John Dease Movies
Set between the years 1949 and 1956, Newsfront tracks the destinies of two brothers, their adventures and misadventures placed in the context of sweeping social and political changes in their native Australia. Both of the protagonists are newsreel photographers. Frank (Gerard Maguire) is constitutionally resistant to change, while Len (Bill Kennedy) welcomes any alterations in his own life and in the world around him. The film fluctuates between black and white and color, between actual news footage and reconstructed events. Newsfront is what The Way We Were might have looked like on a tiny budget with a cast of unknowns. The film represented a laudable feature-film directorial debut for one-time documentary filmmaker Philip Noyce. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bill Hunter, Wendy Hughes, (more)
Ned Kelly (Mick Jagger) is the legendary outlaw of the Australian outback sought by authorities for stealing horses. At age 20, Ned has already served a three-year prison term at hard labor. When Ned's mother (Clarissa Kaye) is arrested and jailed on a bogus murder charge, Ned offers to surrender in exchange for his mother's freedom. When the authorities refuse, the Kelly brothers go on a robbing rampage. Cornered by the law in a saloon, Ned's brothers commit suicide rather than be taken alive. Shel Silverstein wrote the music performed by Waylon Jennings, Jagger and Glen Tomasetti. Australian folk songs are also included in this story taken from a popular 19th-century ballad. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jack Allan, Claire Balmford, (more)
- 1946
Originally titled Smithy, Pacific Adventure is the story of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, Australia's first great aviator. In the cockpit of the legendary aircraft "Southern Cross," Smith sets records only for the pleasure of breaking them. The film's two focal points are Smith's romance with his aristocratic wife-to-be (Muriel Steinbeck) and his efforts to be the first Australian to fly solo across the Pacific. More a series of tableaux than a movie, Pacific Adventure doesn't give its star Ron Randell (in his film debut) much to do other than imitate every still picture of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith ever taken. Filmed in England and Australia in 1946, Pacific Adventure was picked up for American release by Columbia one year later. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ron Randell, Muriel Steinbeck, (more)
