25 January 2017

After a very successful film evening with supper in December 2016, when Leander Club in Henley-on-Thames arranged a viewing of the documentary film The Boys of ’36, the club will arrange a second event on Friday 24 February. This time it is the documentary Paris or the Bush: The Story of the Cods about the Australian crew that went to the 1924 Paris Olympics. The event starts with a two-course supper at 7 p.m., which will be followed by the film. Running time for the film is about two hours.

The producers of the documentary write:

Paris or the Bush is an extraordinary story of courage, humility, skill, ageism, class prejudice, war, sport and mateship [sic]. It covers a fascinating period of Australian and world history, encompassing a Great War and the 1924 Paris Olympic Games. It is a story about working class men in a small country town, who not only defeated the cream of Australia’s upper class society in a sport they had dominated from the 1870s, but in the process foreshadowed a major change in the nature of Australian society.

Here is a preview of Paris or the Bush:

HTBS’s Greg Denieffe, who is one of the rowing historians featured in Paris or the Bush, has written several articles about this documentary. For example take a look here.

7 p.m. (prompt)
Two course set supper
and
Viewing of Paris or the Bush
(running time about 2 hours)

Timetable: 7 p.m. Part 1; 8 p.m. supper; followed by Part 2

Cost: £15 per person, payable in advance.

To book: Contact the Leander Club office on 01491 575782 or email events@leander.co.uk

To mark the 30th anniversary of the 1987 Oxford–Cambridge Boat Race, on 22 March, Leander Club will show the film True Blue. Special guest this evening is Donald Macdonald, president of OUBC in 1986/87, who will provide insights into the dramatic events before, during and after the ‘rebellion’, as he was in the centre of the controversy.

More information will follow.