Met husband Oscar in 1974 at a charity function/ She was singer in night club. “Journey to England”. Lucky Perrera, Sri Lanka, cinema mananger, large age gap, death 23 years later, travelogues on holiday, son Nicholas 1978, David Percy, cinema short “Discomania”, professional actors, shown on circuit, half hour, colour, l6mm, “Excess Baggage” silent slapstick, won competitions. Club in Paris, “Change of Heart”, Finchley Cine Society, 10 best trophy, filming in hospital, edited himself, Daily Mail Ski Show, “Ski Mania”, cookery, boating, 1990, Majorca,1991, Radio Taxis 1992. Oscar refugee from Vienna, 1938, parents divorced, orphanage, at 14 came to London, hostel etc., back to Vienna 1950. Hapsburg Empress “The Last Journey” Arles, Writers Circle, Robin Muckerjee, “Temptation” won awards, BAVA, Bafta, “American Dream,” “Camcorder User”, 1994 sold his club, new car, Mercedes car rally, 1995, P.I.Crook artist, Pam, Cheltenham, Tony Lawrence, “Clouds” “Last Supper”, Lymington, won prizes, Chuck Jager, Rickmansworth Players, “42‘^d Street”, Videos, Union problem, stayed amateur, Barbados etc., Travelogues, Barcelona, 1998 Walter Halinger, Vienna, Israel, filmed reunion.

Side 2:

1938 Oscar at 4 not with family in orphanage, school, Brighton during War. Many jobs, drumming, gigs, son a drummer, Kurt Eichner, started dances early 50’s, Club Vienna, Oxford Street, Club Concord, 60s. 30 years Leicester Square, club closed 1996. 1952 film career, “Blind Faith”, Ellen Bleueth, Anne Frank, John Collin “Vienna Today,” “Shapes in Plaster”, 34 making films 3 years,”Out of Harmony” 1960, 3 musicians playing concert, National Film Theatre, Fitzpatrick, contractors, 8mm user, Kensington Film Club, Finchley Film Society, Coldshield.

Transcript

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Bobbi Riesel Side 1

Manny Yospa 0:00

This is BECTU History Project. We are interviewing Bobbi Riesel, file number 505, on the third of August, 2001 the interviewer is Paul Lecker and recorder Manny Yospa, holders of the copyright of the recording

Paul Lecker 0:32

housed in that lead

Bobbi Riesel 0:39

because my microphone is pointing out that way it's picking up. That's okay. It actually doesn't stay. I did try and have it facing outwards, but sorry, that must make a terrible noise if you want to take you can hear it, right?

Paul Lecker 0:53

No, I'm gonna ask the first question, right? Yes, Bobbi, when did you first meet Oscar?

Bobbi Riesel 0:59

We first met in 1994 we were both at a charity function, and I met him as I was going in, and we started going out together. Went out together for nearly two years.

Paul Lecker 1:16

And what production was he gauging at the time, or

Bobbi Riesel 1:22

he was, he wasn't making a film at the time. He had just made journey to England about a year or two years before, two years, oh, it was about that time actually weren't recording that looked at the date 1974 it was actually just before I met him. He had made it. No, he was finishing it. Actually, when I met him, he was, Oh, forgot about that.

Paul Lecker 1:46

Did you subsequently get involved with productions?

Bobbi Riesel 1:51

Actually, I know this sounds terrible, of course, I was involved in this production. I had just met him. And you engage you. Yes, he needed a singer in a night club, and I dressed up like a tart and sang. And yes, of course, I do remember that. And so I sang in one of the scenes. Actually, I didn't sing. I mimed, but we had lots of fun through the year showing people the film and for them to think that I was a great singer, which I certainly

Paul Lecker 2:24

wasn't in this was approximately what year, 1974 1974 was there any notable event going on at the same time? Or was this a story? What type of production

Bobbi Riesel 2:36

module? This was journey to England. It was about young people coming through Sri Lanka to settle in England. And Oscar was involved with somebody in making this film, a man called and we called him Lucky Pereira, or I think his real name was Lakshi Pereira. And he was quite a well known filmmaker in Sri Lanka, who wanted to come to this country to, I suppose, become famous and make his fortune. I don't think he did. I think eventually he went back to Sri Lanka, but he was, he did a lot of work when he was here. And I know that his his day job was working as cinema manager. They lived, I think, in the South Hall area. And when journey to England was completed, I remember we had a lovely party in their home, which was super so that was about 1974 I don't think we were married at that time. I think I was just going out with him and Oscar and I had a rather large age gap between us. So marriage was something that was going to be quite difficult, so we had to take a long time to think about it, and we eventually did get married in 1976 much to the horror of all our family and friends who knew it would never last. And I'm happy to say it lasted until his death 20 nearly 23 years later. During that time, he then became quite frustrated that he wasn't making films. At the beginning of our marriage, he somehow had seemed to come to a full stop, and so we then started to make travelogues when we went on holiday, I always said that I only got a decent holiday if Oscar could make a good travelogue. And in fact, there were occasions when when I wanted to go somewhere and we couldn't, because he said it wouldn't be a good film opportunity. So so we didn't. He always called the shots as far as the places and the countries were concerned. Sometimes I did a good sales job there and talked him into it if I really wanted to go somewhere. But we in the early days, we made travelogues in ilat and Corfu and Portugal, and I helped him with the research. Usually. We did a little bit of research before we went, and we did research when we were there, although very often it was a week or two weeks holiday. And I'm afraid I did grumble a little bit that my whole holiday was often taken over by this film and dedication, dedication, and I was always hot and bothered, and in the very high temperatures, he would want me to put on thick makeup and do my hair and and this time we had we had our son. He was born in 1978 and so we took him on all these holidays with us. His name was Nicholas. Are we recording? Yes, oh, sorry, didn't I should start okay. And he was born 1978 as I say.

Bobbi Riesel 5:49

He grew up being told you, do not look at the camera.

Bobbi Riesel 5:58

He was often shot in the films. He was always part of the films. He came to hate being in front of the camera. Hated it. And he even said, after his father died, and he was giving a lovely speech at a tribute for him, he said, All my life I was told not to look at the camera and and then and then and then, I used to get told off for not looking at the camera when he wanted to take a still of me. So he said I could never get it right. But in 1986 Oscar was becoming very frustrated about the fact that he wasn't making anything that he could get his teeth into. And he decided, along with a man called David Percy, whom he had met at the Finchley Cine society, that he would like to make a film which would be a short, a cinema short that they would sell to the cinema and it would be on the cinema circuit along with other full length films, feature films, and those were the days when the shorts went along with the full length films. So Discomania was born. Now, the reason that Discomania was was chosen was because Oscar owned a couple of discotheques in London. And so as this was his passion and he had access to to the venues, he decided to make a story film about a young Walter Mitty character set in the discotheque in and around London. And he used professional actors. He always preferred to use professional actors, or semi professional, or else, very, very good amateurs. He always said that using amateurs who couldn't act very well, let your films down on the amateur scene. But this was disconnect. Was a professional film, and he and David Percy made this film. It was quite a large project, and it was shown around the the the on the, on this, on the circuit, yes, I don't know if it did. Well, we didn't make any money out of it. I think we broke even, but, but it went with quite a few of the very big films. So, you know, I suppose there just wasn't the money, and there were two partners to make out of it.

Paul Lecker 8:26

Did it last long? Was it duration? What half an hour?

Bobbi Riesel 8:30

It was about half an hour, yes, yes. And it was, it was, it was very successful in colour. Yes, it was colour. Yes, yes. By this time, all his films were in colour, I think from about 1980 when we started with the travelogues. Yes, they were all in colour and all all shot on film. At this point, 16 millimetre. 16 millimetre. He didn't change to video until much later. Discomania was so successful. He he felt that he wanted to carry on. He again. He felt he was always frustrated. He just wanted to make films, nothing else. So excess baggage became a club project next year that was in 1987

Paul Lecker 9:22

pretty close on.

Bobbi Riesel 9:25

Well, disconnect took a good year to make, and excess baggage was, as I say, a club production which Oscar directed, and he also, I think, he was director of photography. And it was his idea, his his conception. And it was a slapstick, a silent slapstick comedy about a honeymoon couple. And he always said, comedy must be the most difficult thing to do. So this, to him, was, again, really a challenge. And again, Nick. Came my son and myself, we were involved and as extras and voice overs, and I always did the catering for all the film shoots. You know, large quantities of sandwiches and whatever and drinks. NATTKE quite well. It won a bronze award at the sixth international Jewsburger Film Festival in Germany, and it won many inter club competitions.

Paul Lecker 10:26

Was it dubbed in any other language? Of course, being silent. Was there any dialogue at all in it? Did it completely start and finish?

Bobbi Riesel 10:33

None at all. No. It was, it was completely universal, yes, yes. Many years later we, we went to an inter visit with a club in Paris, a film club in Paris, and they asked us, would we bring a selection of films? And it was very difficult, because we knew there would be a language barrier. And we took excess baggage. We thought it would be ideal. And there must have been about 10 or 12 of us from Finchley, and we all sat there killing ourselves, the French sat there with long faces. They didn't know what we were laughing exactly, very different. But again, he was, he was dying to do more. And immediately after that came change of heart, which was a story film. Again, a very big project, and again, a club project from the Finchley Cine society. He liked to work with the Cine society. I think I can say that he was their star. He was the most creative, the most dedicated, and perhaps one of the best filmmakers they've ever had. I think I can say that actually I've heard I've heard them said often enough, so I ll blow his trumpet for him. And so this change of heart was a story film. It was about an innocent young man who was injured in a car accident, and there was a heart swap. It was, again, a big project, and again, amateur, sorry, semi professional actors, and that won the 10 Best and many other inter club trophies again, but that was a lot of work that involved a helicopter in it, and that involved actually filming in a hospital, in a Community Hospital, which was closing down in Hays in Middlesex, and we were one of the last ones to use this hospital as it closed. So there we were running around this empty building, which was echoing it was fun.

Paul Lecker 12:35

About post production. Did he edit most of the films?

Bobbi Riesel 12:39

He edited everything. Yes, we had an editing suite upstairs, and I knew that it was terribly important that he had films to make. He was then semi retired, and I knew that I had to grin and bear at my holidays being interrupted, because when he came home he would have maybe three, just Well, three, four months of editing to do, and that really kept him occupied, and he really loved

Paul Lecker 13:05

it. Yes, most the public aren't aware the amount of post production work, Noel,

Bobbi Riesel 13:11

no shooting. And I also worked from home. He worked upstairs in his little room, and I worked downstairs in my little room. And it felt like every five minutes, he would say, Bobby, just just look at this. No, Oscar, I'm busy at the moment. No, no, I just want just be okay, Oscar, and I would go up and I would look at the next little bit. Or, or, what do you think of this? Do they and this is Goon all day. And I used to say to him, Look, just do it, and then I ll watch it.

Paul Lecker 13:36

This is your hobby. Do it? Have him involved? You know, you to get you involved. So much enthusiastic?

Bobbi Riesel 13:45

Yes, yes. He was very enthusiastic. One day he he took me on an outing to the Daily Mail ski show. He said, let's go and have a look. And we went. This was the show at Olympia. And the next thing I knew, he had the camera with him, and he said, Let's make a film. I think actually, we went back the next day. We asked permission, we spoke to people, we did a little bit of research, and the next thing we knew was we had a film set up, you know, I think the weekend so the ski mania was the documentary about the daily mouse ski show at Olympia, and we did try and sell it, but unfortunately, we were never very good at selling his film, so we didn't sell it. But another type of film he always wanted to do was a cookery demonstration or a cookery programme. And in 1989 one of our larger than life. Friends, American girl who lived in the country did a cookery demonstration for us, and he made a little film about that. And I think he entered into competitions. It was nothing special, but it was a bit of fun. He just seemed to want to make films about everything and anything. Do. Yeah, during this time, we went to Florida. We went on cruises, always making films. We went to Majorca. Yes, 1990 was the start of our going to Majorca, because Subsequently, we went every year, and we have we were very much into boating. Oscar's other passion, apart from film making, was boating. And so we had a boat in the south of France until about 1990 when we moved it to Majorca. So we made a travelogue of Majorca, which was the start of it all, and New Orleans in 1991 he made a little promotional film. This was business. This was for radio taxis. It was a promotional film about a large black cab company. I think I ought to say this just happened to be his brother, just happened to be the chairman of it. So, you know, there was a little in he always said that the only way he got films that paid where, if he knew somebody, because he just was not good at selling. In 1992 Oscar was a refugee from Vienna, from Austria, and he felt the need to go back. He had left Vienna in 1938 as a child, he had come with his mother, who had got a permit, a domestic permit, to come to this country, and he unfortunately had had quite a difficult life. He had lived in an orphanage all his life. His parents had divorced when he was about four, and his mother couldn't afford to feed him, so thought that the best thing to do would be to put him in an orphanage, which we now know would probably not be the best thing to do. So he was in the orphanage till he was about 13 or 14, and when he was 14, she brought him to this country on this permit, and when she arrived at this house in Finchley Road in London, where she was going to be a domestic. The lady of the house said, Oh, you didn't say a boy was coming. No, sorry, you can stay, but the boy can't, so he was sent to a hostel, and he lived the rest of his days in hostels and and bed sits and digs until he established himself as he got older. But although he did go back to Vienna in I think it was about 1950 something, and made an early ski film there, of course, I wasn't on the scene at this time. He by 1992 he felt that he needed to lay a ghost again. He needed to go back. He had very mixed feelings about it. He wasn't sure how he would feel. So we went for four days again. We took our son, Nicky, with us, and he thought he would just do a little bit of filming, just film The parks and the statues, and we stayed in a hotel in the centre of the town, right beside the cathedral. And on the second day, all of a sudden, there was great activity at the Cathedral, and enormous flowers and and wreaths were arriving. And we said, what's going on? And they said, Ah, the last Empress has died. The last of the Habsburg family, yes, thank you. Has died. She was the mother of the member for the part European Parliament. I can't remember. Sorry, it'll come to me. And they were bringing her back. She'd been exiled for many, many years in Switzerland, and because she died, they brought her back for burial in in Vienna, which was going to be the next day. And Oscar got extremely excited and made the most wonderful film about this funeral. And he called it the last journey, and he talked about her last journey coming back, and then he ran parallel to his last journey when he left Vienna. And it was, of course, it was very personal to him, poignant, very poignant, and won lots of awards. So that was the last journey, and my own experience of Vienna, which is an interesting city on one of our trips to the south of France in 1992 this was the year that our son went off to camp, and Oscar and I drove down, and I said, Why don't we take a few days to drive down instead of rushing, as we always do, to get there? And we decided to stop in LL. And AAL is very famous because it's where Vincent van Gogh did a lot of his paintings, and katy's ear too, yes, exactly. And so we made a very beautiful film, I think, of a documentary of Vincent van Gogh. And again, that one various Inter. Hub awards again. By this time, he was becoming frustrated about wanting to get his teeth into a good film, into a story film again, and he he spoke to somebody he knew well. He kept asking people that he thought might have a script. Scripts were always the problem, finding a good script. And he was always asking people, talking to people, trying to get ideas. And he spoke to somebody he knew, who said, I know somebody who runs a writing group, writer circle. And it turned out that we, we met Robin Mukherjee. We were introduced to Robin Mukherjee, M, U, K, E, R, j, e, e. Robin Mukherjee was a writer at that time on casualty, which was on the BBC. And Robin said, Oh yes, I've got somebody in my writing circle who's got a very nice script. So we met this guy whose name I can't remember. I'm sorry I can't remember who wrote it, but it was a story called temptation, a film called temptation. It was at a about a pop star turned vicar, and I know, and it won many awards. It won the Best Story entry award at IAC. It won the 10 Best for the best story. It won Best Editing the international award for best club production and best foreign entry. It won barber 1919, 94 and Best Editing Award from the American motion picture society. Bava is the British Association of British amateur video awards. Sorry, and that replaced the 10 Best. So that was quite an occasion when we went to the BAFTA Institute in Piccadilly to receive the award. Then followed the American dream, a travelogue in California, Palm Springs, San Diego and Los Angeles.

Paul Lecker 22:10

Where did it? Were they shown? Did you go to any screenings at the time, or any events where the films were shown,

Bobbi Riesel 22:21

no, very often they were sent abroad, just sent abroad, and they won competitions, and we got trophies and certificates back. So no, we didn't. We never really followed them. No, of course, they were shown often in his club and in other film clubs and in competitions in this country, which we did. We did go to yes, if we could, couldn't always do it. But did

Paul Lecker 22:43

he discuss different subjects with his fellow members, you know, of the amateur movements? Did he in fact?

Bobbi Riesel 22:54

Oh yes, oh yes. It was his passion, and he could have talked about it all day long. Yes, yes. He He began to write in cam Korda user, along with some of the other members of the Finchley Cine society, they were invited to to send in pieces that they could publish, or very often, it would be ask the club, and if people had problems with with their filmmaking or so so help and yes, that sort of thing. Yes, yes. And in 1994 he, I think he'd sold his last club, or no, he know he'd nearly sold his last club. He'd sold his first club. That was it, yes. And his discotheque, yes, yes, yes. Were you both involved? No, I wasn't involved in this. No, no, he did have partners in it, and he was very sad that he had to give it up. But he had problems with managers and leases, and he realised that he was too old at that point to to run a discotheque, and they had problems with the licence. So he he finished up with that one, and that was his major business. And and I said, Okay, Oscar, time to get rid of your car. You've had this car for 10 years. It's enough. You gotta buy yourself a nice car. And he said, but I love my car. And I said, No, no, no, gotta have a decent car. And it was a Mercedes. And Oscar never liked change. He didn't like new things. So I suppose, in a way, I should be glad he didn't change me in so we tried to sell this Mercedes with great difficulty. I think the difficulty was that Oscar had it in his head that this was the most precious car and that people would pay millions for it. So he had difficulty selling it because his price was, of course, too high. So one day he said, Let's go to the Mercedes car rally, which we'd never heard of before. And it was quite near, I think it was in Uxbridge, near where we live. I. We went along there, and didn't he only take his camera with him, and we sat there for the day, displaying the car and chatting to other Mercedes owners. And the next thing we know is Oscar's made a beautiful little film, which he sent to the club, and they were all thrilled with in, I think, about a year after that, 1995 we have a friend who has an art gallery in central London, and he said, I've got an opening of a new a new exhibition. It's a painter that I've used that has been exhibiting with me for many years. But come and have a drink and come to the opening, and then we'll all go out for dinner, which is something that we often did, and we went to this exhibition, and we were captivated by this wonderful art. And Oscar and I were not great art appreciators. We didn't think we had any great insight into art, but this was just something that appealed to us. The artist was called PJ crook. She is a very petite, little lady, very slim, very small, and does the most wonderful modern art. And we were so taken by it. And Oscar said, I would love to make a film about her. Do you think she'd be interested? And I said, Well, let's ask. And she was there with her husband, and we asked, and she was absolutely bowled over by this. She thought this would be wonderful. And her name was Pam, and she lived in near, just outside Cheltenham. So to cut a long story short, Oscar and I would bomb down to Cheltenham every, every few weeks, we do a day's filming with them, and she and her husband were delightful, and they entertained us, and they were absolutely thrilled when they saw the finished product. She sent copies here, there and everywhere, to friends and agents. So she was, she was thrilled with it. It won again, lots of competitions, IAC and Barbara again, and just by coincidence, Robin Mukherjee, who was the writer who was involved in temptation, said everybody knew Oscar was always looking for a story or a subject for a film. He said, I've got a painter friend. And I said, Oh, Oscar, not a painter again. We've just done it. And he said, Well, let's see. And I thought, well, if this is a good idea, there's no way we're going to get out of it. So we met Tony Lawrence, who was a painter and a friend of Robert Robin Mukherjee. And Tony Lawrence, his speciality at that moment was clouds. And we went to look at his exhibition in London, which was one cloud after another, interesting and a lot of religious paintings. And we said we might like to make a film about him. And he was, of course, very thrilled. And he said, Well, he said, I'm about to do a painting of The Last Supper, my version of The Last Supper. So we said, well, that that sounds interesting. Maybe we could follow you as you do it. And that's what we did. Tony. Lived in Lymington or just outside Lymington, and we would again bomb up and down those motorways. And every few weeks we'd we'd track the the progress of this painting. And what he did was he, he used the faces of all his friends and acquaintances as the apostles and and Oscar was in it. Oscar's face was in it. And I did the interviewing, as well as the commentaries for Oscar's films. I did the interviews. So I was quite involved in the Tony Lawrence. In fact, I was quite involved with PJ cook as well. And then we had the unveiling of the Last Supper. Tony Lawrence took everybody to Chewton Glen hotel in the New Forest, and we all had a big dinner at all in one big room. And then there was the unveiling of the painting, and that, again, won IAC in Barber. Amongst other things, we have a friend who is an actor, and his name is Chuck Yeager. That's j, A, G, E, R, and Chuck said, I've been asked to direct an amateur production. He was doing it in a professional capacity. He said, For the Rickmansworth players, I'm going to do the making. I'm going to do, sorry, 42nd street. Do you fancy making a documentary about that, or filming it or something? And Oscar said, Yes, most definitely. So we made the making of 42nd street that was a fly on the wall documentary charting the successes of a production of. 42nd street From its humble beginnings to its opening night. And shot where this was shot in in Rick wins Rickman, in the Rehearsal Studios, which was a hall they used there and then in the waters meet theatre where it was eventually shown. So we did the dress rehearsal, and we did, we didn't do the first night. Of course, we didn't. We just did the dress rehearsal and, you know, mocked it up to be like the first night. Yes, they just wouldn't let us do the first night, but they did allow us to come and sit and relax, yes, and they were absolutely thrilled with that. That also won quite a few prizes, and we sold quite a few copies. We never made anything really, on any of these films, you know, would cost us so much, you know, with all the running around. I mean, of course, by this time we were on video, but the running around and the, you know, we did spend quite a bit, but, you know, to sell a few video copies, and didn't really balance it up. But still, he always said he did it for the love of it, not the money.

Paul Lecker 31:08

Is that why? In the long run, he never considered going professional, in other words, being, I think he didn't the regular film industry or the television crowd.

Bobbi Riesel 31:21

I think that he, in the early days, he had a problem with with the unions. I'm not I can't remember exactly what the problem was, but he did have a problem, and he he was then putting his energies into making a living and and existing on his own laterally when he probably could have done it. He had a lot of ill health. And this is Yes, way Yes. This is why,

Paul Lecker 31:52

anyway, he had exclusive control, did he of course,

Bobbi Riesel 31:56

of course, and exclusive control about how we worked, because he didn't have the energy to, well, I mean, he had amazing energy when he was filming, but not for anything else. She used to say, Oh, look at his eyes lighting up. How can he do a 12 hour day, you know? And normally he can't even, you know, walk around the room without getting tired. But, no, but he, you know, that's why I worked with him, because I knew that. I knew his limitations and and I took a lot of the strain for him. So I don't think I could have worked in the professional film industry. I wouldn't have wanted to, wasn't my thing. Then we started to go more exotic on our holidays. Then we went to Barbados and Bangkok and Phuket and again, travelogue, wherever we went,

Paul Lecker 32:48

they're all about the same length of time. Yes,

Bobbi Riesel 32:51

all of all about 20 minutes. Yes, we went to Barcelona and made a very beautiful film. And then one day in about 1998 it was a Saturday morning, and the telephone rang, and a man asked to speak to Oscar, and he told me his name, and I gave the phone to Oscar, and he was absolutely amazed. This was his friend, Walter Hillinger, Walter and Oscar had been friends since they were children in Vienna, and when Oscar had gone left Vienna at the age of 14 to come here, he somehow assumed that Walter had perished, like so many others. And although he'd thought about her many times through the years as he thought about others, he assumed that Walter had perished, and this was Walter. He had actually gone to live in Israel about the same time. He knew that Oscar had gone to London, because Oscar had obviously left before him. He said he'd often asked people, do you know Oscar Riesel? And you know, he said, Well, London's a big place. Yes, they could have known him, but it seems that Walter was reading the cam Korda user one day in Israel, and he saw Oscar's name, and he just knew, Oh, and he saw Oscar's face, and he just knew, after 60 years, this was his friend. So there was great excitement, and they promised they would meet, and Walter was to come here, and we were to go to Israel, and nothing happened. And they talked and talked, and Walter had things on, and we had things on, and nothing happened. And one one summer we we'd been on holiday, we'd come back from Majorca in August or September, and I said, right, Oscar, we're going to go to Israel before something happens. And neither of you meet, and that's exactly what we did in the October, we flew out, and there was a very emotional reunion between the two. And it was quite funny, because Oscar said, Walter, I want to make a film about. At this reunion. So could you please go out again and come in and pretend

Paul Lecker 35:05

that we haven't met? Very difficult. Impromptu,

Bobbi Riesel 35:09

yes, and this, Walter was amazing. He took us around and sightseeing and sharing his places. And always ask her, saying, what could you do that again? Please? No, I haven't got this right. And Walter would look at me and he would say, Is he always like this? Does it have to be? And I know he found it very difficult, but he he was very patient, I must say. And we made a very beautiful film about the reunion.

Bobbi Riesel 35:41

And sadly, that was his last film. Just after it was released,

Bobbi Riesel 35:48

and we sent a copy to Walter. Oscar died just after that, it did win the annual movie competition at the International Film and Video festival. It did win a few other competitions.

Paul Lecker 36:02

I've noticed those cups that you have there. Yes, are they all to be retained? In London?

Bobbi Riesel 36:10

They're all to be retained? Yes, yes. And I did have some when he died that had been meant for a year or so, and they all went back. He had a sound one. And I actually can't remember exactly what a lot of club trophies, yeah, but I said, I said to his film club when he died, I said, I'd love to give you a trophy. And they said, Please don't we have so many. But they said we will have an Oscar Riessel trophy of some sort, or award of some sort, yes, yes, yes, but they just felt that there were too many trophies to be given out each time.

Manny Yospa 36:50

What's happened to all the films? Are they either the BFI or no,

Bobbi Riesel 36:57

they are in archive. Somebody in his film club is holding them, but I have everything transferred to tape, so I have a copy of everything

Manny Yospa 37:12

we have to preserve them. Yes.

Bobbi Riesel 37:14

How do you preserve film there? Oh,

Manny Yospa 37:21

what we do with these tapes? We send them to the British Film Institute archives, and they have laboratories temperature control, which they use for every British film has to go there, and they are preserved there. I see that's a good idea. In touch with the BFI, then I think they will be happy to look after them.

Bobbi Riesel 37:42

Yes, yes, maybe, thank you, yes, yes. That might be an idea, because I know they're just sitting they're sitting in somebody's office, and some of them are as old as 1952

Manny Yospa 37:55

53 not only that, but they'll also be available for people who study films.

Paul Lecker 38:00

Yes, as I mentioned my letter, you know, the media, immediate subject faculties, is getting bigger and

Bobbi Riesel 38:07

bigger. Yes, it is. You're right, yes, yes, of course, yeah,

Manny Yospa 38:16

yes. We're actually coming to the end of the first side anyway, and put it on the pause at the moment i.

End of Side 1

Side 2

Bobbi Riesel 0:11

Oscar came to this country in 1938 and he had an extremely difficult beginning. He went from hostel to bed sit to digs. He was extremely unsettled. He from the age of four, never really lived with his family, although he did have parents, as I said before, he was put into an orphanage at the age of four because his parents were divorced and his father wouldn't support him, and in those days, there was no such thing as social services. So he came to this country a real survivor, having to fight his way. And that he did. He tried very hard. First of all, he went to school for a very short time. He was 14 then, and he was sent, during the war to Brighton or Hove to the Brighton area. I know. I think he lived in a hostel there, and there, he tried his hand at the many jobs. He used to tell people how many jobs he'd had, not in numbers, but he used to go through it. He'd worked in an avatar, he'd done woodwork, he'd made lamp sheds, he'd made dolls, costumes. He'd sold fashions. He'd manufactured fashions. The list is endless of all the things he tried. One of his passions was drumming. And he used to, I think he must have been in his 20s when he used to do what we now call gigs. He used to play drums for various functions. And so he had a musical talent, maybe I ll change that. He had a talent, a rhythm talent. And interestingly enough, our son is also a drummer. Now he has inherited that from him. And during this time, he became friendly with another man called Kurt Eichner, e, i, c, h, n, e r, who was also interested in dances, etc. And sorry, now I made a mistake. He wasn't, at this time, hitched up with Kurt. No, on his own, he started dances, organising Jewish dances for single Jewish people in London, and this must have been in the early 50s, Sunday night. Yes, Sunday night at Baker Street, just in Bexted. He used to hire a place. And we used to laugh, because he would say that it started at seven and ended at 11, and they went home, whereas now his son goes out at 11, and he, he became quite successful. It was called Club Vienna. He gave it his own name. Then, I think there was a problem it. He had, they had to vacate the premises, so he wasn't able to do it there. And then he became friendly with Kurt. And between them, they decided to open a club in Oxford Street. So they opened up a club in the 1960s called Club Concord. And people today still remember club Concord. It was, it was very well known amongst the young single people. And Oscar had that club until the until the week he died, and that was just by coincidence that he lost the lease the week he died after having had it for many years. We wonder whether it was a contributory factor of his death that he lost this lease through a technicality, something that was overlooked by them and the solicitor, and they had let it out, but it was still his baby. And so he and Kurt ran this club for over 30 years in London. Yes, of course it changed, and the style of it changed so many times later, he opened up another club in Leicester Square, which was a prime position, but he catered a lot for tourists. So it was always reliant on the tourists coming and whether they would like the particular style of music.

Bobbi Riesel 4:18

That club closed in about 96 again, a problem with the lease so,

Bobbi Riesel 4:26

so that was the end of that. He made many films in the early days. I think he started his film career in about 1952 we always laugh because I was born in 1950 and I was just, I was a baby, and he was just making films. So it, it felt very strange, but we were able to laugh about it. One of his, his very well known films, was a film made in the 1950s called BFI. And faith.

Bobbi Riesel 5:02

It was about a woman who who was blind, and about a con man who conned her.

Speaker 1 5:13

The girl that he used was an actress called Ellen Bluthor. She was quite a famous actress in her time, and she related

Paul Lecker 5:22

to the Australian actor, I don't know, Ll.

Speaker 1 5:30

And she, she went, she went to school with Anne Frank, actually, and Blind Faith won many, many awards. Another person who was in blind faith was John Collin, who was quite a well known actor in his time. I think he's not with us any any longer. He made a film called Vienna Today, which was his earlier trip to Vienna, the first one after the war,

Bobbi Riesel 6:03

he made a film called Shapes In Plaster, about, about a sculptor.

Speaker 1 6:13

Vienna, Today, actually was a traveller with a difference. It it was modern. Vienna, then, and suddenly the mood changed then, and the we were reminded it was a city which was supported by the Nazis, so there was a lot of marching and military songs and and flames and ruins filled this the screen, and it -

Paul Lecker 6:36

Was this interposed with interviews of the person persecuted during that time, or was it?

Speaker 1 6:43

I'm not sure. I can't remember. Actually, it was so long ago. I haven't seen it for such a long time, but it was looking back at the persecution of the Jews and wondering how it could be the same city that looked so beautiful at that point. Again, as with his previous, not previous, but with his later Vienna film, it had an immense personal quality, as it was his home,

Bobbi Riesel 7:17

Okay, so he won.

Bobbi Riesel 7:36

Sorry. I need to, I need to, please. A political film.

Paul Lecker 7:45

How did that go? I mean, what a symbolic term is dealing with.

Bobbi Riesel 7:56

Out of Harmony was

Paul Lecker 7:58

political satire. How can you what symbols did they take? You know, was it

Bobbi Riesel 8:03

Political? Three musicians just talk about this film, and then, if you could, if you could stop it after I've well " Out of Harmony, was symbolised by three musicians playing at a concert, and as the music begins, we see them turned into political figures, arguing around the conference table. They run through the routine bluff of the Cold War, vying with each other for the neutrals confidence, briefly United when the neutral tries to imitate their aggressiveness, ultimately threatening each other across the artificial barrier that they build on the table top. It was said it was a clever, uncomfortable film at its time, which had a great deal to say. I think technically, it was extremely polished, and the photographic quality was very accomplished for that time, even though it was quite unpalatable for most at that time, again, out of harmony won many competitions that out of harmony was about 1960 in it. It was screened at the National Film Theatre in London, and it won the IAC and malt house and 10 Besche. Are quite a lot of early films, but a lot of them, because I wasn't involved in it's really difficult to talk about them. I'm just looking to see what else I can tell you about shapes and plaster. I think I've talked about, was a film about a sculptor that was with an explanatory narrative. He won awards for the editing,

Speaker 1 9:53

and it was said that technically, it had the kind of professional confidence and Powell. Ish that they had come to expect from him. He was gaining quite a reputation. It was a film that nearly wasn't made. I believe he did a lot of work for Fitzpatrick contractors motorway construction. He was involved in the bypass on the M4

Paul Lecker 10:23

That's the Slough bypass.

Speaker 1 10:24

Yes, yes. And a concrete, a pre stressed concrete bridge to carry the A 106 over the River Lee. And he made films of all of these. And again, as Oscar always said, it's who you know, because his contact there left.

Bobbi Riesel 10:41

And so he he was unable to carry that on. I think that's really all I can talk about. About his earlier days

Paul Lecker 10:54

There was the Temple Mills bridge. Yes,

Speaker 1 10:57

that was also for Fitzpatrick, yes, yeah. Yes, just the Blind Faith seemed to be the very big film in those days. Winning many awards

Paul Lecker 11:11

There was also a nearer to London film shot in 1968 I

Speaker 1 11:20

I don't know about that. I can't remember about that one. I'd have to, I'd have to look it up. I mean, it was said that he'd become, at one point, he'd become one of the best known eight millimetre users. Because of his success at the 10 bests, he was winning the 10 Best Year after year. And at that time, he belonged to the Kensington Film Club. But when I married him, just after I married him, I should say he he knew that he'd heard about the Finchley Cine Society, and he knew that it was a very successful club, and he felt this is what he wanted to do. He wanted to belong there, even though they met on a Friday night, which was not always convenient. In fact, it was never convenient, but I had to. I had to pacify myself that this is what he wanted to do, and it made him happy. So I went along with it. And of course, it was very productive for him to belong there. Okay, we needed, we needed to put a patio door in, in our in our lounge here. And we called in a firm called Cold shield, and they're true to form. Oscar got a film out of it, so he filmed the fitters, and they were able to use it as an instructional film. And no, we didn't get a free door, but I think we got a small discount, so that was just another way that we were able to use his films to an advantage, or his film making, I should say,

Paul Lecker 13:02

How do you feel about going on? Do you want to continue?

Bobbi Riesel 13:05

I don't mind if you think,

Paul Lecker 13:07

let's take another area.

Paul Lecker 13:11

So what anything can you want to summarise or, or, you know, sort of make a natural end to or do you want to still may recall other productions which you have escaped your memory. Or do you want to sort of pay tribute? Finally, the sort of man he was,

Speaker 1 13:31

Well, I think, I think that the sad thing was, I think he was somebody who loved the recognition that he got. He really did love it. He needed it.

Paul Lecker 13:41

Yes, but there's also need by society. You see, all these art forms fulfil need in society, generally, for information, knowledge. You know, a record of of the period, the era we live in. So you know, there is certain people do things for certain reasons, and at least he did it for his own social occupation.

Bobbi Riesel 14:05

It was his hobby. Yes, very much his hobby. And I think the saddest thing since he's died was the the recognition he's received and the The adoration he's received since he died. He did get recognition when he was alive, but I just wish he had have been here afterwards. I wish he had have been at his funeral. I know he was, in a way, but I wish he had have seen it. I wish he had have seen the hundreds of people who came. I wish he had have heard the tributes, especially from the film people. I think he would have been so chuffed. I do remember him saying to me in the hospital just before he died, a few days before he died, make sure my film with Walter does the rounds. That's my friend, Walter, his last film. And as usual, I said, Oscar, for goodness sakes, stop it. Of course, you're not going to die because he spent his lifetime. Him he was gonna die. From the minute I married him, he was gonna die. So, of course, I never believed it, because I thought he go on forever. He always did. He was ill all the time, but always went on and, and I think that it really was his swan song. Was, this is what he said to me. He said it was my swan song. And, and again, I said, Oh, come on, not, not that nonsense again. Come on, you're going to be all right. I really didn't believe he was going to die. I didn't think that this was it, but, but I think that he, he made, I think he went out with a bang. He made a wonderful film before he went and and I think that film will never age, and it's already being used for educational purposes, you know, teaching children about the Holocaust, and

Paul Lecker 15:46

we need to impress that. And

Bobbi Riesel 15:50

so I just think it's, as I say, very sad that he didn't see the the recognition, the recognition adoration

Paul Lecker 16:00

in using central London, who was in.

End of interview

This transcript has been produced automatically using Otter, https://get.otter.ai/interview-transcription/.

Manny Yospa 0:00

Paul Lecker 0:32

housed in that lead

Bobbi Riesel 0:39

Paul Lecker 0:53

No, I'm gonna ask the first question, right? Yes, Bobbi, when did you first meet Oscar?

Bobbi Riesel 0:59

We first met in 1994 we were both at a charity function, and I met him as I was going in, and we started going out together. Went out together for nearly two years.

Paul Lecker 1:16

And what production was he gauging at the time, or

Bobbi Riesel 1:22

Paul Lecker 1:46

Did you subsequently get involved with productions?

Bobbi Riesel 1:51

Paul Lecker 2:24

wasn't in this was approximately what year, 1974 1974 was there any notable event going on at the same time? Or was this a story? What type of production

Bobbi Riesel 2:36

module? This was journey to England. It was about young people coming through Sri Lanka to settle in England. And Oscar was involved with somebody in making this film, a man called and we called him lucky Pereira, or I think his real name was Lakshi Pereira. And he was quite a well known filmmaker in Sri Lanka, who wanted to come to this country to, I suppose, become famous and make his fortune. I don't think he did. I think eventually he went back to Sri Lanka, but he was, he did a lot of work when he was here. And I know that his his day job was working as cinema manager. They lived, I think, in the South Hall area. And when journey to England was completed, I remember we had a lovely party in their home, which was super so that was about 1974 I don't think we were married at that time. I think I was just going out with him and Oscar and I had a rather large age gap between us. So marriage was something that was going to be quite difficult, so we had to take a long time to think about it, and we eventually did get married in 1976 much to the horror of all our family and friends who knew it would never last. And I'm happy to say it lasted until his death 20 nearly 23 years later. During that time, he then became quite frustrated that he wasn't making films. At the beginning of our marriage, he somehow had seemed to come to a full stop, and so we then started to make travelogues when we went on holiday, I always said that I only got a decent holiday if Oscar could make a good travelogue. And in fact, there were occasions when when I wanted to go somewhere and we couldn't, because he said it wouldn't be a good film opportunity. So so we didn't. He always called the shots as far as the places and the countries were concerned. Sometimes I did a good sales job there and talked him into it if I really wanted to go somewhere. But we in the early days, we made travelogues in ilat and Corfu and Portugal, and I helped him with the research. Usually. We did a little bit of research before we went, and we did research when we were there, although very often it was a week or two weeks holiday. And I'm afraid I did grumble a little bit that my whole holiday was often taken over by this film and dedication, dedication, and I was always hot and bothered, and in the very high temperatures, he would want me to put on thick makeup and do my hair and and this time we had we had our son. He was born in 1978 and so we took him on all these holidays with us. His name was Nicholas. Are we recording? Yes, oh, sorry, didn't I should start okay. And he was born 1978 as I say.

Bobbi Riesel 5:49

He grew up being told you, do not look at the camera.

Bobbi Riesel 5:58

Paul Lecker 8:26

Did it last long? Was it duration? What half an hour?

Bobbi Riesel 8:30

Paul Lecker 9:22

pretty close on.

Bobbi Riesel 9:25

Well, disconnect took a good year to make, and excess baggage was, as I say, a club production which Oscar directed, and he also, I think, he was director of photography. And it was his idea, his his conception. And it was a slapstick, a silent slapstick comedy about a honeymoon couple. And he always said, comedy must be the most difficult thing to do. So this, to him, was, again, really a challenge. And again, Nick. Came my son and myself, we were involved and as extras and voice overs, and I always did the catering for all the film shoots. You know, large quantities of sandwiches and whatever and drinks. NATTKE quite well. It won a bronze award at the sixth international jewsburger Film Festival in Germany, and it won many inter club competitions.

Paul Lecker 10:26

Was it dubbed in any other language? Of course, being silent. Was there any dialogue at all in it? Did it completely start and finish?

Bobbi Riesel 10:33

Paul Lecker 12:35

About post production. Did he edit most of the films?

Bobbi Riesel 12:39

Paul Lecker 13:05

it. Yes, most the public aren't aware the amount of post production work, Noel,

Bobbi Riesel 13:11

Paul Lecker 13:36

This is your hobby. Do it? Have him involved? You know, you to get you involved. So much enthusiastic?

Bobbi Riesel 13:45

Paul Lecker 22:10

Where did it? Were they shown? Did you go to any screenings at the time, or any events where the films were shown,

Bobbi Riesel 22:21

Paul Lecker 22:43

he discuss different subjects with his fellow members, you know, of the amateur movements? Did he in fact?

Bobbi Riesel 22:54

Paul Lecker 31:08

Is that why? In the long run, he never considered going professional, in other words, being, I think he didn't the regular film industry or the television crowd.

Bobbi Riesel 31:21

Paul Lecker 31:52

anyway, he had exclusive control, did he of course,

Bobbi Riesel 31:56

Paul Lecker 32:48

they're all about the same length of time. Yes,

Bobbi Riesel 32:51

Paul Lecker 35:05

that we haven't met? Very difficult. Impromptu,

Bobbi Riesel 35:09

Bobbi Riesel 35:41

And sadly, that was his last film. Just after it was released,

Bobbi Riesel 35:48

and we sent a copy to Walter. Oscar died just after that, it did win the annual movie competition at the International Film and Video festival. It did win a few other competitions.

Paul Lecker 36:02

I've noticed those cups that you have there. Yes, are they all to be retained? In London?

Bobbi Riesel 36:10

They're all to be retained? Yes, yes. And I did have some when he died that had been meant for a year or so, and they all went back. He had a sound one. And I actually can't remember exactly what a lot of club trophies, yeah, but I said, I said to his film club when he died, I said, I'd love to give you a trophy. And they said, Please don't we have so many. But they said we will have an Oscar reissel trophy of some sort, or award of some sort, yes, yes, yes, but they just felt that there were too many trophies to be given out each time.

Manny Yospa 36:50

What's happened to all the films? Are they either the BFI or no,

Bobbi Riesel 36:57

they are in archive. Somebody in his film club is holding them, but I have everything transferred to tape, so I have a copy of everything

Manny Yospa 37:12

we have to preserve them. Yes.

Bobbi Riesel 37:14

How do you preserve film there? Oh,

Manny Yospa 37:21

Bobbi Riesel 37:42

Yes, yes, maybe, thank you, yes, yes. That might be an idea, because I know they're just sitting they're sitting in somebody's office, and some of them are as old as 1952

Manny Yospa 37:55

53 not only that, but they'll also be available for people who study films.

Paul Lecker 38:00

Yes, as I mentioned my letter, you know, the media, immediate subject faculties, is getting bigger and

Bobbi Riesel 38:07

bigger. Yes, it is. You're right, yes, yes, of course, yeah,

Manny Yospa 38:16

yes. We're actually coming to the end of the first side anyway, and put it on the pause at the moment i.

Biographical

Married to Oscar Reisel