Theyre a Weird Mob (film)

Plot

Nino Culotta is an Italian immigrant, newly arrived in Australia. He expected to work for his cousin as a sports writer for an Italian language magazine. However, on arrival in Sydney Nino discovers that the cousin has abandoned the magazine, leaving a substantial debt to Kay Kelly. Nino declares that he will get a job and pay back the debt.

Working as a labourer Nino becomes mates with his co-workers, despite some difficulties with Australian slang and culture of the 1960s. Nino endeavours to understand the aspirational values and social rituals of everyday urban Australians, and assimilate. A romantic attraction builds between Nino and Kay despite her frosty exterior and her conservative Irish father's dislike of Italians.

A tone of mild racism exists in the film between Anglo-Saxon/Anglo-Irish characters such as Kay Kelly's dad Harry (Chips Rafferty) and Nino. Harry says he doesn't like writers, brickies or dagos. Nino is all three. But this is undermined when Nino, sitting in the Kelly house notices a picture of the pope on the wall. Nino says "If I am a dago, then so is he". Realising the impossibility of referring to the pope by that derogatory term, Harry gives in.

Cast

Cast notes

Production

They're a Weird Mob was optioned in 1959 by Gregory Peck but he could not come up with a workable screenplay. Michael Powell first read the novel in London in 1960 and wanted to turn it into a film but Peck had the rights. Powell obtained them three years later and brought in his long-time collaborator Emeric Pressburger, who wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym "Richard Imrie."

Walter Chiari had previously visited Australia during the filming of On the Beach (1959), which starred his then-girlfriend Ava Gardner. Clare Dunne was working as a weather girl when cast in the female lead.

The film started filming in October 1965 was shot at a number of locations in the area of Sydney:

The film has been credited with the revival of the moribund Australian film industry, which led to the Australian "New Wave" films of the 1970s.

Box office

They're a Weird Mob grossed $2,417,000 at the box office in Australia, which is equivalent to $26,127,770 in 2009 dollars.

In 1968 John McCallum wrote that of the $2 million the film had then earned, only $400,000 had been returned to the filmmakers.

A behind-the-scenes documentary was shot called The Story of the Making of 'They're a Weird Mob'.

DVD

The film has been released on Region 4 DVD by Roadshow. The DVD includes a TV special, "The Story of Making the Film They're a Weird Mob" as well as a picture gallery, theatrical trailer and optional subtitles.

The film has been released on Region 2 DVD by Opening in the Les films de ma vie series. The DVD has fixed French subtitles for the original English soundtrack.