Between Wars

Between Wars
Directed byMichael Thornhill
Written byFrank Moorhouse
Produced byMichael Thornhill
StarringCorin Redgrave
CinematographyRussell Boyd
Edited byMax Lemon
Music byAdrian Ford
Production
companies
Edgecliff Films
McElroy and McElroy
T and M Films
Distributed byVincent Library
Umbrella Entertainment
Release date
  • 15 November 1974 (1974-11-15)
Running time
101 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetA$320,000[1]

Between Wars is an Australian 1974 drama/war film released on 15 November 1974. It was directed by Michael Thornhill and written by Frank Moorhouse.

Plot

The film examines four periods in the life of (the fictitious) doctor Edward Trenbow:

  • In 1918 Trenbow is treating shell-shocked soldiers from the front.
  • In the 1920s he works as a psychiatrist at the Sydney insane asylum and becomes involved in experiments in Freudian psychiatry, which bring him to the attention of a Royal Commission.
  • In the 1930s he works as a doctor in a small country town and becomes involved in a fight against the New Guard.
  • In 1939 he is working in Sydney as a psychiatrist and tries to defend a German psychiatrist who is being interned as a member of the Australia First Movement. He has become a pacifist and is dismayed when his son enlists for what became World War II.[2]

Cast

Production

Director Michael Thornhill was good friends with writer Frank Moorhouse and they had worked together on several short films. Moorehouse wrote the script in 1970, originally for television[3] and it was revived a few years later. Half the budget came from the Australian Film Development Corporation and the other half from a property developer.[1][4]

Filming took place over six weeks in February and March 1974 with interiors at the former studios of Cinesound Productions at Bondi and locations in Gulgong and Melbourne.[1] It was the first feature from cinematographer Russell Boyd.[5]

Release

Thornhill decided to distribute the film himself at first. Initial reviews were good but the box office performance was not strong and distribution was taken over by the Vincent Library.[1] The movie did not return its cost;[3] a bigger "flop" than The Cars that Ate Paris.[2]

Reception

The Canberra Times critic considered this an important Australian film, as distinct from the "pot-boilers" of the time — the "Australian New Wave" — Petersen, Stork, Stone and even Wake in Fright.[6]

Home Media

Between Wars was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in January 2011. The DVD is compatible with all region codes.[7] By 2023 it was no longer in their catalogue.

Awards

In 1976, the Australian Cinematographers Society awarded the film's cinematographer Russell Boyd with Cinematographer of the Year award for the film.

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p281-282
  2. ^ a b "Between Wars". OzMovies. Retrieved 14 May 2023.
  3. ^ a b David Stratton, The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival, Angus & Robertson, 1980 p87-88
  4. ^ Rod Bishop, "On Time, Under Budget: Richard Brennan", Cinema Papers, July 1974 p203
  5. ^ Russell Boyd bio. Retrieved 30 September 2012
  6. ^ "Cinema". The Canberra Times. Vol. 49, no. 13, 916. 19 November 1974. p. 13. Retrieved 14 May 2023 – via Trove.
  7. ^ "Umbrella Entertainment". Archived from the original on 25 October 2011. Retrieved 5 August 2013.