This advertisement for "Bjelke Bitter - Queensland's Premier Beer" is dark satire set in a Brisbane beer garden. The film was produced for the 1977 University Revue, "Life wasn't meant to be .." staged at the Schonell Theatre in Brisbane, Australia.
Below are the lyrics to this shortened version of the song "Tomorrow belongs to me" (designed to fit on a single roll of Super-8 film):
The branch of the Linden is leafy and green
The Rhine gives its gold to the sea
But somewhere a glory awaits unseen
Tomorrow belongs to me
The babe in his cradle is closing his eyes
The blossom embraces the bee
But soon says a whisper, arise, arise
Tomorrow belongs to me
Oh Fatherland, Fatherland,
Show us a sign
Your children have waited to see
The morning will come
When the world is mine
Tomorrow belongs
Tomorrow belongs
Tomorrow belongs to me
Oh Fatherland, Fatherland
Show us a sign
Your children have waited to see
The morning will come
When the world is mine
Tomorrow belongs
Tomorrow belongs
Tomorrow belongs to me
Tomorrow belongs
Tomorrow belongs
Tomorrow belongs to me
BACKGROUND - JOH BJELKE-PETERSEN ERA: From 1968, for well over a decade, Joh Bjelke-Petersen was the leader (Premier) of an authoritarian State Government in tropical Queensland. With a compliant mass media turning a blind eye to his behavior, he in effect operated a police state in which democratic rights to effective free speech and meaningful citizen opposition to his frequent abuses of power were squashed. He achieved this with the help of a highly manipulative propaganda machinery whose job was to pervert the truth, as well as a secretive and highly politicized arm of the state police force called the Special Branch. Their job was to spy on and intimidate all who would attempt to challenge the travesties and corrupt activities being committed. Anyone who wanted to see basic civil rights and truly democratic processes restored attracted their immediate attention. Police corruption to the highest levels were later exposed and prosecuted as a result of a public inquiry, with opponents' accusations against the government shown to be entirely true.
Lead performer in the satirical ad is Australian actor, Malcolm Cork. As a matter of interest, Wayne Goss, a democrat who was subsequently elected as the Labor Party Premier of Queensland appears briefly in this scene, as do two other now prominent civil-liberties lawyers.
The inspiration for this satirical beer advertisement was the film version of "Cabaret" which is a 1972 American musical film directed by Bob Fosse and starring Liza Minnelli, Michael York and Joel Grey. The film is set in Berlin during the Weimar Republic in 1931 under the ominous presence of the growing National Socialist (Nazi) Party. The film revolves around the nightlife of the seedy Kit Kat Klub, and the relationship between a young American writer, Cliff Bradshaw, and a 32-year-old English cabaret performer, Sally Bowles.
Footnote: "Tomorrow Belongs to Me" was written by John Kander (music) and Fred Ebb (lyrics) in the mid-1960s for a Broadway stage play. The song has often been mistaken for a genuine "Nazi anthem" which has been used by openly racist and anti-semitic groups at white-power rallies. Ironically, the composers are Jewish and the song is post-war American and not pre-war German.