''You Can't See 'round Corners'' is a 1969 Australian

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. The drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular ...

directed by David Cahill and starring

Ken Shorter Kenneth Shorter (1945 – November 2024) was an Australian actor. Shorter's career spanned theatre, television and film, but he was best known for starring opposite Mick Jagger in a film adaptation of ''Ned Kelly'' (1970), as the title chara ...

and

Rowena Wallace Rowena Wallace (born 23 August 1947) is an English-born Australian stage and screen actress, most especially in the genre of television soap opera. She is best known for her Gold Logie-winning role as conniving Patricia "Pat the Rat" Hamilton/ ...

. The film is a theatrical version of the 1967 TV show '' You Can't See 'Round Corners''. Both were based on the 1947 novel by

Jon Cleary Jon Stephen Cleary (22 November 191719 July 2010) was an Australian writer and novelist. He wrote numerous books, including '' The Sundowners'' (1951), a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and '' The ...

updated to the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

Synopsis

Small-time bookie Frankie McCoy from Newtown, Sydney, is drafted during the Vietnam War. He loves his girlfriend Margie but is frustrated because she won't sleep with him before they are married. He goes through basic training at Kapooka, near

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

but eventually deserts. Margie breaks up with him once she finds this out. Frankie goes back to working as a bookie but suffers a series of losses. In order to cover these he robs an office, not realising the money he has stolen consists of marked bills. He visits a Kings Cross night club, meeting a girl, Myra, who he sleeps with and gives some of the stolen money. Both the military and regular police start to close in on Frankie, and he discovers that the bills were marked. He goes back to Myra to retrieve the money. They get in an argument and he winds up accidentally killing her. He contacts Margie but is chased after by some of the men he owes money to and winds up running in front of a moving car and being killed.

Cast

as Frankie McCoy *

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 Mrs. McCoy *

as Margie Harris * Judith Fisher as Peg Clancy *

Carmen Duncan Carmen Joan Duncan (7 July 1942 – 3 February 2019) was an Australian-born stage and screen actress and activist, with a career locally and internationally in the United States that spanned over 50 years. She was nominated for the AFI Award ...

as Myra Neilson * Slim DeGrey as Mick Patterson *

Max Cullen Maxwell Phillip Cullen (born 29 April 1940) is an Australian stage and screen actor. He has appeared in many Australian films and television series but is best known for his role in the film '' Spider and Rose'' and the television series '' The ...

as Peeper * Kevin Leslie as Ken * Goff Vockler as Barney * Lou Vernon as Nugget * John Armstrong as Jack Kelly * Peter Aanensen as Sgt Quinn *

Max Phipps Maxwell John Phipps (18 November 1939 – 6 August 2000) was an Australian actor, known for a number of roles in theatre, films and television during the 1960s until the end of the 1990s. Phipps' most notable roles included portraying Prime Mini ...

as Keith Grayson * Vincent Gil as Lennie Ryan *

Henri Szeps Henri Szeps () (born October 2, 1943), also spelled Henry Szeps, is a Swiss-born Australian character actor of theatre and television. He has also featured in films and worked in voice roles, and has worked in productions in the United Kingdom. ...

as Peter * Marion Johns as Mrs Harris * John Barnes as Mr Harris *

Gerard Maguire Gerard Maguire (born 25 September 1945) also credited as Gerard McGuire, is an Australian actor, producer and screenwriter best known for his role in ''Prisoner'' as Deputy Governor, ''Jim Fletcher''. Often appearing on Australian television p ...

as Terry (uncredited) *

Garry McDonald Garry George McDonald AO (born 30 October 1948) is an Australian actor, satirist and comedian. In a career spanning five decades he has had many theatre, television and film roles, and has been listed as a National Living Treasure. He is bes ...

as one of Terry’s gang (uncredited) * The Atlantics

Production

The film was shot in mid 1967, financed by the

Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...

. It used the same cast, crew and sets as the TV series. Very little of it was shot on location. It was a co-production between ATN 7 and Universal. Richard Lane says the film was made because the series had ended with the cast still five weeks under contract. ATN-7 decided to make a feature film version with the idea that if it was not good enough for theatres it could play on television. The film features appearances by a young

Kate Fitzpatrick Kerry Kathleen Fitzpatrick (born 1 October 1947) known as Kate Fitzpatrick, is an Australian television, film, and theatre actress. Early years Kate grew up in the Adelaide suburb of Dover Gardens, and it was in Adelaide that her love for cl ...

and

with hair.

Reception

The film was the 19th most popular movie at the Australian box office in 1969."The World's Top Twenty Films." Sunday Times ondon, England27 Sept. 1970: 27. The Sunday Times Digital Archive. accessed 5 April 2014

References

External links

*
''You Can't See 'Round Corners''
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 c ...

''You Can't See 'Round Corners'' (film)
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 c ...

''You Can't See Round Corners''
at Oz Movies {{David Cahill Australian drama films 1969 films Films based on works by Jon Cleary Films directed by David Cahill 1960s Australian films 1960s English-language films Works by Richard Lane (writer) Films scored by Tommy Tycho