image of person or book cover 6612590758982642166.jpg
Screen cap from promotional trailer
form y separately published work icon Love Serenade single work   film/TV  
Issue Details: First known date: 1996... 1996 Love Serenade
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.

AbstractHistoryArchive Description

In Sunray, a backwater town on the Murray River, there's little to do but fish or listen to the radio. Two sisters, twenty-year-old Dimity (who works in a Chinese restaurant with few patrons) and perky older sister Vicki-Ann (a hairdresser) have little in their lives to give them an interest, until the local radio station's manager moves in next door. Newly arrived from Brisbane, Ken Sherry is in his mid-40s, self centred, and three-times divorced, but the sisters develop a fierce and competitive crush on him. First Dimity then Vicki-Ann spend the night with their neighbour, one concluding he's her boyfriend and the other considering him her fiancé. That's when Ken's troubles really begin.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

Form: screenplay
    • Paddington, Kings Cross area, Inner Sydney, Sydney, New South Wales,: Currency Press , 1997 .
      Alternative title: Love Serenade : Original Screenplay
      Extent: x, 94p.p.
      Description: illus., ports
      ISBN: 0868195294

Works about this Work

Classic Aussie Cinema and New Twists on Old Classics : Our Picks of December Streaming Ari Mattes , Emma Maguire , Erin Harrington , Lisa French , Megan Nash , Stephen Gaunson , Stuart Richards , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 4 December 2023;

— Review of Shame Beverly Blankenship , Michael Brindley , 1988 single work film/TV ; Love Serenade Shirley Barrett , 1996 single work film/TV ; Australia Baz Luhrmann , Stuart Beattie , Ronald Harwood , Richard Flanagan , 2008 single work film/TV
10 Best Australian Films Made by First-time Directors Luke Buckmaster , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 2 March 2016;
“Take it All Off Baby, Take it All Off” – The Australian Kamasutra : Love Serenade (Shirley Barrett, 1996) Catherine Simpson , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , no. 52 2009;

— Review of Love Serenade Shirley Barrett , 1996 single work film/TV
The Rules of Being Australian Anna Daly , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , March-April no. 25 2003;
This discussion of the recent film Australian Rules explores the complexities of 'representation' in both art and politics.
Walk The Talk Jake Wilson , 2001 single work criticism
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , April-May no. 13 2001;
'Shirley Barrett's first film, Love Serenade (1995), featured one of the most memorable characters in recent Australian cinema: the burnt-out radio announcer Ken Sherry (George Shuksov), a long-nosed, grizzled '70s throwback with a taste for Barry White songs and a hilariously sleazy line in seductive patter. About halfway through the film, the two sisters competing for Ken's affections (played by Rebecca Frith and Miranda Otto) make an extraordinary discovery: on either side of Ken's ears are strange openings that resemble gills. Ken Sherry, in other words, is not just a fishy character. In some mysterious but literal sense, Ken is a fish.' (Author's introduction)
“Take it All Off Baby, Take it All Off” – The Australian Kamasutra : Love Serenade (Shirley Barrett, 1996) Catherine Simpson , 2009 single work review
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , no. 52 2009;

— Review of Love Serenade Shirley Barrett , 1996 single work film/TV
Untitled Jonathan Dawson , 1997 single work review
— Appears in: Australasian Drama Studies , October no. 31 1997; (p. 206-210)

— Review of Blackrock Nick Enright , 1996 single work film/TV ; Love Serenade Shirley Barrett , 1996 single work film/TV
Classic Aussie Cinema and New Twists on Old Classics : Our Picks of December Streaming Ari Mattes , Emma Maguire , Erin Harrington , Lisa French , Megan Nash , Stephen Gaunson , Stuart Richards , 2023 single work review
— Appears in: The Conversation , 4 December 2023;

— Review of Shame Beverly Blankenship , Michael Brindley , 1988 single work film/TV ; Love Serenade Shirley Barrett , 1996 single work film/TV ; Australia Baz Luhrmann , Stuart Beattie , Ronald Harwood , Richard Flanagan , 2008 single work film/TV
y separately published work icon Reel Meals, Set Meals : Food in Film and Theatre Gaye Poole , Sydney : Currency Press , 1991 Z1536510 1991 single work prose A study of the social and symbolic meaning of food that begins with an overview that demonstrates the use of food in plays throughout the ages and how filmmakers quickly learnt to exploit its potential.
The Rules of Being Australian Anna Daly , 2003 single work criticism
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , March-April no. 25 2003;
This discussion of the recent film Australian Rules explores the complexities of 'representation' in both art and politics.
Walk The Talk Jake Wilson , 2001 single work criticism
— Appears in: Senses of Cinema , April-May no. 13 2001;
'Shirley Barrett's first film, Love Serenade (1995), featured one of the most memorable characters in recent Australian cinema: the burnt-out radio announcer Ken Sherry (George Shuksov), a long-nosed, grizzled '70s throwback with a taste for Barry White songs and a hilariously sleazy line in seductive patter. About halfway through the film, the two sisters competing for Ken's affections (played by Rebecca Frith and Miranda Otto) make an extraordinary discovery: on either side of Ken's ears are strange openings that resemble gills. Ken Sherry, in other words, is not just a fishy character. In some mysterious but literal sense, Ken is a fish.' (Author's introduction)
10 Best Australian Films Made by First-time Directors Luke Buckmaster , 2016 single work column
— Appears in: The Guardian Australia , 2 March 2016;
Last amended 21 Mar 2022 15:18:51
X