A (Tenuous) Brush With Fame
While following the Port Augusta to Whyalla water pipeline on Wednesday 24 January 1951 we came across a film shoot of a 20th Century Fox movie Kangaroo.
The star was Maureen O'Hara seen in the two top photos below during a meal break.
We spent several hours watching a take and numerous re-takes of a scene where one of the co-stars was rescued from a patch of quicksand (manufactured from water taken from the pipeline).
When we saw the film in 1952, all of the scenes we had witnessed being shot were missing....obviously having ended up on the cutting room floor.
The star was Maureen O'Hara seen in the two top photos below during a meal break.
We spent several hours watching a take and numerous re-takes of a scene where one of the co-stars was rescued from a patch of quicksand (manufactured from water taken from the pipeline).
When we saw the film in 1952, all of the scenes we had witnessed being shot were missing....obviously having ended up on the cutting room floor.
Below : A Publicity poster created for the movie,
which unfortunately did not enjoy box-office success.
which unfortunately did not enjoy box-office success.
The Cast:
- Maureen O'Hara as Dell McGuire
- Peter Lawford as Richard Connor
- Finlay Currie as Michael McGuire
- Richard Boone as John W. Gamble
- Chips Rafferty as Trooper "Len" Leonard
- Letty Craydon as Kathleen, McGuire's Housekeeper
- Charles 'Bud' Tingwell as Matt
- Henry Murdoch
Synopsis : An Irish immigrant, Michael McGuire (Finlay Currie), and his daughter Dell (O'Hara) are Australian cattle pastoralists who face poverty and death during the drought of 1900.
Marureen O'Hara was not happy with changes made by the movie's director to the original script:
"He destroyed a good, straightforward western. Though I hated every minute of the work, I absolutely loved Australia and the Australian people... most of the film was shot in the desert near Port Augusta."
The title Kangaroo was used for the movie in Australia, but in the USA it was marketed as The Australian Story. as shown on another publicity billboard, below.
Click on the billboard to see the Wikipedia entry on the movie.
Marureen O'Hara was not happy with changes made by the movie's director to the original script:
"He destroyed a good, straightforward western. Though I hated every minute of the work, I absolutely loved Australia and the Australian people... most of the film was shot in the desert near Port Augusta."
The title Kangaroo was used for the movie in Australia, but in the USA it was marketed as The Australian Story. as shown on another publicity billboard, below.
Click on the billboard to see the Wikipedia entry on the movie.
To see Wikipedia's entry on Maureen O'Hara, click on her portrait below