Shadow of the Boomerang

Shadow of the Boomerang is a 1960 Australian drama film directed by Dick Ross and written by Dick Ross and John Ford. It was a 'Christian Western' about a cattle station manager who learns to overcome his prejudice against aboriginals.

Shadow of the Boomerang
Directed byDick Ross
Written byDick Ross
John Ford
Produced byDick Ross
StarringGeorgia Lee
Dickie Jones
Jimmy Little
CinematographyMark McDonald
James B. Drought
Edited byIrvin Berlin
Music byRalph Carmichael
Production
company
World Wide Pictures
Distributed byMGM
Release date
  • 17 August 1961 (1961-08-17)
Running time
98 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Budget£75,000[1]

Plot

An American brother and sister, Bob and Kathy Prince, have come to Australia to manage a cattle station owned by their father Bob. Bob is prejudiced against aboriginals. He refuses to let stockman Johnny attend Billy Graham's 1959 crusade of Australia. However Johnny is fatally gored to death after saving Bob from being attacked by a boar. Bob overcomes his prejudice.

Cast

Production

The film was inspired by Billy Graham's 1959 crusade and was made by World Wide Pictures, the film arm of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.[3]

In October 1959, the American director, Dick Ross, and stars, arrived in Sydney. Ross co-wrote the script with Australian author John Ford. Filming started in November and mostly took place near Camden.[1] The movie was made with funds raised during the crusade and took 25 days to shoot.[4]

The film starred Marcia Hathaway, who was killed by a shark in 1963. She had become a born again Christian during Billy Graham's visit to Australia in 1959.[5] She is the last person to date to be killed by a shark in Sydney Harbour.[6][7]

Aboriginal singer Jimmy Little made his film debut in this movie.

References
  1. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 230
  2. "ANOTHER FIND BY COL JOYE". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 27 December 1961. p. 41 Supplement: Teenagers' Weekly. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  3. Vagg, Stephen (24 July 2019). "50 Meat Pie Westerns". Filmink.
  4. "A film of the Graham Crusade". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 12 April 1961. p. 5. Retrieved 31 August 2012.
  5. "Death in Middle Harbour". The Sydney Morning Herald. 28 January 2004. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  6. "'Don't worry about me, dear. God will look after me'". Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  7. "World Shark Attack Database: Fatal Shark Attack, Hathaway". 4 December 2008. Archived from the original on 4 December 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2021.


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