After The Overlanders he was signed to a long term contract by Ealing. Here's what resulted.
- Bush Christmas - perfect choice
- The Loves of Joanna Godden - awful (just micast)
- Eureka Stockade - awful (as in, miscast)
- Bitter Springs - ideal.
Rank/Ealing made The Shiralee, which could've used Rafferty, though he wasn't that sexy - also Robbery Under Arms... he could've played the boys' dad. He would've suited The Siege of Pimchgut as the lead instead of Aldo Ray. But really that film should've been about German POWs.
Ealing announced Pepper Springs for him and Tommy Trinder which doesn't sound that great but would've been better than Eureka Stockade.
He didn't really have the romantic look for the lead in Sons of Matthew.
Okay so here's what would've worked (I'm approaching from the POV of Ealing):
- Eureka Stockade with Rafferty as a fictional lead and Peter Finch or someone else as Lalor and someone handsome to do the romance
- Siege of Pinchgut with Chips as main cop
- an adaptation of We of the Never Never with Chips as the husband (was this novel ever considered for adaptation?)
- a variation of The Overlanders only set in New Guinea i.e. group fleeing Japanese
- adaptation of The Long Shadow by Jon Cleary
- Mary Bryant story with Chips as Will
On his own, Rafferty definitely should've played the lead role in Dust on the Sun (Justin Bayard) - Ken Wayne didn't have the name. I know they were insecure about the romantic stuff but they could've cast an age appropriate lead. He also could've appeared in The Stowaway and The Restless and the Damned. It would've helped. He was still internationally known.
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