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ACTOR
Deborah KerrRobert MitchumPeter UstinovGlynis Johns
DIRECTOR
Fred Zinnemann
SYNOPSICS
The Sundowners (1960) is a English movie. Fred Zinnemann has directed this movie. Deborah Kerr,Robert Mitchum,Peter Ustinov,Glynis Johns are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1960. The Sundowners (1960) is considered one of the best Adventure,Drama movie in India and around the world.
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The Sundowners (1960) Reviews
A bit slow but excellent.
I would love to sit and watch this film with an Aussie. That's because as an American, I don't know enough to know how accurate this movie is--and if the accents of all the non-Australians in the leads are even close to being correct. This film is about a family of migrant workers--not a lazy 'sundowner' (see the IMDb trivia for more on this). They travel across Australia driving and shearing sheep to make a few quid--always on the move and no permanent home of their own. As for the husband (Robert Mitchum), he loves this sort of life with few responsibilities. But the wife (Deborah Kerr) is getting tired and sees a need to settle down and finally have a house of their own--especially since their son is getting older and wants some permanence in his life. The vast majority of the film, though, is almost like a documentary--showing what the life is like--like you get a little window into their migrant ways. This is a well made film. The acting, direction and music are all quite nice. My only serious qualm is that the film is slow and I know many folks simply wouldn't sit still for such a seemingly mundane plot. But, if you are patient, it's well worth your time.
A gentle study of a cheerful, loving Australian family whose whole life is one of adventure
Frequently slow, solemn and simplistic, the films of Fred Zinneman are the work of a director who appears to have equated artistry with neatness, objectivity with aloofness, and significance with decorative, humorless reverence "The Sundowners" was perhaps the best 'Australian' film made up to that time, and was, incidentally, a perceptive study of a marriage: Deborah Kerr was the wife who wanted to settle down, and Robert Mitchum the husband who didn't It reveals much about their life-style and the land in which they live Their good teenaged son Sean (Michael Anderson Jr.) explains the meaning of a sundowner as someone whose home is wherever he happens to be when the sun goes down So Paddy (Mitchum) and Ida (Kerr) are a warm and well-adjusted couple with one grown son, except for one argumentthe struggle between his love of being a wanderer and her fundamental desire for the stability of a home Paddy was a man who couldn't settle in one place For him, most places were fit only for arrivals and departures The filmwhich constantly endeavored to show the Australian woman's compassion for the problems of women in a big male societyis also a happy celebration with other notable participants being Glynis Johns as an awfully pleasant barmaid-innkeeper who loves men's company and knows how to deal with them; Peter Ustinov as an educated but slightly mysterious Englishman, a likable drifter, a kind of an elderly turtle who wears a nautical cap, with wealth of experience, but not much of a mind to make use of it This turtle signs on as a drover with Paddy, apparently not so much for a job but for something to pass the time Outstanding is a scene in which Ida, as a woman with no makeup, sitting on the wagon, spots in the window of a stationary train a well-dressed woman who obviously has all the things she doesn't... They look at each other for an instance as the rich woman applies powder to her face Ida gently lifts her fingers over her cheeks They stare at each other and we rapidly notice Ida's thoughts "The Sundowners" is one of the very best of Mitchum's films In the pub sequence, he is at his best when he sings "Botany Bay" and "Lime Juice Tub." Deborah Kerr gave the role both a touch of delicacy and a touch of sensuality She wins, for her impressive performance, her sixth and last Oscar nomination The motion picture, splendidly photographed in Technicolor and with a nice atmospheric music, contains fires in the dry forests, shearing contests, fist-fights, the Aussie's love of beer, a game of two-up, a big race meeting, much of the beautiful Australian landscape and the life on sheep farming stations
The Aussie accents are over the top
We don't really talk like that in Australia so the over the top accents are actually amusing! A good movie despite this however! The Sundowners is a 1960 film that tells the story of an Australian outback family torn between the father's desires to continue his nomadic sheep-herding ways and the wife's and son's desire to settle down in one place. It stars Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Peter Ustinov, Glynis Johns, Dina Merrill, Michael Anderson, Jr. and Chips Rafferty. The movie was adapted by Isobel Lennart from the novel by Jon Cleary. It was directed by Fred Zinnemann. It was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Deborah Kerr), Best Actress in a Supporting Role (Glynis Johns), Best Director, Best Picture, and Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. The movie was filmed mainly on location in New South Wales, including towns like Nimmitabel.
The Sundowner is always on the move, never finding his home.
Set in Australia in the 1920s,this wonderful movie tells the story of sheepdrover Mitchum, wife Kerr and son Anderson, drifting through the Australian wilderness,never settling down.Tired of constantly being on the move Kerr wants a home for her family,but Mitchum is insensitive to his family's wishes. Deborah Kerr gives a fantastic performance that brings to life even the inner emotions of her character.She's never been better.Robert Mitchum is very believable in his assignment.It's perhaps one of his most complex roles.Also Peter Ustinov scores a triumph:A man too irresponsible to have a family of his own,and therefore clings to Mitchum and Kerr's family. The story isn't much on paper,but Fred Zinnemann's imaginative direction gives the incidents the needed emotions. Beautiful cinematography and sock performances from the rest of the cast makes this a movie you shouldn't miss.
Shame on the Academy
For such a gifted actor as Robert Mitchum to go unrecognized by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences is a shame and makes one glad that George C. Scott did what he did in refusing to receive the Oscar for his amazing work in "Patton." I don't want to mention Marlon Brando because I'm still not certain what he was up to. He seemed to want attention more than to make a statement when he flaunted the Academy. Added to this shame is the same Academy virtually ignoring Mitchum's co-star in this movie Deborah Kerr, also deserving of more formal recognition for her contributions to the Hollywood dream machine. Anyone who has any doubt about the outstanding acting abilities of these two stars needs only watch "The Sundowners" to see where I'm coming from. The rest of the cast in "The Sundowners" add to the overall effectiveness of the movie, especially the brilliance of Peter Ustinov. There is really not much of a story. The film is more of a character study of a vagabond with a wife and a son who is trying to make a living as a sheep drover in the outback of Australia. He encounters a rather mysterious man Rupert Venneker (Ustinov) who becomes his hired hand to help with the sheep. Paddy Carmody (Mitchum) is very happy with this hand to mouth existence, living in a tent or sleeping out amongst the stars, keeping a little change in a jar, but his wife and son prefer a more settled existence, dreaming of owning their own ranch. Director Fred Zinnemann captures the essence of vagabond life down under filming on location in Australia, showing the exotic wild life in all its beauty and spender. Technicolor and wide-screen heighten the viewers enjoyment of this tale of dreams fulfilled and unfulfilled in a land that is still somewhat mysterious to the average American. Of special note is the Australian music used by Zinnemann. In the first pub scene Mitchum bellows out in a drunken Aussie accent one of John Ford's favorites, "Wild Colonial Boy," but then sings a ballad that is seldom heard on the big screen, "Botany Bay," about the infamous penal colony from which modern Australia sprang. The versatile Robert Mitchum was also a singer and songwriter. He helped write the music of his production of "Thunder Road" and even had somewhat of a hit recording of the title song in 1958. Rupert Venneker (Ustinov) makes fun of Paddy's voice in "The Sundowners," but actually it wasn't bad. This is a rather long film, over two hours, but a highly enjoyable one. I first saw it on the big screen when I was a senior in high school. It was one of those flicks that stays with a person. I've had the pleasure of seeing it a few more times since. It is still as fresh and as good as when first released.