form y separately published work icon Country Town : The Bellbird Movie single work   film/TV  
Issue Details: First known date: 1971... 1971 Country Town : The Bellbird Movie
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Film Details - Avargo , 1971

Producers:

Rod Barnett (Associate Producer)
Fenton Rosewarne (Producer)
Terry McDermott (Associate Producer)
Gary Gray (Associate Producer)

Production Companies:

Avargo Productions
Outback Films

Finance Organisations:

Australian Film Development Corporation

Director of Photography:

Bruce McNaughton

Editors:

Raymond Daly

Composer:

Bruce Clarke

Music:

The title song (music and lyrics by Johnny Young) is sung by Bobby Bright.

Cast:

Incl. Terry McDermott (Max Pearson), Gary Gray (David Emerson), Lynette Curran (Rhoda Wilson), Gerry Maguire (Philip Henderson), Sue Parsons (Jean Fowler), Carl Bleazby (Colonel Jim Emerson), Maurie Fields (John Quinney), Carmel Milhouse (Marge Bacon), Brian Anderson (Stan Bacon), Margaret Cruickshank (Doctor Liz), Mark Albiston (Bob Wright), Kirsty Child (Julie), Frank Rich (Georgio Lini), Rosie Sturgess (Anna Maria Lini), Kurt Ludescher (Mr Grossark), Gerda Nicolson (Fiona Davies), Dorothy Bradley (Rose Lang), Moira Carleton (Olive Turner), Stella Lamond (Molly Wilson), Gabrielle Hartley (Maggie Emerson), Telford Jackson (Bert Hammond), Syd Conabrere (Ted Atkins), Roy Day (Montgomery), Anne Charlston (Dorothy Atkins), Sheila Florance (Old Mrs Bacon), Peter Cummins (First Lair), John Lowe (Second Lair).

Release Dates:

1. 19 June 1971 (Mildura, NSW - premiere). The film's distribution was undertaken by Gary Gray and Terry McDermott. Following the Mildura premiere, Country Town toured Victoria and Queensland. The film did not reach Sydney until April 1973.
2. Released on videocassette format in 2000 by ScreenSound Australia.

Location:

  • Filmed largely in and around the rural Victorian town of Yea. Additional scenes shot at Hanging Rock (the Romsey area north of Melbourne); Wentworth, including Lake Victoria Station (New South Wales); and the Southern Speedway (Heatherton, Melbourne).

Notes:

1. Assistant Director: Michael McKeag
2. Country Town was produced on a budget of $70,000 and was shot in colour on 16 mm film on a four-week schedule, starting late January 1971 (during the TV series' summer hiatus). The newly created Australian Film Development Corporation later provided $15,000 to fund the preparation of 35 mm prints of the film for cinematic presentation.
3. Further reference: Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper. Australian Film 1900-1977, A Guide to Feature Film Production (1980, q.v.), p. 331.

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