Return Journey

Return Journey
Directed by	William Sterling
Produced by	John Sherman
Cinematography	Gerry Vandenberg
Budget	$12,000

Return Journey is an Australian film about the Burke and Wills expedition. It was directed by William Sterling and produced by John Sherman.[1]

In 1961 filming began with a cast of four and a crew including Sterling and cameraman Gerry Vandenberg. Filming took place near Alice Springs.[2] They had $12,000 in funds.[3] The plan was to film it on 16 mm and blow it up to 35mm. Filming was difficult - there was trouble with the camera, colour stock and sound track.[4]

The filmmakers did not have enough money to complete the feature film so it was recut as a documentary.[5][6] In 1966, when John Sherman died, Colin Bennett claimed he had seen three different versions and said the best was a 30-minute documentary version. However, at that stage the film had not yet been released.[4]

Cast

• Edward Brayshaw as Wills
• Peter Carver as Burke
• Syd Conabere as King
• David Mitchell as Gray

References

1. "Actor Away from TV Play Burke, Wills". The Age. 13 July 1961. p. 14.
2. "Sterling to Direct a Film". The Age. 11 January 1961. p. 1.
3. Borschmann, Gregg (15 January 1977). "Will Sterling Comes Home". The Age. p. 18.
4. Bennett, Colin (16 April 1966). "Credit Where Due". The Age. p. 23.
5. "The summer visitors". The Bulletin. 6 January 1973. p. 24.
6. "Teletopics". The Age. 19 September 1963. p. 10.

External links

• Return Journey at National Film and Sound Archive