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Between Wars

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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

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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

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  • Corin Redgrave as Dr Edward Trenbow
  • Judy Morris as Deborah Trenbow
  • Gunter Meisner as Dr Karl Schneider
  • Arthur Dignam as Dr Peter Avante
  • Patricia Leehy as Marguerite
  • Jone Winchester as Deborah's mother
  • Brian James as Deborah's father
  • Reg Gillam as Trenbow's father
  • Betty Lucas as Trenbow's mother
  • Peter Cummins
  • Neil Fitzpatrick as Lance Backhouse[citation needed]
  • Reg Gorman as Orderly

Production

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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

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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

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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

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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

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

See also

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References

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  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.
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