The Great Macarthy

The Great Macarthy
The Great Macarthy
Directed by	David Baker
Written by	John Romeril
Based on	A Salute to the Great McCarthy; by Barry Oakley
Produced by	David Baker; Richard Brennan
Starring	John Jarratt ; Barry Humphries; Judy Morris
Cinematography	Bruce McNaughton
Music by	Bruce Smeaton
Production; company	Stoney Creek Films
Distributed by	Seven Keys
Release date	7 August 1975;
Running time	90 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	A$250,000

The Great Macarthy is a 1975 comedy about Australian rules football. It was an adaptation of the 1970 novel A Salute to the Great McCarthy by Barry Oakley. It stars John Jarratt as the title character (in his film debut) as a local footballer playing for Kyneton, who is signed up (or more appropriately, kidnapped) by the South Melbourne Football Club (now Sydney Swans). It also stars Barry Humphries and Judy Morris. It was released at a time of resurgence in Australian cinema but was not very successful despite its high-profile cast, including many well-known footy personalities.

Plot

Macarthy is a country football player who is kidnapped by the South Melbourne Football Club and made a star player in the city. The Club Chairman, Colonel Ball-Miller, gives Macarthy a job in one of his companies and makes him attend night school. He is seduced by his English teacher, Miss Russell, and has an affair with Ball-Miller's daughter, Andrea.

Macarthy and Andrea get married but then divorce. Macarthy goes on strike to claim the family fortune.

Cast

John Jarratt as MacArthy
Judy Morris as Miss Russell
Kate Fitzpatrick as Andrea
Sandy Macgregor as Vera
Barry Humphries as Colonel Ball-Miller
John Frawley as Webster
Colin Croft as Tranter
Chris Haywood as Warburton
Colin Drake as Ackerman
Ron Frazer as Twentyman
Max Gillies as Stan
Dennis Miller as MacGuinness
Lou Richards as Lou Arnold
Jack Dyer as Jack Diehard
Jim Bowles as Les
Bruce Spence as Bill Dean
Peter Cummins as Rerk
Vivean Gray as Mrs. Thompson
Doug Elliot as Team Manager
Frank Wilson as Mayer
Maurie Fields as Company Director
Bob Davis as Broadcaster (with Lou Richards)

Production

David Baker was an emerging director who was interested in Barry Oakley's novel. Richard Brennan optioned it for him and they agreed to make the film together, hiring playwright John Romeril to do the adaptation. According to Brennan, Romeril's second draft was "fantastic" but later drafts included too much sex and slapstick to make it more like other successful Australian films at the time such as The Adventures of Barry McKenzie and Alvin Purple.^[2]

Phillip Adams later claimed he always knew the film would struggle "because of its idiosyncratic and complex nature".^[3]

The film was shot in mid 1974. Half the budget was provided by the Australian Film Development Corporation.^[1] As he looked like Jarratt, South Melbourne player Garry Scott doubled for the star in the match long shots.

Release

The film performed poorly critically and at the box office.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p289
^ ^a ^b David Stratton, The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival, Angus & Robertson, 1980 p223-224
^ Gordon Glenn & Scott Murray, "Phil Adams: Producer", Cinema Papers, March–April 1976 p343