The Sundowners (1960 film)

Irish-Australian Paddy Carmody is a sheep drover and shearer, roving the sparsely populated outback with his wife Ida and son Sean. They are sundowners, constantly moving, pitching their tent whenever the sun goes down. Ida and Sean want to settle, but Paddy has wanderlust and never wants to stay in one place for long. While passing through the bush, the family meet refined Englishman Rupert Venneker and hire him to help drive a large herd of sheep to the town of Cawndilla. Along the way, they survive a dangerous bushfire. Mrs. Firth, who runs the pub in Cawndilla, takes a liking to Rupert. He takes to spending nights with her, but like Paddy, he has no desire to be tied down. Ida convinces Paddy to take a job at a station shearing sheep; she serves as the cook, Rupert as a wool roller, and Sean as a tar boy. Ida enjoys the company of Jean Halstead, their employer's lonely wife. When fellow shearer Bluey Brown's pregnant wife Liz arrives unannounced, she sees the young woman through her first birth. Ida is saving the money the family earns for a down payment on a farm that they stayed at for a night on the sheep drive. Although Paddy has agreed to participate in a shearing contest against someone from a rival group, he decides to leave six weeks into the shearing season. Ida persuades him to stay. He loses the contest to an old veteran. Paddy wins a lot of money and a racehorse playing two-up. Owning such an animal has been his longstanding dream. They name him Sundowner and enter him, with Sean as his jockey, at local races on their travels after the shearing is done. Sean and Sundowner win their first race. Ida finally convinces a still-reluctant Paddy to buy the farm on which she and Sean have their hearts set, but he loses all the money Ida had saved in a single night of playing two-up. By way of apology, he tells her that he has found a buyer for Sundowner if he wins the next race. The money would recoup their down payment. Although Sundowner wins, he is disqualified for interference, and the deal falls through. Nevertheless, Paddy's deep remorse heals the breach with Ida, and they resolve to save enough to buy a farm one day. ==Cast==

• Deborah Kerr as Ida Carmody • Robert Mitchum as Paddy Carmody • Peter Ustinov as Rupert Venneker • Glynis Johns as Mrs. Firth • Dina Merrill as Jean Halstead • Chips Rafferty as Quinlan • Michael Anderson Jr. as Sean Carmody • Lola Brooks as Liz Brown • Wylie Watson as Herb Johnson • John Meillon as Bluey Brown • Ronald Fraser as Clint Ocker • Gerry Duggan • Leonard Teale • Peter Carver • Dick Bentley as Evan Evans • Mervyn Johns as Jack Patchogue • Molly Urquhart as Mrs. Bateman • Ewen Solon as Halstead • John Fegan as Drover • Max Osbiston • Mercia Barden ==Production==

Fred Zinnemann decided to make the film at the suggestion of Dorothy Hammerstein, the Australian-born, second wife of Oscar Hammerstein II. According to Zinnemann's autobiography, Aaron Spelling was signed to write the screenplay, but was replaced by Isobel Lennart; The ending of the film was a tribute to John Huston's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre. Gary Cooper was hired to play Paddy Carmody, but had to leave due to poor health. He was replaced by Robert Mitchum, who agreed to work on the film for a chance to appear with Deborah Kerr, with whom he had become good friends while making Heaven Knows, Mr. Allison. He also agreed to give her top billing, joking to the production team that they could "design a 24-foot sign of me bowing to her if you like". Michael Anderson, Jr. was imported from England to play their son. Zinnemann was determined to film The Sundowners on location and vetoed Jack L. Warner's plan to shoot in Arizona or near Dallas, Texas to save money. Interiors were shot at Associated British Picture Corporation Elstree Studios in England; exteriors were shot in Australia in Carriewerloo, Cooma, Hawker, Iron Knob, Jindabyne, Nimmitabel, Port Augusta, Quorn, and Whyalla. It was part of a "mini boom" of foreign productions in Australia in the late 1950s. Filming began in 1959. Zinnemann spent 12 weeks filming scenery and sheep droving before the cast arrived in October. The weather made location filming difficult, fluctuating from hot and humid to cold and rainy. This delayed production by several weeks and caused some irritation among the cast and crew. Mitchum was often harassed by fans and eventually moved onto a boat to avoid them. Filming wrapped on 17 December 1959. Ray Austin was the stunt coordinator. Nicolas Roeg, who later directed films such as Walkabout, was a second unit camera operator. ==Reception==

When the movie premiered at the Radio City Music Hall, Bosley Crowther of The New York Times called the film an "especially appropriate entertainment for the Christmas holidays"; according to Crowther: Kinematograph Weekly called it a "money maker" at the British box office in 1961. ==Awards==

33rd Academy Awards • Nomination for Best Film • Nomination for Best Performance by an Actress – Deborah Kerr • Nomination for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role – Glynis Johns • Nomination for Best Achievement in Directing – Fred Zinneman • Nomination for Best Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium – Isobel Lennart ==References==