''Newsfront'' is a 1978 Australian
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 ...
starring
Bill Hunter,
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. ...
,
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 ...
and
Bryan Brown
Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include '' Breaker Morant'' (1980), ...
, directed by
Phillip Noyce
Phillip Noyce (born 29 April 1950) is an Australian filmmaker. Since 1977, he has directed over 19 feature films in various genres, including historical drama ('' Newsfront'', '' Rabbit-Proof Fence'', '' The Quiet American''); thrillers (''Dead ...
. The screenplay is written by
David Elfick
David Elfick (born 20 December 1944) is an Australian film and television writer, director, producer and occasional actor. He is known for his association with writer-director Phillip Noyce, with whom he has collaborated on films including ''New ...
,
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 ...
,
Philippe Mora
Philippe Mora (born 1949) is a French Australian film director.
Early life and career
Philippe Mora was born in Paris, France in 1949, and grew up at the centre of the Australian arts scene of the 1950s and began making films with an 8mm camera ...
, and Phillip Noyce. The original music score is composed by
William Motzing
William Edward Motzing Jr. (August 19, 1937January 30, 2014) was an American composer, conductor, arranger and trombonist best known for the award-winning film and television scores and gold and platinum pop album arrangements he wrote in Australi ...
. This film was shot on location in
Sydney, New South Wales
Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountains ...
, Australia. Incorporating much actual newsreel footage, the film is shot in both black and white and colour.
Plot summary
The plot of the movie is about
newsreel
A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, informa ...
cameramen and production staff who will do anything to get footage. Set between the years 1948 and 1956, when television was introduced to Australia, the film tracks the destinies of two brothers, their adventures and misadventures placed in the context of sweeping social and political changes in their native Australia as well as natural disasters. Len Maguire is constitutionally resistant to change, while his younger brother Frank Maguire welcomes any alterations in his own life and in the world around him.
Events covered in the film include
Robert Menzies
The name Robert is an ancient Germanic given name, from Proto-Germanic "fame" and "bright" (''Hrōþiberhtaz''). Compare Old Dutch ''Robrecht'' and Old High German ''Hrodebert'' (a compound of ''Hrōþ, Hruod'' ( non, Hróðr) "fame, glory ...
' return as
Prime Minister of Australia
The prime minister of Australia is the head of government of the Commonwealth of Australia. The prime minister heads the executive branch of the Australian Government, federal government of Australia and is also accountable to Parliament of A ...
, the
1951 referendum to ban the Communist Party,
Post-war immigration to Australia
Post-war immigration to Australia deals with migration to Australia in the decades immediately following World War II, and in particular refers to the predominantly European wave of immigration which occurred between 1945 and the end of the Whit ...
, the
combatting of the rabbit plague, the
Redex Reliability Trial, the
1955 Hunter Valley floods
The Hunter Valley Floods (also known as the Maitland Flood) of 23 February 1955 was a major flood on the Hunter River in New South Wales, Australia. They were one of the most devastating natural disasters in Australia's history.
The flood over ...
and the 1956 introduction of
television in Australia
Television in Australia began experimentally as early as 1929 in Melbourne with radio stations 3DB and 3UZ, and 2UE in Sydney, using the ''Radiovision'' system by Gilbert Miles and Donald McDonald, and later from other locations, such as Bris ...
.
Main cast
*
Bill Hunter as Len Maguire
*
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. ...
as Amy Mackenzie
*
Gerard Kennedy
Gerard Michael Kennedy (born July 24, 1960) is a Canadian politician in Ontario, Canada. He served as Ontario's minister of Education from 2003 to 2006, when he resigned to make an unsuccessful bid for the leadership of the Liberal Party of Ca ...
as Frank Maguire
*
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 Chris Hewitt
*
John Ewart
Jon Ewart (06th May 1996) is a British television and film actor. Ewart attended the prestigious National Youth Theatre, Identity School of Acting and has appeared in many successful Television shows.
Biography Career
Ewart, who was born in M ...
as Charlie
*
John Clayton John Clayton may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Writing
*John Clayton (architect) (died 1861), English architect and writer
*John Bell Clayton and Martha Clayton, John Bell Clayton (c. 1907–1955), American writer
*John Clayton (sportswriter) ( ...
as Cliff
*
Angela Punch McGregor
Angela Punch McGregor (born 21 January 1953, in Sydney) is an Australian stage and film actress.
Film credits
Her film credits include: ''The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith'' (1978), ''Newsfront'' (1978), '' The Island'' (1980), '' The Survivor'' ...
as Fay
* Don Crosby as A.G. Marwood
*
Bryan Brown
Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include '' Breaker Morant'' (1980), ...
as Geoff
*
Mark Holden
Mark Ronald Holden (born 27 April 1954) is an Australian singer, actor, TV personality, record producer, songwriter, and barrister. He was a pop star in the 1970s and had four top 20 hit singles, "Never Gonna Fall in Love Again" (May 1976 ...
as Len's new assistant
*
Drew Forsythe
Drew Forsythe (born 23 August 1949) is an Australian actor, singer, writer, and comedian. He has appeared on film, stage, and television, as well as in satirical sketch comedy television programs.
Early life
Born in Sydney, New South Wales, F ...
as Bruce
*
Ray Meagher
Raymond Francis Meagher (born 4 July 1944) is an Australian actor, who has appeared in Australian film and television since the mid-1970s. He is notable as the longest continuing performer in an Australian television role, portraying Alf Stewa ...
as Len's second brother
*
Bruce Spence
Bruce Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand–Australian actor. Spence has amassed over 100 film and television credits and has also acted in theatre.
Biography
Spence won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 1971 comedy ...
as Redex trial driver
*
Brian Blain
Brian Donald Blain (13 September 1936 – July 1994) was an Australian actor, best known for his roles in numerous TV series and films starting from the early 1970's.
Career
Blain is best remembered for his role in the Seven Network soap opera ...
as Fred
*
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 Geoff's wife
*
John Flaus
John Flaus (born 1934) is an Australian broadcaster and actor.
Filmography
*''Rake'' (2014)
*''Tracks'' (2013)
*''Jack Irish'' (2012-2021) - 3 films and 15 episodes as Wilbur
*''Pinion'' (2010)
*''I Love You Too'' (2010)
*''Mary and Max'' (2 ...
as Father Coughlan
*
Tony Barry
Tony Barry (28 August 1941 – 21 December 2022) was an Australian actor and activist best known for his television and film roles.
Personal life
Barry was born in Ipswich, Queensland, on 28 August 1941. He had one son. Barry was an environme ...
as Greasy
*
Gerry Duggan as Len's father
Production
Phil Noyce showed a copy of his
short film
A short film is any motion picture that is short enough in running time not to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes ...
''Castor and Pollux'' to David Elfick, a magazine publisher who had made a number of successful
surf movies. Elfick, along with Mike Molloy and
Philippe Mora
Philippe Mora (born 1949) is a French Australian film director.
Early life and career
Philippe Mora was born in Paris, France in 1949, and grew up at the centre of the Australian arts scene of the 1950s and began making films with an 8mm camera ...
had been discussing making a film about newsreel cameramen of the 1940s and 1950s who worked for such companies as Movietone and
Cinesound Productions
Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was an Australian feature film production company, established in June 1931, Cinesound developed out of a group of companies centred on Greater Union Theatres, that covered all facets of the film process, from produ ...
.
Elfick hired
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 ...
to write the screenplay because he had admired ''
The Legend of King O'Malley''. Ellis says he wrote the first draft with
Howard Rubie
Howard William Rubie (27 August 1938 – July 2011) was an Australian director. Born in Sydney, he worked extensively in film and television, and was awarded for his services an Emmy and was nominated for an AFI Award (now known as the AAC ...
, who had been a cameraman for
Cinesound
Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was an Australian feature film production company, established in June 1931, Cinesound developed out of a group of companies centred on Greater Union Theatres, that covered all facets of the film process, from produ ...
and thought he was going to direct it. Anne Brooksbank later contributed to the script.
[David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p207-211] Noyce was then hired as director and worked with Ellis. Ellis fell out with Noyce and demanded his name be taken off the credits. Ellis:
There was some nonsense about how long it was; we'd set it out, one short scene per page and it finally came out about 300 pages or so but, in fact, it was maybe two and a quarter hours long, which wasn't too bad then or now for something that covered 10 years. But a legend started about how huge it was. When I saw it, I was appalled. I could only see what was missing and abruptly took my name off it. Then when it won all the prizes, I sort of shamefacedly put my name back on it. It was a quite painful experience and I think a very good film, but not as good a film as might have been made. One of the models for it was the film, ''Yanks'', which was a moment in history in particular culture perfectly captured. It had a lot more than the politics in it but, partly because of the budget and partly because of the length, it was pruned back to the politics. Now, the politics was all there in the original but it was surrounding other things, such as the way people spent their Christmases. That was removed.
Funding was provided by the
Australian Film Commission and the New South Wales Film Corporation.
Release
The film was shown at Cannes in 1978 and proved popular. The New South Wales Film Corporation insisted seven minutes of the movie be cut out for overseas release.
Newsfront was ultimately released on DVD in 2016.
The DVD release of Newsfront brings one of Australia's historically lauded films to a worldwide audience. The film's production history is explored in a DVD commentary featuring members of the film's cast and crew. DVD extras include "The Last Newsreel", Australian Newsreel No. 2032 directed by Karen Borger in 1990.
Other extensive DVD-ROM study materials include an in-depth production history, an archive of reviews, and a detailed account of Newsfront's DVD restoration.
Box office
''Newsfront'' grossed $1,576,000 at the box office in Australia,
which is equivalent to $6,713,760 in 2009 dollars. David Elfick estimated the film recovered its costs two years after opening in Australia.
Awards and nominations
Won
**
AFI Awards 1978:
*Best Achievement in Costume Design
*Best Achievement in Editing
*Best Achievement in Production Design
*Best Actor in Lead Role:
Bill Hunter
*Best Actress in Supporting Role:
Angela Punch McGregor
Angela Punch McGregor (born 21 January 1953, in Sydney) is an Australian stage and film actress.
Film credits
Her film credits include: ''The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith'' (1978), ''Newsfront'' (1978), '' The Island'' (1980), '' The Survivor'' ...
*Best Director
*Best Film
*Best Screenplay
**
Belgian Film Critics Association
The Belgian Film Critics Association (french: Union de la critique de cinéma, UCC) is an organization of film critics from publications based in Brussels, Belgium.
History
The Belgian Film Critics Association was founded in the early 1950s in Br ...
Awards 1978:
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
Nominated
**
AFI Awards 1978:
*Best Achievement in Cinematography
*Best Achievement in Sound
*Best Actor in Supporting Role:
Don Crosby
George Wallace Donald Crosby, Order of Australia, OAM (29 October 1924 – 3 December 1985) was an Australians, Australian actor of radio, stage, television and film, radio producer, stage manager, airman and trade unionist.
Early life
The fift ...
*Best Actor in Supporting Role:
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 ...
*Best Actress in Lead Role:
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. ...
*Best Original Music Score
See also
*
Cinema of Australia
The cinema of Australia had its beginnings with the 1906 production of ''The Story of the Kelly Gang'', arguably the world's first feature film. Since then, Australian crews have produced many films, a number of which have received internati ...
*
List of Australian films
1890s–1930s
Australian filmmakers were at the forefront of cinema and film, having created what is considered the first feature-length narrative film with the release of '' The Story of the Kelly Gang'' and other early films by directors ...
References
External links
*
*
*
''Newsfront''at Oz Movies
Newsfront at the National Film and Sound Archive
{{Mark Holden
1978 films
Australian drama films
Drama films based on actual events
Australian independent films
1978 drama films
Films directed by Phillip Noyce
Films about journalists
1978 independent films
1970s English-language films