Legendary pair David Stratton and Margaret Pomeranz – the latter of whom is possibly the only person in Australian media more badarse than Lee Lin Chin – filmed their last ever episode of At The Movies last week, and said an emotional goodbye to the show.
The episode airs next Tuesday, but before then, the two faced possibly the toughest critical challenge of their 30-year partnership – reviewing one-another. Thanks to the good people at The Sydney Morning Herald, we now know how they really feel.
David broke Margaret down into five categories, as he would a movie – ‘Screenplay’, ‘Direction’, ‘Performance’, ‘Visual Style’ and ‘Passion And Conviction’. Unsurprisingly, Pommo came up trumps in the ‘Visual Style’ category:
Margaret has a keen sense of style, something I admit that I lack (or, at least, I’m not obsessed with). She spends a great deal of time shopping for things to wear on camera. On a pretty regular basis she’ll ask, “Is this all right?” or “How do I look in this?” There will follow a struggle as the audio person endeavours to attach a microphone to her latest outfit without ruining the line of it. This can take some time.
Margaret is also famous for her earrings. Many years ago, when I was away somewhere and in a rare mood to shop, I spotted a pair of earrings and purchased them for her. This was a failed gesture because (and here I offer a Great Revelation!), Margaret’s ears are NOT pierced. Few people know this intimate detail about her.
Sometimes her choice of on camera outfit is a little weird, at least to my taste. Back in the SBS days there was that hairy black thing that made her look like an extra from Planet of the Apes, but mostly she looks great both on and off camera.
Margaret, meanwhile, noted a few of David’s eccentricities, saying that he’s a bit scary the first time you meet him, isn’t much of a hugger, is “anal by nature” and enjoys eating rabbit. She also had a go at some of his style choices:
Do you know that David Stratton has been wearing the same boring shoes for more than 30 years? Much as I’ve tried to convince him to branch out a little, he remains firm on the comfortable nature of his slip-ons and insists on stocking up on pairs for the future whenever the opportunity arises.
That says a lot about the man. He is not a fashionista – as a matter of fact, if there is an antonym to that word, David personifies it.
He doesn’t care about the things he doesn’t care about. But the things he does care about, like film, food and family, he puts an enormous amount of effort into.
He doesn’t care about the things he doesn’t care about. But the things he does care about, like film, food and family, he puts an enormous amount of effort into.
Nonetheless, in a rare moment of agreement, the pair awarded each-other five stars. David says that the thing he’ll miss most is Margaret’s signature laugh, “that strange chortle that sounds as if she may have just laid an egg.”
Margaret said of David: “He’s a mate. If I were ever to be in trouble, he would be one of the first people I would turn to and I hope he feels the same way about me.”
Margaret and David 4Eva.
Photo: Caroline McCredie via Getty Images
