Sunstruck
| Sunstruck | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | James Gilbert |
| Produced by |
Jack Neary James Grafton |
| Written by | Stan Mars |
| Starring | Harry Secombe |
| Music by | Peter Knight |
| Cinematography | Brian West |
| Edited by |
Anthony Buckley Barry Peters |
Production company |
Immigrant Productions |
| Distributed by | British Empire Films |
Release dates | 18 November 1972 |
Running time | 92 mins |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | A$400,000[1] |
Sunstruck is a 1972 British-Australian comedy film directed by James Gilbert and starring Harry Secombe, Maggie Fitzgibbon and John Meillon.[2]
Plot
Stanley Evans, a Welsh schoolteacher, decides to emigrate to Australia for a better life but ends up working in a school in the dead-end town of Kookaburra Springs. He forms a school choir and decides to compete in a singing competition in Sydney.[3] It is also known by the alternative title of Education of Stanley Evans.
Cast
- Harry Secombe - Stanley Evans
- Maggie Fitzgibbon - Shirley Marshall
- John Meillon - Mick Cassidy
- Peter Whittle - Pete Marshall
- Dennis Jordan - Steve Cassidy
- Dawn Lake - Sal Cassidy
- Bobby Limb - Bill
- Norm Erskine - Norm
- Jack Allen - Banjo
- Roger Cox- Ben
- Tommy Mack - Gunboat
- Derek Nimmo
- Stuart Wagstaff - announcer
Production
The film was inspired by a poster used by the New South Wales government to attract teachers from Britain, where a teacher wearing swimmers and an academic board stands on Bondi Beach. It was designed as a vehicle for Harry Secombe and was shot near Parkes in New South Wales from January 1972. The budget mostly came from United States and British sources, with $100,000 from the Australian Film Development Corporation.[1][4]
The pupils seen acting at choir practice in the early part of the film were from Afon Taf High School in Troedyrhiw. The choir recorded the entire choral soundtrack at the school and it was used in both the Welsh and Australian sequences. The beginning of the film used locations in two Welsh mining villages; Treharris and Trelewis near Merthyr Tydfil. The name of the school is Webster Street School, Treharris which has since been demolished for housing.
Release
The film did not perform particularly well commercially or critically.[1]
Bibliography
- Readle, Eric. History and heartburn: the saga of Australian film, 1896-1978. Associated University Presses, 1981.
References
- 1 2 3 Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p267
- ↑ http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/52819
- ↑ Readle p.184
- ↑ "FEATURES WRITERS' WORLD BOOKS Dusty bush setting for former Goon's film.". The Canberra Times (ACT : 1926 - 1995) (ACT: National Library of Australia). 22 January 1972. p. 11. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
External links
- Sunstruck at the Internet Movie Database
- Sunstruck at Australian Screen Online
- Sunstrucl at Oz Movies