''Australia is Like This'' is a 1945 documentary about the experiences of two American soldiers in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

during World War II until they leave for battle. It takes the form of a letter written by one of the soldiers to his family in America describing Australia. It was also known as '' A Letter from Australia''. The film was not released in Australia, but made for the US.

Plot

The film is told in the form of a letter written by an American soldier and his friend on leave in Sydney. They leave a troopship and see the sights, encounter 'wrong side' traffic, and meet two Australian soldiers on leave who abandon their girlfriends to buy the Americans a beer. The Americans go to a Red Cross canteen and meet a waitress whose brother is in New Guinea. They take her to the zoo and accept a dinner invitation to her house. The troops then head north.

Cast

* John McCallum as Australian soldier *

Muriel Steinbeck Muriel Myee Steinbeck (21 July 1913 – 20 July 1982) was an Australian actress who worked extensively in radio, theatre, television and film. She is best known for her performance as the wife of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in '' Smithy'' (1946) ...

* Grant Taylor as Australian soldier * Patricia Firman as waitress *John Nugent Hayward

Production

The film was one of a series of shorts made by Australia's Department of the Interior, others including '' Island Target''. Filming began late September 1944, using a predominantly American crew.

Release

The film was completed by January 1945.

References

External links

''Australia is Like This''
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

''Australia is Like This''
at

Imperial War Museum Imperial War Museums (IWM) is a British national museum organisation with branches at five locations in England, three of which are in London. Founded as the Imperial War Museum in 1917, the museum was intended to record the civil and military ...

Extract of film
at Australian War Memorial Australian documentary films 1945 films 1945 documentary films {{WWII-documentary-film-stub