Bitter Springs (1950)

Tommy Trinder is called in to smooth things out when Wally King encroaches upon Aboriginal Tribal ground.

Director:

Ralph Smart

Writers:

W.P. Lipscomb (screenplay), Monja Danischewsky (screenplay)

Stars:

Tommy Trinder, Chips Rafferty, Gordon Jackson

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Tommy Trinder	...	Tommy
Chips Rafferty	...	Wally King
Gordon Jackson	...	Mac
Jean Blue	...	Ma King
Michael Pate	...	Trooper
Charles 'Bud' Tingwell	...	John King (as Charles Tingwell)
Nonnie Peifer	...	Emma King (as Nonnie Piper)
Nicky Yardley	...	Charlie
Henry Murdoch	...	Blackjack

Storyline

Wally King, with his family and stockmen, drive livestock over hundreds of kilometres of dry country to take up their new selection at Bitter Springs, in central Australia. A government trooper warns them that they are moving onto a waterhole that is home to a clan of Aborigines, but King believes he has all the rights. Trouble begins soon after they arrive, when Wally's son John shoots a kangaroo that some Aborigines are trying to spear. Englishman Tommy and his son Charlie are abducted, and the Aborigines burn down the makeshift homestead that Scottish carpenter Mac has built. Hot-headed John kills a young tribesman in a skirmish and is speared trying to get water. The Aborigines cut the family off from the waterhole to force them out. As they await the final attack, the trooper arrives with reinforcements. He has orders to round up the Aborigines and move them off their traditional lands, an order with which he disagrees. A final shot shows another possibility: blacks and whites ...

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Plot Keywords:

australian | australian aborigine | australian bush | australian outback | race relations | 

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Taglines:

An adventure story of the Australian bush

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Genres:

Adventure | Drama | History

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Official Sites:

Umbrella Entertainment

Country:

UK Australia

Language:

English

Release Date:

1951 (USA)

Also Known As:

Deserto Negro

Filming Locations:

Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England, UK

Company Credits

Production Co:

Ealing Studios

Technical Specs

Runtime:

89 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The ending was reshot after reactions from test screenings.

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Connections

Featured in 40,000 Years of Dreaming (1997)

User Reviews

Them darn injuns !

Chips Rafferty stars in this semi-realistic fable slash western film based in the mid-north of South Australia.

A family move to a selection in South Australia together with some English immigrants, a con man and his son and a Scottish carpenter.

Lucky for them, the land has already been cleared (it would have been densely covered in mallee forest at the time, but was completely cleared by 1950). They build a log cabin in an area with not many trees but plenty of loose stones, although the plot reason for this is later revealed. They drink from metal cups but have a wooden bucket and a thatched roof (rather than roofing iron) on their house.

When trouble arises with aborigines, they decide to shoot them, this being completely illegal of course.