"The Glittering Mile" (1964)

The entire 1964 documentary about Sydney's Kings Cross "The Glittering Mile*. David Low's classic narration says it all: King Cross is a "glittering mile of dreams, delusions, hopes and headaches, where life comes out of an espresso machine and you can have it any way you like it."

In some ways, Kings Cross, described as Sin City, hasn't changed at all. One Sydney alderman wants to clean it up, another says it's worth a million dollars a year the way it is.

American singer Wayne Newton, the so-called King of Las Vegas, has just flown in and is seen rehearsing for his opening night at the Silver Spade Room at the Chevron Hotel. He's singing Danke Schön — "Thank you for all the joy and pain."

Outside, the people celebrate the bohemian way of life and complain about the weirdos who congregate there. A dancer at the Pink Pussycat tells a reporter, "Well, you get a lot of creeps around here, I know that. You get pestered walking from one club to another." A New Zealander and his mates perform an impromptu haka outside one strip club.

Dancing girls. Another voiceover demonstrates the way women were portrayed in the media in the '60s: "If it's company you're after, there are plenty of girls at the Cross. The place is full of girls, coming and going. It's hard to understand what keeps them busy all night long." And another: "You can be catered for at places where the girls are provided to please you, but you mustn't touch."

The manager at the Pink Pussycat, "Last Card Louie" says, "I've seen the (striptease) show 39,000 times. It's just one of those things. I don't know what to think about it, to tell you the truth."

Another sign that some things never change is the "frequently heard demand around the Cross" for more police ... and for more police on the beat. One resident even keeps a diary of all the crimes that she hears and sees from her flat.

An interviewer speaks to the infamous "witch of Kings Cross" Rosaleen Norton at the Apollyon Lounge, a cafe that she used to frequent. A robed Rosaleen Norton performs a banishing ritual by inscribing a pentagram in the air with her ceremonial athame, or dagger, thereby purifying and defining the ‘sacred space’ associated with the ritual. However we know that Norton was not always robed during her ceremonial performances because she confirmed in her interview with D.L. Thompson that ‘ceremonial attire ranges from nakedness to full regalia – robes, hood, sandals and accessories...’. Norton appeared during her interview with Thompson clad only in her dark leather ‘witch’s apron’, naked from the waist up, although she later posed for a photograph wearing a cat’s mask in addition to her apron. During Norton’s interview with Thompson her fellow coven members wore ritual animal masks to disguise their identity and referred to each other by using code names like the Rat and the Toad, thereby remaining effectively anonymous. (see Neville Drury's article on Roie)

The excerpt ends with an all-male revue. The narration reads: "A few years ago an all-male revue like Les Girls would have been out of the question in Sydney, as it would in most places where people like the differences between the sexes to be clear and obvious. Today, it's part of the Kings Cross scene." And now years later, it still is ... with the Gay Mardi Gras now one of the highlights of Sydney's social calendar.

The Glittering Mile is a fascinating stroll down memory lane ... looking at Kings Cross as it really was in 1964.