Don's Party

Don's Party
DVD cover
Directed by	Bruce Beresford
Produced by	Phillip Adams
Written by	David Williamson
Starring	Ray Barrett Candy Raymond Clare Binney Pat Bishop
Production company	Double Head Productions
Distributed by	Phillip Adams 20th Century-Fox
Release date	17 November 1976
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	AU$270,000
Box office	AU$871,000 (Australia)

Don's Party is a 1971 play by David Williamson set during the 1969 Australian federal election. The film based on the play was entered into the 27th Berlin International Film Festival.

Don Henderson is a schoolteacher living with his wife Kath and baby son in suburban Melbourne. On the night of the 1969 federal election Don invites a small group of friends to celebrate a predicted Australian Labor Party (ALP) election victory, much to the dismay of his wife. To the party come Mal, Don’s university mentor, and his bitter wife Jenny, sex-obsessed Cooley and his latest girlfriend, nineteen-year-old Susan, Evan, a dentist, and his beautiful artist wife Kerry. Somehow, two Liberal supporters, Simon and Jody also come.

As the party wears on it becomes clear that Labor, who are supported by Don and most of the guests, are not winning. As a result, the drinking goes up a few notches, and the sniping between Don and his male friends about their failed aspirations gets uglier, as does their behaviour toward the women. Mack, a design engineer whose wife has just left him, pulls out a nude photo of her for his friends' approval. Crass womaniser Cooley pursues the available women. The disillusioned wives exchange tales of their husbands' subpar sexual performance. By the end of the night, Don and some of his friends have begun to grasp the emptiness of their compromised lives.

The play was adapted to a 1976 film by the playwright and directed by Bruce Beresford. John Hargreaves plays Don Henderson with Jeanie Drynan as Don's wife Kath. Ray Barrett plays Mal, Don's mentor, and Pat Bishop is his wife. Graham Kennedy plays Mack, Graeme Blundell is the repressed Australian Liberal Party supporter and Veronica Lang his obedient wife. Kerry (Candy Raymond) is the attractive and assertive artist and Evan (Kit Taylor) is her uptight and possessive partner. Cooley (Harold Hopkins) comes with his young girlfriend Susan (Clare Binney).