Break of Day (film)

Plot

In the 1920s, young war veteran Tom Cooper lives in the small town of Tetlow with his pregnant wife. He falls in love with visiting artist Alice Hughes, but their relationship is threatened by the arrival of Alice's bohemian friends from the city.

Cast

Production

The script was an original by Cliff Green who had adapted Picnic at Hanging Rock for Pat Lovell. Green gave her a copy of the script on the last day of Picnics shoot and she was immediately interested. Lovell:

While it isn't a 'women's film', it is the sort of film – like 'Picnic' – that women would like to go to with their husbands. We've had a lot of pornography and a lot of violence, and I think people are ready for a love story. This is a very real one. and even though it's set in 1920, it could happen at any time. It's a story with a tremendous amount of charm. Essentially what it says is that people can love more than one person, but be out of communication with one of them. I think a lot of people will identify with it.

The budget was raised from the Australian Film Commission, the Victorian government, the Nine television network and Greater Union. Shooting began in April 1976 near Maldon in central Victoria. The Gallipoli flashback scenes were shot at Portsea.

Hannam's wife Wendy Dickson worked as production designer.

Reception

The film received some good reviews and was popular in Melbourne but performed poorly in Sydney and failed to recoup its budget.

Cliff Green later published a novelisation of the script.

Home Media

Break of Day was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in January 2010. The DVD includes the theatrical trailer as a special feature.