The False Dawn of 1946

The Australian film industry had some false dawns before but never quite like 1946. After years of war, and no films, it seemed that movies would be done, and done properly. Ken G Hall made Smithy, Ealing made The Overlanders, Eric Porter A Son is Born and Chavel developed The Sons of Matthew. The first three came out in 46 and were hits - well, Son is Born made a profit.

What happened?

Smithy had been financed by Columbia, who released the film in the US and it didn’t do well so they cooled on Australia. It was a shame. Ken Hall tried to get up Robbery Under Arms via Rank but had no luck. He blamed cost overruns on Sons of Matthew. Possibly. Cost overruns on Ealing’s next film, Eureka Stockade would have not helped.