They Found a Cave

They Found a Cave is a 1962 Australian children's adventure film directed by Andrew Steane. The film was originally made from a book by the same name by author Nan Chauncy. In 2010, a company called Argosy Films, set up a website to find the production crew and actors/actresses of They Found a Cave and Bungala Boys for the 50th anniversary.[1]

They Found a Cave
Directed byAndrew Steane
Written byJames Pearson
William Eldridge
Based onnovel by Nan Chauncy
Produced byCharles E. Wolnizer
StarringBeryl Meekin
Mervyn Wiss
CinematographyMervyn Gray
Edited byRobert Walker
Alan Harkness
Music byPeter Sculthorpe
Larry Adler (harmonica)
Production
company
Visatone Island Pictures
Distributed byColumbia Pictures (Aust)
Children's Film Foundation (UK)
Release date
  • 20 December 1962 (1962-12-20)
Running time
61 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Plot

Four English orphans – Cherry, Nigel, Brick and Nippy – migrate to Tasmania, to the care of their Aunt Jandie on her farm outside Hobart. Their arrival is greeted with enthusiasm by young farm boy Tas, and weeks of exploration and good times follow before Aunt Jandie enters hospital, leaving the children in the care of Ma and Pa Pinner, her foreman and housekeeper.

A few days of tyrannical treatment by the Pinners force the children to seek refuge in a secret cave, where they set up home to await the return of Jandie. Despite Pa's repeated efforts to recapture them, it is here the children stay until Nigel's secret trip to town uncovers a plot by the Pinners to abandon the farm and swindle Aunt Jandie.

Cast
  • Beryl Meekin – Ma Pinner
  • Mervyn Wiss – Pa Pinner
  • Barbara Manning – Aunt Jandie
  • Anne Davies – Cherry
  • Christopher Horner – Tas
  • Michael Nation – Nigel
  • Michael Woolford – Nippy
  • Peter Conrad – Brick
  • Michael Boddy as Sergeant Bentley
  • Cecily McKinley as Mrs Clandy
  • Joseph Smith as Bluey

Production

The Australian Council for Children's Film and Television had been campaigning for locally made children's films on Australian subjects. In 1961, Island Film Services, a Tasmania company formed by Charles E. Wolnizer, co-produced the film with Visatone Television. It was based on a popular children's novel by Nan Chauncy.[2]

The lead actors were selected out of 500 children.[3]

The film was shot in south-east Tasmania in the summer and autumn of 1961 over seven months with interiors done at Elwick Showground in Hobart and some interiors done in Sydney. The railway footage was on the north coast of Tasmania and at New Town Station. Most of the cast and crew were Tasmanian. As the camera equipment was noisy during filming a lot of the dialogue was overdubbed in post-production. Director Andrew Steane was former head of the Tasmanian Department of Film Production.[4][5]

Larry Adler recorded harmonica for the music score while touring Australia.[3] Tasmanian composer Peter Sculthorpe was commissioned to write the score for the film. The main theme consists of a short catchy melody that provided foundational material for other music in the film. He later reworked this popular theme as a piano piece, Left Bank Waltz by which this music is now more commonly known.

The film held its world premiere at the Odeon Theatre, Hobart on December 20, 1962.[6][7]

Reception

The film was positively reviewed but was not a success at the box office.[4][8]

References
  1. They Found a Cave website
  2. Eastman, Berenice, 'Chauncy, Nancen Beryl (Nan) (1900–1970)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  3. "Young stars in new film". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 24 October 1962. p. 46 Supplement: Teenagers Weekly. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
  4. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p232
  5. "Young stars in new film". The Australian Women's Weekly. Vol. 30, no. 2. Australia, Australia. 24 October 1962. p. 2 (Teenagers Weekly). Retrieved 25 July 2022 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. Pike, Andrew; Cooper, Ross (1980). Australian Film 1900-1977 (1998 ed.). Melbourne, Australia: Oxford University Press. p. 232. ISBN 0-19-550784-3.
  7. "They Found a Cave". Oz Movies. Retrieved 25 July 2022.
  8. "Reviews of New Films". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 9 January 1963. p. 13. Retrieved 1 September 2012.
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