The Earthling ** (1980, William Holden, Ricky Schroder, Jack Thompson) – Classic Movie Review 11,721

Director Peter Collinson’s well meaning but gloomy and maudlin 1980 American-Australian adventure drama film The Earthling was filmed in Australia in 1979 and stars William Holden, Ricky Schroder and Jack Thompson.

Holden plays an old man called Patrick Foley who is dying of cancer and goes home to the Australian Outback to die alone in the forest but ends up showing a child called Shawn Daley (Schroder) how to live his life after the boy discovers his parents losing control of their recreational vehicle and falling to their deaths. Foley accompanies Shawn on days of educational survival.

What with this sentimental plot and the cuddly Australian wildlife, it is a mawkish, soft-centred effort. Yet sugary bathos is largely kept at bay by the two stars and Don McAlpine’s accomplished photography of flora and fauna.

During the filming of The Earthling, director Collinson discovered he was terminally ill. So it is the last film of Collinson, who died of lung cancer, aged 44, on 16 December 1980 in Los Angeles, after directing 17 movies, including Up the Junction and The Italian Job.

It is the penultimate film of Holden, who died on 12 November 1981. There were rumours of Holden’s alcoholism and that he was suffering from lung cancer, but the coroner judged that Holden bled to death in his apartment in Santa Monica, California, after lacerating his forehead from slipping on a rug while intoxicated and hitting a bedside table. He was married to Stefanie Powers (1972–1981; his death).

Holden was best man at the wedding of his friend Ronald Reagan to Nancy Davis in 1952. Holden and his then wife Brenda Marshall, who was matron of honour, were the sole guests. On Holden’s death, President Reagan stated: ‘I have a great feeling of grief. We were close friends for many years. What do you say about a longtime friend – a sense of personal loss, a fine man. Our friendship never waned.’

The Earthling was shot between September and October 1979 in the Blue Mountains, Barrington Forrest and Warrumbungle National Park in Australia.

It did little theatrical business, but became a popular daytime staple on HBO and other cable-movie channels in the 1980s.

Holden and the nine-year-old Schroder got along well, and Schroder eventually named one of his children Holden.

Schroder debuted in The Champ (1979), becoming the youngest Golden Globe award winner. He is an avid hunter and fisher, having learned to shoot at nine from Holden on the set of The Earthling.

Also in the cast are Jack Thompson, Olivia Hamnett, Alwyn Kurts, Redmond Phillips, Ray Barrett, Pat Evison, Tony Barry, Allan Penney, Willie Fennell, Walter Pym, Cul Cullen, Dawn Schroder, Maggie Blinco, Tui Bow, Danny Adcock, Jane Harders, and Harry Neilson.

Films directed by Peter Collinson: The Penthouse (1967), Up the Junction (1968), The Long Day’s Dying (1968), The Italian Job (1969), You Can’t Win ‘Em All (1970), Fright (1971), Straight On till Morning (1972), Innocent Bystanders (1972), The Man Called Noon (1973), Open Season (1974), And Then There Were None (1974), The Spiral Staircase (1975), Target of an Assassin (1976), The Sell Out (1976), Tomorrow Never Comes (1978), The House on Garibaldi Street (1979), and The Earthling (1980).

 © Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 11,721

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com