Marilyn Dooley’s recollections

Richard, or Mr Keys, as I usually called him, was one of those work colleagues who was a font of knowledge and fondly remembered. Richard was a Cinephile through and through. He deeply loved and appreciated cinema and could talk endlessly about his favourite films. 

He also wanted to, and indeed, for many years, did share his love of films with screenings for U3A groups, along with his late mate Alan Duke. Together they screened prints carefully threaded onto portable projectors and choosing international titles for the edification of their audience.

Now, Richard was so into film that it was just pointless to try to out trivia him and certainly out quote him. You could easily miss the point of what Richard might be saying if you did not know that he was suddenly feeding you lines from Casablanca or some other classic of cinema. Imagine how chuffed I was when Mr Keys would tell all and sundry that one of his favourite film moments was hearing me introduce a screening of Casablanca by pronouncing on Ten Reasons why Everyone should watch Casablanca. This was at the National Library theatre in Canberra on behalf of the Reel McCoy Film Society, of which Richard was a founding member.

Being so devoted to film as he was, I just accepted it as Richard’s Way. On the night, we had an after-hours emergency at the NFSA; and in my capacity as one of the building’s Fire Wardens, we had to evacuate the building. We had a theatrette full of school kids, staff working with chemicals in the basement laboratories and, in the courtyard, was a film society audience for an outdoor screening hosted by Richard. ‘Richard’s Way’ was when he refused to abandon the film and projector, unless he could be assured that they were safe and that the screening could continue from the exact frame at which it was switched off. He got his Way.