Dominic Sweeney Movies

Adapted from the book Garry O'Connor, the two-part Australian TV movie Darlings of the Gods tells the story of the benighted romance between stage and film stars Laurence Olivier and Vivien Leigh. Anthony Higgins and Mel Martin look and sound so much like the very famous characters they're playing that the effect is somewhat eerie. This highly fictionalized account charts one year in the stormy Oliver-Leigh marriage. Also appearing are Jerome Ehlers as Peter Finch, Rhys McConnochie as Ralph Richardson, and Shane Briant as Cecil Beaton. Filmed in 1989, part one of Darlings of the Gods was first presented in the US over the A&E cable service on February 21, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Heat, both climatic and erotic, imbue this Australian thriller from first-time directors Colin South and John Tatoulis. The film takes place in mid-summer in the sweltering city of Melbourne and concerns a love affair between Wendy (Santha Press), a jazz singer, and Mack (Hugo Race), a knife-wielding punk who wants to be a rock star but is planning to rob a bank. Wendy's younger sister, 15-year-old JoJo (Rebekah Elmaloglou), has moved in with Wendy, and she is rapidly becoming sexually aware, because she is secretly observing her sister and Mack as they make love. Meanwhile, two cops -- Dinny (Dominic Sweeney), an inexperienced rookie, and Milas (John Flaus), a weary veteran cop -- are following Mack because he has an audiotape in his possession that shows evidence of government corruption. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide

The inspirational autobiogry of A.B. Facey was the source for the four-part Austalian miniseries A Fortunate Life. Spanning the years from 1897 to 1916, the story began when eight-year-old Bert Facey, abandoned by his widowed mother, was forced to work on a farm run by sadistic horse thieves. After several years of backbreaking manual labor, Bert was given a break when he went to live on the farm owned by the Philips family. Conscripted into the Army at the outbreak of WWII, the hero managed to survive the carnage at Gallipoli, and after additional hardships and setbacks, enjoyed a happily-ever-after as the husband of the beautiful Evelyn, a union that would endure for six decades. Facey's book was published in 1981, one year before his death at age 77. The TV version of A Fortunate Life was telecast by Australia's Nine Network in 1985. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide