Australia is Like This
Written byJack S Allan
Jesse Lasky Jnr
Produced byJack S Allan
StarringGrant Taylor
Production
companies
Commonwealth Department of Information
US Signal Corps Motion Picture Unit[1]
Release date
1945
Running time
18 mins
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Australia is Like This is a 1945 documentary about the experiences of two American soldiers in Australia during World War II until they leave for battle. It takes the form of a letter written by one of the soldiers to his family in America describing Australia.[2]

It was also known as A Letter from Australia.[3]

The film was not released in Australia, but made for the US.[4]

Plot

The film is told in the form of a letter written by an American soldier and his friend on leave in Sydney. They leave a troopship and see the sights, encounter 'wrong side' traffic, and meet two Australian soldiers on leave who abandon their girlfriends to buy the Americans a beer. The Americans go to a Red Cross canteen and meet a waitress whose brother is in New Guinea. They take her to the zoo and accept a dinner invitation to her house. The troops then head north.

Cast

Production

The film was one of a series of shorts made by Australia's Department of the Interior, others including Island Target.

Filming began late September 1944, using a predominantly American crew.[5]

Release

The film was completed by January 1945.[6]

References

  1. ""AUSTRALIA IS LIKE THIS"". The Queensland Times. 13 September 1944. p. 2 Edition: DAILY. Retrieved 10 March 2014 via National Library of Australia.
  2. Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "A.B.C. Orchestra in U.S. Film", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 7 No. 18 (5 May 1945)), nla.obj-1326764375, retrieved 23 December 2023 via Trove
  3. A Letter from Australia at National Film and Sound Archive
  4. Pike, Andrew Franklin. "The History of an Australian Film Production Company: Cinesound, 1932-70" (PDF). Australian National University. p. 240.
  5. "AMERICAN FILM". The Cairns Post. Qld. 13 September 1944. p. 4. Retrieved 10 March 2014 via National Library of Australia.
  6. "PRIME MINISTER MEETS CABINET". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 January 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 10 March 2014 via National Library of Australia.


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