AustLit

A film adaptation of A.S. Byatt's novel Possession.

For further details on the complexity of the authorship for this film, see 'Can Bookish Be Sexy? Yeah, Says Neil LaBute, Bookish Can Be Sexy'.

A film adaptation of the memoir by Frank McCourt.

In England during the early 1800s, Oscar, a young but good-hearted misfit, believes that God has given him a sign to leave his father and his faith and join the Church of England while Lucinda, a teenaged Australian heiress, has a strong desire to liberate her sex from the confines of male-dominated culture. She buys a glass factory, and dreams of building a church made almost entirely of glass and then transporting it to the Australian outback. Oscar and Lucinda meet on a ship going to Australia; once there, they are each ostracised from society for different reasons, and join forces. Since both are passionate gamblers, Lucinda bets Oscar her entire inheritance that he cannot transport the glass church to the outback safely. Oscar accepts her wager, and this leads to the events that change both their lives forever.

Katherine works on an isolated farm run by Hester and Hester's father Francis. Unhappy because of her heavy workload, Katherine wants to leave. Hester doesn't want her to go, because she is attracted to her younger friend. She manages to convince Katherine to stay by promising to give her less work in the future. When old Francis dies, Hester sells the farm for cash, and she and Katherine move to a small cottage on the farm's edge, from where they plan a trip to Europe. A tragic accident and the theft of their money changes their plans.

Adaptation of American novelist Jane Smiley's A Thousand Acres, which tranposes the basic structure of King Lear to an American farming family.

Film based on Henry James's 1880-1881 novel about a young American woman travelling through Europe and attempting to negotiate both marriage and independence.

Based on the autobiographies of New Zealand author Janet Frame.

'After losing her job and being stranded when her car breaks down, Lilli rents a trailer by the sea. There she meets a lonely young girl who lives with her grand-mother. It transpires that the girl is Lilli's own daughter.'

Source: BFI (http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/232569). (Sighted: 6/3/2014)

'A dramatisation depicting the problems faced by migrant women in Australia, particularly their exploitation in the workforce. Focuses on the life of an Italian woman, Angela, who works as a machinist in a clothing factory.'

Source: Trove. (Sighted: 21/9/2012)

'The Marsh family move from the country to the city and find they have a lot of adjusting to do for their new lifestyle.'

Source: Screen Australia. (Sighted: 6/6/2013)

'Ray, married and in his thirties, is stood down from his job. Initially he covers his resentment with aggression and bravado. He objects to accepting the dole but has to surrender when he cannot find a job.'

Source: Trove. (Sighted: 21/9/2012)

An adventure series following the experiences of a naval patrol boat, Patrol Boat rated reasonably well on Australian television and sold well overseas. Made in co-operation with the Royal Australian Navy (which, Moran points out in his Guide to Australian TV Series, 'had been trying to get something similar onto the screen for almost eight years'), the series made use of two naval patrol boats for open-sea shooting, including (for the second series) the Fremantle class patrol boat HMAS Defiance.

Moran notes that 'Guest stories included pursuing drug runners, helping a stranded refugee boat and destroying an old mine that had become dangerous to shipping. Each self-contained episode was constructed around two stories, one usually working around an individual sailor while the other concerned a larger group'.

Patrol Boat was the first program in which series creator James Davern's production company, JNP Film, had an active involvement, but Moran notes that JNP Film 'simply packaged scripts for the first series'. Their involvement was greater in the second series, which was made much later.

The Oracle 'stars Australian actor John Gregg. He plays Steve Black, a high-rating Sydney radio announcer. Each self-contained episode follows not only the personal life of Steve, but also the stories of some of the listeners who phone him on air to tell their trials and tribulations' (Australian Women's Weekly 21 February 1979, p.47).

While not solely a crime drama, The Oracle touched on people on the fringes of society and vulnerable to desperate (and illegal) actions. For example, The Canberra Times reported (Wednesday 9 May 1979, p.3) that episode 9, 'Pick a Side, Any Side', drew viewers' complaints for 'showing a distraught mother killing her baby', and indicated that the ABC was not inclined to apologise for the episode's content.

The Oracle is frequently described as a spin-off from the telemovie Say You Want Me, and the two do share subject matter. However, while Say You Want Me is dated at 1977 in some sources, its earliest traceable airdate is June 1979, which would mean that the telemovie did not air until a fortnight after the series had finished airing.

Further Reference:

Karen Earnshaw. 'TV '79'. Australian Women's Weekly 21 February 1979, pp.45-50.

A made-for-television film, in which a film maker returns to Australia, but struggles to readjust to her old life.

Source: Memorable TV (http://www.memorabletv.com/australia/tvac.htm). Sighted: 24/11/2011)

'The wife of a radio talkback star is raped by a property developer with whom her husband is about to sign a lucrative endorsement contract. The deal goes ahead and she is left to decide whether to push rape charges.'

Source: Australian Television Information Archive. (Sighted: 5/6/2013).

Say You Want Me was one of six telemovies put together by Lynton Taylor, vice president in charge of programming at the Nine Network, in conjunction with Film Australia and the South Australian Film Corporation. Other films in the series included Peter Weir's The Plumber and Arch Nicholson's A Good Thing Going.

Say You Want Me was followed on ABC TV by a twelve-part television series (also written in part, by Say You Want Me script-writer Laura Jones), The Oracle.

Further Reference

James Murray. 'Peter Weir Film Highlights Telemovie Series', Australian Women's Weekly, Wednesday 6 June 1979, p.25.

Certain Women began as a short series in 1973 and continued on as a serial until 1977. At the centre of the narrative were six women from three generations of a Sydney family. Dolly has two daughters Freda and Jane. Jane has three daughters Marjorie, Helen, and Gillian.

In a short piece announcing the extension of the series after the broadcast of the first six episodes television critic Valda Marshall said the decision to make further episodes 'should also keep the women's libbers happy ... so far as I know, it's the first TV series made here specifically as a starring vehicle for women'.

Source: Marshall, Valda. 'ABC's 'Women' Given Longer Reign'. The Sun-Herald, 25/3/1973, p. 77.