AustLit
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Screen cap from opening credits
Adaptation of
Smiley Gets a Gun : A Novel
1947
single work
children's fiction
Issue Details:
First known date:
1958...
1958
Smiley Gets a Gun
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Film Details - Canberra Films , 1958
Producers:
Anthony Kimmins
Production Companies:
Canberra Films
Finance Organisations:
Twentieth Century Fox
Director of Photography:
Edward Scaife
Editors:
Gerald Turney-Smith
Production Designers:
John Hoesli
Composer:
Wilbur Sampson
Cast:
Incl. Keith Calvert (Smiley Greevins), Sybil Thorndike (Granny McKinley), Chips Rafferty (Sergeant Flaxman), Bruce Archer (Joey), Margaret Christensen (Ma Greevins), Reg Lye (Pa Greevins), Grant Taylor (Stiffy), Verena Kimmins (Miss McCowan), Leonard Teale (Mr Stevens), Jannice Dinnen (Jean Holt), Brian Farley (Fred Jackson), Bruce Beeby (Dr Gaspen), Ruth Cracknell (Mrs Gaspen), Guy Doleman (Quirk). The following are uncredited: Gordon Chater (Rev. Galbraith), Val Cooney (Nurse), Barbara Eather (Elsie), John Fegan (Tom Graham), Richard Pusey (Jimmy Goodwin), Frank Ransome (Mick Mooney), William Rees (Mr Protheroe), Charles Tasman (Vicar), John Tate (Dave Rudge).
Release Dates:
1. Premiered in London in May 1958. The Australian premiere was held in December 1958. First exhibited in the USA on 30 April 1959 at Fargo, North Dakota.
2. Released on videocassette format by Canberra Films (n. yr.). Re-released on DVD format by Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment in 2005.
Location:
- As with Smiley (1956), Smiley Gets a Gun was filmed on location at Camden, Gundy, and Rossgole (New South Wales). The township of Murrumbilla was specially built on the grounds of Camden Park estate.
Post Production:
Pagewood Studios, Sydney
Notes:
1. Keith Calvert played the lead role in this sequel to Smiley (1956), due to the unavailability of Colin Peterson. A large-scale search had been carried out to find a suitable replacement, and Calvert proved to be both a competent actor and a Peterson look-alike. (Many people were actually unaware that two different actors had been used in the films).
2. According to the Twentieth-Century Fox Records of Legal Department (held in the UCLA Arts-Special Collections Library), Smiley Gets a Gun was entirely financed by Twentieth-Century Fox in a deal with Canberra Films Pty Ltd of Sydney (Australia). Canberra Films had been set up by producer/director Anthony Kimmins specifically for the film. [sighted Turner Classic Movies (q.v.) website, 30 October 2009]
3. A third film in the series, with the projected title Smiley Wins the Ashes, was abandoned following the poor reception of the second film.
4. Further reference: Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper. Australian Film 1900-1977, A Guide to Feature Film Production (1980, q.v.), p.296.
5. A comprehensive critique of the transfer quality of the 2005 DVD release, along with other details, can be accessed at Michael D's Region 4 DVD Info Page.
6. Production stills can be accessed online through the State Library of NSW: Manuscripts, Oral Histories and Pictures Collection.
