A truly superb woman's picture and I say that with nothing but admiration and respect. Those things are damn hard to do. This is as artfully crafted as any Norman Shearer vehicle - the plucky heroine, whose life is thrown into turmoil when her husband leaves her for her friend, and has to make do as a barmaid.
The film makes Caddie seem more middle class than she was (she had a rough background) in part because Helen Morse plays her - but that's better drama. Morse is excellent - I wonder how Wendy Hughes would have done, she was classy too, but there's something more regal about Morse.
It has tremendous obstacles - lecherous customers and pervy boss, the legal system stacked against them. I was surprised the film didn't use the characters of the husband and his mother more, even if just one appearance.
Beautiful sets and locations. Gorgeous. A lost Sydney. This must have packed a wallop for people who grew up in the time.
Superb evocation of the depression - the dole, the rabbitohs, the segregated bars, the class differences, the backyard abortions. I missed Jackie Weaver and Jack Thompson in the second half but the acting was consistently excellent across the line.
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