''The Umbrella Woman'' (released in some areas as ''The Good Wife'') is a 1987 film directed by

Ken Cameron Ken Cameron (born 1946) is an Australian film and television director and writer. Cameron was born in Tenterfield, New South Wales, Australia and graduated from Sydney University with BA in 1968. He has won two AFI Awards for directing. Filmog ...

and starring

Bryan Brown Bryan Neathway Brown AM (born 23 June 1947) is an Australian actor. He has performed in over eighty film and television projects since the late 1970s, both in his native Australia and abroad. Notable films include '' Breaker Morant'' (1980), ...

and

Rachel Ward Rachel Claire Ward (born 12 September 1957) is an English-Australian

. It also features Steven Vidler and

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...

Premise

The film tells the story of a man and wife whose marriage is complicated by a relationship between the man's brother and his wife, and his wife's attraction to the manager of the local bar. The setting is pre-war Australia.

Cast

Rachel Ward Rachel Claire Ward (born 12 September 1957) is an English-Australian

as Marge Hills *

as Sonny Hills * Steven Vidler as Sugar Hills *

as Neville Gifford * Jeniffer Claire as Daisy * Bruce Barry as Archie *

Peter Cummins Peter Cummins (born 2 June 1931 in Melbourne) is an Australian retired character actor of stage and screen and chorister who was especially prominent in the 1970s and appeared in some of the most famous Australian films of the period. He was pa ...

as Ned Hopper *

Carole Skinner Carole Skinner (born 8 May 1944) is an Australian actress, particularly known for her performances in theatre and television. She is perhaps best known for her role as Nola McKenzie in the soap opera, ''Prisoner'', in '' Sons and Daughters'', a ...

as Mrs. Gibson *

Clarissa Kaye Clarissa Kaye (2 August 193121 July 1994) was an Australian stage, film and television actress. She was the second wife (1971–1984) of the British actor James Mason. After her marriage, she was often known as Clarissa Kaye-Mason. Biography ...

as Mrs. Jackson * Barry Hill as Mr. Fielding *

Susan Lyons Susan Lyons (born 1958, Sydney) is an Australian actress. Her television appearances include: ''A Country Practice'', ''Police Rescue'', ''Murder Call'', ''Farscape'', '' Something in the Air'' and '' All Saints''. Her film appearances inclu ...

as Mrs. Fielding * Helen Jones as Rosie Gibbs *

Lisa Hensley (actress) Lisa Hensley is an Australian actress who first came to prominence with a leading role in the television mini-series '' Brides of Christ''. She went to high school at Brigidine College, St Ives, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Hensley h ...

as Sylvia * May Howlett as Mrs. Carmicheal * Maureen Green as Sal Day * Gerry Cook as Gerry Day * Harold Kissin as Davis * Oliver Hall as Mick Jones * Sue Ingleton as Rita * Maurice Hughes as Sgt. Larkin * Marg Haynes as Greta * Craig Fuller as Charlie

Production

Producer Jan Sharp originally intended her husband,

Phillip Noyce Phillip Noyce (born 29 April 1950) is an Australian filmmaker. Since 1977, he has directed over 19 feature films in various genres, including historical drama ('' Newsfront'', '' Rabbit-Proof Fence'', '' The Quiet American''); thrillers (''Dead ...

to direct but he went on to make ''

Echoes of Paradise ''Echoes of Paradise'' (also known as ''Shadows of the Peacock'') is a 1987 Australian film directed by Phillip Noyce. Production The film was written by Jan Sharp who was then married to the director Phil Noyce. Sharp was going to produce but w ...

'' instead so she hired

.David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p159-160 Cameron:

I was very happy to do it but it was a picture that I think would always be hard to do. It's terribly hard to do ''
Madame Bovary ''Madame Bovary'' (; ), originally published as ''Madame Bovary: Provincial Manners'' ( ), is a novel by French writer Gustave Flaubert, published in 1856. The eponymous character lives beyond her means in order to escape the banalities and emp ...
'' in Australia and it's very hard to graft, say, that European style of melodrama or melodramatically intense view of family and sexual relations on to the Australian landscape. There's something there that refuses to play the game about the Australian country town."Interview with Ken Cameron", ''Signet'', 12 April 1996
Retrieved 18 November 2012

Box office

''The Umbrella Woman'' grossed $100,189 at the box office in Australia.''Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office''
/ref> The film was not widely seen overseas either. Cameron says the movie hurt his career:

I think the reason that it didn't work was that there was something very difficult to understand about the relationship between Bryan and Rachel. They were at the height of their public relationship, very well known as a happy couple. It was terribly hard to cast them as a couple who had some unstated problem in their marriage because everything in fact denied that. So it was hard to understand why she would run after the barman when Bryan was there, because Bryan is quite iconic and quite wonderful as an Australian country man... Without wishing Sam Neill away, because I think he's terrific - it might have worked better had Bryan been the barman... I think that this was an example of how you can cast a film with great excitement, get all these wonderful actors but, at the same time, in the very act of casting, you're blighting it or preventing the drama from emerging successfully.

References

External links

* * *
''The Umbrella Woman''
at Oz Movies {{DEFAULTSORT:Umbrella Woman, The 1987 films 1987 drama films Films directed by Ken Cameron Films set in Australia Australian drama films 1980s English-language films