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form y separately published work icon Smiley single work   film/TV   children's  
Adaptation of Smiley : A Novel Moore Raymond , 1945 single work children's fiction
Issue Details: First known date: 1956... 1956 Smiley
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

Smiley Greevins is a cheeky, mischievous and imaginative little boy who lives in the small Australian country town of Murrumbilla. His alcoholic father, Bill is a poor drover who is often away for long periods while his mother, overworked and embittered by her life, is the one who has to deal with Smiley's frequent misadventures. One of these pranks sees Smiley and his friend Joey run foul of the local policeman, Sgt Flaxman. Amused by the careful attention the sergeant is paying their new schoolteacher, Miss Workman, the boys initially enjoy viewing this budding romance from a safe distance. When Flaxman one day escorts Miss Workman to her house, however, Smiley borrows his police bicycle. When he accidentally crashes the bike Smiley and Joey quickly replace it from where they took it and flee the scene.

Determined to buy his own bike Smiley subsequently takes on odd jobs to raise the money for his dream, but in doing so unwittingly helps the local publican, Rankin to sell opium to the local Aborigines. When Smiley's father returns home and steals all the money he has saved Smiley is furious. He confronts his father and in the ensuing argument unintentionally knocks his dad out with a cricket bat. Frightened of the consequences he runs into the bush and is later bitten by a snake. A swagman saves his life and when Smiley gets back to town he tells the police about Rankin, who is subsequently arrested. The story ends with the grateful townsfolk rallying together to buy Smiley his bike.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

First known date: 1956

Works about this Work

y separately published work icon Reel Men : Australian Masculinity in the Movies, 1949-1962 Chelsea Barnett , Carlton : Melbourne University Press , 2019 17379128 2019 multi chapter work criticism

'Set against the shifting social and political backdrop of a nation throwing off the shackles of one war yet faced with the instability of the new world order, Reel Men probes the concept of 1950s masculinity itself, asking what it meant to be an Australian man at this time. Offering a compelling exploration of the Australian fifties, the book challenges the common belief that the fifties was a 'dead' era for Australian filmmaking. Reel Men engages with fourteen Australian feature films made and released between 1949 and 1962, and examines the multiple masculinities in circulation at this time. Dealing with beloved Australian films like Jedda (1955), Smiley (1956), and The Shiralee (1957), and national icons of the silver screen including Chips Rafferty, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, and Peter Finch, Reel Men delves into our cultural past to dismantle powerful assumptions about film, the fifties, and masculinity in Australia.' (Publication summary)

'Working Hard and Saving up': Australian Masculinity and Meanings of Work and Class in 'Smiley' (1956) Chelsea Barnett , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Lilith , no. 21 2015; (p. 93-106)
'This article considers the representation of masculinity and its connection to work in the 1956 Australian film 'Smiley'. Although the 1950s were marked by economic growth and full employment, the memory of the uncertainty of war and depression meant that this economic climate was met with distrust. At the centre of this tension between concern and hope were two competing understandings of masculinity, intimately tied to ideals of work and class. The first was championed by Prime Minister Menzies and his advocacy of his 'superior' middle class. In opposition were the radical nationalists, celebrating the working-class man and his investment in the nourishment of male friendship and independence of spirit. This article explores Smiley's engagement with these competing models, demonstrating the postwar cultural domain as a dynamic and active space, and argues that the film represented the gendered conflict through its eponymous protagonist and his father. Ultimately, this article contends that 'Smiley''s narrative treatment of the two characters solved the conflict in the film between these masculine models, through a rehearsal of Menzies' middle-class, masculine ideals.' (Publication summary)
Smiley Emma Hamilton , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Making Film and Television Histories : Australia and New Zealand 2011; (p. 153-157)
A Pocket of Change in Post-War Australia : Confectionery and the End of Childhood Toni Risson , 2011 single work criticism essay
— Appears in: Pockets of Change : Adaptation and Cultural Transition 2011; (p. 208-229)

'...This chapter does not look specifically at textual adaptations, it uses two texts - Saturdee, a novel by Norman Lindsay published in 1934, and Anthony Kimmins's classic Australian film Smiley, released in 1956 - to examine shifts in children's status as consumers. Primarily, however, it concerns itself with the cultural transition that took place in Australia after World War Two.' (Source: Introduction, Toni Risson, 2011)

The Red Frog Prince : A Fairytale About the Shifting Social Status of Sugar Toni Risson , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: TEXT : Special Issue Website Series , October no. 9 2010;
'Once upon a time, sugar was a magical substance in an ordinary world. When it became cheap and readily available in the mid-nineteenth century, sugar and sugar confectionery became part of the ordinary diet, and have since fallen to the status of junk food, and, more recently, poison. But children relate to lollies at the level of imagination, so lollies are a vital part of the wonder of childhood and retain for children the magical cultural status once attributed to them. Allen’s red jelly frogs are banned from school tuckshops, but they play a noble role in opening doors for youth chaplains during the notorious Schoolies Week. Furthermore, the humble lolly descends from the elaborate sugarwork that once featured in royal banquets; it was noble all along. Lollies are no longer on the menu, and they do not even fit into food categories, but judgements based on food value alone fail to take into account the magical role they play in children’s lives and ignore the ways in which health authorities, artists, and advertisers use confectionery. Lollies have more in common with fairytales than food. The Frog Prince—a fairytale about a royal son who is turned into an ugly frog by a wicked enchantress and then rescued through his relationship with a child—is a metaphor for red frog lollies. This paper examines red frogs as sites of transformation, thereby repositioning sugar confectionery as magic and challenging dominant narratives that reduce the complexity of lollies and their cultural significance.' (Author's abstract)
The Red Frog Prince : A Fairytale About the Shifting Social Status of Sugar Toni Risson , 2010 single work criticism
— Appears in: TEXT : Special Issue Website Series , October no. 9 2010;
'Once upon a time, sugar was a magical substance in an ordinary world. When it became cheap and readily available in the mid-nineteenth century, sugar and sugar confectionery became part of the ordinary diet, and have since fallen to the status of junk food, and, more recently, poison. But children relate to lollies at the level of imagination, so lollies are a vital part of the wonder of childhood and retain for children the magical cultural status once attributed to them. Allen’s red jelly frogs are banned from school tuckshops, but they play a noble role in opening doors for youth chaplains during the notorious Schoolies Week. Furthermore, the humble lolly descends from the elaborate sugarwork that once featured in royal banquets; it was noble all along. Lollies are no longer on the menu, and they do not even fit into food categories, but judgements based on food value alone fail to take into account the magical role they play in children’s lives and ignore the ways in which health authorities, artists, and advertisers use confectionery. Lollies have more in common with fairytales than food. The Frog Prince—a fairytale about a royal son who is turned into an ugly frog by a wicked enchantress and then rescued through his relationship with a child—is a metaphor for red frog lollies. This paper examines red frogs as sites of transformation, thereby repositioning sugar confectionery as magic and challenging dominant narratives that reduce the complexity of lollies and their cultural significance.' (Author's abstract)
A Pocket of Change in Post-War Australia : Confectionery and the End of Childhood Toni Risson , 2011 single work criticism essay
— Appears in: Pockets of Change : Adaptation and Cultural Transition 2011; (p. 208-229)

'...This chapter does not look specifically at textual adaptations, it uses two texts - Saturdee, a novel by Norman Lindsay published in 1934, and Anthony Kimmins's classic Australian film Smiley, released in 1956 - to examine shifts in children's status as consumers. Primarily, however, it concerns itself with the cultural transition that took place in Australia after World War Two.' (Source: Introduction, Toni Risson, 2011)

Smiley Emma Hamilton , 2011 single work criticism
— Appears in: Making Film and Television Histories : Australia and New Zealand 2011; (p. 153-157)
'Working Hard and Saving up': Australian Masculinity and Meanings of Work and Class in 'Smiley' (1956) Chelsea Barnett , 2015 single work criticism
— Appears in: Lilith , no. 21 2015; (p. 93-106)
'This article considers the representation of masculinity and its connection to work in the 1956 Australian film 'Smiley'. Although the 1950s were marked by economic growth and full employment, the memory of the uncertainty of war and depression meant that this economic climate was met with distrust. At the centre of this tension between concern and hope were two competing understandings of masculinity, intimately tied to ideals of work and class. The first was championed by Prime Minister Menzies and his advocacy of his 'superior' middle class. In opposition were the radical nationalists, celebrating the working-class man and his investment in the nourishment of male friendship and independence of spirit. This article explores Smiley's engagement with these competing models, demonstrating the postwar cultural domain as a dynamic and active space, and argues that the film represented the gendered conflict through its eponymous protagonist and his father. Ultimately, this article contends that 'Smiley''s narrative treatment of the two characters solved the conflict in the film between these masculine models, through a rehearsal of Menzies' middle-class, masculine ideals.' (Publication summary)
y separately published work icon Reel Men : Australian Masculinity in the Movies, 1949-1962 Chelsea Barnett , Carlton : Melbourne University Press , 2019 17379128 2019 multi chapter work criticism

'Set against the shifting social and political backdrop of a nation throwing off the shackles of one war yet faced with the instability of the new world order, Reel Men probes the concept of 1950s masculinity itself, asking what it meant to be an Australian man at this time. Offering a compelling exploration of the Australian fifties, the book challenges the common belief that the fifties was a 'dead' era for Australian filmmaking. Reel Men engages with fourteen Australian feature films made and released between 1949 and 1962, and examines the multiple masculinities in circulation at this time. Dealing with beloved Australian films like Jedda (1955), Smiley (1956), and The Shiralee (1957), and national icons of the silver screen including Chips Rafferty, Charles 'Bud' Tingwell, and Peter Finch, Reel Men delves into our cultural past to dismantle powerful assumptions about film, the fifties, and masculinity in Australia.' (Publication summary)

Awards

Last amended 15 Oct 2014 12:40:16
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