''Seven Little Australians'' is a 1939 Australian film directed by

Arthur Greville Collins Arthur Greville Collins (September 5, 1896 - September 1, 1980) was a British-born film director. Career Collins was born in London, and began directing for the stage, including productions of ''Fata Morgana'', ''No Man's Land'', and ''Tarnish'' ...

and starring Charles McCallum. It is an adaptation of

Ethel Turner Ethel Turner (24 January 1870 – 8 April 1958) was an English-born Australian novelist and children's literature writer. Life She was born Ethel Mary Burwell in Doncaster in England. Her father died when she was two, leaving her mother Sarah J ...

's 1894

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

in a contemporary setting.

Synopsis

Seven children live with their tyrannical father, Captain McCallum, and step mother Esther. The children can never make their father happy. The second oldest girl, Judy, is sent to boarding school. Judy runs away and falls ill. She is found by her father who allows her to go on holiday in the country to recuperate. The other children come along with her. Judy is killed by a falling branch. The Captain becomes aware of how he has mistreated his family.

Cast

*Charles McCallum as Captain Woolcot * Patricia McDonald as Esther *Sandra Jaques as Meg *Robert Gray as Pip *Mary McGowan as Judy *Janet Gleeson as Nell *Ronald Rousel as Bunty *Nancy Gleeson as Baby *Donald Tall as the General *Harold Meade as Colonel Bryant *Nan Taylor as Mrs Bryant * John Wiltshire as Gillet *John Fernside as doctor *Edna Montgomery as Aldith *Howard Craven as Andrew *Letty Craydon as Martha *George Doran as groom *Nesta Tait as Bridget *Carl Francis as Fred Hassel *Connie Martyn as Mary Hassel *Nellie Lamport as school teacher *Mary Swan as Marion *Jean Hart as Betty *Margaret Roussel as Doris *Richard Dowse as Major Martin *Norman Wait as Mr Hill *Eve Wynne as Mrs Hill

Production

It was originally announced the movie would be made by noted theatre producer Sir Benjamin Fuller, his first exercise into movie making. Fuller said it would be part of a slate of projects, also including the story of

Father Damien of Molokai Father Damien or Saint Damien of Molokai, SS.CC. or Saint Damien De Veuster ( nl, Pater Damiaan or '; 3 January 1840 – 15 April 1889), born Jozef De Veuster, was a Roman Catholic priest from Belgium and member of the Congregation of the Sacr ...

and an adaptation of

Norman Lindsay Norman Alfred William Lindsay (22 February 1879 – 21 November 1969) was an Australian artist, etcher, sculptor, writer, art critic, novelist, cartoonist and amateur boxer. One of the most prolific and popular Australian artists of his genera ...

's novel ''Redheap''. Fuller hired English director

, who had directed several Hollywood films arrived in May 1939 to begin preproduction. Collins later said he was visiting Sydney on holiday when he read the book and decided to turn it into a film. The original plan was to cast one child from each of the six states of Australia, and one from New Zealand. The children who were cast had a variety of experience – Mary McGrown, Ron Rousel and Sandra Jacque had a background in amateur theatre and radio; sisters Janet and Nancy Gleeson were pantomime and radio veterans at the age of seven. The script updated the story from 1894 to the 1930s. "Although the story has been modernised " said Collins, "we have made every effort to retain the same freshness and vivacity that has made the book such a definite part of Australian fiction." Despite announcements of Fuller's involvement, the film was eventually produced by O.B. Pictures, a Sydney company headed by businessman Edward O'Brien.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p186 They announced plans to make a series of other films with Collins. Shooting started in August 1939 and took place on location at Camden and in the studios of the Commonwealth Film Laboratories in Sydney. It took five weeks in all.

Reception

Critical reaction was generally poor and the film was not a financial success.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, tt0032713
''Seven Little Australians''
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 ...

''Seven Little Australians''
at Oz Movies 1939 films Australian black-and-white films Australian drama films 1939 drama films Films directed by Arthur Greville Collins 1930s Australian films 1930s English-language films