Smiley (1956 film)
| Smiley | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Directed by | Anthony Kimmins |
| Produced by | Anthony Kimmins |
| Written by | Anthony Kimmins Moore Raymond |
| Based on |
Smiley 1945 novel by Moore Raymond |
| Starring |
Ralph Richardson Chips Rafferty Colin Petersen |
| Music by | William Alwyn |
| Cinematography | Edward Scaife |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | 20th Century Fox |
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Release date
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28 June 1956 (UK) |
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Running time
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97 minutes |
| Country | United Kingdom United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | £250,000 |
Smiley is an American-British DeLuxe Color film made in 1956 and set in Australia, filmed in CinemaScope. It tells the story of a young Australian boy who is determined to buy a bicycle for four pounds. Along the way he gets into many misadventures. It was based on the 1945 novel of the same name by Moore Raymond who also co-wrote the film with Anthony Kimmins. Their screenplay received a Best British Screenplay nomination at the BAFTA awards.
Smiley (Colin Petersen) is a mischievous boy who lives in the small country town of Murrumbilla. His father is an alcoholic drover and he is always getting into trouble with his best friend Joey (Bruce Archer). He decides to save up enough money to buy a bicycle.
Smiley takes on various odd jobs but keeps getting involved in pranks. He unwittingly helps the local publican, Jim Rankin (John McCallum), sell opium to aborigines who live in a camp near the town.
Smiley's father steals his savings to pay gambling debts. Smiley accidentally knocks him out and runs away to the bush, where he is bitten by a snake. His life is saved by the swagman, Bill McVitty (Guy Doleman). Rankin is arrested and the townspeople chip in to buy Smiley a bike.
The film is based on the popular 1945 novel Smiley by Moore Raymond, who was born in Queensland but worked as a journalist in Britain. The book was hailed as an Australian Huckleberry Finn and film rights were bought immediately by Sir Alexander Korda. Korda sent Raymond to Australia in 1946 to find a possible child actors and locations over three months. However Korda said he could not find an appropriate director and shelved the project.
Korda eventually assigned the project to Anthony Kimmins, who had served in Australia in World War II. Kimmins arrived in Australia in March 1950 to begin preproduction and announced he would make the film near Augathella for £100,000. However, after actually inspecting the site he doubted it would be useful and he was unable to find a lead actor he was happy with. Plans to make the movie were delayed again.
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