''Waltzing Matilda'' is a 1933 Australian film directed by and starring

Pat Hanna George Patrick "Pat" Hanna (born 18 March 1888 in Whitianga, New Zealand – 24 October 1973 in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England) was a New Zealand-born film producer, he was a soldier of the First World War who entertained post-war audience ...

. It features Coral Browne.

Plot

Chic Williams and his friend James Brown wrongly believe they have injured a policeman in a drunken fight. Fleeing a private detective who is following them, they head for the bush. Chic and James find work as drovers at Banjaroo Station, where his old army mate Joe works as an overseer. James falls in love with the station owner's daughter. The detective arrives and tells James he has inherited money. James and his girlfriend announce their engagement and Chic sets off alone as a swagman, accompanied by a chorus of "

Waltzing Matilda "Waltzing Matilda" is a song developed in the Australian style of poetry and folk music called a bush ballad. It has been described as the country's "unofficial national anthem". The title was Australian slang for travelling on foot (waltzing) ...

Cast

as Chic Williams *

Joe Valli Joseph George McParlane (also spelled McFarlane and McPharlane; 13 August 1885 – 29 May 1967), known as Joe Valli, was a Scottish-Australian actor who worked in vaudeville and films. He had a long-running vaudeville partnership with Pat Hanna as ...

as Joe McTavish *Frield Fisher as Albert * Coral Browne *Norman French as James Brown *Joan Lang *Nellie Mortyne *Dorothy Parnham as Dorothy Young *George Moon *Bill Innes

Production

Pat Hanna held a competition for the name of the film. A prize of £10 was shared amongst the 20 people who suggested "Waltzing Matilda". The character of Chic William was well established on stage and in Pat Hanna's previous movies but changed for this film- he is poor, drinking heavily and drifting from job to job.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 163. The movie was shot at

Efftee Studios Efftee Studios was an early Australian film and theatre production studio, established by F.W. Thring (the name 'Efftee' deriving from his initials, 'FT' for Francis Thring) in 1930. It existed until Thring's death in 1935. Initially Efftee Films ...

in Melbourne in mid 1933. The romantic male lead, Norman French, was a casting director for Efftee and Hanna.

Reception

The film only ran for a short time in the cities but enjoyed more popularity in the country. Reviews were mixed. It was classified as a "middle grade" success at the box office. Hanna was frustrated at the financial return he was getting for his efforts and this was his last film. However, in 1950 he said he was still making money by re-releasing his films.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, id=0024748, title=Waltzing Matilda
''Waltzing Matilda''
at Oz Movies 1933 films Films directed by Raymond Longford Australian black-and-white films American comedy films 1933 comedy films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films English-language comedy films