''Curtin'' is a 2007 television film about

John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few ...

, the Prime Minister of Australia during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The film won the Australian Screen Sound Guild Award in 2007 for its sound team.

Plot

The film covers the period from just before Curtin becoming Prime Minister in October 1941 until the return of the 6th and

7th 7 (seven) is the natural number following 6 and preceding 8. It is the only prime number preceding a cube (algebra), cube. As an early prime number in the series of positive integers, the number seven has greatly symbolic associations in religion ...

Divisions to Australia (''Operation Stepsister'') at the start of the Pacific war in March 1942. The film concludes with a montage of footage of Curtin's funeral in 1945.

Cast

William McInnes Daryl William Mathew Gabriel McInnes (born 10 September 1963) is an Australian film and television actor and writer. He portrayed the role of Matt Tivolli in '' The Time of Our Lives''. He is best known for his roles as Senior Constable Nick Sc ...

Noni Hazlehurst Leonie Elva "Noni" Hazlehurst , (born 17 August 1953) is an Australian actress, director, writer, presenter and broadcaster who has appeared on television and radio, in dramas, mini-series and made for television films, as well also on sta ...

Elsie Curtin Elsie Curtin (' Needham; 4 October 1890 – 24 June 1975) was the wife of John Curtin, the 14th Prime Minister of Australia. Biography Curtin was born in Ballarat, Victoria to parents Annie and Abraham Needham. From 1898 to 1910, she lived in ...

Asher Keddie Asher Keddie (born 31 July 1974) is an Australian actress. Beginning her career in the television series '' Five Mile Creek'' in the mid 1980s, Keddie received wide recognition for her role in the television series ''Offspring''. Her significan ...

as Elsie Jnr *

Ben Esler Ben Esler (born 1982) is an Australian actor and screenwriter, best known for playing Sean McGinnes in the AMC television series ''Hell on Wheels'', as well as for his role as war hero Chuck Tatum in HBO's '' The Pacific''. Esler is a writer ...

as John Jnr * Geoff Morrell as

Ben Chifley Joseph Benedict Chifley (; 22 September 1885 – 13 June 1951) was an Australian politician who served as the 16th prime minister of Australia from 1945 to 1949. He held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP) from 1945, follow ...

Bille Brown William Gerald Brown AM (11 January 195213 January 2013) professionally known as Billie Brown was an Australian stage, film and television actor and acclaimed playwright. Early life Brown was born in Biloela, Queensland and studied drama at t ...

as Robert Menzies *Paul English as

H. V. Evatt Herbert Vere Evatt, (30 April 1894 – 2 November 1965) was an Australian politician and judge. He served as a judge of the High Court of Australia from 1930 to 1940, Attorney-General and Minister for External Affairs from 1941 to 1949, and l ...

Frank Gallacher Frank Gallacher (7 April 1943 – 23 February 2009) was a Scottish-Australian actor. Gallacher was born in Glasgow in 1943. In 1962, aged 19, he was working in London when his parents and younger sister decided to emigrate to Australia. Gallac ...

Jack Beasley John Albert Beasley (9 November 1895 – 2 September 1949) was an Australian politician who was a member of the House of Representatives from 1928 to 1946. He served in the Australian War Cabinet from 1941 to 1946, and was a government ministe ...

William Zappa William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

as General

Vernon Sturdee Lieutenant General Sir Vernon Ashton Hobart Sturdee, (16 April 1890 – 25 May 1966) was an Australian Army commander who served two terms as Chief of the General Staff. A regular officer of the Royal Australian Engineers who joined the M ...

Shingo Usami is a Japanese professional baseball catcher for the Hokkaido Nippon-Ham Fighters in Japan's Nippon Professional Baseball. His wife is Reni Takagi, a member of Japanese idol group Momoiro Clover Z . Professional career On November 16, 2018, h ...

Tatsuo Kawai was a Japanese diplomat and author. He was a leading proponent of expansionism in Japan before World War II but later became a pacifist and was Japan's first Minister to Australia. Early years Kawai was born in Fukuyama, Hiroshima Prefecture, ...

Robert Grubb Robert Grubb (born 31 January 1950) is an Australian actor. He studied acting at National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where he graduated in 1978. There he was a fellow student of actor Mel Gibson. Grubb played the role of Dr. Geoffrey St ...

Percy Spender Sir Percy Claude Spender (5 October 18973 May 1985) was an Australian politician, diplomat, and judge. He served in the House of Representatives from 1937 to 1951, including as a cabinet minister under Robert Menzies and Arthur Fadden. He was ...

* Tony Rickards as

Eddie Ward Edward John Ward (7 March 189931 July 1963) was an Australian politician who represented the Australian Labor Party (ALP) in federal parliament for over 30 years. He was the member for East Sydney for all but six-and-a-half weeks from 1931 u ...

Drew Lindo Drew may refer to: __NOTOC__ Places ;In the United States * Drew, Georgia, an unincorporated community * Drew, Mississippi, a city * Drew, Missouri, an unincorporated community * Drew, Oregon, an unincorporated community * Drew County, Arkansas ...

Arthur Fadden Sir Arthur William Fadden, (13 April 189421 April 1973) was an Australian politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Australia from 29 August to 7 October 1941. He was the leader of the Country Party from 1940 to 1958 and also served ...

Alethea McGrath Alethea Ada McGrath (1 June 1920 – 9 February 2016) was an Australian actress and comedian. She played Jocasta Nu in '' Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones''. Her roles on television included Dot Farrar in ''Prisoner'' and three d ...

as Mrs. Needham *

Dan Wyllie Daniel Wyllie (born 1970) is an Australian stage, film and television actor. Wyllie began acting in theatre. Early life Wyllie grew up on Sydney's North Shore. He attended North Sydney Boys High School and the University of New South Wales, whe ...

as Don Rodgers *Brian Meegan as

Frederick Shedden Sir Frederick Geoffrey Shedden (8 August 1893 – 8 July 1971) was an Australian public servant who served as Secretary of the Department of Defence from 1937 to 1956. Background and early life Frederick Shedden was born 8 August 1893 in Kyne ...

Roz Hammond Rosalind Hammond, often credited as Ros or Roz, is an Australian actress and writer with an extensive career in theatre, film and television. Career Hammond's television appearances include the role of Claudia in the award-winning drama '' The ...

Gladys Joyce Gladys may refer to: * Gladys (given name), people with the given name Gladys * ''Gladys'' (album), a 2013 album by Leslie Clio * ''Gladys'' (film), 1999 film written and directed by Vojtěch Jasný * Gladys, Virginia, United States * ''Gladys t ...

Nicholas Opolski Nicholas Opolski is an Australian actor, who is best known for his role as Evan Hancock on the Australian soap opera '' Neighbours'' in 2001–2002. He has also provided the voice of B2, one of the characters in the children's television show ...

as Fred McLaughlin * Hunter Perske as

Don Whitington Bertram Lindon "Don" Whitington (31 January 1911 – 5 May 1977) was an Australian political journalist and author. Life A member of the Whitington family of South Australia, whose family arrived in Australia in 1840, Don Whitington was born in ...

Production

Much of the film was made in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...

, with the exception of scenes filmed at

Old Parliament House, Canberra Old Parliament House, formerly known as the Provisional Parliament House, was the seat of the Parliament of Australia from 1927 to 1988. The building began operation on 9 May 1927 after Parliament's relocation from Melbourne to the new capit ...

References

External links

*
''Curtin''
at ''

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national c ...

'' 2007 drama films 2007 films 2007 television films 2000s war drama films Australian biographical films Australian war drama films Australian drama television films Biographical films about prime ministers Cultural depictions of Australian men Films set in the Australian Capital Territory Films set in Western Australia Films set in 1941 Films set in 1942 Pacific War films World War II films based on actual events {{war-drama-film-stub