The Sundowners (1960)

Director:

Fred Zinnemann

Writers:

Isobel Lennart (screenplay)
Jon Cleary (novel)

Release Date:

11 August 1961 (West Germany)

Genre:

Drama | Adventure

Tagline:

Across Six Thousand Miles of Excitement...Across a Whole World of Adventure Comes the Rousing, Story of Real People Called "The Sundowners"!

Plot:

In the Australian Outback, the Carmody family--Paddy, Ida and their teenage son Sean--are sheep drovers...

Plot Keywords:

Farm | Sheep Shearing | Sheep | Contest | Australian Outback

Awards:

Nominated for 5 Oscars. Another 3 wins & 7 nominations

Cast

Deborah Kerr	...	Ida Carmody
Robert Mitchum	...	Paddy Carmody
Peter Ustinov	...	Rupert Venneker
Glynis Johns	...	Mrs. Firth
Dina Merrill	...	Jean Halstead
Chips Rafferty	...	Quinlan
Michael Anderson Jr.	...	Sean Carmody
Lola Brooks	...	Liz Brown
Wylie Watson	...	Herb Johnson
John Meillon	...	Bluey Brown
Ronald Fraser	...	Ocker
Gerry Duggan	...	Shearer
Leonard Teale	...	Shearer
Peter Carver	...	Shearer
Dick Bentley	...	Shearer

Also Known As:

Fred Zinnemann's The Sundowners (UK) (complete title)

Runtime:

133 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Colour:

Colour (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound Recording)

Certification:

UK:U | West Germany:12 (f) | Canada:G (video rating) | Finland:K-8 | USA:Approved | Australia:G

Filming Locations:

Associated British Elstree Studios, Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire, England, UK

Company:

Warner Bros.

Trivia:

Gerry Duggan worked 30 days over 8 weeks.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "What's My Line?: (1961-04-23)" (1961)

Soundtrack:

The Enterpriser

A One-Of-A-Kind Western

This was a unique western in that (1) there are no villains; (2) no gunfighters and gunfight and (3) only one man is shot in the whole film.

Most of it is a simple story of "Sundowners:" a group of migrant-type workers who go from job to job - in this case as "sheep drovers." These workers never have a permanent place to call home.

In this particular story, the wife (Deborah Kerr) and their teenage boy (Michael Anderson Jr.) want a home while the husband (Robert Mitchum) doesn't want to settle down in one place. It may have American actors but the scene is Australia. I found a number of the accents hard to decipher. Peter Ustinov, Glynis Johns and Dina Merrill all add to this impressive cast, which provides a lesson in solid acting. Ustinov's character adds humor to the film, and the scenery is nice to ogle.

You'd think with all these positive points I would rate this film higher, but something was missing, perhaps a little excitement. This is too low-key. The ending was kind of strange: not a a happy one but not unhappy either.

Yeah, it's a nice family story but not one I would go out of my way to watch again.