''A Waltz Through The Hills'' is a 1988 Australian-American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

based on the novel of the same name by Gerald Glaskin. It is the story of two orphaned children who run away from their home in the

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

outback to go to

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

so they can sail to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

to live with their grandparents. It was produced for the

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcasting, public broadcaster and Non-commercial activity, non-commercial, Terrestrial television, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly fu ...

series ''

WonderWorks ''WonderWorks'' is an anthology series which ran from 1984 to 1992. Produced by the Public Broadcasting Service, the Walt Disney Company purchased the home video rights to the series in 1987 and was responsible for making the series available t ...

'' in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Plot

In Wyanilling, Western Australia in 1954, 11-year-old Andy Dean and his 5-year-old sister, Sammy, live at a hotel run by Burt and Molly Thompson. The children are good friends with Tom, the caretaker at the hotel. One day word comes that their mother, who had gone to hospital for an operation, has died, leaving Andy and Sammy orphans. Molly Thompson wants to adopt them, but her husband does not. Andy overhears a conversation in which he learns if he and Sammy are sent to an orphanage, they'll be split up. Andy decides they should run away to Perth and take a ship to their grandparents in England. Carrying out his plan the two children get a ride to the next town, Williams, and walk even further towards Quindanning. The police and Tom start looking for them. The children meet Frank Smith, an

Aboriginal Australian Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Islands ...

who takes them to his mother's house. The Thompsons offer a 50-pound reward, and Sergeant Rawling takes over the search. Frank decides not to turn them in for the reward and instead to guide them to Perth. Along the way, Andy steals some groceries for food, alerting the police to home in even closer on their location. The Premier of Western Australia starts putting pressure on the police to find the kids as there has been unfavourable press coverage. Sergeant Rawling hires Danny Wandi, the best aboriginal tracker, to find the kids. He locates them, but as he is Frank Smith's cousin he leads the police on a wild goose chase that leads them to Tom's campsite. The Thompsons double the reward and decide they want to adopt the kids. Frank and the two kids get a ride in a truck headed towards Pinjarra and the coastal city of

Mandurah Mandurah () is a coastal city in the Australian state of Western Australia, situated approximately south of the state capital, Perth. It is the state's second most populous city, with a population of 107,641 as of the 2021 Australian census, 2 ...

, all the time staying just ahead of Tom, who finally catches up with them in the jungle, likely somewhere near the Dwellingup area. While all four are together in the bush, a brush fire breaks out and Tom is killed as they flee to a river. Towards the close, the kids and Frank have lunch with the Premier, who attempts to save political face and to entice them to stay in Australia. However, Andy and Sammy decide to move to England to stay with their grandparents.

Cast

Dan O'Herlihy Daniel Peter O'Herlihy (May 1, 1919 – February 17, 2005) was an Irish actor of film, television, and radio. With a distinguished appearance and rich, resonant speaking voice, O'Herlihy's best known-roles included his Oscar-nominated portraya ...

as "Uncle" Tom Caseley *

Ernie Dingo Ernie is a masculine given name, frequently a short form (hypocorism) of Ernest, Ernald, Ernesto, or Verner. It may refer to: People * Ernie Accorsi (born 1941), American football executive * Ernie Adams (disambiguation) * Ernie Afaganis (born ...

as Frank Smith * Andre Jansen as Andy Dean * Tina Kemp as Sammy Dean *Maggie Wilde-West as Molly Thompson *Geoffrey Atkins as Burt Thompson * Michael Carman as Sergeant Rawling *Robert Faggetter as Dave Brown *

Ken Colbung Kenneth Desmond Colbung AM MBE (2 September 1931 – 12 January 2010), also known by his indigenous name Nundjan Djiridjarkan, was an Aboriginal Australian leader from the Noongar people who became prominent in the 1960s. He was appointed an MB ...

as Danny Wandi * Geoff Gibbs as "the Premier" *

Mawuyul Yanthalawuy Mawuyul Yanthalawuy is an Indigenous Australian educator and actor. Yanthalawuy, from Elcho Island in the Northern Territory, was teaching in a pre-school in Darwin when she was chosen to play the title role in the 1980 film ''Manganinnie''. She ...

as Mary Smith

References

External links

*
A Waltz Though the Hills
at Oz Movies {{DEFAULTSORT:Waltz Through the Hills, A 1988 television films 1988 films 1980s adventure films Australian television films Australian adventure films Films directed by Frank Arnold