The King (2007)

The King is the story of Graham Kennedy, Australia's first and greatest home grown TV superstar. It traces his rise and rise, from working class Balaclava kid, through radio, TV, film, and ... See full summary »

Director:

Matthew Saville

Writers:

Jaime Browne, Kris Mrksa

Stars:

Stephen Curry, Shaun Micallef, Garry McDonald

7 wins & 4 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Stephen Curry	...	Graham Kennedy
Shaun Micallef	...	Colin Bednall
Garry McDonald	...	Nicky Whitta
Steve Bisley	...	Harry M. Miller
Stephen Hall	...	Bert Newton
Todd MacDonald	...	Richard Croft
Bernard Curry	...	John Wesley
Nick Farnell	...	Norm Spencer
Donal Forde	...	Geoff 'Corkie' Corke
Leo Taylor	...	Sir Frank Packer
Beau Brady	...	Tim
Monica Maughan	...	Nana Scott
Roz Hammond	...	Kathleen Whitta
Jane Allsop	...	Noeline Brown
Beth Buchanan	...	Val Wesley

Storyline

The King is the story of Graham Kennedy, Australia's first and greatest home grown TV superstar. It traces his rise and rise, from working class Balaclava kid, through radio, TV, film, and back to TV again. But against this backdrop of professional success it also tracks Kennedy's personal tragedies - the loneliness, the unrealised ambitions and the terrible pressures of being Australia's first homegrown superstar in the 1950s and 60s. But The King is not just about a man - it's also the story of the birth of television, a cultural phenomenon that has helped define a nation, and make us who we are today.

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Plot Keywords:

john wesley | comedian | controversy | based on australian tv series | homosexual

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Genres:

Biography | Drama

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Details

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 May 2007 (Australia)

Also Known As:

The King: The Story of Graham Kennedy

Filming Locations:

Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 2,100,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Crackerjack Productions, FremantleMedia, TV1

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Color:

Color Color (Fujicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.78 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Bernard Curry plays one of Stephen Curry's love interests in the film. In real life they are brothers

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Goofs

After Graham gets into his car and tells his driver he might have a quiet night in, the vehicle proceeds round a corner, briefly revealing a lighting tower and several crew members in the background.

User Reviews

A little Disappointing

There is no doubt that Graham Kennedy was a master of his craft, with Bert Newton not too far behind as another icon of Australian Television. As such it was always going to be difficult for anyone to accurately portray The King. While Steven Curry's performance is a reasonable effort it still resembles something of a caricature and falls well short of reproducing the magic of Kennedy.

Graham Kennedy's life certainly had its bitter sweet moments with his complex and private personal relationships but I thought that the writers could have delved a little more deeply into his life and what made him tick. Some things appear to have been left unsaid.

There were some interesting insights into the early days of television in Australia where the participants learned their craft on the job but perhaps it was the attempt to duplicate everyone from Noeline Brown to an appalling attempt at replicating Ugly Dave Gray that detracted from the film.

The fact is that many Australians grew up with these characters and appreciate and understand them from viewing hundreds of their performances over the years. Any attempt to re create icons like Graham Kennedy is likely to be very tough indeed. It is ironic that some of the more effective moments in the film came with original footage of Kennedy himself rather than those from his impersonator.

Perhaps this was too big a task. As so many have said, no one will ever replace The King.