1970s Australian Period Films (and TV shows)

Period films – films set in a particular period of the past – have been around since the advent of cinema, as film-makers set their films in earlier eras to look at the exotic ways of life (of dress, of technology, of speaking, of thinking and of relating) that prevailed among the inhabitants of that strange place called ‘the past’.

Period films became especially important during the second half of the Australian Film Revival of the 1970s, when leading Australian directors began to make ‘quality films’ set in the Australia past. A number of these films were extremely successful, both critically/artistically and, perhaps more importantly for Australia’s young film industry, commercially. The success of these films was important, as it provided a broader base for the film industry whose previous successes had been ‘ocker’ sex-comedies (Alvin Purple, Stork, and the Barry McKenzie films) and a biker action film (Stone).

Three films especially typify the successful period films of the late 1970s: Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Bruce Beresford’s The Getting of Wisdom (1977) and Gillian Armstrong’s My Brilliant Career (1979). These films all looked at the lives of hat-wearing white schoolgirls and young women in white dresses ,who lived amongst sunburnt, hat-wearing men on horses. They were all set around 1900 in a still very British Australia.  They were all based on novels by Australian women novelists (Joan Lindsay, Ethel Florence Richardson -known by her pen name Henry Handel Richardson- and Miles Franklin). These films were all, to varying degrees, critically and commercially successful, and have been seen by generations of Australians to become part of the collective consciousness. Most of the top Aussie directors of the 1970s (see here) made at least one period film in the mid-late 70s, and many of these directors soon headed for Hollywood, partly on the strength of these films.

Apart from the trio of films mentioned above, many other types of period films were made in the 1970s, and here we will look at both those films which were successful and those which were not. Furthermore, although period films were most prominent from 1975 to 1983 (‘The Golden Age of Australian Period Films’), many significant and successful period films have made in the decades since then, and these have covered a much wider range of historical subjects than the 70s films. Hopefully I will look at these films in future posts.

Twenty period films were released in Australia during the 1970s, representing 13% of the 146 films released in the decade, a percentage much higher than in later decades. In addition there were three ‘borderline’ period films, which were set in the 1950s, only twenty years or so before the films were made, and another two films set in the 1960s. These ‘recent past’ films represent a particular problem which I’ll discuss briefly in the next section.

Lastly there were five period films made for television, and a number of period TV mini-series and serials, which I will look at briefly in a postscript at the end.

How long ago is a period film?

When we think about period films, many people think of films set in Europe or America in the 18^th, 19^th, or the early 20^th century, when people wore different clothes, and behaved with different cultural sensibilities. People in these films speak and act in a way that seems old-fashioned and perhaps exotic, and we feel that these films give us an insight into the lives and culture of our ancestors.

While on one hand it seems obvious that period films are set in past periods, it is interesting to consider how far into the past you must go to make a film a period film. While a film set 100 years ago seems obviously a period film, is a film set 50 years ago – i.e. a film made today but set in 1970 – also a period film? How about a film set only 30 years ago or even 20 years ago –  in 2000? It is a grey area, in my opinion, but the world is changing so fast, that even the world of 20 years ago can look quite strange now, with different fashions, technologies etc.. But it is a tricky area, as some places – e.g. the outback – change more slowly than life in the city. Some films set 20 years ago somehow look like period films, while others do not, depending on the subject matter of the films.

For this reason, I will classify period films into two classes:

A. Proper period films. These are films set more than 40 years before they were made – these films depict a time when only a minority of people (or indeed no-one if the film is set 100 years before), will have strong memories of the time in which the film was set.

There were 20* films of this type made in the 1970s – six of which are well-known, and 14* of which are less so. (* To be more precise, there are 19¼ period films – as only one quarter of Libido is a period film – see below.)

B. Borderline period films, or ‘Films of recent-memory’. These are films set less than 40 years ago, and perhaps as little as ten years ago, and much of the audience are able to remember this period personally. The film-maker still needs to create a past era, but much of the audience will have a different reaction based on their own memories of the era.

There were five films of this type made in the 1970s – three of which are very well-known, and the other two less so.

Looking at the films

A. Proper period films

The Best-known Australian Period Films of the 70s

While 20 proper period feature films were released in the 1970s, only six made a real impact with the critics and the public, while the others are, to varying degrees, ignored, forgotten or of limited interest. We will look at the six best-known films first, and then the others after that.

I have already mentioned the trio of significant films about schoolgirls and young women at the turn of the (19^th/20^th) century: Peter Weir’s Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Bruce Beresford’s The Getting of Wisdom (1977) and Gillian Armstrong’s My Brilliant Career (1979).

In addition to these, there were two successful films about married women, Donald Crombie’s Caddie (1976)  and Tim Burstall’s Eliza Fraser (1976), and a drama about a young Aboriginal man driven too far, Fred Schepisi’s The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978).

All of these were based on well-known novels, and only two based on actual historical figures. Most of these films are set in the Australia of the 19^th or early 20^th century, with one set during the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Let’s consider the films in chronological order, according to their release date:

1. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) (Peter Weir)
2. Caddie (1976) (Donald Crombie)
3. Eliza Fraser (1976) (Tim Burstall)
4. The Getting of Wisdom (1977) (Bruce Beresford)
5. The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978) (Fred Schepisi)
6. My Brilliant Career (1979) (Gillian Armstrong)

Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975) (Peter Weir)

Peter Weir can be credited with inspiring the 70s spate of Australian period films, when he made this gothic, rural mystery, set in the Australian bush at the start of the 20^th century. The story concerns three schoolgirls and a teacher from a rural boarding school, who disappear during a picnic at Hanging Rock on Saint Valentine’s Day 1900. The story was taken from Joan Lindsay’s novel, though many believed it to be a true story. (For more on this film, see here.)

This film is a landmark in the history of Australian film-making: it was our first successful art-house film, and it was our most sophisticated attempt at cinema up to that time, prompting many other Australian film-makers to follow Weir’s lead and try a period film. The film was both a box-office success (it was the highest Australian money earner at the domestic box office in the decade) and a critical triumph, and Weir went on to a long a successful career, with a few more years in Australia, and then the rest of his career in Hollywood. Weir returned to making period films several more times, with Gallipoli (1981), The Truman Show (1998), and Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003).

Caddie (1976) (Donald Crombie)

The next big period film to be released was Donald Crombie’s Caddie, the story of a single mother’s successful struggle to survive in the Great Depression.  The film was based on the autobiography of a Sydney barmaid published pseudonymously in 1953. Helen Morse, who also starred in Picnic, played Caddie, a middle-class woman whose good humour and resourcefulness help her fit into the rough, working-class world of the Aussie men’s hotel. The film captures the Australia of the time, with urban Australians learning how to cope with the accelerating changes that followed WW1. The film has an excellent supporting cast, including Jacki Weaver and Melissa Jaffer as Caddie’s co-workers in the pub, in whose joys and sorrows she shares; as well as Takis Emmanuel and Jack Thompson as the two men who try to win her affections. This film was also a box-office success.  (For more on this film, see here).

Donald Crombie appeared to like period films, and went on to direct The Irishman (1978), Kitty and the Bagman (1982) (both set in the 1920s), Robbery Under Arms (1985) and Playing Beatie Bow (1986) (both set mainly in the 19^th century), as well as a TV mini-series, The River Kings (1991), which was again set in the 1920s.

Eliza Fraser (1976) (Tim Burstall)

The other big period film of 1976 was Eliza Fraser by Tim Burstall. Burstall had been the most successful Australian director of the 70s up to that point, by making a series of popular sex-comedies celebrating the sexual revolution, and Eliza Fraser was a variation on this theme. The film was based on the true story of the wife of the captain of a ship wrecked north of Brisbane in the 1830s. She lived for a time with an Aboriginal tribe near Fraser Island (later named in her honour), before rejoining white society for some more frolics with various men. It was the first successful film of the 70s to be set in the convict era (which has largely been avoided by Australian films until recently), and the first 70s film to significantly portray tribal Aboriginal people speaking their own language. The film was a big budget adventure-romp with a foreign star, Susannah York, in the lead role, and many other fine British and Australian actors playing officers, soldiers and convicts.  (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia and Ozmovies.)

The film did only moderate business relative to its budget and was considered something of a failure. (It was not the biggest budget period film of the 70s – that was  a US-financed film (completed in 1969 but not released until 1970) Adam’s Woman, about an American convict sent to Australia – see below). 

Burstall left period films alone for the next few years, but his last Australian films were all period films: The Naked Country (1985), set in the 1950s, Kangaroo (1987), set after WW1, and Great Expectations: The Untold Story (TV Movie 1987), a convict era spin-off of Dicken’s Great Expectations set in the 19^th century.

The Getting of Wisdom (1977) (Bruce Beresford)

Bruce Beresford was, like Tim Burstall, one of the pioneers of the Australian film revival in the 70s, and had made three very successful and riotous comedies before he made this, his first period film. The Getting of Wisdom was based on Henry Handel Richardson’s novel, and tells the story of a teenage girl, Laura Rambotham, who is sent in the 1890s from her isolated farm to attend boarding school in Melbourne, where she tries to fit into the society of richer girls. Beresford had, like Weir, Crombie and Burstall, chosen a woman-centred story instead of his previous male-centred films, indicating a major shift in the focus of Australian film-making at this time.

The era was beautifully realised by Beresford, whose continued growth as a director was evident, and by cinematographer Donald McAlpine, who also later went to Hollywood. As well as an outstanding performance by Susannah Fowle in the lead, the film also included other young actors who would later achieve fame including Sigrid Thornton, Kerry Armstrong, and John Waters. (For more on this film, see here.)

The prolific Beresford went on to try out many different genres in the following years, but made another three Australian period films in the coming decades: Breaker Morant (1980), set during the Boer War in South Africa, Paradise Road (1997), set in Indonesia during WW2, and Ladies in Black (2018) set in 1959 in a Sydney department store.

The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978) (Fred Schepisi)

Fred Schepisi chose an entirely different topic for his first real period film (although his acclaimed debut The Devil’s Playground was also set in the more recent past of post-WW2 Australia – see below). The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith was the first film to realistically depict the violence of the conflict between the European settlers and the Aboriginal people in the 19^th century. It is the story of an Aboriginal man, Jimmie Blacksmith who, after trying to adapt to white society, rebels against the constant insults and discrimination he suffers and attacks his employer’s family, killing three women, before escaping into the bush where he is relentlessly pursued by the authorities.

The film is based upon a Thomas Keneally novel, which was in turn based on the real story of Jimmy Governor who massacred five women at Breelong in 1900 under similar circumstances. The film starred unknown Aboriginal actor Tommy Lewis as Jimmie Blacksmith, as well as Jack Thompson, Ray Barrett, Angela Punch-McGregor (as Jimmie’s white wife) and Ruth Cracknell. The film received positive reviews, though some reviewers baulked at the violence of the story (even though the violence was not at all sensationalised). The film captures colonial Australia and its racist attitudes strongly, and was one of the first Australian films to portray the story of white treatment of our Indigenous people. (For more on this film, see here.)

Few other film-makers dared, or cared, to revisit the history of race-relations in Australia, until after 2000. Schepisi’s next film was in Hollywood, where he made his only other period film, Barbarosa (1982), a US western with Willie Nelson.

My Brilliant Career (1979) (Gillian Armstrong)

My Brilliant Career is an adaptation of Australian woman author Miles Franklin’s 1901 novel about a headstrong young woman in 19th century Australia forced to choose between marriage and a career as a writer. Judy Davis, in her first starring role (and only her second film), is wonderful as the headstrong, opinionated, witty Sybylla, who is tempted by the very charming Sam Neill (in one of his first roles), but has a burning desire to travel to England and become a serious writer. This film is full of humour and emotion, but is also an examination of the options open to women for self-expression and careers in the past.

The film, by Gillian Armstrong, was the first major Australian film by a woman director since 1930, and inspired future generations of Australian women directors and actresses. The film was popular with most critics and won the AFI awards for Best Film and Best Direction. It was the second most successful Australian film of the year at the box office domestically and also did well in the US and elsewhere. (For more on this film, see here.)

Armstrong went on to make a number of contemporary films, but also made four more period films about women in Australia, the US and France: Mrs. Soffel (1984) set in Pittsburgh in 1901 , Little Women (1994) set in Massachusetts during the US Civil War, Oscar and Lucinda (1997), set in Sydney in the 19^th century, and Charlotte Gray (2001), set in France during World War II..

Lesser-known Australian Period Films of the 70s

Twelve other period features appeared in the 1970s. Some performed well at the box office only to be soon forgotten; some failed initially but later became cult films; and others failed to please on release and are largely forgotten. Many are now hard to locate. This section will look at these films in the order of their release:

Adam’s Woman (1970) (Phillip Leacock)

A young American called Adam is sentenced to transportation, and comes to Australia as a convict, but is eventually given a bride and some virgin bush to cultivate. Adam makes a go of his farm, and eventually wins some affection from his reluctant wife, but has to battle against bushrangers and escaped convicts, as well as government snobbery. This period adventure-romance starred American Beau Bridges and Brit Jane Merrow, plus a variety of supporting British and Australian actors. It was a fully American production, made in Australia by Warner Bros. for its exotic local colour, but it failed at the box office, despite its considerable budget, and a good performance by Bridges. (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia and Ozmovies)

Ned Kelly (1970) (Tony Richardson)

The second period film of 1970 was another overseas production, this time a UK interpretation of the most popular story in Australian film: the famous story of the life and death of the Victorian bushranger, Ned Kelly. Mick Jagger, at the height of his Rolling Stones fame, played the famous rebel bushranger. Filmed in historic Braidwood, NSW, rather than in Victoria where the real Kelly mainly roamed, by British director Tony Richardson, this production used mainly local actors, including Ken Shorter and Frank Thring. The film was the most successful Australian film of the year (against scant competition), but received mixed views from critics, who didn’t much like Jagger’s wry performance, and generally felt that Jagger neither captured Kelly’s menace nor brought any of his rock’n’roll rebelliousness to the role. The Ned Kelly story would be left waiting for its definitive film depiction. (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia and Ozmovies)

Stockade (1971) (Hans Pomeranz)

This musical period film told the story of the Eureka Stockade rebellion of 1854, when the gold miners rebelled against government taxes. The film was based on a musical play by Kenneth Cook (the writer of Wake in Fright). First-time director Hans Pomeranz made the film on a limited budget, but was dismayed when local cinemas refused to show the film. There was a storm of publicity surrounding the film, with Cook and Pomeranz calling for local cinemas to show Australian films. Critics agree that this rarely seen film is no masterpiece, despite the controversy surrounding its release. The Eureka Stockade was also the subject of a 1948 film starring Chips Rafferty, as well as a 1980s mini-series starring Bryan Brown. (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia and Ozmovies)

Libido (1973) (Segment ‘The Child) (Tim Burstall)

Libido was a four part film by four directors consisting of four stories on the subject of sexual desire. One of these stories, ‘The Child’, directed by Tim Burstall, was a period story set in 1912. The story concerns a lonely young boy whose father has disappeared, and who is ignored by his mother. The boy attaches himself to his new governess but is shocked when he sees her making love with a man he hates. The story won the AFI Best Film Award and Judy Morris, who played the governess, won the Best Actress Award. Burstall made other period films, the most successful of which was Eliza Fraser (see above). (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia and Ozmovies)

Between Wars (1974) (Michael Thornhill)

Between Wars is, as its name promises, a saga of one man’s life over two decades from the trenches of World War One to the outbreak of World War Two. English actor Corin Redgrave played the main character, a young Australian doctor with an interest in psychology, and he was supported by some good Australian and international actors, including Judy Morris and Arthur Dignam. The film touched on the significance of war, the birth of psychiatry, and the conflict between left-wing unions and right-wing militias in the 1930s, but these ended up as mere background in the rather dull life of the doctor, who married, had children and survived the Great Depression in a fairly normal way.  (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia and Ozmovies.)

The True Story of Eskimo Nell (1975) (Richard Franklin)

Richard Franklin’s debut film was based on a bawdy poem, The Ballad of Eskimo Nell, and told the story of two adventurers, Dead-Eye Dick (Max Gillies), who was a yarn-spinning voyeur, and Mexico Pete (Serge Lazareff), who was  a cowboy womaniser. Set among the Victorian goldfields in the 1850s, this was a period sex-comedy, with lots of nudity and blue jokes, as the two idlers searched for their ideal woman, the legendary Eskimo Nell. Though some critics appreciated the humour, most did not, and the film was not a success. Franklin though, went on to make some fine films in his long career, and though he hopped genres many times, he never made another period film. (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia and Ozmovies)

Inn of the Damned (1975) (Terry Bourke)

This was Australia’s first period horror film, made by Terry Bourke whose Night of Fear (1972) is famous as Australia’s first horror film of the modern era. Inn of the Damned took place in 1896 in eastern Victoria, where veteran actress Dame Judith Anderson (of Hitchcock’s Rebecca fame) played a crazed woman who, together with her husband, ran an inn and took revenge on travellers for the deaths of their children years before. An American bounty hunter appeared to unravel the inn’s chilling secrets.  (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia and Ozmovies)

Mad Dog Morgan (1976) (Philippe Mora)

Mad Dog Morgan was an offbeat bushranger romp, which starred American rebel Dennis Hopper as a soulful Irish killer. The film was based on true-life bushranger, Dan Morgan. Though Ned Kelly is Australia’s most famous bushranger (and there have been seven films about him so far), there were many other bushrangers in Australia, and director Philippe Mora, who had been an artist and experimental film-maker since the 1960s, made an entertaining if somewhat uneven film about one of these.  (For more on this film, see here.) The film was liked by some critics, but not the public, though it is something of cult favourite nowadays.

French-born Mora has not spent much time in Australia since making Mad Dog Morgan, but he did return a couple of times and made one more period film, Death of a Soldier (1986), set in World War Two.

Break of Day  (1976) (Ken Hannam)

This was a love triangle, set after World War One. Tom, a married man who was wounded in the war, and had returned to his wife and his quiet country life, when a bohemian artist Alice suddenly brought excitement, colour, romance and danger into his life. This was Ken Hannam’s follow-up to his successful shearing saga Sunday Too Far Away, but critics were disappointed with this effort, and audience reaction was similarly mixed. (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia and Ozmovies)

The Picture Show Man (1977) (John Power)

A father and son ran a travelling rural cinema in the 1920s and, together with a pianist, toured outback towns in NSW in a horse and cart, to show silent films in town halls. The film told of their adventures, hardships and successes. It was a very well-made film, with some excellent actors, led by veteran John Meillon, who was nominated for an AFI Best Actor Award for his performance. The film evoked an era of change, when horses were giving way to motor vehicle and fashions were changing in the onrush of modernity, leaving some traditional jobs behind. (For more on this film, see here.)

Journey Among Women  (1977) (Tom Cowan)

Journey Among Women was a convict film like no other. Set in the early days of the Sydney colony, a group of convict women escaped from the physical and sexual harassment of their captivity and, assisted by an Aboriginal woman who joined them, learned to live in the bush without men and often without clothes. The authorities were, of course, outraged and attempted to recapture or kill the escapees with patriarchal violence. This low-budget film reflected both prevailing feminist and hippy ideals of the 1970s, but probably attracted more attention for its explicit nudity and lesbian overtones. (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia, Ozmovies, Guardian and Australian Screen] )

Raw Deal (1977) (Russell Hagg)

This muddle-headed Oz-Western pitted a pair of bounty-hunters (TV tough-guys Gerard Kennedy and Gus Mercurio) first against a gang of Irish Catholic revolutionaries, and then against their treacherous government employers who didn’t want to pay them. This film was written, produced and directed by Russell Hagg and Patrick Edgeworth, who’d both worked on Cash and Company (1975), an early Australian television period adventure series set in the goldfields (see below). Critics compared the film unfavourably with American Westerns, and it sank without much fuss, taking Hagg and Edgeworth’s film-making aspirations with it.  (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia and Ozmovies)

The Mango Tree (1977) (Kevin James Dobson)

The Mango Tree was a nostalgic coming-of-age film about a boy in his last year at school, in a small tropical town in North Queensland after his father has been killed in World War One. The film was based on a Miles Franklin Award-winning novel by Ronald McKie, and starred Christopher Pate as the boy, as well as Irish Hollywood actress Geraldine Fitzgerald as his grandmother, and the famous dancer Robert Helpmann as the old professor who befriends the boy.

The film was written and produced by the veteran actor Michael Pate, whose son played the main role. While the North Queensland scenery of canefields and tropical forest is attractive, the film fails to capture the depth of the book. The main problems are the weaknesses of the the elder Pate’s screenplay and the younger Pate’s acting. Nevertheless, the film was the second most popular Australian film of the year at the box office. (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia and Ozmovies)

The Irishman (1978)

The Irishman tells the story of a family in North Queensland in the 1920s, where the father’s livelihood as the owner of a team of draughthorses is threatened by the age of the motor vehicle. Based on an award-winning novel, it is a story of traditional ways making way for progress. While the film captures many aspects of the era – costumes, horses, buildings, furnishings, technology and all that – it falls flat in the drama department, often lapsing into melodrama. This was a disappointing follow-up to Crombie’s debut film Caddie (see above). (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia and Ozmovies)

B. Borderline period films (Films of recent-memory)

There were a number of films which were set less than 40 years before, and even as little as ten years ago, where most people seeing the film would be able to remember the period personally or from their parents’ stories. The film-makers still needed to create a past era, but these were a different sort of period film. These were what I call ‘borderline period films’ or ‘films of recent memory’. There were three significant films in this category made in the 1970s, and two of less significance.

The best-known Australian Borderline Period Films of the 1970s

Sunday Too Far Away (1975) (Ken Hannam)

Sunday Too Far Away is a film about a group of (sheep) shearers working on an outback farm in the 1950s, and was the first serious local drama to be successful in the 1970s. The film starred Jack Thompson as the main shearer and included an impressive cast of other Australian actors who became the backbone of Australian TV and film for many years. The film captured not only the mateship but the difficult life of shearers in the heat of the outback, in a way that resonated with audiences in Australia. (For more on this film, see here.)

The Devil’s Playground (1976) (Fred Schepisi)

This psychological drama, set in the 1950s, marked the arrival of another of the 70s ‘Golden Generation’ of Australian directors, Fred Schepisi. In the film, young Catholic schoolboys at a Catholic boarding seminary tried to make sense of the world, but were subjected to repressive ideas of sin and shame, particularly in relation to sex. The film also looked at the lives of the Catholic brothers who also suffered from the ideas they inflicted on the boys. The film won the 1976 AFI awards for best film and best director and actors Simon Burke and Nick Tate shared the AFI best actor award.(For more on this film, see here.)

Schepisi made one other period film, The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith (1978), before heading off for his successful Hollywood career.

Newsfront (1978) (Phil Noyce)

Phil Noyce was another of the great new directors of the 70s who would soon head off for Hollywood success. His second film was a film of the recent past, Newsfront. Though set only slightly more than 20 years earlier, the film already had the feeling of a lost era, albeit one many of the audience would be able to remember.

In the years after World War Two, a group of journalists in Sydney travelled the country to produce weekly newsreels to be shown in cinemas. They faced competition from other local and overseas companies, at the same time as technological changes and the arrival of television threatened to end their business.

This film was blessed with a strong cast including Bill Hunter (in a rare lead role), Gerard Kennedy, Wendy Hughes, Bryan Brown, Angela Punch McGregor and Chris Haywood. The film was a commercial and critical success: it was the most successful Australian film of the year at the box office and won the AFI Awards for Best Picture, Best Director and others. (For more on this film, see here.)

Noyce did not make any more period films until he returned to Australia in 2002 to make the classic Rabbit-Proof Fence, set in 1920s Western Australia, in 2000.

Lesser-known Australian Borderline Period Films of the 70s

The Odd Angry Shot (1979) (Tom Jeffrey)

The Odd Angry Shot was a drama about a group of Australian soldiers sent to the Vietnam war, and it is one of very few Australian war films. The film was closer in tone to MASH than Platoon, with the soldier’s cynical humour while not fighting as much in the frame as the action segments. A strong cast included Graham Kennedy (in a rare semi-serious role for Australia’s top TV comedian), John Hargreaves, John Jarratt, Bryan Brown and Graeme Blundell. The film was director Tom Jeffrey’s third, last and most successful film, as well being the third-most successful Australian film of the year. (For more on this film, see here).

Dawn! (1979) (Ken Hannam)

This was sports biopic about the three-time Olympic gold medallist swimmer Dawn Fraser, dealing with her childhood in the 1940s, and her career in the 1950s and 1960s. This was Ken Hannam’s fourth feature film, but it was much less satisfying than his best, Sunday Too Far Away (1975). Critics were lukewarm, and the public made this film a flop. (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia and Ozmovies)

List of Period Films made in the 1980s – by era

Here is list of the films above, according to the era in which they are set. [Those in bold are the best known; those with an asterisk are Borderline period films (set less than 40 years before).]

Convict-era

1. Adam’s Woman (1970)
2. Eliza Fraser (1976)
3. Journey Among Women  (1977)

Goldrush

4. Stockade (1971)

Bushranger

5. Ned Kelly (1970)
6. Mad Dog Morgan (1976)

Other 19th Century

7. The True Story of Eskimo Nell (1975)
8. Inn of the Damned (1975)
9. Raw Deal (1977)
10. The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)

Early 20^th Century/Late 19^th Century

10. Libido (1973) (Segment ‘The Child)
11. Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975)
12. The Getting of Wisdom (1977)
13. My Brilliant Career (1979)

Interwar Period

13. Between Wars (1974) 
14. Caddie (1976)
15. Break of Day  (1976)
16. The Mango Tree (1977)
17. The Picture Show Man (1977)
18. The Irishman (1978)

Postwar – 40s, 50s*

19. Sunday Too Far Away (1975)*
20. The Devil’s Playground (1976)*
21. Newsfront (1978)*

1960s*

21. The Odd Angry Shot (1979)*
22. Dawn! (1979)*

The Wrap Up

The best period films of the 1970s became classics, and remain well-known today. It seems no coincidence that the best period films were made by the best of Australia’s 70s directors: Peter Weir, Bruce Beresford, Fred Schepisi, Phil Noyce, Gillian Armstrong, Tim Burstall, and Donald Crombie. Of these, all but Burstall and Crombie all found success in Hollywood in the 1980s. Only George Miller of the major 70s directors did not make a period film, and John Duigan waited until the 1990s to make his.

The range of topics the 70s period films concerned was limited. The most successful films mainly concentrated on the lives of women and girls in federation era Australia, with only one, The Chant of Jimmy Blacksmith, looking at the century-long conflict between white settlers and Aboriginal people. The history of frontier violence was rarely attempted again in film until after 2000 (Manganinnie (1980) being a rare but minor exception).

Other popular 70s topics were:

• Bushranger stories: Bushranger stories are Australia’s equivalent of the US Westerns, with action, killings and violent individuals acting in a new, lawless country. Ned Kelly, and Mad Dog Morgan were interesting attempts at this perennial theme. Raw Deal was a variation on this theme, as it was a western with shootouts between bounty hunters and Irish rebels, and bushrangers were one of Adam’s many problems in Adam’s Woman.
• Social change due to modernisation after World War One. The Picture Show Man, The Irishman and Newsfront all looked at the situation of men whose jobs were disappearing due to new technology.
• Australia in the Interwar Period. No fewer than six films were set in this period: Between Wars (1974), Caddie (1976), Break of Day (1976), The Mango Tree (1977), The Picture Show Man (1977), and The Irishman (1978). The last two were mentioned above, Caddie deals with the position of a single mother, and the others deal with people affected by the horrors of World War One and trying to get on with their lives.
• The Convict Era. This was dealt with in three films, but not particularly realistically in any of them: Adam was a convict (albeit a non-typical American convict) in Adam’s Woman (1970); Eliza has a love affair with a handsome convict in Eliza Fraser (1976); and a group of women convicts escape the Sydney colony to set up a feminist community in the bush in Journey Among Women (1977).

Other topics were largely avoided, though important topics such as the situation of Aboriginal people during the pioneering era, the exploration of Australia, and the experiences of Australian soldiers in the First and Second World Wars, were approached in the following decades, with varying degrees of success. Most of the 70s films concentrated on an individual struggling to succeed in a difficult environment.

The success of several period films in the mid-to-late 1970s was important in so far as it demonstrated the increased sophistication of Australian film-makers, and made the Australian public as well as some overseas observers take the young Australian film industry seriously. The importance of Picnic at Hanging Rock cannot be understated. While it was not the first period film to be made in the 1970s, it was the first to achieve both critical and commercial success. Moreover, it broke away from a tradition of films about bushrangers, convicts and pioneers, and led period film-making into new areas. It led the way for ten years of notable Australian period films.

Postscript: Australian Period Telemovies and TV Series of the 1970s

At the same time as these period films were being made for the cinema, Australian television producers were making many TV period series and period TV films. Let’s briefly look at what was made to portray Australia’s past on the small screen.

Period TV movies

There were five low-budget period films made for television in the 1970s, three by the ABC and two by Channel Nine. Some were impressive efforts, others less so:

Billy and Percy (1974) (John Power)

This docudrama was based on the relationship between Prime Minister Billy Hughes and his private secretary Percy Deane during World War I. It starred Martin Vaughan as Billy Hughes and Harold Hopkins as Deane. The film was very popular, and Power won the Best Director Award at the 1974–75 Australian Film Institute (AFI) Awards, with Vaughan sharing the AFI Best Actor Award with Jack Thompson. It was one of very few TV films to win such awards. Power went on to a successful career, making many more films for both the cinema and television. (For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia and Australian Screen (with clips).)

The Tichborne Affair (1975) (Carl Schultz)

This film was based on a famous court case from the 1860s, where a butcher from Wagga Wagga claimed to be the missing heir to the Tichborne baronetcy in England. The film starred Hugh Keays-Byrne, who would later play the villain in Mad Max. Carl Schultz won a ‘Penguin’ award for best direction, and went on to direct a number of other acclaimed films in the 1980s.  (For more on this film, see  IMDb, Wikipedia and ATIA)

The Bushranger (1976) (Federico Chentrens)

This bushranger yarn concerned the fictional character Hangman Hatton. Popular TV cop Leonard Teale played Hatton, and John Hamblin played the policeman trying to catch him. Successful novelist Kenneth Cooke adapted the script from his own novel, along with Margaret Jones-Owen (who later became a famous film critic Margaret Pomeranz), but this was Italian director Federico Chentrens’ only Australian film.  [For more on this film, see IMDb and Wikipedia]

The Trial of Ned Kelly (1977) (John Gauci)

This ABC film was about a hypothetical trial of Ned Kelly, based on the court documents. Apart from the fact that it starred popular actors John Waters as Ned Kelly, and Gerard Kennedy as Prosecutor Smyth, Alan Hopgood, little was found about this production. The director, John Gauci, directed many TV films and TV series for the ABC and other networks.  [For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia, Screen Australia, and ATIA]  

The John Sullivan Story (1979) (David Stevens)

This film was a spin-off of the popular period TV series The Sullivans (see below), and told the story of what happened to the son John during World War Two. John’s ship was torpedoed in the Mediterranean, but he was saved by Yugoslav partisans, and became involved in the complex resistance movement/civil war in war-torn Yugoslavia. [For more on this film, see IMDb, Wikipedia, ATIA – PMW] 

List of Period TV series and mini-series, by era

Many believe that period drama is better suited to long-form television, due to the cost of costumes and sets etc., and the extra time available to give a real understanding of the era. Australian TV producers began to make a number of period TV series in the 1970s, though the real golden age of Aussie period mini-series would be the 1980s.  Here is a brief overview of what was accomplished in the 1970s, organised by the era when the series were set.

Convict-era

Against the Wind  (1978) A landmark 13 episode historical drama portraying both the British rule in Ireland, and the development of New South Wales and Australia. Starring Jon English, Kerry McGuire and Gerard Kennedy as well as Irish actress Mary Larkin, this was the first major Australian TV production to be broadcast in the United States and was shown in many other countries. The series was one of the top-rating shows in Australia in 1979, it won two Logies and prompted the production of more period drama in the 1980s. (See IMDb, ATIA, Wikipedia.)

Bushranger

Cash and Company (1975) Set in the Victorian goldfields in the 1850s, this 13 episode series concerned the adventures of bushrangers Sam Cash (Serge Lazareff) and his partner Joe Brady (Gus Mercurio) and a helpful widow, Jessica Johnson (Penne Hackforth-Jones).  The series won a Logie for Best New Drama and was broadcast in the UK the following year. (See IMDb, ATIA, Wikipedia, CAT)

Ben Hall (1975) A 13 episode drama about the bushranger Ben Hall, starring John Finch as Ben Hall, plus Evin Crowley, Vincent Ball, Brian Blain, Jack Charles, Ruth Cracknell, Alfred Bell and Tom Farley. (See IMDb, ATIA, Wikipedia.)

Tandarra (1976) This 13 episode series was the sequel to Cash and Company (above). The character of Cash was replaced by  Ryler (Gerard Kennedy). (See IMDb, ATIA, Wikipedia, CAT.)

Other 19th Century

Redheap (1972) This 3-part mini-series tells of a young man’s family and their sexual adventures in a Victorian country town in the 1890s. It was adapted from a banned Norman Lindsay novel, and starred Peter Flett, Kate Fitzpatrick, Michael Boddy, Pamela Stephenson, Norman Yemm, June Salter, and John Wood. (See IMDb,  Wikipedia.)

Seven Little Australians (1973) This 10 episode television series was one of many adaptations of the classic Australian children’s literature novel by Ethel Turner, about the seven mischievous Woolcot children. It was set in 1880s Sydney and starred Barbara Llewellyn, Mark Clarke, Anna Hruby, Leonard Teale and Ruth Cracknell. It won the Gold Logie in 1974 for Best New Drama. (See IMDb, ATIA, Wikipedia, Australian Screen (with clips).)

Serpent in the Rainbow (1973) This 4-part mini-series was set in the late 19th century, and starred Kate Fitzpatrick, John McCallum, Ken Wayne, Alfred Sandor, Shane Porteous, Lionel Long, and Diana Perryman. (See IMDb, Wikipedia.)

Rush (1974-76) This 26 episode (two series of 13)  adventure series was set in the goldrush of the 1850s. It starred John Waters, Max Meldrum, Alain Doutey, Vincent Ball, Olivia Hamnett, Brendon Lunney, Peter Flett, Alwyn Kurts and Jane Harders.  (See IMDb, ATIA, Wikipedia, CAT.)

Luke’s Kingdom (1976) A 13 episode UK/Australia co-production about a pioneer family  who migrated from England to NSW in 1829. It starred UK actor Oliver Tobias as well as James Condon, Gerald Maguire, Helen Morse, Elisabeth Crosby and Les Foxcroft. (See IMDb, ATIA, Wikipedia.)

Power Without Glory (1976) Award-winning 26-part historical drama series which traced the life of John West from his impoverished youth in the depression of the 1890s, to his death as a multi-millionaire some sixty years later. Based on a famous and controversial novel by Frank Hardy, the series won five Logie awards, including Most Popular Drama Series and Most Popular Lead Actor (Martin Vaughan), Most Popular Lead Actress (Rosalind Speirs), Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (John Wood), and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Wendy Hughes). (See IMDb, ATIA, Wikipedia.)

Early 20^th Century

Dead Men Running (1971) This was a 6-part mini-series based on the final novel by D’Arcy Niland about the effect in Australia of the political troubles in Ireland early in the twentieth century. It starred Ewen Solon, Brendon Lunney, Diane Craig and Stewart Ginn. (See IMDb, Wikipedia.)

Interwar Period

Loss of Innocence (1978) This was a 4-part mini-series about the life of a man from the Great Depression to the 1970s. It starred John Fitzgerald, Ronald Falk, Monica Maughan, and Carol Burns. (See IMDb,  Wikipedia.)

Ride On Stranger (1979) This was a 4-part mini-series about a woman in the 1930s, based on the novel of the same name by Australian author Kylie Tennant. It starred Liddy Clark, Noni Hazlehurst, Barbara Wyndon, Warwick Sims, Peter Carroll, Henri Szeps, Michael Aitkens and Moya O’Sullivan. Noni Hazlehurst won a Logie for her performance. (See IMDb, ATIA, Wikipedia, Australian Screen (with clips).)

World War Two

Marion (1974) This was a 4-part mini-series about a schoolteacher during World War Two who fell in love with an Italian POW. It starred Helen Morse, Tony Bonner, John Clayton, John Frawley, Elspeth Ballantyne, Kerry Armstrong, Kathy Beck and Peter Eaton. (See IMDb, Wikipedia.)

The Sullivans (1976-1983) This long-running series (1,114 episodes over seven years) was Australia’s first period soap-opera. The series told the story of a fictional average middle-class Melbourne family and the effect that the Second World War and the immediate post-war events had on their lives.  It starred Lorraine Bayly, Paul Cronin, Andrew McFarlane, Steven Tandy, Susan Hannaford, Richard Morgan, Michael Caton, Megan Williams, Reg Gorman, Vikki Hammond, Chantal Contouri, Norman Yemm, Vivean Gray, and many more. The series won the five main logies in 1978: Most Popular Drama Series and Most Popular Lead Actor (Paul Cronin), Most Popular Lead Actress (Lorraine Bayly), Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role (Michael Caton), and Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role (Vivean Gray); and continued to win more Logies each year. The show had consistent ratings success in Australia, and was also popular in the United Kingdom, the Republic of Ireland, the Netherlands, Greece and New Zealand.  (See IMDb, ATIA, Wikipedia, Australian Screen (with clips), Classic Aussie Soaps.)

Postwar – 40s, 50s

The Far Country (1972) This 6-part drama was about a young woman from England in 1950, who visited friends in rural Victoria and met a Czech refugee. It starred Graham Corry and Betty Dyson. (See IMDb, Wikipedia.)

So what is your favourite period film from the 1970s? (Leave a comment below)

Next Time: Australian Period Films of the 1980s