| The Man from Snowy River | |
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Australian DVD cover |
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| Directed by | George T. Miller |
| Produced by | Geoff Burrowes Michael Edgley Simon Wincer |
| Written by | Screenplay: John Dixon Story: Fred Cul Cullen Poem: Banjo Paterson |
| Starring | Tom Burlinson Sigrid Thornton Kirk Douglas |
| Music by | Bruce Rowland |
| Cinematography | Keith Wagstaff |
| Editing by | Adrian Carr |
| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
| Release date(s) | 25 March 1982 |
| Running time | 102 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
The Man from Snowy River is a 1982 Australian drama film based on the Banjo Paterson poem The Man from Snowy River. The film had a cast including Kirk Douglas in a dual role as the brothers Harrison (a character who appeared frequently in Patterson's poems) and Spur, a prospector, Jack Thompson as Clancy, Tom Burlinson as "Jim Craig" (The Man), Sigrid Thornton as Harrison's daughter Jessica, Terence Donovan as Jim's father Henry Craig, and Chris Haywood as Curly.
Both Tom Burlinson and Sigrid Thornton later reprised their roles in the 1988 sequel, The Man from Snowy River II, which was released by Walt Disney Pictures.
Contents |
The film opens with Jim Craig and his father Henry discussing their finances. A herd of wild horses called The Brumby Mob passes by, and Henry wants to shoot the black stallion leader - but Jim convinces his father to capture and sell them. The next morning the mob reappears and Henry is accidentally killed. Before Jim can inherit the station, a group of mountain men tell him that he must first earn the right – and to do so he must go to the lowlands and work.
Jim meets an old friend called Spur - a one-legged miner. Jim then gets a job on a station owned by Harrison, Spur's brother, on a recommendation by Harrison's friend Banjo Patterson. Meanwhile Clancy of the Overflow appears at Spur's mine and the two discuss their pasts and futures. Clancy goes to Harrison's station to lead a cattle muster. At dinner, Harrison tells Clancy that "he has no brother" when referring to Spur.
Harrison organises a round-up of his cattle, but Jim is not allowed to go. While the others are gone, Harrison’s daughter Jessica asks Jim to help her break in a prize colt. The mob appears again, and Jim unsuccessfully gives chase on the valuable horse. When Harrison returns, he sends Jim to bring back 20 strays. Later Harrison learns of Jim's actions - he tells Jessica that he's fired and that she will be sent to a women's college. Impulsively, she rides off into the mountains where she is caught in a storm.
Spur, meanwhile finally strikes a large gold deposit. Jim finds Jessica’s horse and rescues her. She tells him that he’s going to be fired, but he still leaves to return the cattle. Jessica is surprised at meeting Spur, her uncle, who she had never been told about. She is also confused when Spur mistakes her for her dead mother, and refuses to tell her anything about their past.
After returning, Jessica learns that Spur and Harrison both fell in love with her mother. To woo her, Harrison bet his life savings on a horse race and became rich overnight while Spur went looking for gold. She then died while delivering Jessica. Harrison is grateful to Jim for returning his daughter, but he becomes angry when Jim says he loves her. As Jim leaves, the prized colt is let loose in the hope that he will be blamed.
Later, while camping out, Spur tells Jim that he is set to inherit his father's share of the mine. Clancy joins them and informs them of the colt, but Jim refuses to retrieve the animal. Meanwhile, Harrison offers a reward of ₤100, attracting riders and fortune-hunters from every station in the area. Clancy does eventually show, accompanied by Jim, who Harrison finally allows to join the hunt.
Several riders have accidents in pursuit and even Clancy is unable to contain the mob. The riders give up when the mob descends a seemingly impassable grade. However, Jim goes forward and returns the horses to Harrison’s farm. Harrison offers him the reward but he refuses. Having cleared his name, Jim would like to return some day for the horses and, looking at Jessica, "anything else". He rides back up to the mountain country, knowing that he has earned his right to live there.
Tom Burlinson has confirmed that it was definitely he who rode the horse over the side of the mountain for the 'terrible descent' during the dangerous ride — commenting that he had been asked about this numerous times, and that he became known as "The Man from Snowy River" because of his ride.[1]
The Craigs' Hut building was a permanent fixture created for the film. Located in Clear Hills, east of Mount Stirling, Victoria, the popular 4WD and hiking landmark was destroyed on 11 December 2006 in bushfires.[2] The hut has since been rebuilt.
The film "was released to a fair degree of critical acclaim, but more importantly, moviegoers found it to be a likable and highly entertaining piece of filmmaking that made no effort to hide its Australian roots, despite the presence of American star Kirk Douglas in one of the principal roles. "[3] The film has a rating of 80% on film review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes.[4]
One review of the movie comments[5]:
The Australian film industry has been responsible for many decent films for decades (and some utter crap, of course), but the percentage with international appeal is quite small. That is changing, and it is films such as The Man From Snowy River that have ensured ongoing interest. The film was inspired by the ‘Banjo’ Patterson poem of the same name, and stars numerous respected local talents and a Hollywood big name star in Kirk Douglas, playing two roles.
The two standouts of this film are the majestic mountain scenery, and the final chase scenes with that awe-inspiring horse ride down the mountainside. The film stars many big names and familiar faces including Gus Mercurio (Paul’s father), Lorraine Bayley (The Sullivans), Tony Bonner (Skippy) and Chris Haywood. The sets and costumes are also great, the script is strong, and the various threads that run through the film are well handled.
Bruce Rowland composed the music for the film, a soundtrack that became one of the most critically acclaimed in the history of motion pictures. He also composed the music for the sequel.
2000 Summer Olympics — Bruce Rowland composed a special Olympics version of "The Man from Snowy River" Main Title for the Olympic Games, which were held in Sydney. The CD of the music for the Sydney Olympics includes the Bruce Rowland's special Olympic version of "The Man from Snowy River".
The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular — Bruce Rowland composed special arrangements of some of the film soundtrack music for the 2002 musical version of The Man from Snowy River.
The Man from Snowy River grossed $17,228,160 at the box office in Australia,[6] which is equivalent to $50,132,946 in 2009 dollars.
As indicated by its box office takings, "The Man from Snowy River" gained a very large audience, popularising the story and Banjo Paterson's poem. Since 1995 the story has been re-enacted at The Man From Snowy River Bush Festival in Corryong, Victoria. [7]
Jack Thompson who played Clancy in the film has released recordings of a number of Banjo Paterson poems including Clancy of the Overflow and The Man from Snowy River on the album The Bush Poems of A.B. (Banjo) Paterson [8]
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[[Category:Films about horses]