John Meillon Movies

An evil drug baron rears his ugly head in this sequel to the blockbuster Crocodile Dundee, kidnapping Sue so that Dundee will butt out of the Baron's affairs. Using outback strategy, Dundee attempts to rescue his girlfriend. Reversing the procedure of the first film, the story later takes the hero and heroine from America back to Australia, making Sue the fish out of water. In the interim between the two films, stars Paul Hogan and Linda Kozlowski became husband and wife. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

"Everlasting Secret Family" is the name of a sub-rosa homosexual brotherhood in this riveting Australian film. Two of the ESF members are a middle-aged politician (Arthur Dignam) and a boarding-school student (Mark Lee). The younger man begins chafing at the "plaything" status imposed upon him by the older members of ESF. His resentment culminates in a battle of wills between himself and the senator's politically expedient "straight" wife (Heather Mitchell). Dispensing with subtlety, Everlasting Secret Family suggests that, like the so-called mainstream political scene, the gay lifestyle can become a dangerously manipulative power trip in the wrong hands. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Accustomed to a simple life in the Australian Outback, a legendary crocodile hunter has trouble adjusting to his new surroundings when an American journalist brings him to New York City. This Australian comedy delivers exactly what one would expect: plenty of fish-out-of-water gags about the hunter's reactions to the absurdity of modern urban life. Though he initially seems rather naive, Paul Hogan's "Crocodile" Dundee soon demonstrates that his natural ways are rather quite well-suited to city life, proving himself equally adept at defeating muggers and charming members of high society. Along the way, as one might expect, a romance develops between the rugged hunter and the hardened journalist, who finds herself enchanted by his down-to-earth behavior. The story is not particularly original, but the film's good-natured humor proved extremely palatable to audiences, as indicated by its worldwide box office success. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Dunera Boys is all the more incredible when one realizes that it is founded in truth. At the beginning of the second World War, the English government sanctioned the arrest of any German nationals suspected of being spies. Among these was a group of Jewish refugees, as well as several completely assimilated British subjects. Fishmonger Bob Hoskins, who despite his Germanic background is as British as they come, is rounded up along with the other "undesirables," herded aboard the HMT Dunera, and shipped off to a POW camp in Australia. This lumpy but involving film details Hoskins' futile efforts to make the best of his bizarre plight. The Dunera Boys was originally produced for Australian television; for its American release, it was given an R rating for violence and language. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Director Henri Safran adapts Henrik Ibsen's stage play to an Australian setting and a turn-of-the-century ambience in this uneven presentation of an illicit love and its consequences. Harold (Jeremy Irons) is a somewhat over-the-edge photographer who has lost out at a career in the sciences. His wife Gina (Liv Ullmann) is an opposite personality type: subdued, quiet, not prone to excessive outbursts. Harold's father the Major (John Meillon) lives with the family, which includes the daughter Henrietta (Lucinda Jones) who is slowly going blind -- and all is as normal as possible until Gregory (Arthur Dignam) shows up and in a two-day period, tragedy strikes. The prig Gregory sees it as his obligation to open up his best friend Harold's eyes with some shocking news: Henrietta is not really Harold's daughter at all, but the offspring of an illicit affair between Gregory's father and Gina. Figuring into this relationship is a wild duck that was once wounded by Gregory's father, and its symbolism looms almost too large over the rest of the complex, claustrophobic household as personalities lead events to their fateful end. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

Heatwave is the mildly interesting story of a woman's attempt to stop a redevelopment plot which she thought was the cover-up for fraud and other criminal activity. Kate (Judy Davis), through her own efforts, manages to find some evidence to support her claims and also have a romance. Davis gives an energetic performance as the crusading woman, but the script lacks a convincing plot or characters. While it has some good moments, Heatwave is primarily notable because it was one of the earlier efforts of Australian director Phillip Noyce, who went on to make the very exciting Dead Calm. ~ Linda Rasmussen, All Movie Guide

This easygoing drama offers a look back at the early days of the Australian movie business, and it was based on the real-life adventures of pioneering Aussie exhibitor Lyle Penn. Maurice "Pop" Pym (John Meillon) loves motion pictures, and he wants to open a cinema of his own. But shortly after the turn of the century, financial support for such a venture is hard to come by, so Pop does the next best thing; with his young son and a piano player in tow, Pop carts his collection of silent films and a portable projection system from one small town to another across the continent, showing his pictures wherever and whenever he can. However, Pop quickly learns that he already has a rival; Mr. Palmer (Rod Taylor) has decided to go into the movie business as well, and with deeper pockets, he's able to afford better equipment than Pop's shoestring budget can provide. Ironically, Rod Taylor plays a character who was born in Texas but emigrated to Australia; Taylor was in fact born in Australia and became a film star when he moved to the U.S. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

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

Gregory Peck produced this coming-of-age adventure, richly photographed by Sven Nykvist. Based on a true story, the film documents the five-year journey of Robin Lee Graham (Joseph Bottoms), a 16-year-old boy who sets out in a 23-foot sloop, determined to be the youngest person to sail around the world. As he travels around the globe, he undergoes a string of new experiences while growing from a child to an adult. Along the way, he falls in love with an inspiring woman, Patti Ratteree (Deborah Raffin), who follows him throughout his journeys, meeting him at ports of call in Fiji, Australia, South Africa, Panama, and the Galapagos Islands. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

This Aussie/Western variation on the Psycho formula is set in the tiny Outback town of Gippsland in the 1890s, where travelers visiting a remote inn are being bumped off by a mysterious interloper. After a perfectly dreary hour or so, wily lawman Alex Cord solves the mystery that somehow managed to befuddle the rest of the cast -- it seems crackpot innkeeper Dame Judith Anderson and her husband have never quite recovered from the trauma of seeing their children killed by escaped convicts who once invaded their home, and they have been busily hacking up their guests ever since. The setting provides for some pleasant location photography and gives the film a unique look and feel, but the story is completely bogged down by dull pacing and lackluster performances -- except for Anderson, who is always a treat to watch, even when she's given little to work with. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

The contrast between modern, urban civilization and life in the natural world lies at the heart of Nicolas Roeg's visually dazzling drama Walkabout. In broad outline, the plot might resemble a standard fish-out-of-water tale: two city children become stranded in the Australian outback, and struggle to find their way back to civilization with the help of a friendly aborigine boy. But Roeg and screenwriter Edward Bond are concerned with far more than the average wilderness drama, as a shocking act of violence near the story's beginning makes clear. This is particularly true in regards to the relationship between the white children and the aborigine boy, who ultimately develops a troubled romantic attraction towards the older sister. Obviously intended as a statement on the exploitation of the natural world and native cultures by European civilization, the film nevertheless maintains an evocative vagueness that usually -- but not always -- favors poetry over didacticism. Most importantly, the film's justifiably acclaimed cinematography is likely to sway even those who find fault with the film's narrative and message. The shift between the sterile city images and the truly stunning, beautifully composed Australian landscapes provide the film's single best argument, making the film a vivid and convincing experience. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide

Based on a popular Australian novel, this comedy was produced Down Under in 1966. Nino Culotta Walter Chiari is an Italian journalist who is lured by his brother into coming to Australia to work for his paper there. But when Nino arrives in Sidney, he finds out that there is no paper; his brother has taken off with the investors' cash. Left in the lurch was his brother's business partner, Kay Kelly (Clare Dunne). Nino vows to pay off his brother's debt and gets a job as a bricklayer to do so. He also tries to woo Kay, but he is repeatedly rebuffed, with humorous results. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide