Endearing in its way that it just wants to entertain. It's not very good but its heart is in the right place. It didn't need to cost as much money as it did - traipsing around the dunes and what not really could've been done anywhere.
The English cast definitely weren't worth it - I mean, yes, Trevor Howard is a great actor but he looks unwell and they could've gotten Frank Thring. John Castle is fine, but was he a name. And Susannah York is poor. Eliza needed to be a lively vixen - I don't think Wendy Hughes, the original choice, would have been perfect, though she would've been better than York; I think someone with lower class sparkle, like Jackie Weaver, would've been better. Or - don't laugh - Abigail. The way the story is constructed Eliza doesn't have to do much acting.
Part of the problem is also Williamson's screenplay which I think in its heart is more a theatre piece. It keeps changing focus on who the lead it - John Castle gets this intro, then he vanishes while the Fraser's go on the boat, then John Waters is given all this time and he vanishes, and Eliza/York doesn't do much except commune with the aboriginals. Then there's this duelling stuff between Castle and George Mallaby, and then the fight comes between Castle and Noel Ferrier, and Eliza is so passive. I wasn't sure how different Castle and Waters were meant to be - I mean Castle was a rogue, but wasn't Waters a convict, and there was Noel Ferrier...
Ugh.
They should have combined Castle and Waters' characters. Or made them more different. Given Fraser/York somewhere to go -started her as prim and moved her to raucous or something.
But it looks good and it's fun to see people like Bruce Spence and Dennis Miller turn up.
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