''The Earthling'' is a 1980 American-Australian

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

directed by Peter Collinson, and starring

William Holden William Franklin Holden (né Beedle Jr.; April 17, 1918 – November 12, 1981) was an American actor and one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s. He won the Academy Award for Best Actor for the film '' Stalag 17'' (1953) and the Pri ...

and

Ricky Schroder Richard Bartlett Schroder (born April 13, 1970) is an American actor and filmmaker. As a child actor billed as Ricky Schroder he debuted in the film '' The Champ'' (1979), for which he became the youngest Golden Globe award recipient, and went o ...

. It was filmed in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

in 1979, and was the last to be directed by Collinson before his death the following year.

Cast

as Patrick Foley *

as Shawn Dailey *

Olivia Hamnett Olivia Jane Hamnett (13 February 1943 - 2 November 2001) was an English actress known for numerous Television in Australia, television roles in Australia, primarily in soap operas and miniseries. including ''The Sullivans'' as Meg Fulton in 197 ...

as Bettina Dailey * Walter Pym as Uncle

Plot

Patrick Foley is a jaded loner who has been a drifter for much of his life. Discovering he has terminal cancer, he decides to return to the Australian outback where he grew up to die in solitude. His plans are interrupted however when ten year old Shawn Dailey's parents die in a horrific accident leaving the boy alone and helpless. Reluctantly, Foley teaches the boy survival and they form a bond before Foley dies and Shawn begins his trek back to civilisation.

Production

The film was shot from September to October 1979 in the Blue Mountains, Barrington Forest and

Warrumbungle National Park Warrumbungle National Park is a Australian National Heritage List, heritage listed national park located in the Orana (New South Wales), Orana region of New South Wales, Australia. The national park is located approximately northwest of Sydney ...

. It was reported that Holden and Schroder got along while filming. Schroder named one of his children Holden in honour of his co-star. It was one of several films Jack Thompson made around this time where he supported an American star.

Reception

The film drew greatly mixed reviews, with some critics reviling it, while others praised it. It played to little notice in theatres, but later became something of a daytime staple on

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

and other cable-movie channels in the 1980s. It grossed $72,000 for box office in Australia.''Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office''
/ref>

References

External links

* *
''The Earthling''
at Oz Movies
The Earthling at the National Film and Sound Archive
1980 films 1980 drama films Australian adventure drama films 1980s adventure drama films Films directed by Peter Collinson Films scored by Bruce Smeaton Films set in Australia Filmways films Films set in deserts Films set in forests Films about orphans 1980s English-language films 1980s Australian films English-language adventure drama films {{1980s-Australia-film-stub