Days of future past

The visit of movie stars to New Zealand is commonplace. The next few weeks bring the likes of Jane Fonda and Christina Ricci.

In 1938, when the cinema was central to popular culture, such tours were rare. Even a minor international celebrity could cause a sensation.

William ‘‘Billy’’ Costello was a musician and vaudevillian who found success as an actor in the Fleischer brother cartoons of the early 1930s. The part of Gus the Gorilla in the Betty Boop comedies led to his casting as Popeye the Sailorman. His raspy voice was an important component of the spinacheating strongman’s personality. Costello played Popeye in the initial 26 shorts. Unfortunately, his ego got the better of him. Conflating the character’s popularity with his own, Costello believed himself a movie star. He was fired.

Undaunted, Costello took the act on the road. Wearing a mask and fake muscles, he made Popeye the headline act in a variety show, singing the character’s famous songs, accompanying himself on ukulele. In 1938, he toured Australia and New Zealand. It was repeatedly claimed that 20,000 people turned out for his arrival in Sydney. However, contemporary publicity was elastic with the truth. There was no mention that Costello no longer worked for the Fleischers. Promoted as THE Popeye, the actor repeatedly told local reporters that he was due back in Hollywood to record further instalments in the series.

Though perhaps not numbering in the thousands, a crowd of mostly children did gather on Prince’s wharf for Costello’s Auckland arrival. Reviews of the show were ecstatic, if often reading suspiciously like puff pieces. Wellington’s Evening Post stated that Costello ‘‘... possesses a magnetic personality and ... presents a modern entertainment which is right in tempo with the rhythm of 1938’’. Not bad for an inarticulate, musclebound mariner.

Hamiltonians got to see the ‘‘Hello Popeye’’ show on August 3rd at 3pm and again at 8pm at the Theatre Royal on Victoria Street.