Bitter Springs ** (1950, Tommy Trinder, Chips Rafferty, Gordon Jackson, Jean Blue) – Classic Movie Review 11,325

Ealing’s ‘adventure story of the Australian bush’.

Director Ralph Smart’s 1950 British/ Australian black and white adventure film Bitter Springs stars Tommy Trinder, Chips Rafferty, Gordon Jackson and Jean Blue.

Ealing Studios’ sturdy Kangaroo Western centres on the clash between Australian pioneers and the Aboriginals who block the King family’s claim to land they need for water.

The obligatory Chips Rafferty stars as Wally King, an interloper on Aboriginal tribal hunting grounds, and Tommy Trinder is his usual cheery Cockney self as Tommy, the man who has to calm the storm.

A well-intentioned story is enlivened by eager-to-please performances. But director Smart can’t hit the right smart stride and there is the frequent Ealing problem of painted backdrops and flimsy sets, thanks to the studio filming, marring an otherwise sturdy production. Anyway, why was Ealing so keen to make movies Down Under?

Jean Blue (Ma King), Charles ‘Bud’ Tingwell (John King) and Nonnie Peifer [Nonnie Piper] (Emma King) play other members of the family. Also in the cast are Michael Pate, Nicky Yardley, and Henry Murdoch.

Film critic Barry Norman’s father, Leslie Norman, produces.

It is shot at Ealing Studios, Ealing, London, England; Pagewood Studios, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia; and on location in South Australia.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,325

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