Charles "Bud" Tingwell Movies

Director Alec Morgan fuses elements of documentary and dramatic biography in this tribute to a wily pioneer of the Australian cinema. In the 1930's, as Australia was locked in an economic depression, the nation's film industry was on the verge of collapse as American interests purchased most major theater chains and bought out independent producers. However, Rupert Kathner was a passionate believer in the notion of Australian movies for Australians, and he was determined to make films for the home audience. Kathner, however, had little skill as a filmmaker, and his criminal record as a confidence man made it difficult to obtain financing through normal channels. Kathner wasn't about to let such things stop him, though; with his longtime girlfriend and cinematographer Alma Brooks, Kathner chased down "angels" (his name for investors) with grand tales of his future productions, and he wasn't above writing a bad check to keep his show on the road, or firing an actor foolish enough to insist on being paid. While Kathner made as many enemies as friends and earned little if any critical respect for his low-budget potboilers, he managed to write, produce and direct a handful of independent features in Australia before his death in 1954. Hunt Angels combines vintage footage of Kathner at work, rare still photos, and interviews featuring his friends and associates alongside staged sequences featuring Ben Mendelsohn as Kathner and Victoria Hill as Brooks. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

The Inside Story, which took seven years of planning and production, stars Dean Olsen as an astrophysics student who decides to move in with his Uncle Edward (Charles Tingwell). There is something creepy about the house, though, and Dean's Uncle eventually reveals that his great-grandfather mysteriously vanished from the study the night Uncle Edward's father was born. The neighboring house, meanwhile, is home to a wannabe novelist named Liz Davies (Kate Oliver). As Liz becomes increasingly dejected over her unpublished status, Dean falls further into the mysteries of the old house, and finds an ancient book in the cellar. Believing it to have negative magical properties, Edward warns Dean that the book will bring harm to anyone who attempts to unlock its secrets. Dean, however, doesn't heed the warning. Before he knows it, no one recognizes him--to his horror, he has become a fictional character in Liz's work-in-progress. ~ Tracie Cooper, All Movie Guide

Australian stand up comedy and TV star Nick Giannopoulos makes his cinematic debut with this wacky comedy about slackers looking for sex. Steve Karamatsis (Giannopoulos) is a gainfully unemployed lay-about who has been called "Wogboy" since childhood thanks to his Greek lineage. He and his Italian buddy Frank (Vince Colosimo) model themselves after John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever ("the biggest wog of them all") and go cruising the local clubs for blonde beauties. Frank, who runs a pizza parlor, is particularly adept at the art of seduction. Later, when Steve's car is involved in a fender bender with a limo of the Federal Minister for Employment, Raelene Beagle-Thorpe (Geraldine Turner), Steve demands compensation even though the accident was clearly his fault. Instead, the minister sicks a tabloid TV reporter on him, hoping to expose him as a welfare cheat. The scheme backfires when Steve's beguiling charm and honesty wins over the reporter. Steve soon finds himself as the poster boy for Australia's unemployed. Trying to get the best spin on the situation, Beagle-Thorpe reluctantly hires Steve as an assistant alongside the comely and blonde Celia (Lucy Bell). ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Hollywood actress Heather Thomas was center of attention in the Australian miniseries Flair. Thomas was cast as New York-based fashion designer Tessa Clarke, who in the course of events returned to her native Australia to make her mark in that country's dressmaking industry. Created by Paul Davies and Gayle Hopgood, the two-part, four-hour drama boasted an impressive Austral-American supporting cast, including Joseph Bottoms, Rowena Wallace, and Charles "Bud" Tingwell. Flair originally aired over the Seven Nework on August 1 and 8, 1990. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Christmas Visitor is an American/Australian coproduction geared for exposure on the Disney Channel pay-cable service. The scene is the Australian outback in the 1890s, where a drought threatens to wipe out a farming community. Holding out for a miracle, the farmers face a bleak Yuletide, until an ethereal stranger pays a visit. Christmas Visitor was directed by the "other" George Miller -- that is, the George Miller responsible for Man From Snowy River rather than Mad Max. In Australia, the film was telecast under the title Bushfire Moon. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

All the Rivers Run is a four-part miniseries set in the Australia of the early 1900s. Sigrid Thornton stars as Philadelphia Gordon, an English artist who undertakes a tragic move to Australia with her family. During their voyage to the new continent, a shipwreck occurs, killing all but Philadelphia and one of the ship's crewmen. She is then shuttled off to live with her aunt and uncle on their farm, and uses her inheritance to fund a paddleship business with the crewman from the vessel who saved her life. Philadelphia's life is forever altered when she meets handsome frontier paddleboat skipper Brenton Edwards (the Australian actor John Waters -- not to be confused with the iconoclastic American director of the same name). Our heroine marries Edwards, but the union begets trouble when their paddlesteamer catches fire, destroying the craft altogether and forcing Brenton to take another job. Later, an accident that renders Brenton lame forces Philadelphia to work hard and support the couple; she then decides to rebuild the vessel while doubling up her efforts as a painter. Scripted by George Miller (the director of Man from Snowy River), All the Rivers Run was released in the U.S. over the HBO Cable service; it first aired January 15 through 18, 1984. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Classical music DJ John Hargreaves neglects his wife Wendy Hughes, who responds by entering into an illicit romance. Upon finding out, Hargreaves leaves Hughes, but doesn't want to tell his parents; they'd never liked Hughes, and he isn't in the mood for a chorus of "I told you so"s. What is already painful for Hargreaves is amplified when his dying father, suspecting that something's wrong, lectures his son on the sanctity of marriage--even a bad one. Director Paul Cox used the Australian My First Wife as a kind of catharsis, to purge himself of ill-will concerning the bust-up of his own marriage. The film won three Australian academy awards, including one for the reluctantly revelatory Cox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

In this slight, relatively charmless comedy, Australian television notable Jack Thompson plays Simon Morris, a recently separated journalist with two major problems: he is a girl-magnet and he can't tolerate pomposity. The first problem doesn't cause him much difficulty, as he likes the girls right back. The second, though, results in all sorts of difficulties when he is saddled with a pompous new boss, resigns from the paper he has been working with, and can't find a new job. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide

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

Several female hitchhikers have been murdered in a small Australian seacoast community. The principal suspects are brothers Robert and Mark Gifford (George Mallaby and John Waters). One is an apparently helpless paraplegic, but this doesn't necessarily mean that the filmmakers are going to cop out with the "least likely suspect" revelation. We do know, however, that each brother is covering up for the other. Director/writer Tim Burstall imbues this filming of Russell Braddon'snovel Endplay with his expected healthy vulgarity and leering voyeurism. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

A police investigator is forced to rely on the man he's been instructed to apprehend in this cold war thriller. Sir James Quentin (Christopher Plummer) is a high level negotiator with the British government who is approached by Scobie Malone (Rod Taylor), an Australian detective who has been instructed to arrest Quentin in connection with the murder of his first wife 25 years earlier. Quentin calmly asks Malone if he could wait until he completes his work at a diplomatic conference, and Malone agrees; Quentin even allows Malone to stay at his home with his second wife Shelia (Lilli Palmer). Malone's assignment soon proves to be more complicated (and dangerous) than he expected when he has to save Quentin from an assassination attempt. Quentin must protect a fellow diplomat also targeted by gunmen, and Malone learns that Shelia has a deadly secret. The High Commissioner was also released under the title Nobody Runs Forever. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide