AustLit
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.
Film Details - Australian Tradition Films , 1956
Producers:
Cecil Holmes
Production Companies:
Australian Tradition Films
Director of Photography:
Ross Wood
Editors:
A. William Copland
Composer:
Raymond Hanson
Cast:
John McCallum (Commentator); Joe Wilson's Mates: Edmund Allison (Tom Stevens), Reg Lye (The Swaggie), Alexander Archdale (Firbank), Charles Tasman (The Undertaker), Don McNiven (Patrick Rooney), Jerold Wells (Wally), Chris Kempster (Longun), Brian Anderson (Joe), Kenneth J. Warren (Andy), Evelyn Docker (Maggie), Ben Gabriel (The Priest), The Bushwhacker's Band; The Load of Wood: Jock Levy (Darkie), Leonard Teale (Ernie), Ossie Wenban (Sniffy), John Armstrong (Chilla), Jim Doone (Joe), Ted Smith (Coulson), Edward Lovell (Tye), Keith Howard (Shea), Eileen Ryan (Mrs Johnson); The City: Joan Lander (Kathie), Brian Vicary (Ted), Betty Lucas (Freda), Gordon Glenwright (Alex), Ken Wayne (First Cab Driver), Stewart Ginn (Second Cab Driver), Allan Trevor (Preacher), Pat Martin (Customer), Margaret Christensen (Customer), John Fernside (Vagrant), Alastair Roberts (Bodgie).
Release Dates:
1. Exhibited in 1956 at the Edinburgh Film Festival and the Karlovy Vary Film Festival. Released in London and New Zealand in March 1957. It was also released in France in 1957. Australian screenings were limited to a few independent cinemas.
2. Released on videocassette format by Australian Tradition Films (and distributed by Ronin Films).
Location:
- Exterior shots for Joe Wilson's Mates and The Load of Wood were filmed at Camden. The City was filmed at various locations around Sydney. Interior scenes for all three films were shot at the Pagewood Studios, Sydney.
Notes:
1. The Monthly Film Bulletin applauded Cecil Holmes's decision to break away from the Hollywood format, writing that while the film was somewhat uneven, it was nevertheless full of energy and promise. 'An honest and determined attempt to create a national style,' wrote the critic, 'it may well be a landmark in the development of the Australian cinema' (ctd. Pike and Cooper 1980, p.293). Although the film was generally well received by critics both in Australia and in France, the Australian film trade was largely unsure of how to market Three in One, and subsequently ignored it. After screening at the Edinburgh and Karlovy Vary film festivals in 1956, Three in One was sold to several European countries, England, New Zealand, and China. The film's failure to get a commercial release in Australia meant that it failed to recoup even half its £28,000 production budget and Australian Tradituion Films subsequently went bankrupt.
2. Further reference: Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper. Australian Film 1900-1977, A Guide to Feature Film Production (1980, q.v.), pp. 291-293
