Maybe This Time (1980 Film)
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''...Maybe This Time'' is a 1980 Australian feature film starring Bill Hunter,
Mike Preston Michael Preston (born Jack Davies; 14 May 1938) is an English international film and television actor, and singer, sometimes credited as Mike Preston. Life and career Preston was born in Hackney, London, England. He was a boxer and then bec ...
,
Ken Shorter Kenneth Shorter (1945 – November 2024) was an Australian actor. Shorter's career spanned theatre, television and film, but he was best known for starring opposite Mick Jagger in a film adaptation of ''Ned Kelly'' (1970), as the title chara ...
and
Judy Morris Judith Ann Morris (born 17 February 1947) is an Australian character actress, as well as a film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 58 different television shows and films, starting her career as a child ...
. It was the first feature directed by Chris McGill. It was the feature film debut of stage/TV actor
Jill Perryman Jill Perryman (born 30 May 1933) is an Australian retired actress, singer and dancer with a career that spanned 70 years. Perryman is from a family of show business performers; her sister was actress Diana Perryman and her son is media persona ...
.


Plot

Fran, the assistant to university professor Paddy, is about to turn 30. She is having an affair with a married minister's aide, Stephen. She returns home to the country town she grew up in and has a fling with an old flame, Alan. She also begins sleeping with Paddy.


Cast

*
Judy Morris Judith Ann Morris (born 17 February 1947) is an Australian character actress, as well as a film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 58 different television shows and films, starting her career as a child ...
as Fran * Bill Hunter as Stephen *
Mike Preston Michael Preston (born Jack Davies; 14 May 1938) is an English international film and television actor, and singer, sometimes credited as Mike Preston. Life and career Preston was born in Hackney, London, England. He was a boxer and then bec ...
as Paddy *
Jill Perryman Jill Perryman (born 30 May 1933) is an Australian retired actress, singer and dancer with a career that spanned 70 years. Perryman is from a family of show business performers; her sister was actress Diana Perryman and her son is media persona ...
as Mother *
Ken Shorter Kenneth Shorter (1945 – November 2024) was an Australian actor. Shorter's career spanned theatre, television and film, but he was best known for starring opposite Mick Jagger in a film adaptation of ''Ned Kelly'' (1970), as the title chara ...
as Alan *
Michele Fawdon Michele Fawdon (1947–2011) was an English-born Australian actress and singer. She is known for her roles in TV serials ''Matlock Police'' (1971–1974), '' The Unisexers'' (1975) and '' A Country Practice'' (1980, 1985, 1992). In 1979 she won ...
as Margo *
Leonard Teale Leonard George Thiele Officer of the Order of Australia, AO (26 September 192214 May 1994), professionally Leonard Teale, was an Australian actor of radio, television and film and radio announcer, presenter and narrator known for his resonant ...
as Minister *
Jude Kuring Judith Kuring (born 23 November 1948) known Jude Kuring is an Australian actress who appeared in theatre, film and television during the late 1970s and early 80s. She remains best known for her stint as the recurring character of petty crimina ...
as Meredith *
Rod Mullinar Rodney Mullinar (born 1942) is a British Australian actor, noted for his roles on Australian television. Biography Early life Mullinar born in Hereford, Hertfordshire, emigrated to Australia in 1966, at the urging of an Australian friend in ...
as Jack *
Chris Haywood Chris Haywood (born ) is an English-born Australian actor, writer and producer, with close to 500 screen performances to his name. Haywood has also worked as a casting director, art director, sound recordist, camera operator, gaffer, grip, lo ...
as Salesman *
Brian Moll Brian Percy Moll (19 May 1925 – 9 August 2013) was a British-born Australian comedian character actor of stage, television and film and director and producer who emigrated to Australia from his native England in 1950. Quitting his job as a pub ...
as Older Salesman *
Lyndall Barbour Lyndall Harvey Barbour (19 May 1916 – 10 October 1986) was an Australian actress, primarily of radio, although she also added stage and television work (both series and made-for-television movies) to her repertoire. Born in Egypt to Australian ...
as Miss Bates *
Lorna Lesley Lorna Lesley (born 1956, in Kent) is an Australian actress, who has worked extensively in theatre, film and TV during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s period.John Clayton John Clayton may refer to: Arts and entertainment Writing *John Clayton (architect) (died 1861), English architect and writer *John Clayton (sportswriter) (1954–2022), American sportswriter and reporter *John Bell Clayton and Martha Clayton, Joh ...
as Estare Agent *
Lyn Collingwood Lyn Collingwood (born 6 September 1936 in Sydney), credited also as Lynn Collingwood, is an Australian actress, writer and historian. Collingwood was born in Sydney, New South Wales, and started her early career as an English, drama and histor ...
as Myrtle *
Les Foxcroft Clement Leslie Foxcroft (19 November 1918 – 24 June 2004) professionally known as Les Foxcroft and credited also as Lester Foxcroft was an Australian character actor with a career spanning over 50 years, working in all major facets of the ...
as MP 2


Production

Bob Ellis Robert James Ellis (10 May 1942 – 3 April 2016) was an Australian journalist, screenwriter, playwright, filmmaker, and political commentator. He lived in Sydney with author and screenwriter Anne Brooksbank; they had three children. Early ye ...
says it took him five years to get the film made and that it was turned down by
Gillian Armstrong Gillian May Armstrong (born 18 December 1950) is an Australian feature film and documentary film director, director, best known for ''My Brilliant Career (film), My Brilliant Career'' (1979), ''Mrs. Soffel'' (1984), ''High Tide (1987 film), Hi ...
, Stephen Wallace, Tony Buckley,
Donald Crombie Donald Charles Crombie (5 July 1942 – 25 March 2025) was an Australian film and television director. He is known for the films ''Caddie (film), Caddie'' (1976), ''The Irishman (1978 film), The Irishman'' (1978), ''Cathy's Child'' (1979), '' ...
,
Ken Hannam Ken Hannam (12 July 1929 – 16 November 2004) was an Australian film and television director who also worked in Television in the United Kingdom, British television drama. Career Born in St Kilda, Victoria, St Kilda, Melbourne, the eldest of ...
, David Stevens and Brian Bell. He then re-wrote it and managed to persuade the New South Wales Film Corporation to back it, although the NSWFC were the ones who picked the producer and director. They also insisted that the lead be played by
Judy Morris Judith Ann Morris (born 17 February 1947) is an Australian character actress, as well as a film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 58 different television shows and films, starting her career as a child ...
,
Helen Morse Helen Morse (born 24 January 1947) is an English-born Australian actress who has appeared in films, on television and on stage. She won the AFI Award for Best Actress in a Leading Role for the 1976 film ''Caddie'', and starred in the 1981 minise ...
or
Wendy Hughes Wendy Hughes (29 July 19528 March 2014) was an Australian actress known for her work in theatre, film and television. Her career spanned more than 40 years and established her reputation as one of Australia's finest and most prolific actors. I ...
. Ellis later complained that all references in the script to
Gough Whitlam Edward Gough Whitlam (11 July 191621 October 2014) was the 21st prime minister of Australia, serving from December 1972 to November 1975. To date the longest-serving federal leader of the Australian Labor Party (ALP), he was notable for being ...
had to be cut out of the first third of the film because the New South Wales Film Corporation was not seen to be biased towards Whitlam. He thought this destroyed the structure of the scenes and "as a result, the first 10 minutes of the film was wrecked, and the film will lose money." Ellis says that the part played by Mike Preston was written for Jack Thompson and felt
Judy Morris Judith Ann Morris (born 17 February 1947) is an Australian character actress, as well as a film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 58 different television shows and films, starting her career as a child ...
was miscast because she "looks too beautiful to have these problems, and the correct choice would have been somebody like
Anna Volska Anna Volska (born 1 December 1944 in Milanówek, Poland) is an Australian stage and television actress. She arrived in Australia when she was young and has acted from a young age. Early life Anna Volska moved from Poland to Australia with h ...
or Michelle Fawdon." However he did like Morris' performance.Richard Brennan, 'Bob Ellis, ''Cinema Papers'', Oct-Nov 1980 p 319 Morris later said of her character:
Fran is a woman who feels pushed into a corner. She is approaching 30, a time when many women being to feel their options are running out. She has passed through a sexual liberation stage but has found that this has not provided a solution. What she wants is a total commitment with a man.
The film was shot over six weeks starting in November 1979.David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p320 Its original title was ''Letters from a Friend''.David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p111


Release

The film was not a success at the box office. However the script by Bob Ellis and Anne Brooksbank won an AWGIE for best original feature film screenplay.AWGIE Award Winners 1968-2006
Retrieved 23 October 2012


References


External links

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''Maybe This Time''
at
TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

''Maybe This Time''
at Ozmovies {{Bob Ellis Australian drama films 1980 films Films scored by Bruce Smeaton 1980s English-language films