'Orphan of the Wilderness', filmed in Australia and making excellent use of Australian locations, is an early sound-era film (1936) that was largely filmed silent, with overdubs. This film reminded me that Australia was one of the leading film-making nations during the silent-movie era; in fact, the very first feature-length (silent) film was Australian. It's a shame that Australia has not kept up with America and Britain in film production.
The scenes of animals in this film - Australian fauna in their natural habitat - are breathtaking; the unobtrusive camera work convinces us that no humans at all are present. Regrettably, the scenes depicting interaction between humans and animals are clumsier than the sequences with animals only. It would have been interesting to see this film's resources employed to make a film with no human characters onscreen at all.
We see a mob of kangaroos grazing peacefully until hunters arrive. A jill (adult female 'roo) is killed, leaving her joey (child 'roo) orphaned. The joey is saved by rancher Tom Henton (Brian Abbott), Mrs Henton (Ethel Saker) and their daughter Margot. They adopt the joey and they cry him Chut, short for Chutney.
As the 'roo grows stronger, Tom teaches him to box. These scenes are comical but seem slightly forced, as if the kangaroo has been forced to do tricks. Eventually Tom gives Chut to travelling circus man McMeeker, who promises to take good care of the critter.
SPOILERS COMING. Actor Joe Valli plays McMeeker in villainous mode, so it's not surprising that the showman mistreats Chut. Eventually the kangaroo hops away from the circus. McMeeker, who apparently has nothing else to do but pursue a roo, abandons his zoo (I mean his circus) and goes after Chut, swearing to bring him back alive or else kill him. Eventually good rancher Henton shows up and saves Chut. Everyone lives happily ever after except McMeeker, who is left to his own devices, muttering in the billabong.
All of the humans in this movie are broadly drawn characterisations, either the salt of the earth or the scum of the planet. There's some inept comedy relief from Harry Abdy. This movie seems meant for young audiences, and is indeed appropriate for them. Adults who can sit through the bang-awful human performances will be rewarded by some breathtaking footage of animals and landscapes, some of which no longer exist as Australia's interior continues to be modernised. This movie brought back memories for me of my own early days in rural Australia, but not all the memories that it evoked were pleasant ones. I'll rate this flawed film 7 out of 10.
0 out of 0 found this helpful.
Was this review helpful? Sign in to vote.
Permalink
