pressured into signing by his bandmates and family members.
265:) is embarrassed to find him sitting on the roof, watching shooting stars. In the morning, she overhears him singing "After You've Gone"
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368:, though that film did not use Whitburn's play as source material.) The play debuted in 1980 at Sydney's King O'Malley Theatre, with
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only. The film is currently out of print and unavailable throughout the world, including on streaming services.
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and some success with international distributors, the film was negatively received in
Australia and was a
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428:. It was Wherrett's first feature film after a long career in theatre and occasionally in television.
712:"'He was almost legless': How Bob Hawke and a bottle of brandy saved Frank Sinatra from tour disaster"
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played trumpet, including the opening rendition of "I Can't Get Started" in the style of
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in 1995. Amongst other things, the novelisation much more directly explores the
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was negatively received in Australia. "The problem", wrote Barbara Creed in
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restaurant which hypnotises those around the table. While staring at a
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We then meet Billy Appleby, known professionally as Billy Apples (
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187:. Based on Cullen's real-life ability to vocally impersonate
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A novelisation was written by Whitburn and published by
393:. This film revolves around a young man who is cast as
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In the early 1990s, Whitburn wrote the screenplay for
688:"Australian Films at the Australian Box Office",
440:revealing that the bus is stuck in traffic along
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1043:"Billy's film takes first step towards success"
480:was released on VHS in Australia. In 2001, a
242:and the possibility of "soul reincarnation".
462:opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympics
456:Wherrett never returned to filmmaking after
215:, making light of the situation by playing "
269:in a voice uncannily resembling Holiday's.
500:The musical score was written by the late
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939:"From sewers to sweet hackneyed cuteness"
740:"Max puts a little polish on a rough gem"
674:Mary Colbert, "Finding Billy's Holiday",
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516:. The soundtrack was released on CD by
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1017:"Cullen is apples in his own lead role"
855:The Floor of Heaven: My Life in Theatre
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431:The film's opening shot begins as an
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257:, Billy is visited by the spirit of
207:As the film begins, bus driver Sid (
965:"High-wire Holiday comes a cropper"
738:Robinson, Harry (9 November 1980).
665:
648:Jeanette Cronin as Roz 'Shutterbug'
234:). Meanwhile, Kate's friend Julie (
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937:Creed, Barbara (19 October 1995).
913:"Billy's holiday / Denis Whitburn"
893:. State Library of New South Wales
766:Holgate, Ben (25 September 1995).
240:Ancient Egyptian afterlife beliefs
14:
1165:
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1015:Schembri, Jim (19 October 1995).
826:Reddy, Muriel (29 October 1995).
710:Vyver, James (21 November 2018).
333:Is You Is Or Is You Ain't My Baby
331:, Billy films a music video for "
219:" on trumpet to his passengers.
963:Byrnes, Paul (19 October 1995).
1069:"Slings, arrows but no fortune"
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296:and Sid joins him on trumpet.
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1067:Oram, James (13 August 1995).
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292:" in the Holiday voice to the
245:One night, after Billy sings "
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1154:Australian LGBT-related films
989:Ryan, Tom (22 October 1995).
917:National Library of Australia
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495:
467:
346:
1144:1990s English-language films
1041:Holgate, Ben (15 May 1995).
365:The Night We Called It a Day
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272:At his next gig, he sings "
238:) has lately been studying
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852:Wherrett, Richard (2000).
792:Wherrett, Richard (2000).
768:"After the ballroom blitz"
700:Retrieved 11 November 2012
464:before his death in 2001.
327:Before a show at Sydney's
112:October 19, 1995
1073:The Sydney Morning Herald
1047:The Sydney Morning Herald
969:The Sydney Morning Herald
772:The Sydney Morning Herald
575:, leading to its sale to
488:as a Region 1 DVD in the
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1134:Australian musical films
891:The Dictionary of Sydney
486:Anchor Bay Entertainment
484:version was released by
94:Anchor Bay Entertainment
696:9 February 2014 at the
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404:The Girl from Moonooloo
391:The Girl from Moonooloo
1149:1990s Australian films
745:Sydney Morning Herald
300:him marketable as a "
175:is a 1995 Australian
164:A$ 68,472 (Australia)
678:, June 1995 p4-8, 56
573:Cannes Film Festival
442:King Street, Newtown
213:King Street, Newtown
193:Cannes Film Festival
18:1995 Australian film
1129:1990s musical films
1098:Billy's Holiday
858:. p. 298-299.
413:Singin' in the Rain
400:The Floor of Heaven
282:Singin' in the Rain
217:I Can't Get Started
991:"Some like it not"
887:"Richard Wherrett"
637:Maggie Kirkpatrick
544:Critical reception
639:as Maureen O'Hara
506:Parrish Muhoberac
406:"a trial run for
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591:as Billy Apples
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502:Larry Muhoberac
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421:Billy's Holiday
408:Billy's Holiday
355:wrote the play
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290:Why Was I Born?
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267:while showering
236:Genevieve Lemon
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609:as Sid Banks
601:Tina Bursill
595:Kris McQuade
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203:Plot summary
177:musical film
171:
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156:A$ 4 million
128:Running time
105:Release date
84:Beyond Films
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654:as Liberace
534:transgender
476:version of
472:In 1996, a
286:Glebe Point
255:salt shaker
58:Produced by
38:Directed by
1124:1995 films
1118:Categories
865:0733610498
805:0733610498
659:References
645:as Kristin
589:Max Cullen
563:Gene Kelly
496:Soundtrack
482:widescreen
468:Home video
374:Am I Blue?
370:Max Cullen
347:Production
278:Gene Kelly
274:Am I Blue?
224:Max Cullen
185:Max Cullen
161:Box office
132:92 minutes
116:1995-10-19
77:Production
70:Max Cullen
48:Written by
897:25 August
871:25 August
811:25 August
751:25 August
723:25 August
603:as Louise
446:steadicam
438:long shot
379:In 1983,
351:In 1977,
306:fruit hat
140:Australia
717:ABC News
694:Archived
615:as Julie
388:TV movie
145:Language
66:Starring
1078:30 July
1052:30 July
1026:30 July
1021:The Age
1000:30 July
995:The Age
974:30 July
948:30 July
943:The Age
922:30 July
837:30 July
832:The Age
777:30 July
633:as Anna
577:Miramax
554:The Age
251:yum cha
148:English
137:Country
114: (
98:Miramax
79:company
862:
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153:Budget
538:queer
308:à la
1103:IMDb
1080:2024
1054:2024
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976:2024
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860:ISBN
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725:2024
583:Cast
561:and
536:and
280:'s "
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385:ABC
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