IMDb > "A Town Like Alice" (1981)

"A Town Like Alice" (1981) More at IMDbPro »TV mini-series

Overview

User Rating:
8.3/10   419 votes
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Director:
David Stevens
Writers:
Tom Hegarty (writer)
Nevil Shute (novel)
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Contact:
View company contact information for A Town Like Alice on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
4 October 1981 (USA) more
Genre:
Drama | Romance | War more
Plot:
Set against the brutal chaos of World War II, a love story begins that will take two lovers through a living nightmare of captivity... more
Plot Keywords:
more
Awards:
Nominated for Primetime Emmy. Another 6 wins more
User Comments:
Well done series deals with three love stories more (20 total)

Cast

  (Series Cast overview, first billed only)
Helen Morse ... Jean Paget

Bryan Brown ... Joe Harman
Gordon Jackson ... Noel Strachan
Dorothy Alison ... Mrs. Frith
Yuki Shimoda ... Sergeant Mifune
Anna Volska ... Sally Wilson-Hayes
Donald MacDonald ... Derek Wilson-Hayes
Pat Evison ... Mrs. Collard

Richard Narita ... Captain Sugamo
Arkie Whiteley ... Annie
Lorna Lesley ... Rose
Lucy Bell ... Jane
Sean Hinton ... Freddie
Debbie Baile ... Audrey
Cecily Polson ... Eileen
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Additional Details

Runtime:
301 min
Country:
Australia
Language:
English
Color:
Color
Filming Locations:
Farmcote Station, Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia more
Company:
7 Network more

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
This was the first non-British production to air in the U.S. on "Masterpiece Theatre" (1971). more
Goofs:
Anachronisms: Although set in 1948, Jean Paget boards a Routemaster London bus. Routemasters weren't introduced until the mid-1950s. more
Movie Connections:
Version of A Town Like Alice (1956) more

FAQ

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User Comments

   (Comment on this title)
9 out of 9 people found the following comment useful.
Well done series deals with three love stories, 12 May 2002
9/10
Author: Fisher L. Forrest (fisherforrest@jeffnet.org) from Jacksonville, Oregon, USA

Apparently this Australian film based on Nevil Shute's novel exists in more than one form. Beware heavily cut versions sometimes shown on cable or satellite, running anywhere from 95 minutes to 2 hours. Only the full 5 hour miniseries version tells the story properly. It is a very close realisation of the story, suffering only from editorial faults commonly found in TV movies: choppiness and episodic progression. But this excellent cast carries the story forward very well with generally good production values accompanying their work. Yuki Shimoda is notable as "Gunso Mifune", one of the guards assigned to accompany the women on their agonising trek. In the end he becomes a friend. You will agonise with him when his loss of face leads him into death.Helen Morse as "Jean Paget", pretty but not a great beauty (she resembles Sigourney Weaver a bit)registers just the right amount of spunk and winsomeness as the occasion demands. The miniseries properly emphasises the beautiful love stories, three of them: "Joe" and "Jean", "Noel" and "Jean", and "Jean" and Willstown. Gordon Jackson plays "Noel Strachan" appealingly, but as a somewhat younger man than Nevil Shute indicated in the novel. The third love affair I mentioned doesn't get quite the emphasis it is due, and the full significance of the title is diminished. "Jean" is devoted to the goal of bringing businesses to Willstown that will attract young women and girls and their civilising influence to this god-forsaken out back town. She wants to make it "A Town Like Alice"; Alice Springs, that is. We get only a few hints of this in several scenes. If you have the five hours to spare, this miniseries is a truly rewarding experience. Nevil Shute based his novel about the cruelty of the Japanese military in shunting a large group of women and children from one place to another on the Maylay Peninsula on a true occurrence. It happened on Sumatra, according to Shute, though, rather than on the peninsula. The crucifixion of "Joe" by a Japanese officer for stealing chickens to feed the women is probably fiction, but the cruelty of the Japanese in dealing with prisoners is certainly a matter of record.

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Message Boards

Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for "A Town Like Alice" (1981)
Recent Posts (updated daily)User
DVD may be re-released in Australia braegann-1
Un-edited version? matbears
I finally found it!!!! braegann-1
USA DVD release twleitch-2
Perfect romance film VikyO
a town like alice ecca
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