Lee Robinson

A group of adventurers compete with one another to find the missing heir Rene Marechal, thought to be near Tahiti.

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Steve McAllister, an Australian official for The New Guinea Administration, gets orders to investigate an oil discovery by Ned 'Shark-Eye' Kelly in the interior. He selects his native policeman, Sergeant-Major Towalaka, to accompany him on his "walk into hell" and then finds that a French lady doctor, Louise Dumurcet, is to go with them part of the journey. They find the malaria-stricken Jeff Clayton in a deserted village and he joins the trek. They are captured by jungle-natives but are released after Dr. Dumurcet cures the fever-stricken children of the chief.

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‘Bring Out a Briton’ was a short appeal for Australians to help the Immigration Department in its plan to form and assist a ‘Bring Out a Briton’ Committee in each district. It featured popular Australian actor Chips Rafferty as the spokesman for the campaign. Aimed at the Australian public rather than the prospective immigrants it was designed to allay a perceived anxiety amongst the public about non-British European migration.

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A working day at the open cut coal mine and power station at Yallourn, Victoria, as experienced by four employees. A dredge operator, a train driver, a fireman and a turbine attendant.

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A body is found floating in the Torres Strait and pearler Ted King is asked to investigate. He discovers the murder is connected to a people smuggling ring and involves one of his men, Yusep. He is helped by Peter Merriman, the playboy owner of King's company who romances King's daughter Rusty. Yusep kidnaps Rusty but Merriman and King rescue her.

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Kim Marsden inherits a cattle station near Alice Springs after the death of her father. Kim becomes convinced her father was murdered. She sends for a legendary local bushman called the Sundowner, who was one of her father's best friends.

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The introduction of electricity into the village of Bigga in New South Wales.

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Can't find what you are looking for? All you have to do is ask. Such advice is not so straightforward when you can't speak the language. By 1951, Australian postwar migration programmes were geared to receiving large numbers of non-British migrants. Considerable efforts were made to overcome prejudice on the part of the predominantly British-derived community towards the newcomers. Double Trouble was an attempt to make the point with humour. Bob and Stan, two Aussie blokes, are magically transported to the streets of a foreign country, where their inability to communicate gets them into a tight spot. They discover that it's not easy being a foreigner in a strange land. The central message in this film is that Australia needs migrants so Australians should make them feel welcome and offer assistance, not complaints.

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Beautifully filmed in black and white, this classic short film looks at pearling in the late 1940s. It goes on board the boats that work off the coast of Broome, Western Australia, from March to December each year. Crewed mainly by Aboriginal, Malay and Chinese men, they work six days a week from sun up to sun down—replenished occasionally by supply boats that also take away their hauls of pearl shell. The film captures the atmosphere, the detail and the danger involved in the search for shell as the divers in huge metal helmets and layers of clothing under their suits dive two at a time, each with one person tending their airhose and another their lifeline.

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In the estuaries and lagoons of the Northern Territory, freshwater and saltwater crocodile are hunted for their hides by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous hunters. This film shows Aboriginal people using age-old hunting techniques to land crocs either for food or for skins. The methods employed by the professional hunters, who earn as much as 3000 pounds during the season, are also depicted, followed by a brief look at how the hides are skinned and prepared before being transported to the leather factories of Sydney and Melbourne.

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Original archival synopsis: The Japanese bombed Darwin many times during World War II because it was strategically important target number one in their attack on the Australian mainland. Before the war, Darwin was little known except to the crews of pearling luggers and cattlemen. During the war it become an important air base which contributed much to the success of General MacArthur's island-hopping campaign against Japan. Today Darwin is an aerial port of call for all planes travelling either from Europe or the Far East to Australia. The Darwin touchdown is, in fact, for many travellers the first sight of the Australian continent. The film shows Darwin as it is today (1949), much ravaged by Japanese attack during World War II, but already showing signs of building activity and general recovery. The film indicates the general life of the town and also explains the plan which will make Darwin a model city of which Australia will be very proud.

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Skippy the Bush Kangaroo is an Australian television series telling the adventures of a young boy and his intelligent pet kangaroo, and the various visitors to the fictional Waratah National Park in Duffys Forest, near Sydney, New South Wales.

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Presented by explorer Frank Hurley in his final film appearance, this documentary chronicles Australia's role in the scientific exploration of Antarctica and the hardships the pioneers endured. Using archival footage, this film spans from 1911, following Sir Douglas Mawson's first expedition, to Phillip Law establishing the continent's first permanent research station in 1954.

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Pemberton Forest, a karri forest in the southwest region of Western Australia, is the site of a youth camp for school children. In this film, forest officers explain various aspects of forestry and associated industries to the children.

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This Yves Allegret film is set in French Polynesia and stars Edmond O'Brien, Richard Basehart, Andrea Parisy, Nicole Berger and Reg Lye. Basehart is the black sheep of a wealthy family of mining financiers based in France. He dumps the family life style and heads to Tahiti to make it on his own. His wife, Andrea Parisy, is less than amused with Basehart's choice.

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An escaped prisoner is trying to clear his name.

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A Northern Territory policeman, is given the job of taking an Aboriginal prisoner Emu Foot, to Alice Springs to be tried for a tribal killing. Bayard is wounded during a revenge attack by tribesmen, and Emu Foot helps him get to a remote cattle station. But there Bayard gets involved in a domestic crisis involving Julie Kirkbride, the neurotic, bored wife of the station owner, and is tempted by the head stockman's daughter Chris Palady.

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A group of adventurers compete with one another to find the missing heir Rene Marechal, thought to be near Tahiti.

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A body is found floating in the Torres Strait and pearler Ted King is asked to investigate. He discovers the murder is connected to a people smuggling ring and involves one of his men, Yusep. He is helped by Peter Merriman, the playboy owner of King's company who romances King's daughter Rusty. Yusep kidnaps Rusty but Merriman and King rescue her.

Open details →

Kim Marsden inherits a cattle station near Alice Springs after the death of her father. Kim becomes convinced her father was murdered. She sends for a legendary local bushman called the Sundowner, who was one of her father's best friends.

Open details →