Paul Bertram Movies
- 1994
Created by Ron Saunders, Jon Paterson, and Ian Munro, Johnson and Friends was a daily, ten-minute series for the preschool set. Of the cast, only Johnson (Jonathan Hendry) was real. The rest of the characters were stuffed animals, played by puppets and voiced by professional actors. Johnson and Friends was originally broadcast in 1994. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jonathan Hendry, Dra McKay, (more)
This wildly off-beat comedy is about a male dancer (Paul Mercurio) who refuses to follow the accepted rules of ballroom dancing and creates his own style of choreography, which infuriates the ballroom dancing establishment. Before he's scheduled to compete in the Pan-Pacific ballroom championships, he's forced to take up a new partner (Tara Morice), a beginner who initially seems without promise. With his help, she turns into an assured and wonderful dancer. Baz Luhrmann's visual style may be too bright, gaudy and exaggerated for some tastes, yet he treats his characters with compassion, which makes Strictly Ballroom such an engaging comedy. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, (more)
- 1988
This sequel to the 1987 Australian miniseries Fields of Fire was set in 1946. Having weathered WWII, British expatriate Bluey (Todd Boyce) had wed Dusty (Melissa Docker), one of his co-workers in the Australian cane fields. Once this occurred, the focus of the action shifted to a pair of new characters: Gina (Peta Toppano), an Italian refugee, and Franco (Joseph Spano), Gina's black-marketeer husband. Telecast by Australia's Nine Network in two installments on May 22 and 23, 1988, Fields of Fire II was, like its predecessor, inspired by Robert Donaldson's novel Cane. A third and final derivation, Fields of Fire III, aired in 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1986
This off-beat children's story is about Andy (Gully Coote), a trusting youngster who is duped into believing the $20 he just gave a disreputable derelict is really the purchase price on a race track. The caretaker at the track goes along with the charade as a lark and Andy has an interesting time exploring his "property." Things get a little complicated when two petty criminals arrive on the scene who fix races by using chemicals on the horses. The drama becomes more complicated when the police show up in pursuit of some vandals. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gully Coote, Tony Barry, (more)
- 1986
- R
This well-made Australian blend of Jaws and Alligator is a tense, action-packed thriller involving a monstrous crocodile, a tough ranger (John Jarratt), and a team of aborigines who worship the monster as the god "Numunwari." This leads to lots of gory clashes with the reptile, interwoven with some interesting tribal lore surrounding the legendary croc and a subplot involving a psychic connection between the beast and one of the aborigines. The climactic battle puts a sympathetic spin on the plight of Numunwari, believed to be the last of his kind -- but his unpleasant habit of snapping people in half makes it a bit difficult to muster up enough empathy for the monster. Based on a novel by Grahame Webb. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Jarratt, Nikki Coghill, (more)
- 1985
Not to be confused with the like-vintage "sword and sorcery" TV pilot of the same name, director Denny Lawrence's Archer's Adventure was lensed in Australia. Brett Climo plays Dave Power, a young and ambitious caretaker of a racehorse named Archer. In order to get Archer to the 1861 Melbourne Cup, where the horse must compete, Power takes him on a 600-mile Outback odyssey, fraught with excitement and peril. The horse then wins the race. Incredibly, this picaresque character study was based on a true story. Also known as Archer's Adventure, the film features 18-year-old Nicole Kidman in a crucial role. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
This romantic melodrama is based on a novel by Danielle Steele and chronicles a wife's reaction to her husband's run of bad luck. Their troubles begin when she returns home from a business trip and discovers that her husband has been arrested and jailed for raping a woman. Though he tends to philander, he is not a rapist. The only way the wife can cope with the pain is to become an alcoholic drug addict. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Cheryl Ladd, Robert Coleby, (more)
- 1975
- PG
In this lively sports drama, Jeff Rayburn has no direction in his life since he competed in the Olympic games as a swimmer. The American had been simply bumming around Australia until he teamed up with biker Dave Ferguson and began sidecar racing. When not involved in racing, the two tussle for the love of the wealthy heiress Lynn Carson. While Ferguson is a nice fellow, he is notorious for taking risks that endanger the lives of his partners. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Murphy, Wendy Hughes, (more)
- 1972
- Add The Adventures of Barry McKenzie to QueueAdd The Adventures of Barry McKenzie to top of Queue
The popular Australian comic strip The Wonderful World of Barry McKenzie was first brought to the screen in this raunchy 1972 romp. Barry Crocker plays the title character, a carefree Aussie cowboy with an inordinate fondness for beer and "Sheilas". Touring England as a stand-up comic, Barry runs across several odd characters, including addlepated discipline freak Dennis Price. Also on hand is Barry McKenzie cocreator Barry Humphries, appearing in drag as Dame Edna Beveridge, a character who would bring Humphries worldwide fame and fortune in the 1990s. Director Bruce Beresford, who went on to such loftier efforts as Breaker Morant, Tender Mercies and Crimes of the Heart, breezes through his scatalogical material with the abandon of a schoolboy scribbling naughty words on the sidewalk. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Crocker, Barry Humphries, (more)
