John Landy on ABC's Stateline

In 1998, at the tail end of a highly successful career in the field of agricultural science, John Landy assisted the NFSA in helping to promote our latest video release, Melbourne: Films of the Fifties. A 150-minute social history documentary of Australia’s second largest city during the 1950s, the production was compiled entirely from the NFSA’s moving image collection. Launched in association with the Australian Book Fair at the Melbourne Exhibition Centre in June 1998, Landy graciously hosted the event and later participated in the press coverage. As video producer Ken Berryman recalls today, 'John was extremely generous with his time, candid and insightful about his sporting career, and genuinely interested in the work of the Archive and its efforts to make our filmed history more accessible to the Australian public.'

In this story excerpt from an off-recording of ABC TV Melbourne’s Stateline, Berryman and Landy reflect on Melbourne life in the 1950s. This chosen excerpt is an unusual mix of footage that cuts between Landy at the NFSA in 1998 to newsreel footage of one his most iconic races and shots of Melbourne from the mid 1950s with an unidentified woman doing voiceover. However, this clip does a great job of illustrating Landy's affection for his home city and his generous collaboration with the NFSA.

Summary by Simon Smith