''Bush Christmas'' (also known as ''Prince and the Great Race'') is a 1983

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...

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- ...

and a remake of a 1947 film of the same name, which was based on a novel by Ralph Smart and Mary Cathcart Borer. The film marked actress

Nicole Kidman Nicole Mary Kidman (born 20 June 1967) is an American and Australian actress and producer. Known for her work across various film and television productions from several genres, she has consistently ranked among the world's highest-paid act ...

's first feature film role. It was filmed on location on the

Lamington Plateau The Lamington National Park is a national park, lying on the Lamington Plateau of the McPherson Range on the Queensland/New South Wales border in Australia. From Southport on the Gold Coast the park is to the southwest and Brisbane is north. T ...

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , establishe ...

. It is also notable for music by the Bushwackers.

Plot

In rural Queensland, the Thompson family, struggling to keep its farm from foreclosure, hopes their horse, Prince, will win the New Year's Cup so that they can use the winnings to pay off the debt. However, two struggling lowlifes, Bill and Sly (

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 ...

and

John Howard John Winston Howard (born 26 July 1939) is an Australian former politician who served as the 25th prime minister of Australia from 1996 to 2007, holding office as leader of the Liberal Party. His eleven-year tenure as prime minister is the ...

), find out about the horse and steal it, escaping into the nearby mountain range. With the father off droving cattle and the thieves having sabotaged all forms of transportation and communication before escaping, the Thompson children Helen (

) and John (

Mark Spain Mark Spain is a weekday television news anchor at WSET-TV in Lynchburg, Virginia. Formerly, Spain worked alongside Paige Kelton on ''Action News'' at WJAX-TV/WFOX-TV in Jacksonville, Florida, anchoring all evening newscasts (5, 5:30, 6, 11 on WJ ...

), and their English cousin Michael (James Wingrove), saddle up their own horses and go after the crooks on their own, with Manalpuy, a local Aboriginal who works on the farm, assisting them.

Production

At one stage

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 AACTA ...

was announced as director and he was involved in casting. However, for a time it seemed the film might not go ahead so Rubie accepted a chance to direct '' The Settlement'' instead.David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p341-342 The movie was shot in Queensland in Beaudesert and Rathdowney. Funding came in part from the

Australian Film Commission The Australian Film Commission (AFC) was an Australian government agency was founded in 1975 with a mandate to promote the creation and distribution of films in Australia as well as to preserve the country's film history. It also had a producti ...

, the Film and TV Institute (WA) and

Queensland Film Corporation The Queensland Film Corporation (QFC) was a government-funded film production company that existed in the state of Queensland, Australia, in the 1980s. History The Queensland Film Corporation was established by the ''Queensland Film Industry Dev ...

Release

Box office

''Bush Christmas'' grossed $122,035 at the box office in Australia, which is equivalent to $322,172 in 2009 dollars.

Home media

''Bush Christmas'' was released on DVD by

Umbrella Entertainment Umbrella Entertainment is an Australian film distribution company that began operating in 2001. It is based in Kew, Victoria. Umbrella Entertainment manages the theatrical, physical, and digital releases of Australian films, documentaries and a ...

in December 2012. The DVD is compatible with all region codes and includes special features such as the theatrical trailer, press kit stills and the script.

References

External links

*
''Bush Christmas'' at the National Film and Sound Archive''Bush Christmas''
at Oz Movies {{Henri Safran 1983 films 1980s Christmas drama films Remakes of Australian films Australian Christmas drama films Remakes of British films 1980s English-language films Films based on Australian novels Films set in Queensland Films shot in Queensland Films directed by Henri Safran 1983 drama films