Reel life of ‘Little Bike Lost’ comes alive again
Avishka presents a copy of the book to the chief guest at the launch, former Rector of St. Joseph’s College Rev. Victor Silva. Pic by Nilan Maligaspe
Father Noel Crusz was a presbyter whose name is carved among the most ‘maverick’ clergymen Ceylon has known. In the 1960s, the handsome priest was to obtain a dispensation from the Pope to marry in church his cousin Marie Tirzah Crusz, after leaving the priesthood. He is also known for his 2001 book, The Cocos Islands Mutiny– an authoritative account of the disastrous uprising by gunners of the Ceylon Garrison Artillery that took place in 1942 during the Second World War.
Apart from being a teacher and media man (in both electronic and print), Noel was also the director of the first schoolboy film in Ceylon, coming out in 1956 – the same year as Lester James Pieris’s Rekhava.
Young Avishka Mario Senewiratne has resurrected from dusty and forgotten history the story of this film, titled Little Bike Lost. His book – Noel Crusz’s Little Bike Lost – launched last Thursday, has been a labour of love, looking back on how Noel got together a cast and crew from St. Joseph’s College Maradana and Holy Family Convent Bambalapitiya to do a Ceylonese version of Vittorio de Sica’s film Bicycle Thieves.
Page from the past: Invitation to the film premiere at the Lionel Wendt in 1956
The path was laid to Avishka’s book when he wrote his first book, a biography of his alma mater St. Joseph’s. For the launch of that lofty tome, he procured a six minute clip from Noel’s film, in black and white. At the sight of old footage of their school, albeit crackling, the audience gave it an unexpected standing ovation.
Many present, including Bishop Anton Ranjit, were quite curious about the vintage film showing favourite Josephian College haunts and Avishka thought he’d write an article on it.
But, “with the information throwing in from all directions” it evolved into a full-fledged book, illustrated handsomely with photos and sketches.
Noel early on, did a radio programme called the Catholic Hour on Radio Ceylon and given his talent, was sent on a scholarship overseas to learn radio broadcasting and filmmaking.
After training at the BBC then Vatican Radio, he was to also visit the Italian homeland of St. Maria Goretti and do a film featuring the mother, sisters and repentent murderer of the saint.
Hardly the kind of person, you would think, to be scampering after adolescents with a camera and jumping on to an improvised trolley (really the school’s dirt cart) to record the ‘moving’ scenes.
But this was the role he played as director, and the book gives a picture of how this feat was achieved.
Noel, a Peterite, joined the staff at St. Joseph’s after his stint abroad, and formed the Film Society as an inspired antidote to the ‘hooliganism’ which was a problem to him as the teacher in charge of discipline.
“In Maradana in that time was a cinema called New Olympia and the Film Society was anxious to watch Bicycle Thieves which was being shown there,” says Avishka.
One senior boarder, Chester Fernando, ‘scaled the wall’ as boarders could not leave the hostel. Jumping back after the film he was caught red-handed by the Rector Fr. Peter Pillai and was caned.
Noel Crusz
It was Chester who wrote the script for Little Bike Lost after his idea to do a film was approved by the enthusiastic Father Noel. Instead of having a father and son searching for the bicycle thief as in the original film, Chester had two brothers looking for a bike stolen by a gang of school bullies.
Three Burgher girls from Holy Family Convent – Rosemary and Pamela Kreltsheim and Carmen Arendtsz – were part of the cast.
Avishka says it is sad that Little Bike Lost remains the only school film production save Ralatharanaya (‘Through the Tempest’) by Holy Family Convent, Kalutara done in 2003, despite the fact that a film today is a matter of shooting easily with a ubiquitous mobile phone, “whereas in the ’50s the editing alone involved cutting with a splicer and pasting with special tape.” Avishka says he hopes today’s schoolchildren would be inspired to use their prowess with technology for such aesthetic ends.
The book is a complete record of this Josephian-Familian adventure from the selection of the cast and crew to attendant ‘tragedies’, the ‘gala premiere’ at the Wendt where “the Honourable the Prime Minister and Mrs. Bandaranaike” graced the event to amusing events afterwards like the story of the ‘three Tarzans’.
To purchase Noel Crusz’s Little Bike Lost: The story of Sri Lanka’s First Schoolboy Film contact 0766122345.
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