''A Yank in Australia'' is a 1942 Australian

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by Alfred J. Goulding and starring Al Thomas and

Hartney Arthur Hartney J. Arthur (29 December 1917 – 24 March 2004) was an Australian actor, writer and film director, who worked in stage, radio and film. Biography He was born in Hobart Tasmania, and appeared as a convict boy in ''For the Term of his Nat ...

Plot

Two journalists in New York, American Headlines Haggerty ( Al Thomas) and Englishman Clarence Worthington (

) are sent to cover the war in the South Pacific. They get marooned on the Australian coast along with two rival female reporters after a Japanese submarine sinks their boat. They are rescued by a girl who lives on the island with her father, Horace. Together they uncover and stop a plot by the Japanese to invade Australia.

Cast

* Al Thomas as Headlines Haggerty *

as Clarence Worthington * Kitty Bluett as Clara Matthews * Jane Conolly as Dolly * Graham Wicker as Horace * Alfred J. Goulding as a Japanese spy *

Joy Nichols Joy Eileen Nichols (17 February 1925 – 23 June 1992) was an Australian-British comedian, actress and singer who also worked in the United States. She was best known as one of the stars of '' Take It From Here'' on BBC Radio. Biography Nichols ...

* Frank Bradley *Marie La Varre

Production

The film was made by Austral-American Productions. The chief backer of this was Sydney stockbroker Gordon Wharton, who formed a syndicate and raised £3,000 to make the film. This amount proved insufficient and Wharton claimed he provided the remaining £1,500 needed himself. (A similar shortfall happened on his next film, ''Red Sky at Morning''). Australian born Alf Goulding had built a significant career as a director in Hollywood, but had returned to Australia due to US visa regulations. He had directed several documentaries with the title ''Australia Marches On'' and was linked with several proposed film projects. Filming started by May 1942. The film was shot at the Commonwealth Film Laboratory studios in Sydney, with exteriors at Taronga Park Zoo. Several of the cast were established radio performers.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 196

Release

When the film was released, Wharton estimated it would make at least £40,000 in the USA. This did not happen. However the company went on to make another feature, ''Red Sky at Morning''. The film took two years to be released, making its world debut in Brisbane on 11 November 1944. The ''Courier Mail'' called it "an example of just how bad a motion picture can be... In every department – production, dialogue, story – ''A Yank in Australia'' falls short. Incoherence, incredibility, and inconsistency are spread like treacle over the whole thing." The ''Sunday Mail'' reported that the film was a "nose dive to a new low level in Australian production futility. It would be a shame to mention anyone or anything connected with the film except in terms of anathema... and this is gracious comment." Box office receipts were poor but the film was also released in England and the US.

References

External links

''A Yank in Australia''
in the

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''A Yank in Australia''
at

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''A Yank in Australia''
at Oz Movies {{DEFAULTSORT:Yank in Australia, A 1942 films Australian comedy-drama films 1942 comedy-drama films American comedy-drama films American black-and-white films 1940s American films 1940s Australian films 1940s English-language films English-language comedy-drama films