''They're a Weird Mob'' is a 1966 Australian film based on the 1957 novel of the same name by John O'Grady under the pen name "Nino Culotta", the name of the main character of the book. It was the penultimate collaboration of the British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger.

Plot

Nino Culotta is an Italian

immigrant Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not natives or where they do not possess citizenship in order to settle as permanent residents or naturalized citizens. Commuters, tourists, and ...

, newly arrived in Australia. He expected to work for his cousin as a sports writer for an Italian language magazine. However, on arrival in Sydney, Nino discovers that the cousin has abandoned the magazine, leaving a substantial debt to Kay Kelly. Nino declares that he will get a job and pay back the debt. Working as a labourer Nino becomes mates with his co-workers, despite some difficulties with

Australian slang Australian English is a major variety of the English language spoken throughout Australia. Most of the vocabulary of Australian English is shared with British English, though there are notable differences. The vocabulary of Australia is drawn ...

and

culture Culture () is an umbrella term which encompasses the social behavior, institutions, and norms found in human societies, as well as the knowledge, beliefs, arts, laws, customs, capabilities, and habits of the individuals in these groups.Tyl ...

of the 1960s. Nino endeavours to understand the aspirational values and social rituals of everyday urban Australians, and assimilate. A romantic attraction builds between Nino and Kay despite her frosty exterior and her conservative Irish father's dislike of Italians. A tone of mild racism exists in the film between Anglo-Saxon/Anglo-Irish characters such as Kay Kelly's dad Harry (Chips Rafferty) and Nino. Harry says he doesn't like writers, brickies or dagos. Nino is all three. But this is undermined when Nino, sitting in the Kelly house notices a picture of the pope on the wall. Nino says "If I am a dago, then so is he". Realising the impossibility of referring to the pope by that derogatory term, Harry gives in.

Cast

Walter Chiari Walter Annicchiarico (8 March 1924 – 20 December 1991), known as Walter Chiari , was an Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles. Biography Walter Annicchiarico was born in Verona, Italy on 8 March 1924 to a family originally ...

as Nino Culotta *

Claire Dunne Claire Mary Elizabeth Dunne (born 1937), is an Irish-born Australian actress, author, lecturer and broadcaster. Her first name is also found as Clare. 1960s Australian celebrity Dunne was a popular Australian television and film personality o ...

as Kay Kelly *

Chips Rafferty John William Pilbean Goffage MBE (26 March 190927 May 1971), known professionally as Chips Rafferty, was an Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the late 1930s until his death ...

as Harry Kelly * Alida Chelli as Giuliana *

Ed Devereaux Edward Sidney Devereaux (27 August 192517 December 2003), better known professionally as Ed Devereaux, was an Australian actor, director, and scriptwriter who lived in the United Kingdom for many years. He was best known for playing the part of ...

as Joe Kennedy *

Slim DeGrey Clifford Frank de Grey (20 May 1918 – 16 March 2007), better known as Slim De Grey, was an English-Australian actor, compere, musician, lyricist, composer and comedian. He served in the Australian Army during World War II, seeing action in th ...

as Pat *

John Meillon John Meillon, ( ; 1 May 1934 – 11 August 1989), was an Australian character actor, known for many straight as well as comedy roles, he became most widely known internationally as Walter Reilly in the films ''Crocodile Dundee'' and ''Crocodil ...

as Dennis *Charles Little as Jimmy * Anne Haddy as Barmaid *Jack Allen as Fat Man in Bar *Red Moore as Texture Man *Ray Hartley as Newsboy *

Tony Bonner Anthony Frederick Bonner (born 23 November 1943) is an Australian television, film and stage actor and singer. Bonner became famous in the 1960s children's television series '' Skippy the Bush Kangaroo'', later moving on to lead roles in the ...

as Lifesaver *Alan Lander as Charlie *Keith Peterson as Drunk Man on Ferry *

Muriel Steinbeck Muriel Myee Steinbeck (21 July 1913 – 20 July 1982) was an Australian actress who worked extensively in radio, theatre, television and film. She is best known for her performance as the wife of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith in '' Smithy'' (1946) ...

as Mrs Kelly * Gloria Dawn as Mrs Chapman *

Jeanie Drynan Jeanie Drynan is an Australian film and television actress well known for her roles in the television series '' Class of '74'' and in the 1994 film '' Muriel's Wedding''. She may be best known to international viewers for her role as Muriel's ...

as Betty *Gita Rivera as Maria *

Judith Arthy Judith Anne Arthy (born 12 November 1940 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia) is an Australian actress, now retired, and writer. Judith Arthy began her theatrical career in a production of Arthur Miller's The Crucible with the Brisbane Repertory Th ...

as Dixie *

Doreen Warburton Doreen Warburton (22 March 1930 – 19 July 2017) was an Australian actress, director, and theatre co-founder. Biography Evelyn Doreen Warburton was born in London on 22 March 1930. At 18 she began her theatre career with the Theatre Worksho ...

as Edie *

Barry Creyton Barry Creyton (born 1939, Brisbane, Queensland) is an Australian actor and playwright. Creyton began his professional career in radio and revue in Melbourne, Australia and became well known in Sydney starring in and writing popular comedy-melod ...

as Hotel clerk *

Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...

as Himself (cameo) *

Robert McDarra Robert Bundy McDarra (1931– 23 December 1975) variously credited as Robert McDara and Bob McDara was an Australian stage, television and film actor. He won the 1973 AACTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role for his work on the film '' 27A'' ...

as Hotel Manager *

Judi Farr Judi Farr (born c.1938/1939), also credited as Judy Farr, is an Australian former actress of theatre, film and television best known for several situation comedy roles on Australian television. Farr has also appeared in Australian films such ...

as Hotel Telephonist (uncredited) *Noel Brophy as Irate Ferry Passenger *

Jacki Weaver Jacqueline Ruth Weaver (born 25 May 1947) is an Australian theatre, film and television actress. Weaver emerged in the 1970s as a symbol of the Australian New Wave through her work in Ozploitation films such as '' Stork'' (1971), ''Alvin Purp ...

Liza Goddard Louise Elizabeth Goddard (born 20 January 1950) professionally known as Liza Goddard, is an English television and stage actress, best known for her work in the 1970s and 1980s. Early life Goddard was born in Smethwick, Staffordshire.Before 1 ...

as Girl on Ferry (uncredited) * Ken James as Bellboy at King's Cross Hotel (uncredited) * John Hargreaves as Youth at Train Station (uncredited) Cast notes * John O'Grady, the author of the novel, makes a

cameo appearance A cameo role, also called a cameo appearance and often shortened to just cameo (), is a brief appearance of a well-known person in a work of the performing arts. These roles are generally small, many of them non-speaking ones, and are commonly eit ...

as the grey-bearded drinker in the pub in the opening sequence of the film. * Alida Chelli was the girlfriend of Walter Chiari, but almost did not get the part because she was thought to be too glamorous and might have upstaged Claire Dunne.

Production

Development

''They're a Weird Mob'' was optioned in 1959 by Gregory Peck with him to direct but not appear, but he could not come up with a workable screenplay.

Michael Powell Michael Latham Powell (30 September 1905 – 19 February 1990) was an English filmmaker, celebrated for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger. Through their production company The Archers, they together wrote, produced and directed a serie ...

first read the novel in London in 1960 and wanted to turn it into a film but Peck had the rights. Powell obtained them three years later and brought in his long-time collaborator

Emeric Pressburger Emeric Pressburger (born Imre József Pressburger; 5 December 19025 February 1988) was a Hungarian-British screenwriter, film director, and producer. He is best known for his series of film collaborations with Michael Powell, in a collaborat ...

, who wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym "Richard Imrie."

Finance

The film was one of a series of movies financed together by Rank and the NFFC. £166,925 of the budget came from the NFFC and Rank, the rest from the production company Williamson-Powell International Films.Petrie p 10

Casting

had previously visited Australia during the filming of ''On the Beach'' (1959), which starred his then-girlfriend

Ava Gardner Ava Lavinia Gardner (December 24, 1922 – January 25, 1990) was an American actress. She first signed a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1941 and appeared mainly in small roles until she drew critics' attention in 1946 with her perform ...

was working as a weather girl when cast in the female lead. It was one of Muriel Steinbeck's last acting roles.

Shooting

The film started filming in October 1965 and was shot at a number of locations in the area of Sydney: *

Bondi Beach Bondi Beach is a popular beach and the name of the surrounding suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Bondi Beach is located east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Easter ...

Circular Quay Circular Quay is a harbour, former working port and now international passenger shipping port, public piazza and tourism precinct, heritage area, and transport node located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia on the northern edge of the Syd ...

(where the ferry comes ashore) * Clark Island (the beach party) * Hunter Street and Elizabeth Street in the central business district *

Martin Place Martin Place is a pedestrian mall in the Sydney central business district, New South Wales, Australia. Martin Place has been described as the "civic heart" of Sydney.

(where

asks Nino for directions) *

Manly Beach Manly Beach is a beach situated among the Northern Beaches of Sydney, Australia, in Manly, New South Wales. From north to south, the three main sections are Queenscliff, North Steyne, and South Steyne. Etymology The beach was named by Capt. A ...

Neutral Bay Neutral Bay is a suburb on the Lower North Shore of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Neutral Bay is around 1.5 kilometres north of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of North Sydney Council. Neutral Bay takes ...

(final scene shot at 9 Wallaringa Ave, Neutral Bay) *"The House That Nino Built" is located at 128 Greenacre Road in

Greenacre Greenacre, a suburb of local government areas City of Canterbury-Bankstown and the Municipality of Strathfield, is located 17 kilometres south-west of the Sydney central business district in the state of New South Wales, Australia, and is a pa ...

, a suburb of Sydney. The actors dug trenches, poured concrete, laid bricks and so on, and it was then finished professionally and sold to raise funds for The Royal Life Saving Society. The stars' footprints were set in concrete slabs in the pathway. *

Punchbowl railway station Punchbowl railway station is located on the Bankstown line, serving the Sydney suburb of Punchbowl. It is served by Sydney Trains T3 Bankstown line services. History Punchbowl station opened on 14 April 1909, when the Bankstown line was exten ...

, where Nino is picked up by Joe prior to his first day at work has changed over the years. In a previous configuration it was possible to park a vehicle virtually at the bottom of the northern steps. *

Balgowlah Heights Balgowlah Heights is a suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia 11 kilometres north-east of the Sydney central business district in the local government area of Northern Beaches Council, in the Northern Bea ...

The place where Nino & Kay want to build their home is referred to in the "making of " documentary as Grotto Point. Balgowlah Heights is on

Dobroyd Head Dobroyd Head is a point or headland in the Northern Beaches local government area, in the suburb of Balgowlah Heights, New South Wales, Australia. It is part of the Sydney Harbour National Park, which contains examples of ecosystems at risk such ...

on the north side of the entrance to

Middle Harbour Middle Harbour (or ''Warrin ga''), a semi–mature tide dominated drowned valley estuary, is the northern arm of Port Jackson, an inlet of the Tasman Sea located north of Sydney central business district on the coast of New South Wales, Austr ...

. The film has been credited with the revival of the moribund

Australian film industry 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 internat ...

, which led to the Australian "New Wave" films of the 1970s.

Box office

''They're a Weird Mob'' grossed $2,417,000 at the box office in Australia,''Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office''
/ref> . However it performed poorly outside Australia. The NFFC reported its overseas earnings on the film as £207,821. In 1968 John McCallum wrote that of the $2 million the film had then earned, only $400,000 had been returned to the film-makers.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p238 A behind-the-scenes documentary was shot called ''The Story of the Making of 'They're a Weird Mob'''.

DVD

The film has been released on Region 4 DVD by Roadshow. The DVD includes a TV special, "The Story of Making the Film ''They're a Weird Mob''" as well as a picture gallery, theatrical trailer and optional subtitles. The film has been released on Region 2 DVD by Opening in the ''Les films de ma vie'' series. The DVD has fixed French subtitles for the original English soundtrack.

References

Notes

External links

* * *
Reviews and articles
at th
Powell & Pressburger Pages

They're a Weird Mob at the National Film and Sound Archive

''They're a Weird Mob''
at

Australian Screen Online 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 ...

''They're a Weird Mob''
at Oz Movies
Peter Krausz, "They're a Weird Mob", ''ACMI''
{{DEFAULTSORT:They're A Weird Mob (Film) 1966 films 1960s Australian films 1960s English-language films Australian comedy films Films set in Sydney Films based on Australian novels Films directed by Michael Powell Films by Powell and Pressburger Films shot in Sydney Films scored by Mikis Theodorakis Films about immigration 1966 comedy films