''Dawn!'' is a 1979 Australian sports

biopic A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of an actual person or group of people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudrama films and histo ...

about the three-time

Olympic Olympic or Olympics may refer to Sports Competitions * Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896 ** Summer Olympic Games ** Winter Olympic Games * Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece bet ...

gold medallist swimmer

Dawn Fraser Dawn Fraser (born 4 September 1937) is an Australian freestyle champion swimmer, eight-time olympic medallist, a 15-year world record holder in the 100-metre freestyle, and former politician. Controversial, yet the winner of countless honours, ...

, who served as technical adviser for the production. It starred Bronwyn Mackay Payne and

Bunney Brooke Bunney Brooke (9 January 1925 – 2 April 2000), born as Dorothy Jean Cronin, was an Australian actress, creator, producer, director, designer, playwright and casting agent, best known for her being one of the early faces of Australian televis ...

, and was written by Joy Cavill and directed by

Ken Hannam Ken Hannam (12 July 1929 – 16 November 2004) was an Australian film and television director who also worked in Television in the United Kingdom, British television drama. Career Born in St Kilda, Victoria, St Kilda, Melbourne, the eldest of ...

. The film was entered into the

11th Moscow International Film Festival The 11th Moscow International Film Festival was held from 14 to 28 August 1979. The Golden Prizes were awarded to the Italian-French film ''Christ Stopped at Eboli (film), Christ Stopped at Eboli'' directed by Francesco Rosi, the Spanish film ''S ...

Plot

The film deals with Dawn Fraser's rise to fame as a champion

swimmer, her anti-authoritarian clashes with Australian Swimming officials, her triumphs, marriage and eventual divorce.

Cast

*Bronwyn Mackay-Payne as

Ron Haddrick Ronald Norman Haddrick (9 April 1929 – 11 February 2020) was an Australian actor, narrator and South Australian cricketer. In 2012, he received the Actors Equity Lifetime Achievement Award for his long and distinguished career in media, span ...

as Pop *

as Mum * Tom Richardsas Harry *

John Diedrich John Edwin Diedrich (born 25 February 1953 in Melbourne, Victoria) is an Australian actor, director, producer and singer, known for stage and television roles in Australia and the UK. Diedrich was a child actor, debuting as the Artful Dodger ...

as Gary *Gabrielle Hartley as Kate *

Ivar Kants Ivar Kants (born 19 July 1949), commonly credited as Ivor Kants or Ivar Kanz, is an Australian actor of Latvian descent who has played numerous roles in film, television and theatre. Early life Ivar Kants was born on July 19, 1949, in Adela ...

as Len *David Cameron as Joe *Kevin Wilson as Bippy *

Kevin Manser Kevin Baden Manser (16 February 1929 – 21 December 2001) was an Australian actor best known for his career as a Dalek operator in the early seasons of the British science-fiction television series ''Doctor Who''. He was born in Adelaide and ...

as Official *

John Clayton John Clayton may refer to: Arts and entertainment Writing *John Clayton (architect) (died 1861), English architect and writer *John Clayton (sportswriter) (1954–2022), American sportswriter and reporter *John Bell Clayton and Martha Clayton, Joh ...

as Syd *

Lyndall Barbour Lyndall Harvey Barbour (19 May 1916 – 10 October 1986) was an Australian actress, primarily of radio, although she also added stage and television work (both series and made-for-television movies) to her repertoire. Born in Egypt to Australian ...

as Edie *

Deborah Kennedy :''This is an article about the actress. For the American eco artist and author, see Deborah Kennedy (artist)''. Deborah Kennedy is an Australian character actress recognised for several television and film roles, especially for her appearance ...

Bob Baines Bob Baines (born 1952) is an Australian actor. He has starred in many television shows including '' State Coroner'' opposite Wendy Hughes as Clive Trimble, '' Water Rats'' and ''Home and Away ''Home and Away'' (''H&A'') is an Australian ...

as 12th Policeman

Production

The film was produced by Joy Cavill who had previously made a documentary, '' The Dawn Fraser Story'' (1964). In the 1970s Cavill wrote a script based on Fraser's life and showed it to

Jill Robb Jill Robb (1934 – 16 January 2022) was an English-born Australian film producer and executive who worked mostly in Australia. Early life and education Jill Robb was born in England in 1934. Career Robb began in the film industry as a stand i ...

and John Morris of the

South Australian Film Corporation South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) is a South Australian Government statutory corporation established in 1972 to engage in film production and promote the film industry, located in Adelaide, South Australia. The Adelaide Studios are managed ...

. They agrees to put up $250,000 and raise the balance of the money in exchange for 50% of the profits. The lead, Bronwyn Mackay-Payne, was cast after a search that involved interviewing 1,200 girls and screen testing ten. Mackay-Payne had never acted before. Shooting began on 19 September 1977 and went for ten weeks, with studio work in Adelaide and location shooting in Balmain, Sydney, Melbourne Olympic Stadium, and Tokyo.

Reception

The film performed disappointingly at the box office.

References

External links