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The Shiralee (1957 film)

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Director
  
Music director
  
Country
  
United Kingdom

6.8/10
IMDb

Genre
  
Drama

Duration
  

Language
  
English

The Shiralee (1957 film) movie poster

Release date
  
11 July 1957 (UK)August 1957 (Australia)

Based on
  
novel by DArcy Niland

Writer
  
DArcy Niland (novel), Leslie Norman, Neil Paterson

Screenplay
  
Leslie Norman, Neil Paterson

Cast
  
,
Bryan Brown
,
Dana Wilson
,
Rebecca Smart
,

Similar movies
  
Peter Finch appears in The Shiralee and Robbery Under Arms

The Shiralee is a 1957 British film made by Ealing Studios, directed by Leslie Norman and based on the novel by D'Arcy Niland. Although all exterior scenes were filmed in Sydney, Scone (where the film had its Australasian premiere) and Binnaway, New South Wales and Australian actors Charles Tingwell, Bill Kerr and Ed Devereaux played in supporting roles, the film is really a British film made in Australia, rather than an Australian film.[1]

Contents

The Shiralee (1957 film) wwwgstaticcomtvthumbmovieposters51331p51331

Plot

The Shiralee (1957 film) The Shiralee Review Photos Ozmovies

An itinerant rural worker named Macauley —sometimes described as a "swagman" or "swaggie"—suddenly finds himself taking responsibility for his child. Having returned from "walkabout", he finds his wife entwined in the arms of another, and so he takes the daughter, Buster, with him. The child is the "shiralee", an Irish or Aboriginal word meaning "swag", or metaphorically, a "burden."

The Shiralee (1957 film) The Shiralee 1957 Australian Daybill Poster Posteritati Movie

In their time together, father and daughter explore new depths of understanding and bonding. The barren landscapes of the outback provided both a backdrop to the richness of the relationship, as well as explaining the swagman's love for the country.

The Shiralee (1957 film) The Shiralee 1957 clip 1 on ASO Australias audio and visual

Jim and Buster stay with the Parkers, whose daughter Liz was an old lover of Jim's and fell pregnant to him. Jim tries to abandon Buster but she refuses to leave. Buster is injured in a car accident, and father and daughter are reunited.

Production

The Shiralee (1957 film) The Shiralee 1957 Posteritati Movie Poster Gallery New York

Leslie Norman said he read the book, "loved it" and sent it to Michael Balcon at Ealing. According to Norman, "Mick roasted me, said it was full of foul language and how dare I? I said that it wouldn't be in the film, so he said all right and to get him a script."

The Shiralee (1957 film) The Shiralee 1957 Leslie Norman Peter Finch Dana Wilson

Ealing had paid a reported £10,000 for the film rights to the book.

Norman says he wrote a script, showed it to Balcon who "claimed it was a different story, so we called in Neil Patterson to rewrite. He only rewrote one scene but it was enough to appease Mick. I suffered a lot from Mick."

Ealing signed an agreement with MGM for the latter studio to distribute their films worldwide; The Shiralee was to be the first film they made together.

Leslie Norman arrived in Sydney in April 1956 to begin preproduction. Finch arrived in July and an extensive talent search was conducted to find the actress to play Buster. Eight-year-old Dana Wilson of Croydon, Sydney, was cast.

The film was shot in the last months of 1956, first on location in north east New South Wales near Scone, then at MGM's studios in London. Child stars were not encouraged in British cinema so Dana Wilson's presence was downplayed by the studio during the English leg of production.

The cast included several Australian actors working in London.

Reception

The film only made $60,000 at the US and Canadian box office. However it was the tenth most popular film at the British box office in 1957 and earned $860,000 outside North America. After costs of production and distribution, the film made a profit of $149,000.

Peter Finch later said the film and his role in it were among his favourites in his career. Norman says Finch "was marvellous... it was great working with him. Of course he was not a Balcon sort of character at all - too wild a lifestyle."

Music

The song "Shiralee" used as soundtrack was sung by Tommy Steele and reached #11 on the United Kingdom Singles Chart in 1957.

References

The Shiralee (1957 film) Wikipedia
The Shiralee (1957 film) IMDbThe Shiralee (1957 film) themoviedb.org