Ingrid Mason Movies
- 1979
Hired to investigate a man's death, a detective discovers that the victim was killed by a train, but can't find the mysterious engine that caused it. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- 1978
In this gentle drama, a young American man (Beau Bridges) forsakes his promising career working with his father (Lloyd Bridges), a powerful business magnate, in favor of becoming a professional beach bum in Australia. After the boy becomes a world renowned surfer, his dad turns up from the States and tries to reconcile with his estranged son, which must happen soon, as the father only has a few months left to live. This telemovie represented the second of two Australian productions that Beau Bridges did, after the extraordinary Adam's Woman in 1970. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- 1977
- R
This Australian drama, set in 1915, follows a restless ex-soldier's journey through self discovery. He is currently the editor of a small town newspaper. Though once a thriving gold-mining town, his home is now rundown and sleepy. The editor lives with his pregnant wife. He walks with a limp as he was crippled while serving in the Australian army. He was part of the Gallipoli landings in 1915. His disability is the source of his difficulties at home and in the community. He seldom talks meaningfully to his wife. Instead, he prefers to hobble off to the river every morning before work. There he remembers his childhood. At the river he meets a beautiful painter; they soon become involved. He goes to a picnic with her and her urban pals, but he feels intimidated by them. He gets drunk and stumps off sans cane. He falls into an old mine shaft, and there, relives Gallipoli. He remembers that he crippled himself, and he also sees that the painter can live without him. He therefore, comes to a certain peace and returns to his normal life. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Sara Kestelman, Andrew McFarlane, (more)
- 1976
The Australian Eliza Fraser tries for the wig-and-bodice bawdiness of Tom Jones. The title character, played by Susannah York, is an 18th century lass who is shipwrecked together with Trevor Howard on a remote Australian island. Her lively exploits among the refugees help to make Eliza famous--or rather, notorious--throughout the British empire. Once rescued, Eliza earns her keep at county fairs by regaling audiences with her own tales of her adventures. Tim Burstall both wrote and directed Eliza Fraser from an original screenplay by David Williamson. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Castle, Abigail, (more)
Peter Weir's haunting and evocative mystery is set in the Australia of 1900, a mystical place where the British have attempted to impose their Christian culture with such tweedy refinements as a girls' boarding school. After gauzily-photographed, nicely underplayed scenes of the girls' budding sexuality being restrained in Victorian corsets, the uptight headmistress (Rachel Roberts) takes them on a Valentine's Day picnic into the countryside, and several of the girls, led by the lovely Miranda (Anne Lambert) decide to explore a nearby volcanic rock formation. It's a desolate, primitive, vaguely menacing place, where one can almost feel the presence of ancient pagan spirits. Something -- and there is an unspoken but palpable emphasis on the inherent carnality of the place -- draws four of the girls to explore the rock. Three never return. No one ever finds out why. The repercussions for the school are tragic, and of course Roberts reacts with near-crazed anger, but what really happened? Weir gives enough clues to suggest any number of explanations, both physical and supernatural. ~ Robert Firsching, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rachel Roberts, Dominic Guard, (more)
