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They're a Weird Mob (film)
They're a Weird Mob is a 1966 Australian comedy film based on the 1957 novel of the same name by John O'Grady under the pen name "Nino Culotta", the name of the main character of the book. It was the penultimate collaboration of the British filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. PlotNino Culotta is an Italian immigrant, newly arrived in Australia. He expected to work for his cousin as a sports writer for an Italian language magazine. However, on arrival in Sydney, Nino discovers that the cousin has abandoned the magazine, leaving a substantial debt to Kay Kelly. Nino declares that he will get a job and pay back the debt. Working as a labourer Nino becomes mates with his co-workers, despite some difficulties with Australian slang and culture of the 1960s. Nino endeavours to understand the aspirational values and social rituals of everyday urban Australians, and assimilate. A romantic attraction builds between Nino and Kay despite her frosty exterior and her conservative Irish father's dislike of Italians.[4] A tone of mild racism exists in the film between Anglo-Saxon/Anglo-Irish characters such as Kay Kelly's dad Harry (Chips Rafferty) and Nino. Harry says he does not like writers, brickies or dagos. Nino is all three. But this is undermined when Nino, sitting in the Kelly house notices a picture of the pope on the wall. Nino says "If I am a dago, then so is he". Realising the impossibility of referring to the pope by that derogatory term, Harry gives in. Cast
Cast notes
DevelopmentThey're a Weird Mob was optioned in 1959 by Gregory Peck with him to direct but not appear, but he could not come up with a workable screenplay.[9] Michael Powell first read the novel in London in 1960 and wanted to turn it into a film but Peck had the rights. Powell obtained them three years later and brought in his long-time collaborator Emeric Pressburger, who wrote the screenplay under the pseudonym "Richard Imrie."[10] FinanceThe film was one of a series of movies financed together by Rank and the NFFC.[11] £166,925 of the budget came from the NFFC and Rank, the rest from the production company Williamson-Powell International Films.[2] CastingWalter Chiari had previously visited Australia during the filming of On the Beach (1959), which starred his then-girlfriend Ava Gardner. Claire Dunne was working as a weather girl when cast in the female lead.[10] It was one of Muriel Steinbeck's last acting roles.[12] ShootingThe film started filming in October 1965 and was shot at a number of locations in the area of Sydney:[13]
The film has been credited with the revival of the moribund Australian film industry, which led to the Australian "New Wave" films of the 1970s.[14] Box officeThey're a Weird Mob grossed $2,417,000 at the box office in Australia,[3] equivalent to $35,700,000 in 2022.[15] However it performed poorly outside Australia.[16] The NFFC reported its overseas earnings on the film as £207,821.[17] John McCallum said:
In 1968 John McCallum wrote that of the $2 million the film had then earned, only $400,000 had been returned to the film-makers.[19] He later reflected, "It's our own fault; we were green and we signed a very bad distribution contract. We had an investment from Rank, who also distributed the film, and they bit very hard on the distribution. They took 35 percent, and that's far too high. Twenty-five's a fair thing. That extra ten percent was the killer. It's as simple as that."[18] However, during the making of the film John McCallum worked with Lee Robinson. The two men formed Fauna Productions and had a great success in television starting with Skippy. The Story of the Making of 'They're a Weird Mob'A behind-the-scenes documentary was shot called The Story of the Making of 'They're a Weird Mob'. It aired on in Sydney on 12 August 1966 and in Melbourne on 22 August 1966 and went for one hour.[20] DVDThe film has been released on Region 4 DVD by Roadshow. The DVD includes a TV special, "The Story of Making the Film They're a Weird Mob" as well as a picture gallery, theatrical trailer and optional subtitles. The film has been released on Region 2 DVD by Opening in the Les films de ma vie series. The DVD has fixed French subtitles for the original English soundtrack. See alsoReferences
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