The Sundowners

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This article is about the 1960 film. For the American 1960s musical group, see The Sundowners (band). For the 1950 film, see The Sundowners (1950 film).
The Sundowners

film poster
Directed by Fred Zinnemann
Produced by Gerry Blatner
Written by Isobel Lennart
Jon Cleary
Starring Deborah Kerr
Robert Mitchum
Peter Ustinov
Music by Dimitri Tiomkin
Cinematography Jack Hildyard
Editing by Jack Harris
Distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s) 8 December 1960
Running time 133 min.
Country USA / UK / Australia[1]
Language English

The Sundowners is a 1960 film that tells the story of an Australian outback family torn between the father's desires to continue his nomadic sheep-herding ways and the wife's and son's desire to settle down in one place. The movie stars Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, and Peter Ustinov, with a supporting cast including Glynis Johns, Dina Merrill, Michael Anderson, Jr., and Chips Rafferty.

The film was adapted by Isobel Lennart from the novel by Jon Cleary and directed by Fred Zinnemann.

The Sundowners was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Deborah Kerr), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Glynis Johns), Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium.

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

Irish-Australian Paddy Carmody is a roving sheep herder known as a "sundowner" (because he is constantly moving, pitching his tent wherever the sun goes down). His wife Ida and son Sean want to settle down, but Paddy is a wanderlust and never wants to stay in one place for long. While passing through the bush the family meet former sea captain, Rupert Venneker and hire him as an extra drover. The group drive a herd of sheep to a nearby town where they meet Mrs. Firth who takes a liking to Rupert.

Ida convinces Paddy to take a job at a station shearing sheep; she serves as the cook and Rupert is hired as wool roller. Ida enjoys the company of other women, growing close to the owner's wife and taking care of one shearer's pregnant wife. She is secretly saving all the money the family earns for a farm that she saw on the sheep drive. Paddy decides to leave midway through the shearing season, but Sean convinces him to stay. He wins a race horse in a bet that they name Sundowner and they race him, hoping to make more money. However, Sundowner is disqualified and they lose all the money they saved because Paddy bet it all on the horse. The family resolve to keep moving and hope that they will save enough money to buy a farm one day.

[edit] Cast

Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr
Peter Ustinov
Deborah Kerr

[edit] Production

Fred Zinnemann decided to make the film at the suggestion of Dorothy Hammerstein, Australian wife of Oscar Hammerstein. She intended to send him a copy of the novel The Shiralee (later filmed with Peter Finch but accidentally sent a copy of The Sundowners instead. He immediately bought the screen rights and decided to produce it himself.[2] Aaron Spelling wrote an early draft of the screenplay, but the final version was mostly written by Jon Cleary. Credit was eventually given to Isobel Lennart rather than Cleary.[3] The ending of the film was a tribute to John Huston's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre.[4] Gary Cooper was hired to play Paddy Carmody, but had to leave the role due to his poor health. He was replaced by Robert Mitchum who agreed to work on the film for a chance to appear opposite Deborah Kerr with whom he had become good friends while making Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison. He also agreed to give Kerr top billing, joking to the production team that they could "design a twenty-four foot sign of me bowing to her if you like".[5] Michael Anderson Jr. was imported from England to play their son.[6]

Zinnemann was determined to film The Sundowners on location and vetoed Jack Warner's plan for shooting in Arizona to save money. The Sundowners was filmed almost entirely in South Australia and New South Wales, including towns like Nimmitabel and Port Augusta.[5] The "for-sale" property in the film was actually called "Hiawatha" and was on the Snowy River just north of Old Jindabyne (now under the waters of Lake Jindabyne). Additional interior scenes were filmed in Borehamwood studios near London.[7]

Filming began in 1959.[8] Zinnemann spent 12 weeks filming scenery and shots of sheep herding before the cast arrived in October to shoot the rest of the film. The weather made location filming difficult, fluctuating from hot and humid to cold and rainy. This delayed production by several weeks and caused some irritation among the cast and crew. Mitchum was constantly harassed by fans and eventually had to move onto a boat to avoid them. Filming eventually wrapped on December 17, 1959.[5] A significant number of Australian actors appeared in the support cast.[9]

Ray Austin was stunt coordinator. Nicolas Roeg, who would later direct films such as Walkabout, was a second unit camera operator on the film.[10]

[edit] Box office

The Sundowners was a financial failure in the United States, which Zinnemann blamed on the film's marketing as a newer version of From Here to Eternity.[5] The film reached the top ten at the UK box office and was the third highest grossing film of 1961 in Australia.[11]

[edit] Awards

[edit] 33rd Academy Awards

[edit] Other awards and honors

[edit] References

  1. ^ The Sundowners at AllRovi
  2. ^ "THE WEEKLY ROUND.". The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982) (1933 - 1982: National Library of Australia): p. 2. 29 January 1958. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article51774376. Retrieved 28 February 2012. 
  3. ^ Sinyard, Neil (2003). Fred Zinnemann: films of character and conscience. McFarland. pp. 116–121. ISBN 9780786417117. 
  4. ^ Nolletti, Arthur (1999). The films of Fred Zinnemann: critical perspectives. SUNY Press. pp. 33. ISBN 9780791442258. 
  5. ^ a b c d Capua, Michelangelo (2010). Deborah Kerr: A Biography. McFarland. pp. 123–28. ISBN 9780786458820. 
  6. ^ "Children of 'The Sundowners'.". The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982) (1933 - 1982: National Library of Australia): p. 5. 7 October 1959. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44557145. Retrieved 28 February 2012. 
  7. ^ Phillips, Gene D. (1998). Exiles in Hollywood: major European film directors in America. Lehigh University Press. pp. 160–2. ISBN 0934223491. 
  8. ^ "BIG STARS FOR 'SUNDOWNERS'.". The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982) (1933 - 1982: National Library of Australia): p. 9. 13 May 1959. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47471731. Retrieved 28 February 2012. 
  9. ^ "A team of Sundowners.". The Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982) (1933 - 1982: National Library of Australia): p. 5. 14 October 1959. http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article47511246. Retrieved 28 February 2012. 
  10. ^ Nowra, Louis (2003). Walkabout. Currency Press. pp. 77. ISBN 0868197009. 
  11. ^ a b c Reid, John Howard (2006). America's Best, Britain's Finest: A Survey of Mixed Movies. Lulu. pp. 236. ISBN 9781411678774. 

[edit] External links

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