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NOTE: Two years after I wrote this review, I am delighted that a DVD version is finally available. Hopefully, this film will now receive the recognition and appreciation it clearly deserves. I have nothing to revise in the review which follows.
I saw this film when it was first released in 1960 and saw it again recently, charmed as before by the story line and the superb acting under Fred Zinnemann’s brilliant direction. Here’s the situation: Ida (Deborah Kerr) and Paddy (Robert Mitchum) Carmody and son Sean (Michael Anderson, Jr.) are sheep drovers in Australia in the 1920s, proceeding from one job to the next. Ida and son yearn to settle down permanently somewhere (anywhere, really) whereas Paddy prefers itinerant roaming. Along the way, they encounter Rupert Venneker (Peter Ustinov), a former sea captain with aristocratic sensibilities. Most of the film focuses on their tenure on the Halstead ranch during which they become friends with Mrs. Firth (Glynis Johns), an innkeeper to whom Venneker is coyly attracted. During the course of the film, not much happens, really. Its considerable charm is generated by the developing relationships between and among the lead characters.
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Others have praised this film for excellent reasons of their own. Here are mine. First, there is substantial and authentic human interest in the differences between Ida’s and Paddy’s contradictory definitions of “home.” For lack of better terms, between settling down and moving on. Also, in collaboration with Zinnemann, Jack Hildyard enriches the development of the narrative with cinematography which is compellingly, indeed exquisitely appropriate to that time and place. Finally, all of the lead actors seem perfectly matched with the roles they play…especially Mitchum.
Briefly, I now share some thoughts about him, first because he invests Paddy with a wholesome appeal which was for me unexpected, given the Mitchum persona as in Night of the Hunter (1955) and Home from the Hill (also 1960) and then, years later, in his portrayals of Raymond Chandler’s Philip Marlowe in Farewell, My Lovely (1975) and The Big Sleep (1978). His understated, highly-disciplined portrayal of Paddy is comparable with Jack Nicholson’s portrayal of Warren Schmidt. Although Kerr and Johns received an Academy Award nomination, Mitchum did not. I have always thought he was under-appreciated as an actor.
Set in the 1920s and about a family of Irish itinerant sheepherders, this film has panoramic views of Australia (cinematography by Jack Hildyard), a good script, and a diverse and interesting cast; the sheep also are terrific, and there are many glimpses of kangaroos, koalas and more, all set to an upbeat score by Dimitri Tiomkin. The film also shows the backbreaking labor of shearing the sheep, and the hard life and hard drinking of the people who do it.
It has its share of drama, poignancy, and humor, the latter usually thanks to Peter Ustinov, who puts in another memorable performance as a British wanderer who is always able to extricate himself from romantic entanglements.
Deborah Kerr shines as Ida, the tough but sensitive wife who stands by her man through thick and thin (mostly thin). Robert Mitchum is good as her irresponsible husband, as is Michael Anderson Jr. as their son, and Glynis Johns adds her irrepressible charm as a pub owner.
Though not quite on the level of director Fred Zinnemann’s best work (like “High Noon”, “A Man for all Seasons”, and “Day of the Jackal”), it still has his masterful touch, and is a fine film, well worth viewing.
It was nominated for Best Actress, Picture, Director, Adapted Screenplay, and Supporting Actress (Johns), losing out to Elizabeth Taylor in the first category, and “The Apartment” and “Elmer Gantry” in the rest.
“The Sundowners” is solid entertainment from one of the great directors of the 20th century, and total running time is 133 minutes.
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