The King (TV 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 (Fujicolor) Color

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

Graham Was the King - But Not Quite Here.

A pretty well acted docu-drama but I thought it was rather jerky in places, and could have done with some additional filling. Probably, the show would have done better as a two part 4 hour mini-series, as it did not seem to fit well into such a short time frame (under 2 hours including ad breaks).

For those who do not know of the legacy of Graham Kennedy's incredible contribution to Australian television this made for TV movie will not mean a whole lot, simply because there was not enough of the on screen personality that was Graham to really let strangers know why he was so revered in Australia. They will walk away wondering what the fuss was all about.

Perhaps the "warts and all" approach (his homosexuality, backstabbing of others, and eventual reclusiveness)was over emphasised, which left less screen time for the TV personality that was GK. I don't honestly know, but I would have liked a bit more than what we got of the public persona, at the expense of the expose, in such a brief movie, or more of both - a longer show. It just all happened to quickly.

9/10 for the acting, the quality of the rendition of, particularly 1950's, Melbourne and the TV industry at the time. 5/10 for what I felt was choppy editing, and huge gaps in his career not being even alluded to. And 10/10 for the footage of the real Graham shown at the end. At least for a minute or so, the true abilities of the man shined out on the screen.

7/10 Norm