Caddie is an Australian film, directed by Donald Crombie

Donald Crombie

Donald Crombie is an Australian film and television director. Crombie studied at National Institute of Dramatic Art in 1961 and started work at the Commonwealth Film Unit in 1963. Crombie has directed feature films, telemovies, mini-series, drama series, documentaries and commercials. He has...

, released in 1976, and belonging to the Australian film renaissance which occurred during that decade.

The film is set in part in Sydney

Sydney

Sydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...

 during the 1920s and 1930s, including the Great Depression

Great Depression

The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

, and tells of the life of a young middle class

Middle class

The middle class is any class of people in the middle of a societal hierarchy. In Weberian socio-economic terms, the middle class is the broad group of people in contemporary society who fall socio-economically between the working class and upper class....

 woman struggling to raise two children after her marriage breaks up.

The film stars Helen Morse

Helen Morse

Helen Morse is an Australian actress who has appeared in films, on television, and on stage.-Biography:Morse was born in Harrow on the Hill, Middlesex, England. She was the oldest of four children; her parents were a doctor and nurse...

 (Caddie), Takis Emmanuel, Drew Forsythe

Drew Forsythe

Drew Forsythe is an Australian actor, singer, writer, and comedian.He attended Atherton Primary School, far north Queensland....

, Jack Thompson

Jack Thompson (actor)

Jack Thompson, AM is an Australian actor and one of the major figures of Australian cinema. He was educated at University of Queensland, before embarking on his acting career. In 2002, he was made an honorary member of the Australian Cinematographers Society...

 (Ted), Melissa Jaffer

Melissa Jaffer

Melissa Jaffer is an Australian actress who has made many appearances in television series, including Kings, Mother and Son, G. P., Brides of Christ, Grass Roots and All Saints...

 and Jacki Weaver

Jacki Weaver

Jacqueline Ruth "Jacki" Weaver is an Australian theatre, film and television actress. She is best known outside Australia for her performance in Animal Kingdom, for which she was nominated for the 2011 Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.-Career:Jacki Weaver has been working in Australian...

.

Plot

Caddie (Helen Morse) leaves her adulterous and brutish husband and takes her two children with her to Sydney. Forced to work as a barmaid in a pub she struggles to survive. A brief affair with Ted (Jack Thompson) ends badly, but she falls in love with a Greek immigrant (Takis Emmanuel).

Locations

Parts of the movie were filmed in and around Balmain

Balmain, New South Wales

Balmain is a suburb in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Balmain is located slightly west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....

 with a number of scenes at the Kent Hotel

Kent Hotel, Balmain

The Kent Hotel was a pub in the suburb of Balmain in the Inner West of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia.Workers from the nearby Booth's Saw Mill and later Lever and Kitchen, were regular patrons at the hotel....

 (which later became Caddies Restaurant) and the Sir William Wallace Hotel

Sir William Wallace Hotel, Balmain

The Sir William Wallace Hotel is an historic pub in the suburb of Birchgrove on the Balmain Peninsula in the inner-west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia....

. Other scenes were filmed in Cameron Street, Edgecliff

Edgecliff, New South Wales

Edgecliff is a small suburb in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Edgecliff is located 4 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Woollahra. The postcode is 2027.Edgecliff is surrounded by...

. Studio shots were taken at the Cinesound Studios

Cinesound Productions

Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was one of Australia's first feature film production companies. Established in June 1932, Cinesound developed out of a group of companies centred around Greater Union Theatres, that covered all facets of the film process, from production, to distribution and...

 in Rozelle

Rozelle, New South Wales

Rozelle is a suburb in the inner west of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is located 4 kilometres west of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the Municipality of Leichhardt....

.

Awards

Helen Morse's performance was awarded with the Australian Film Institute's Best Actress award

Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role

The Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role is an award presented annually at the Australian Film Institute Awards. The award has been presented annually since 1971.-History:...

 in 1976. Other AFI wins went for Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role

The Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actor in a Supporting Role is an award in the annual Australian Film Institute Awards. It has been awarded annually since 1974.-Previous winners:*1974: Barry Humphries – The Great McCarthy...

 (Drew Forsythe) and Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role

The Australian Film Institute Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role is an award in the annual Australian Film Institute Awards. It has been awarded annually since 1976.-Previous winners:*1976: Melissa Jaffer – Caddie...

 (Melissa Jaffer and Jacki Weaver). Australian Cinematographers Society

Australian Cinematographers Society

The Australian Cinematographers Society is an Australian organisation established in 1958 for cinematographers to meet and discuss the issues that affected them...

 awarded Peter James

Peter James

Peter James is a British author and historian specialising in ancient history and archaeology of the Eastern Mediterranean region. He graduated in ancient history and archeology at the University of Birmingham and does postgraduate research at University College London.James has advanced several...

 the Cinematographer of the Year award in 1977. San Sebastián International Film Festival

San Sebastián International Film Festival

The San Sebastián International Film Festival is an annual FIAPF A category film festival held in the Spanish city of San Sebastián .-History:The festival was founded in 1953...

gave the Best Actress award to Helen Morse and the Special Prize of the Jury to Donald Crombie.

External links

• Caddie at the Australian screen
• 1M1 Records website release of soundtrack by Patrick Flynn
• Caddie at the National Film and Sound Archive