They're a Weird Mob (1966)

Nino Culotta is an Italian immigrant who arrived in Australia with the promise of a job as a journalist on his cousin's magazine, only to find that when he gets there the magazine's folded,... See full summary »

Director:

Michael Powell

Writers:

John O'Grady (novel) (as Nino Culotta), Emeric Pressburger (screenplay) (as Richard Imrie)

Stars:

Walter Chiari, Claire Dunne, Chips Rafferty

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Walter Chiari	...	Nino Culotta
Claire Dunne	...	Kay Kelly
Chips Rafferty	...	Harry Kelly
Alida Chelli	...	Giuliana
Ed Devereaux	...	Joe Kennedy
Slim DeGrey	...	Pat
John Meillon	...	Dennis
Charles Little	...	Jimmy
Anne Haddy	...	Barmaid
Jack Allen	...	Fat Man in Bar
Red Moore	...	Texture Man
Ray Hartley	...	Newsboy
Tony Bonner	...	Lifesaver
Alan Lander	...	Charlie
Keith Peterson	...	Drunk Man on Ferry

Storyline

Nino Culotta is an Italian immigrant who arrived in Australia with the promise of a job as a journalist on his cousin's magazine, only to find that when he gets there the magazine's folded, the cousins done a runner & the money his cousin sent for the fare was borrowed from the daughter of the boss of a local construction firm. So Nino tries to get a job & finishes up ... laying bricks. Nino works hard & makes friends with lots of locals, Nino & Kay argue a lot, Nino & Kay fall in love ... Kay takes Nino to meet 'Daddy' but daddy hates journalists, immigrants and bricklayers (he's now BOSS of a construction firm). Nino starts to win him over with his charm & determination to marry Kay.

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Plot Keywords:

based on novel | immigrant | australia | journalist | love | 

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Taglines:

The Hilarious best-seller now becomes... The funniest film ever made about Australians!

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Genres:

Adventure | Comedy | Romance

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Details

Country:

Australia UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 1966 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Eles vão dar o que falar

Filming Locations:

128 Greenacre Road, Greenacre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Williamson/Powell

Technical Specs

Runtime:

112 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Did You Know?

Trivia

This picture was one of fifty Australian films selected for preservation as part of the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia's Kodak / Atlab Cinema Collection Restoration Project.

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Connections

Featured in 40,000 Years of Dreaming (1997)

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Soundtracks

In This Man's Country
Words and Music by Rene Devereaux

User Reviews

You'll be bloody right

Delightfully light-hearted look into Sydney pre-Vietnam attitudes, still brimming with confidence straddling 50's conservatism and the beginning of the counter culture movement that emerged in the latter part of the decade. It was a very good time to be a ten pound Pom, or indeed any number of European immigrants who accepted the invitation, as Walter Chiari's character (Giovanni 'Nino' Carlotta) experiences, though not without comic incident as he tries to right his cousin's business debts. As other reviewers have remarked, a sort of humorous propaganda promo for Australian immigration.

The beer flows like rivers of amber nectar in a Gold Top commercial, the formal bars and building site where Nino comes to learn the Aussie vernacular; Ed Devereaux (pre- "Skippy"), John Meillon (who almost steals the show), Chips Rafferty, Anne Haddy was there much younger obviously than her later soapy salad days. Obviously the movie needs to exaggerate reality to create humour and I reckon you'd need to be *bloody* churlish to be offended, it's pretty harmless (self-deprecating in fact) when viewed in context.

A wonderful time capsule and source of nostalgia from Rank, perhaps a little bittersweet too when you consider how much of that beloved character we've since abandoned.... worth watching, should bring a smile to your face.