The Sundowners
Encyclopedia
The Sundowners is a 1960 film that tells the story of an Australia
n outback
family torn between the father's desires to continue his nomadic sheep-herding ways and the wife's and son's desire to settle down in one place. The movie stars Deborah Kerr
, Robert Mitchum
, and Peter Ustinov
, with a supporting cast including Glynis Johns
, Dina Merrill
, Michael Anderson, Jr.
, and Chips Rafferty
.
The film was adapted by Isobel Lennart
from the novel by Jon Cleary
and directed by Fred Zinnemann
.
The Sundowners was nominated for Academy Awards
for Best Actress in a Leading Role
(Deborah Kerr), Best Actress in a Supporting Role
(Glynis Johns), Best Director
, Best Picture
, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
.
" (because he is constantly moving, pitching his tent wherever the sun goes down). His wife Ida and son Sean want to settle down, but Paddy is a wanderlust
and never wants to stay in one place for long. While passing through the bush
the family meet former sea captain, Rupert Venneker and hire him as an extra drover
. The group drive a herd of sheep to a nearby town where they meet Mrs. Firth who takes a liking to Rupert.
Ida convinces Paddy to take a job at a station
shearing sheep; she serves as the cook and Rupert is hired as wool roller. Ida enjoys the company of other women, growing close to the owner's wife and taking care of one shearer's pregnant wife. She is secretly saving all the money the family earns for a farm that she saw on the sheep drive. Paddy decides to leave midway through the shearing season, but Sean convinces him to stay. He wins a race horse in a bet that they name Sundowner and they race him, hoping to make more money. However, Sundowner is disqualified and they lose all the money they saved because Paddy bet it all on the horse. The family resolve to keep moving and hope that they will save enough money to buy a farm one day.
decided to make the film at the suggestion of Dorothy Hammerstein, wife of Oscar Hammerstein
. After she sent him the novel he immediately bought the screen rights. Aaron Spelling
wrote an early draft of the screenplay, but the final version was mostly written by Jon Cleary
. Credit was eventually given to Isobel Lennart
rather than Cleary. The ending of the film was a tribute to John Huston
's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
. Gary Cooper
was hired to play Paddy Carmody, but had to leave the role due to his poor health. He was replaced by Robert Mitchum who agreed to work on the film for a chance to appear opposite Deborah Kerr with whom he had become good friends while making Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
. He also agreed to give Kerr top billing, joking to the production team that they could "design a twenty-four foot sign of me bowing to her if you like".
Zinnemann was determined to film The Sundowners on location and vetoed Jack Warner
's plan for shooting in Arizona
to save money. The Sundowners was filmed almost entirely in South Australia
and New South Wales
, including towns like Nimmitabel
and Port Augusta
. The "for-sale" property in the film was actually called "Hiawatha" and was on the Snowy River
just north of Old Jindabyne
(now under the waters of Lake Jindabyne
). Additional interior scenes were filmed in Borehamwood
studios near London
.
Filming began in 1959. Zinnemann spent 12 weeks filming scenery and shots of sheep herding before the cast arrived in October to shoot the rest of the film. The weather made location filming difficult, fluctuating from hot and humid to cold and rainy. This delayed production by several weeks and caused some irritation among the cast and crew. Mitchum was constantly harassed by fans and eventually had to move onto a boat to avoid them. Filming eventually wrapped on December 17, 1959.
Ray Austin was stunt coordinator. Nicolas Roeg
, who would later direct films such as Walkabout
, was a second unit
camera operator on the film.
. The film reached the top ten at the UK box office and was the third highest grossing film of 1961 in Australia.
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n outback
Outback
The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush".-Overview:The outback is home to a...
family torn between the father's desires to continue his nomadic sheep-herding ways and the wife's and son's desire to settle down in one place. The movie stars Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr
Deborah Kerr, CBE was a Scottish film and television actress from Glasgow. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time...
, Robert Mitchum
Robert Mitchum
Robert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
, and Peter Ustinov
Peter Ustinov
Peter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
, with a supporting cast including Glynis Johns
Glynis Johns
Glynis Johns is a South African-born Welsh stage and film actress, dancer, pianist and singer . With a career spanning seven decades, Johns is often cited as the "complete actress", who happens to be a trained pianist and singer...
, Dina Merrill
Dina Merrill
-Early life:Merrill was born Nedenia Marjorie Hutton in New York City, New York, the only child of Post Cereals heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her second husband, Wall Street stockbroker Edward Francis Hutton...
, Michael Anderson, Jr.
Michael Anderson, Jr.
Michael Joseph Anderson, Jr. is an English actor.He was born in Hillingdon, Middlesex, into a theatrical family. His grandparents and great-great-aunt were acclaimed actors. His father is the film director Michael Anderson, Sr. He is the stepson of actress Adrienne Ellis, and stepbrother of...
, and Chips Rafferty
Chips Rafferty
Chips Rafferty MBE was an iconic Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the 1940s until his death in 1971, and during this time he performed regularly in major Australian feature films as well as appearing in British and American...
.
The film was adapted by Isobel Lennart
Isobel Lennart
Isobel Lennart was an American screenwriter and playwright.A native of Brooklyn, New York, Lennart moved to Hollywood, where she was hired to work in the MGM mail room, a job she lost when she attempted to organize a union...
from the novel by Jon Cleary
Jon Cleary
Jon Stephen Cleary was an Australian author.-Biography:Cleary was born in Erskineville, Sydney. He wrote many books, among them The Sundowners , a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and The High Commissioner , the first of a long series of popular...
and directed by Fred Zinnemann
Fred Zinnemann
Fred Zinnemann was an Austrian-American film director. He won four Academy Awards and directed films like High Noon, From Here to Eternity and A Man for All Seasons.-Life and career:...
.
The Sundowners was nominated for Academy Awards
Academy Awards
An Academy Award, also known as an Oscar, is an accolade bestowed by the American Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize excellence of professionals in the film industry, including directors, actors, and writers...
for Best Actress in a Leading Role
Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
(Deborah Kerr), Best Actress in a Supporting Role
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
(Glynis Johns), Best Director
Academy Award for Directing
The Academy Award for Achievement in Directing , usually known as the Best Director Oscar, is one of the Awards of Merit presented by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to directors working in the motion picture industry...
, Best Picture
Academy Award for Best Picture
The Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium
Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay
The Academy Award for Writing Adapted Screenplay is one of the Academy Awards, the most prominent film awards in the United States. It is awarded each year to the writer of a screenplay adapted from another source...
.
Plot summary
Irish-Australian Paddy Carmody is a roving sheep herder known as a "sundownerSwagman
A swagman is an old Australian and New Zealand term describing an underclass of transient temporary workers, who travelled by foot from farm to farm carrying the traditional swag...
" (because he is constantly moving, pitching his tent wherever the sun goes down). His wife Ida and son Sean want to settle down, but Paddy is a wanderlust
Wanderlust
Wanderlust is a strong desire for or impulse to wander or travel and explore the world.-Etymology:The loanword from German language became an English term in 1902 as a reflection of what was then seen as a characteristically German predilection for wandering that may be traced back to German...
and never wants to stay in one place for long. While passing through the bush
The Bush
"The bush" is a term used for rural, undeveloped land or country areas in certain countries.-Australia:The term is iconic in Australia. In reference to the landscape, "bush" describes a wooded area, intermediate between a shrubland and a forest, generally of dry and nitrogen-poor soil, mostly...
the family meet former sea captain, Rupert Venneker and hire him as an extra drover
Drover (Australian)
A drover in Australia is a person, typically an experienced stockman, who moves livestock, usually sheep or cattle, "on the hoof" over long distances. Reasons for droving may include: delivering animals to a new owner's property, taking animals to market, or moving animals during a drought in...
. The group drive a herd of sheep to a nearby town where they meet Mrs. Firth who takes a liking to Rupert.
Ida convinces Paddy to take a job at a station
Sheep station
A sheep station is a large property in Australia or New Zealand whose main activity is the raising of sheep for their wool and meat. In Australia, sheep stations are usually in the south-east or south-west of the country. In New Zealand the Merinos are usually in the high country of the South...
shearing sheep; she serves as the cook and Rupert is hired as wool roller. Ida enjoys the company of other women, growing close to the owner's wife and taking care of one shearer's pregnant wife. She is secretly saving all the money the family earns for a farm that she saw on the sheep drive. Paddy decides to leave midway through the shearing season, but Sean convinces him to stay. He wins a race horse in a bet that they name Sundowner and they race him, hoping to make more money. However, Sundowner is disqualified and they lose all the money they saved because Paddy bet it all on the horse. The family resolve to keep moving and hope that they will save enough money to buy a farm one day.
Cast
- Deborah KerrDeborah KerrDeborah Kerr, CBE was a Scottish film and television actress from Glasgow. She won the Sarah Siddons Award for her Chicago performance as Laura Reynolds in Tea and Sympathy, a role which she originated on Broadway, a Golden Globe Award for the motion picture The King and I, and was a three-time...
... Ida Carmody - Robert MitchumRobert MitchumRobert Charles Durman Mitchum was an American film actor, author, composer and singer and is #23 on the American Film Institute's list of the greatest male American screen legends of all time...
... Paddy Carmody - Peter UstinovPeter UstinovPeter Alexander Ustinov CBE was an English actor, writer and dramatist. He was also renowned as a filmmaker, theatre and opera director, stage designer, author, screenwriter, comedian, humourist, newspaper and magazine columnist, radio broadcaster and television presenter...
... Rupert Venneker - Glynis JohnsGlynis JohnsGlynis Johns is a South African-born Welsh stage and film actress, dancer, pianist and singer . With a career spanning seven decades, Johns is often cited as the "complete actress", who happens to be a trained pianist and singer...
... Mrs. Firth - Dina MerrillDina Merrill-Early life:Merrill was born Nedenia Marjorie Hutton in New York City, New York, the only child of Post Cereals heiress Marjorie Merriweather Post and her second husband, Wall Street stockbroker Edward Francis Hutton...
... Jean Halstead - Chips RaffertyChips RaffertyChips Rafferty MBE was an iconic Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the 1940s until his death in 1971, and during this time he performed regularly in major Australian feature films as well as appearing in British and American...
... Quinlan - Michael Anderson, Jr.Michael Anderson, Jr.Michael Joseph Anderson, Jr. is an English actor.He was born in Hillingdon, Middlesex, into a theatrical family. His grandparents and great-great-aunt were acclaimed actors. His father is the film director Michael Anderson, Sr. He is the stepson of actress Adrienne Ellis, and stepbrother of...
... Sean Carmody - Lola Brooks ... Liz Brown
- Wylie WatsonWylie WatsonWylie Watson was a British actor. Among his best known roles were those of "Mr Memory", an amazing man who commits "50 new facts to his memory every day" in Alfred Hitchcock's 1935 film The 39 Steps, and wily storekeeper Joseph Macroon in the Ealing comedy Whisky Galore!...
... Herb Johnson - John MeillonJohn MeillonJohn Meillon was an Australian actor, most widely known outside Australia for his role as Walter Reilly in the films "Crocodile" Dundee and "Crocodile" Dundee II. He also voiced Victoria Bitter beer commercials until his death.-Biography:Meillon was born in Mosman, Sydney...
... Bluey Brown - Ronald FraserRonald FraserRonald Fraser was an English character actor, who appeared in numerous British films of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s whilst also appearing in many popular TV shows.-Background:...
... Ocker - Gerry Duggan ... Shearer
- Leonard TealeLeonard TealeLeonard Teale AO , born Leonard George Thiele in Brisbane, was a well-known Australian actor of radio, television and films....
... Shearer - Peter Carver ... Shearer
- Dick BentleyDick BentleyCharles Walter "Dick" Bentley , born in Melbourne, Australia, was a comedian and actor. He starred with Jimmy Edwards in Take It From Here for BBC Radio....
... Shearer
Production
Fred ZinnemannFred Zinnemann
Fred Zinnemann was an Austrian-American film director. He won four Academy Awards and directed films like High Noon, From Here to Eternity and A Man for All Seasons.-Life and career:...
decided to make the film at the suggestion of Dorothy Hammerstein, wife of Oscar Hammerstein
Oscar Hammerstein II
Oscar Greeley Clendenning Hammerstein II was an American librettist, theatrical producer, and theatre director of musicals for almost forty years. Hammerstein won eight Tony Awards and was twice awarded an Academy Award for "Best Original Song". Many of his songs are standard repertoire for...
. After she sent him the novel he immediately bought the screen rights. Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling
Aaron Spelling was an American film and television producer. As of 2009, Spelling's eponymous production company Spelling Television holds the record as the most prolific television writer, with 218 producer and executive producer credits...
wrote an early draft of the screenplay, but the final version was mostly written by Jon Cleary
Jon Cleary
Jon Stephen Cleary was an Australian author.-Biography:Cleary was born in Erskineville, Sydney. He wrote many books, among them The Sundowners , a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and The High Commissioner , the first of a long series of popular...
. Credit was eventually given to Isobel Lennart
Isobel Lennart
Isobel Lennart was an American screenwriter and playwright.A native of Brooklyn, New York, Lennart moved to Hollywood, where she was hired to work in the MGM mail room, a job she lost when she attempted to organize a union...
rather than Cleary. The ending of the film was a tribute to John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (film)
The Treasure of the Sierra Madre is a 1948 American film written and directed by John Huston, a feature film adaptation of B. Traven's 1927 novel of the same name, in which two Americans Fred C. Dobbs and Bob Curtin during the 1920s in Mexico join with an old-timer, Howard , to prospect for gold...
. Gary Cooper
Gary Cooper
Frank James Cooper, known professionally as Gary Cooper, was an American film actor. He was renowned for his quiet, understated acting style and his stoic, but at times intense screen persona, which was particularly well suited to the many Westerns he made...
was hired to play Paddy Carmody, but had to leave the role due to his poor health. He was replaced by Robert Mitchum who agreed to work on the film for a chance to appear opposite Deborah Kerr with whom he had become good friends while making Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison
Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison is a 1957 CinemaScope film which tells the story of two people stranded on an island in the Pacific Ocean during World War II....
. He also agreed to give Kerr top billing, joking to the production team that they could "design a twenty-four foot sign of me bowing to her if you like".
Zinnemann was determined to film The Sundowners on location and vetoed Jack Warner
Jack Warner
Jack Leonard "J. L." Warner , born Jacob Warner in London, Ontario, was a Canadian American film executive who was the president and driving force behind the Warner Bros. Studios in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California...
's plan for shooting in Arizona
Arizona
Arizona ; is a state located in the southwestern region of the United States. It is also part of the western United States and the mountain west. The capital and largest city is Phoenix...
to save money. The Sundowners was filmed almost entirely in South Australia
South Australia
South Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
and New South Wales
New South Wales
New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales...
, including towns like Nimmitabel
Nimmitabel, New South Wales
Nimmitabel is a small town in the Monaro region in southeast New South Wales, Australia, in the Cooma-Monaro Shire Local government area. At the 2006 census, Nimmitabel had a population of 237 people....
and Port Augusta
Port Augusta, South Australia
-Electricity generation:Electricity is generated at the Playford B and Northern power stations from brown coal mined at Leigh Creek, 250 km to the north...
. The "for-sale" property in the film was actually called "Hiawatha" and was on the Snowy River
Snowy River
The Snowy River is a major river in south-eastern Australia. It originates on the slopes of Mount Kosciuszko, Australia's highest mainland peak, draining the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in New South Wales, before flowing through the Snowy River National Park in Victoria and emptying into...
just north of Old Jindabyne
Lake Jindabyne
Lake Jindabyne is a man-made lake on the Snowy River on the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in Southern New South Wales. The lake was created by the damming of the River as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme.-Flow of water:...
(now under the waters of Lake Jindabyne
Lake Jindabyne
Lake Jindabyne is a man-made lake on the Snowy River on the eastern slopes of the Snowy Mountains in Southern New South Wales. The lake was created by the damming of the River as part of the Snowy Mountains Scheme.-Flow of water:...
). Additional interior scenes were filmed in Borehamwood
Elstree Studios
"Elstree Studios" refers to any of several film studios that were based in the towns of Borehamwood and Elstree in Hertfordshire, England, since film production begun in 1927.-Name:...
studios near London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
.
Filming began in 1959. Zinnemann spent 12 weeks filming scenery and shots of sheep herding before the cast arrived in October to shoot the rest of the film. The weather made location filming difficult, fluctuating from hot and humid to cold and rainy. This delayed production by several weeks and caused some irritation among the cast and crew. Mitchum was constantly harassed by fans and eventually had to move onto a boat to avoid them. Filming eventually wrapped on December 17, 1959.
Ray Austin was stunt coordinator. Nicolas Roeg
Nicolas Roeg
Nicolas Jack Roeg, CBE, BSC is an English film director and cinematographer.-Life and career:Roeg was born in London, the son of Mabel Gertrude and Jack Nicolas Roeg...
, who would later direct films such as Walkabout
Walkabout (film)
Walkabout is a 1971 film set in Australia, directed by Nicolas Roeg and starring Jenny Agutter, Luc Roeg and David Gulpilil. Edward Bond wrote the screenplay, which is loosely based on the novel Walkabout by James Vance Marshall...
, was a second unit
Second unit
In film, the second unit is a team that shoots subsidiary footage for a motion picture. Its work is distinct from that of the first unit, which shoots all scenes involving principal actors...
camera operator on the film.
Box office
The Sundowners was a financial failure in the United States, which Zinnemann blamed on the film's marketing as a newer version of From Here to EternityFrom Here to Eternity
From Here to Eternity is a 1953 drama film directed by Fred Zinnemann and based on the novel of the same name by James Jones. It deals with the troubles of soldiers, played by Burt Lancaster, Montgomery Clift, Frank Sinatra and Ernest Borgnine stationed on Hawaii in the months leading up to the...
. The film reached the top ten at the UK box office and was the third highest grossing film of 1961 in Australia.
33rd Academy Awards
- Nomination for Best FilmAcademy Award for Best PictureThe Academy Award for Best Picture is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to artists working in the motion picture industry. The Best Picture category is the only category in which every member of the Academy is eligible not only...
- Nomination for Best Performance by an ActressAcademy Award for Best ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
- Deborah Kerr - Nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting RoleAcademy Award for Best Supporting ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
- Glynis Johns - Nomination for Best Achievement in Directing - Fred Zinneman
- Nomination for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium - Isobel Lennart
Other awards and honors
- New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressNew York Film Critics Circle Award for Best ActressThe New York Film Critics Circle Award for Best Actress is one of the awards given by the New York Film Critics Circle to honor the finest achievements in filmmaking.-1930s:-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
- Deborah Kerr - National Board of Review Award for Best ActorNational Board of Review Award for Best ActorAn incomplete list of the winners of the National Board of Review of Motion Pictures Award for Best Actor :-1940s:-1950s:-1960s:-1970s:-1980s:-1990s:-2000s:-2010s:...
- Robert Mitchum (also for Home from the HillHome from the Hill (film)Home from the Hill is a 1960 film directed by Vincente Minnelli and starring Robert Mitchum, Eleanor Parker, George Peppard, George Hamilton, Everett Sloane, and Luana Patten....
) - Named Third Best Film of 1960 by the National Board of Review of Motion PicturesNational Board of Review of Motion PicturesThe National Board of Review of Motion Pictures was founded in 1909 in New York City, just 13 years after the birth of cinema, to protest New York City Mayor George B. McClellan, Jr.'s revocation of moving-picture exhibition licenses on Christmas Eve 1908. The mayor believed that the new medium...
- Named Fourth Best Film of 1960 by the New York Daily NewsNew York Daily NewsThe Daily News of New York City is the fourth most widely circulated daily newspaper in the United States with a daily circulation of 605,677, as of November 1, 2011....
- Named one of the Ten Best Films of 1960 by The New York Post, The Saturday Review and the New York World-TelegramNew York World-TelegramThe New York World-Telegram, later known as the New York World-Telegram and Sun, was a New York City newspaper from 1931 to 1966.-History:...
External links
- Article: "The Day the Stars Came to Nimmitabel..The Making of the Sundowners" by Peter Goed @ Cooma-Monaro website
- The Sundowners at Australian Screen OnlineAustralian Screen OnlineAustralian Screen Online is an on-line database operated by the Australian National Film and Sound Archive. It provides information about and excerpts from a wide selection of Australian feature films, documentaries, television programs, newsreels, short films, animations, and home-movies. It also...