''...Maybe This Time'' is a 1980 Australian feature film starring Bill Hunter, Mike Preston,

Ken Shorter Ken Shorter (born -1947), also credited as Kenneth Shorter. is an Australian actor best known for playing the title role in the biker film ''Stone'' (1974), and ''You Can't See 'round Corners'' (1969).> Television appearances include '' Skippy ...

and

Judy Morris Judith Ann Morris (born 17 February 1947) is an Australian character actress, as well as a film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 58 different television shows and films, starting her career as a child ...

. It was the first feature directed by Chris McGill. It was the feature film debut of stage/TV actor

Jill Perryman Jill Perryman AM, MBE (born 30 May 1933) is an Australian former stage and screen actress and singer. Combining both her stage acting and her singing, she featured in numerous musical theatre roles, over eight decades and spanning 70 years of ...

Plot

Fran, the assistant to university professor Paddy, is about to turn 30. She is having an affair with a married minister's aide, Stephen. She returns home to the country town she grew up in and has a fling with an old flame, Alan. She also begins sleeping with Paddy.

Cast

as Fran * Bill Hunter as Stephen * Mike Preston as Paddy *

as Mother *

as Alan * Michele Fawdon as Margo *

Leonard Teale Leonard George Thiele AO (26 September 192214 May 1994), professionally Leonard Teale, was a well-known Australian actor of radio, television and film and radio announcer, presenter and narrator known for his resonant baritone voice. He is be ...

as Minister *

Jude Kuring Judith Kuring (born 23 November 1948) known Jude Kuring is an Australian actress who appeared in theatre, film and television during the late 1970s and early 80s. She remains best known for her stint as the recurring character of petty crimina ...

as Meredith *

Rod Mullinar Rodney Mullinar (born 1942) is a British Australian actor, noted for his roles on Australian television. He emigrated to Australia with his first wife, casting agent Liz Mullinar in 1969. Career Mullinar took the leading role in Australian es ...

as Jack *

Chris Haywood Chris Haywood (born ) is an English-born Australian actor, writer and producer, with close to 500 screen performances to his name. Haywood has also worked as a casting director, art director, sound recordist, camera operator, gaffer, grip, l ...

as Salesman *

Lyndall Barbour Lyndall Harvey Barbour (19 May 1916 – 10 October 1986) was an Australian actress, primarily of radio, although she also added stage and television work (both series and made-for-television movies) to her repertoire. Born in Egypt to Australian p ...

as Miss Bates *

Lorna Lesley Lorna Lesley (born 1959, in Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison wit ...

as Suzy Williams

Production

Bob Ellis Robert James Ellis (10 May 1942 – 3 April 2016) was an Australian writer, journalist, filmmaker, and political commentator. He was a student at the University of Sydney at the same time as other notable Australians including Clive James, Germa ...

says it took him five years to get the film made and that it was turned down by Gillian Armstrong, Stephen Wallace, Tony Buckley,

Donald Crombie Donald Charles Crombie (born 5 July 1942) is an Australian film and television director and screenwriter. Born in Brisbane, Crombie was educated at the Anglican Church Grammar School and studied at the National Institute of Dramatic Art. Cr ...

Ken Hannam Ken Hannam (12 July 1929 – 16 November 2004) was an Australian film and television director who also worked in British television drama. Career Born in St Kilda, Melbourne, the eldest of three boys, Hannam lived in his youth in Sydney and ...

, David Stevens and Brian Bell. He then re-wrote it and managed to persuade the New South Wales Film Corporation to back it, although the NSWFC were the ones who picked the producer and director. They also insisted that the lead be played by

Helen Morse Helen Morse (born 24 January 1947) is an English-born Australian actress who has appeared in films, on television and on stage. She won the AFI (AACTA) Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the 1976 film ''Caddie'', and starred in the 198 ...

Wendy Hughes Wendy Hughes (29 July 19528 March 2014) was an Australian actress known for her work in theatre, film and television. Her career spanned more than forty years and established her reputation as one of Australia's finest and most prolific actors. ...

. Ellis later complained that all references in the script to

Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from 1972 to 1975. The longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1967 to 1977, he was notable for being the ...

had to be cut out of the first third of the film because the New South Wales Film Corporation was not seen to be biased towards Whitlam. He thought this destroyed the structure of the scenes and "as a result, the first 10 minutes of the film was wrecked, and the film will lose money." Ellis says that the part played by Mike Preston was written for

Jack Thompson Jack Thompson may refer to: Sports * Jack Thompson (footballer, born 1892) (1892–1969), English footballer who played for Sheffield United and Bristol City * Jack Thompson (1920s footballer), English footballer who played for Aston Villa and Brig ...

and felt

was miscast because she "looks too beautiful to have these problems, and the correct choice would have been somebody like

Anna Volska Anna Volska (born 1 December 1944 in Milanówek, Poland) is an Australian stage and television actress. She arrived in Australia when she was young and has acted from a young age. Television work Volska has appeared in many Australian televis ...

or Michelle Fawdon." However he did like Morris' performance.Richard Brennan, 'Bob Ellis, ''Cinema Papers'', Oct-Nov 1980 p 319 Morris later said of her character:

Fran is a woman who feels pushed into a corner. She is approaching 30, a time when many women being to feel their options are running out. She has passed through a sexual liberation stage but has found that this has not provided a solution. What she wants is a total commitment with a man.

The film was shot over six weeks starting in November 1979.David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p320 Its original title was ''Letters from a Friend''.David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p111

Release

The film was not a success at the box office. However the script by Bob Ellis and Anne Brooksbank won an AWGIE for best original feature film screenplay.AWGIE Award Winners 1968-2006
Retrieved 23 October 2012

References

External links

*
''Maybe This Time''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of A ...

''Maybe This Time''
at Ozmovies {{Bob Ellis Australian drama films 1980 films Films scored by Bruce Smeaton 1980s English-language films