Bush Christmas (1947)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Ralph Smart

Writer:

Ralph Smart (original screenplay)

Release Date:

2 December 1947 (Germany)

Genre:

Action | Adventure

Plot:

In Australia, five children pursue horse thieves through the mountains.

Plot Keywords:

Foal | Australia | Mare | Father | Mountain

Cast

Chips Rafferty	...	Long Bill
John Fernside	...	Jim
Helen Grieve	...	Helen Thompson
Nicky Yardley	...	Snow Thompson
Stan Tolhurst	...	Blue Kennedy
Pat Penny	...	Henry Thompson - Father
Thelma Grigg	...	Mrs. Thompson - Mother
Morris Unicomb	...	John Thompson
Michael Yardley	...	Michael Thompson
Neza Saunders	...	Neza
John McCallum	...	Narrator (voice)

Runtime:

USA:80 min

Country:

UK | Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:G | Hungary:14 | USA:Approved (PCA #12716) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review) | Germany:6 | Finland:S

Company:

Ralph Smart Productions

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator: I don't expect you've ever heard of our valley. Mara Mara is its name, the name the Australian blacks gave it hundreds of years before we came to their land. Mara Mara. It has a nice, sleepy sound, hasn't it? And we're a sleepy little town, too. Plenty of hard work...

Movie Connections:

Remade as Bush Christmas (1983)

Bush Christmas (Ralph Smart, 1947) **1/2

This pleasant kiddie flick has the benefit of being located in the relatively unusual Australian outback despite its Christmas period setting; as everyone knows, Australian Christmases are hot summery ones rather than marked by the cold weather which is so intrinsic to the Christmas spirit for the rest of the world. Although I've become familiar with a handful of Australian movies in fairly recent years, this is undoubtedly the oldest one I've watched so far – although, technically, this is a British-Australian co-production. For the record, the film was quite popular on its home turf and was, in fact, remade much later in 1983 with a young Nicole Kidman featured in the cast!

Anyway, writer-director Ralph Smart had a hand in concocting several earlier, notable British comedies – ALF'S BUTTON AFLOAT (1938), CONVICT 99 (1938), etc. – and later went into TV where he dealt with such heroic figures as William Tell and Robin Hood; indeed, BUSH Christmas adequately displays his light touch and sense of adventure which makes for a decent, low-key entertainment which passes the time amiably enough. The unassuming plot has to do with a group of young children (including a bungling, bespectacled Briton and a half-Aborigine tracker) falling foul of three horse thieves (one of whom is played by popular Australian actor Chips Rafferty).