They're a Weird Mob
Poster
Directed by	Michael Powell
Produced by	Michael Powell
Written by	Emeric Pressburger (as Richard Imrie)
Starring	Walter Chiari Clare Dunne Chips Rafferty
Music by	Alan Boustead Lawrence Leonard
Cinematography	Arthur Grant
Editing by	Gerald Turney-Smith
Distributed by	BEF Film Distributors Pty. Ltd.
Release date(s)	August 18, 1966 Australia
Running time	112 min
Language	English
Budget	AUD 600,000 (estimated)
IMDb profile

They're a Weird Mob is a classic and very popular Australian novel published in 1957, and a 1966 film based on the book. The novel was written by John O'Grady, although it was published under the pen name "Nino Culotta", the name of the main character. The subsequent film was one of the last collaborations by the British filmmakers Powell & Pressburger. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Michael Latham Powell (September 30, 1905 – February 19, 1990) was a British film director, renowned for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger which produced a series of classic British films. ... Emeric Pressburger in Paris. ... Walter Chiari (2 March 1924 - 20 December 1991) was an Italian stage and screen actor, mostly in comedy roles. ... Chips Rafferty, born John William Goffage in Broken Hill, NSW, on 26th March, 1909, was an Australian Actor. ... Lawrence Leonard (born August 23, 1923, died January 4, 2001), British conductor, cellist, composer, teacher and writer. ... Arthur Grant (1915-1972) was a British cinematographer. ... is the 230th day of the year (231st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... // Events Top grossing films North America Thunderball Dr. Zhivago Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? That Darn Cat! The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming Academy Awards Best Picture: A Man for All Seasons - Highland, Columbia Best Actor: Paul Scofield - A Man for All Seasons Best Actress: Elizabeth Taylor... This article is about the literary concept. ... See also: 1956 in literature, other events of 1957, 1958 in literature, list of years in literature. ... // Events Top grossing films North America Thunderball Dr. Zhivago Whos Afraid of Virginia Woolf? That Darn Cat! The Russians Are Coming, The Russians Are Coming Academy Awards Best Picture: A Man for All Seasons - Highland, Columbia Best Actor: Paul Scofield - A Man for All Seasons Best Actress: Elizabeth Taylor... John Patrick OGrady (9 October 1907 - 1981) was an Australian writer. ... Powell and Pressburger were a British film-making partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, also known as The Archers. ...

Story

Nino Culotta is an Italian immigrant, newly arrived in Australia. He is expecting to work for his cousin as a sports writer on the Italian magazine his cousin has been producing. But when he gets there he discovers that his cousin has left leaving a substantial debt to Kay Kelly. Nino declares that he will get a job and pay back the debt. Immigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently. ...

The film tells how he does this, making new mates, and the growing attraction between Nino & Kay. All this despite some difficulties with Australian slang and Kay's father and his dislike of Italians. Much of the story is taken up with Nino's attempts to understand the Australian Dream, that is, the often baffling aspirational values and social rituals of everyday urban Australians. The film is a comedy, but it deals with customs and manners that markedly characterise 1950s & 60s Australian society, and as such can be read as a serious critique of post-war affluence. Australian English (AuE, AusE, en-AU) is the form of the English language used in Australia. ... The Australian Dream or Great Australian Dream is a belief that in Australia, home ownership can lead to a better life and is an expression of success and security. ...

Story - the book version

Giovanni 'Nino' Culotta is an Italian immigrant, who comes to Australia as a journalist, employed by an Italian publishing house, to write articles about Australians and their way of life for those Italians that might want to emigrate to Australia. Immigration is the act of moving to or settling in another country or region, temporarily or permanently. ...

In order to learn about real Australians, Nino takes a job as a brickie's labourer (a labourer to a bricklayer) with a man named Joe Kennedy. The comedy of the novel revolves around his attempts to understand English as it was spoken in Australia, by the working classes, in the 1950s and 1960s (Nino had previously learned 'good' English from a textbook).

The novel is a social commentary on Australian society - specifically male, working class society - of the period. Women mostly feature as cameos in the story with the slight exception of Kay (whose surname is not revealed in the novel) who becomes Nino's wife. In the novel, Nino meets Kay in a cafe in Manly and their introduction is effected by Nino trying to teach Kay that she cannot eat spaghetti using a spoon. Look up Manly in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Manly may refer to: Manly, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia Manly, Queensland is a suburb of Brisbane, Australia Manly, Iowa is a city in the United States of America Manly is also an adjective referring to masculinity. ...

The final message of the novel is that immigrants to Australia should count themselves fortunate and should make efforts to assimilate into Australian society, including learning to speak English. It is a positive, if slightly superficial, story about Australian society and values.

The book has three sequels, "Cop this Lot","Gone fishin' " and "Gone Gougin' " which feature largely the same cast of characters. "Gone Gougin' " takes place in 1975, 10 years after "Gone Fishin' ", in which Nino's two children (Young Nino and Maria) are now adults.

The novel "Gone Fishin' " is the only novel not to feature the main characters from the first two books, Joe, Edie and Dennis as the primary characters. They finally appear onwards from Chapter 11 (Page 162), and Dennis finally gets engaged.

In the following book, "Gone Gougin' ", only Nino, Joe and Dennis (now married) appear, and their wives are only briefly mentioned.

Film production

The book was optioned many times by filmmakers before a workable treatment was arrived at. Michael Powell managed to make it into a film that showed Australia from the point of view of an outsider while still avoiding many of the worse stereotypes. Michael Latham Powell (September 30, 1905 – February 19, 1990) was a British film director, renowned for his partnership with Emeric Pressburger which produced a series of classic British films. ...

There were a few attempts at writing the script but none of them worked until Powell brought in his old friend and frequent collaborator Emeric Pressburger who wrote it under the pseudonym Richard Imrie. Emeric Pressburger in Paris. ...

The film is said to have been one of the factors that led to an Australian Film Industry. Ned Kelly depicted in the first ever feature-length narrative film The cinema of Australia has a long history and has produced many internationally-recognized films, actors and filmmakers. ...

Trivia

John O'Grady makes a cameo as the grey-bearded drinker in the pub in the opening sequence of the film.^{[citation needed]} A cameo role or cameo appearance (often shortened to just cameo) is a brief appearance of a known person in a work of the performing arts, such as plays, films, video games and television. ...

External links

• They're a Weird Mob at the Internet Movie Database
• Reviews and articles at the Powell & Pressburger Pages
• They're a Weird Mob at the National Film and Sound Archive

v • d • e Cinema of Australia

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