They Found a Cave
| They Found a Cave | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Andrew Steane |
| Written by | James Pearson William Eldridge |
| Based on | novel by Nan Chauncy |
| Produced by | Charles E. Wolnizer |
| Starring | Beryl Meekin Mervyn Wiss |
| Cinematography | Mervyn Gray |
| Edited by | Robert Walker Alan Harkness |
| Music by | Peter Sculthorpe Larry Adler (harmonica) |
Production company | Visatone Island Pictures |
| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures (Aust) Children's Film Foundation (UK) |
Release date | 20 December 1962 (Australia) |
Running time | 61 min |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
They Found a Cave is a 1962 Australian children's adventure film directed by Andrew Steane. The film was originally made from a book by the same name by author Nan Chauncy. In 2010, a company called Argosy Films, set up a website to find the production crew and actors/actresses of They Found a Cave and Bungala Boys for the 50th anniversary.[1]
Plot
Four English orphans – Cherry, Nigel, Brick and Nippy – migrate to Tasmania, to the care of their Aunt Jandie on her farm outside Hobart. Their arrival is greeted with enthusiasm by young farm boy Tas, and weeks of exploration and good times follow before Aunt Jandie enters hospital, leaving the children in the care of Ma and Pa Pinner, her foreman and housekeeper.
A few days of tyrannical treatment by the Pinners force the children to seek refuge in a secret cave, where they set up home to await the return of Jandie. Despite Pa's repeated efforts to recapture them, it is here the children stay until Nigel's secret trip to town uncovers a plot by the Pinners to abandon the farm and swindle Aunt Jandie.
Cast
- Beryl Meekin – Ma Pinner
- Mervyn Wiss – Pa Pinner
- Barbara Manning – Aunt Jandie
- Anne Davies – Cherry
- Christopher Horner – Tas
- Michael Nation – Nigel
- Michael Woolford – Nippy
- Peter Conrad – Brick
- Michael Boddy as Sergeant Bentley
- Cecily McKinley as Mrs Clandy
- Joseph Smith as Bluey
Production
The Australian Council for Children's Film and Television had been campaigning for locally made children's films on Australian subjects. In 1961, Island Film Services, a Tasmania company formed by Charles E. Wolnizer, co-produced the film with Visatone Television. It was based on a popular children's novel by Nan Chauncy.[2]
The lead actors were selected out of 500 children.[3]
The film was shot in south-east Tasmania in the summer and autumn of 1961 over seven months with interiors done at Elwick Showground in Hobart and some interiors done in Sydney. The railway footage was on the north coast of Tasmania and at New Town Station. Most of the cast and crew were Tasmanian. As the camera equipment was noisy during filming a lot of the dialogue was overdubbed in post-production. Director Andrew Steane was former head of the Tasmanian Department of Film Production.[4]
Larry Adler recorded harmonica for the music score while touring Australia.[3] The main theme consisted of a short piano piece, Left Bank Waltz, that had already been written by Tasmanian composer Peter Sculthorpe.
Reception
The film was positively reviewed but was not a success at the box office.[4][5]
References
- ^ They Found a Cave website
- ^ Eastman, Berenice, 'Chauncy, Nancen Beryl (Nan) (1900–1970)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University accessed 1 September 2012.
- ^ a b "Young stars in new film". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 24 October 1962. p. 46 Supplement: Teenagers Weekly. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
- ^ a b Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p232
- ^ "Reviews of New Films". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 9 January 1963. p. 13. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
External links
- They Found a Cave at IMDb
- They Found a Cave at Oz Movies
- Website on the film
- Joe Rheinberger, THEY FOUND A CAVE – A LOST TASSIE CINEMA CLASSIC? ABC Radio Hobart 3 Oct 2008