''Queensland'' is a 1976 film directed by
John Ruane
John Vincent Ruane (October 4, 1936 – September 3, 2006) was an American jockey in Thoroughbred horse racing.
Ruane began his career in 1957, competing on the New York State racing circuit where he rode for noted U.S. Racing Hall of Fame ...
and starring
John Flaus and Robert Karl.
Plot
Doug is a factory worker living in Melbourne who dreams of moving from Melbourne to Queensland. He attempts to reconnect with an old flame, Marge, and move to Queensland together.
Cast
*
John Flaus as Doug
*Bob Karl as Aub
*Alison Bird as Marge
*Tom Broadbridge as Mick
Production
John Ruane says he was inspired by a newspaper article about a slaughterman who killed his de facto wife and then got drunk for two days. He decided to remove the killing aspect, concentrate on the relationship. Ruane:
What we were trying to do then, strangely enough, was trying to imitate '' Summer of the Seventeenth Doll'' in reverse and to imitate ''Midnight Cowboy
''Midnight Cowboy'' is a 1969 American drama film directed by John Schlesinger, adapted by Waldo Salt from the 1965 novel by James Leo Herlihy. The film stars Dustin Hoffman and Jon Voight, with supporting roles played by Sylvia Miles, J ...
'', a sort of Northcote version of ''Midnight Cowboy'' - not the story, but the fact that they were headed for a dream. Their dream was Miami. Our film was obviously about heading to Queensland... It's about a vanishing breed of Australians.Interview with John Ruane, 22 August 1995
accessed 20 October 2012
The film was made with money from the Experimental Film and Television Fund while John Ruane was a film student at the
Swinburne College of Technology in Melbourne.
Release
The movie was released through the co-operative movement.
References
External links
*
''Queensland''at
National Film and Sound Archive
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 ...
''Queensland''at Oz Movies
Australian thriller films
1976 films
1970s English-language films
1970s Australian films
{{1970s-Australia-film-stub