Charles "Bud" Tingwell Movies

A barely recognizable Meryl Streep plays the real-life Lindy Chamberlain, who for a long period in the early 1980s was the most hated woman in Australia. While visiting the Ayers rock monument in the Outback with her husband Michael (Sam Neill), Lindy notices a dingo creeping into the tent where her baby lies sleeping. Seconds later, the horrified woman discovers that her child is gone. Despite Lindy's anguished insistence that the dingo killed her baby, the Australian public is of the opinion that Lindy herself is the murderer. This lynch-mob atmosphere is fueled by the press, which insists upon crucifying the Chamberlains in print on a daily basis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

The Australian Always Another Dawn celebrates that country's role in winning World War II. The film concentrates on the Royal Australian Navy and the victory at the Coral Sea. Charles Tingwell and Guy Doleman head the essentially all-male cast, though there's time enough for a few flashback sequences involving the ladies they left behind. Always Another Dawn would make an excellent companion piece to the 1958 Hollywood product Battle of the Coral Sea. The earlier film was distributed in the US by Universal, its original unwieldy running time pared down to 65 minutes. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Someone has broken into an "impenetrable" underground spy headquarters and microfilmed a valuable document. The subsequent investigation reveals the startling "fact" that John Steed was in on the caper. While Steed languishes in prison, Cathy tries to get at the truth by trailing the beautiful female spy (Edina Romay) with whom Steed was apparently in cahoots. Written by Philip Chambers, "The Nutshell" was originally telecast in England on October 19, 1963; the episode wasn't seen in America until March 8, 1991. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

Breaker Morant is one of the most acclaimed Australian films, telling a powerful tale of wartime betrayal and injustice. Henry "Breaker" Morant (Edward Woodward) is an Englishman living in Australia at the end of the 19th century. When war breaks out in 1899 between Britain and the Boers (descendants of Dutch colonists), Morant and a number of Australians volunteer for duty and are absorbed into the non-regular units of the British army. Acting under orders from his commanders, Morant oversees the execution of several Boer prisoners; it turns out that one of them was German, and in order to keep the peace with Germany, Britain agrees to courtmartial Morant and two other soldiers, sentencing two to death and one to life imprisonment. Based on a play by Kenneth Ross, Bruce Beresford's film is powerfully filmed and acted and has become a classic anti-war movie since its 1980 release; the script (co-written by Beresford) was nominated for an Academy Award. The final execution scene is nearly overpowering in its sense of tragedy and futility. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide

One of the most expensive miniseres ever assembled for Australian television, Changi covered a time-span of nearly 60 years. The story was told in flashback as a group of six former POWs, arranging a reunion, recalled their experiences in a Singapore prison camp. Though all six suffered mightily at the hands of their Japanese captors, all managed to survive the ordeal and remain friends even after cessation of hostilities. Still, each man had retained a deleterious "side effect" from his imprisonment, which threatened to cast a tragic pall on their reunion. Running an exhaustive gamut from comedy to horror, Changi sustained its believability by having each of the main characters played by two actors -- one young for the WWII scenes, one old for the postwar scenes. Though critics and the general public were impressed when the series first aired on Australia's ABC network from October 14 to November 12, 2001, there were a number of real-life prison camp survivors who condemned the project as unrealistic and offensive (and never mind that at least one of the lead actors on the show had himself weathered six years in a Japanese stockade). ~ Hal Erickson, 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

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

A group of vacationers head to the beach. Circumstances dictate that they spend the night in a deserted beach house. It soon becomes clear that they've been imprisoned by person or persons unknown. Then an unknown mad killer begins picking off the vacationers, one by one. Yes, you've guessed it: the only survivor is a beautiful young girl....maybe. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide

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

Taking time out from his duties as head of Australia's Embassy Pictures, Tom O. MacCreadle served as director of Into the Straight. The film concentrates on a horse-raiser who becomes involved with the wrong kind of girl. The racing scenes are well done, the dramatic sequences less so. Charles Tingwell, the film's leading man, went on to TV popularity as star of such British action series as Emergency Ward Ten and Homicide. American distribution of Into the Straight was handled by Universal-International, which by and large confined the film to the lower half of double features. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide