John Armstrong Movies
- 1979
Australia was a powerhouse in world swimming competitions long before the U.S.'s Mark Spitz was a gleam in his father's eye. Foremost among these sports heroes was high-spirited Dawn Fraser, who won four gold medals at three Olympics (1956, '60 and '64). This clear-sighted biographical drama explores Fraser's life before, during and just after her competitive years. Fraser was forever getting herself into trouble, and she consistently rebelled against authority. Among the many dramatic events which marked her career, she was banned from Australian swimming for 10 years after stealing a flag during the Tokyo ('64) Olympics. The movie underscores her strong family ties and her attachment to Balmain, the working-class suburb of Sydney she grew up in, which makes her later career as a Member of Parliament for the area easier to understand. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Bronwyn MacKay-Payne, John Diedrich, (more)
- 1973
British "Goon Show" stalwart Harry Secombe is afforded top billing in the Australian comedy Sunstruck. Secombe plays a teacher who heads Down Under after an unsuccessful romance. Yearning for the good old days when he was a choral director in his British home town, Secombe organizes his Aussie students into a children's choir. Along the way, Secombe finds lasting happiness with down-to-earth local woman Maggie Fitzgibbon. Nothing special here, but it's pleasant to see the bombastic Harry Secombe in a gentler characterization. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1971
Outback was based on Kenneth Cook's novel Wake in Fright. Gary Bond plays a naive young Australian teacher who is tragically unprepared for his new position in the outback. The community he has been sent to is populated almost exclusively by amoral, primitive toughs, more interested in slaughtering kangaroos and sexual carousing than in such niceties as education or propriety. The methodical shattering of Bond's dearly held values plunge the young teacher deeper into degeneracy. Outback was so graphic in its original Australian version that 15 minutes had to be cut before American distributor Group W would consider touching it. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
John Cassavetes wrote and directed this look at three middle-aged men thrown into a midlife crisis when one of their mutual friends dies. Harry (Ben Gazzara), Archie (Peter Falk) and Gus (John Cassavetes) attend the funeral of their buddy David Rowlands (Stuart Jackson); all three are starting to feel the pressures of their advancing years, while Harry is having serious problems with his marriage. After the funeral, the three men decide that they need to get away from it all for a while, and they spend the next two days getting drunk, shooting hoops, playing cards, sleeping on the subway, and pretending that they're teenagers again. After 48 hours of irresponsibility, Archie and Gus decide that fun is fun but it's time to go home. But when Harry goes back to his wife, they have a huge argument; Harry storms out and decides to fly to England, persuading Archie and Gus to tag along. They get dressed up, visit a casino, and pick up beautiful women, but while Archie and Gus, as before, look at this as a brief vacation from their lives as loyal husbands and fathers, Harry doesn't want to go home, even though he seems more troubled by his infidelity than do his two friends. Cassavetes' first directorial project after his critical breakthrough with Faces, featuring intense, largely improvised performances by two of his most consistent collaborators, Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk, Husbands was originally released in a cut running 154 minutes, but was trimmed to 138 minutes for general release. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, (more)
A woman who has long been short on feelings falls in love with a married man in this emotional drama. Gloria Wondrous (Elizabeth Taylor) is a model and party girl who lives for pleasure and is willing to take men for what she can get from them. Gloria bounces from man to man, but feels that she can only truly confide in Steve Carpenter (Eddie Fisher), a longtime friend with whom she shares a close but strictly platonic relationship, though his fiancée (Susan Oliver) suspects otherwise. Gloria becomes involved with Weston Liggett (Laurence Harvey), a wealthy but emotionally cold man who is married to Emily (Dina Merrill). Weston shows Gloria precious little respect or kindness at first, but as they share a few bouts with the bottle, they discover that both are desperately lacking in self-confidence and have little happiness in their lives. As Gloria and Weston reveal more about themselves to one another, they fall in love, but Gloria isn't sure if she can commit to one man, while Weston has to decide if he can leave Emily behind. Based on the novel by John O'Hara, Butterfield 8 earned Elizabeth Taylor her first Academy Award (for Best Actress) after four unsuccessful nominations. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Elizabeth Taylor, Laurence Harvey, (more)
