The Slim Dusty Movie

1984 Australian film
  • 10 August 1984 (1984-08-10) (Mount Isa)
  • 18 October 1984 (1984-10-18) (Australia)
Running time
107 minutesCountryAustraliaLanguageEnglishBudgetA$2.3 million.[1]

The Slim Dusty Movie is a 1984 Australian feature film directed by Rob Stewart and starring Slim Dusty, Joy McKean, Jon Blake and Mary Charleston.[2]

The film

The film dramatises the early life and career of Australian country music singer/songwriter Slim Dusty, interspersed with footage of a 1980s round Australia tour by the Slim Dusty family and featuring several songs from Dusty's long career, including Pub With No Beer, When the Rain Tumbles Down in July, Lights on the Hill and Indian Pacific. Slim Dusty was Australia's most prolific musical artist, who died in 2003 while working on his 106th album for EMI Records. His wife Joy McKean and children Anne Kirkpatrick and David Kirpatrick are all accomplished country music singers who perform in the film on stage with Dusty. A number of Dusty's songwriters and old friends appear in the film, including Stan Coster and Gordon Parsons.

Directed by Rob Stewart (whose credits include 1983's For the Term of His Natural Life) and with cinematography by David Eggby (Mad Max, 1979), the film features Australian landscapes prominently and is essentially a biographical documentary. Shot in diverse locations, it includes live performances at the Sydney Opera House, Bowen, Charters Towers, Mount Isa, the Peppimenarti, Northern Territory aboriginal settlement and elsewhere.

Cast

  • Slim Dusty as himself
  • Joy McKean as herself
  • Anne Kirkpatrick as herself
  • David Kirkpatrick as himself
  • Brett Lewis as Shorty Ranger
  • Dean Stidworthy as Young Slim Dusty
  • Jon Blake as Young Slim Dusty
  • Mary Charleston as Young Heather McKean
  • Earl Francis as the Country Radio announcer
  • Jeanette Leigh as Milkbar waitress
  • Sandy Paul as Young Joy McKean
  • Beverley Phillips as Slim's mother
  • Jimmy Sharman as himself
  • Tom Travers as Slim's father
  • James Wright as City Radio announcer

Crew

Director: Rob Stewart
Producer: Kent Chadwick
Cinematography: David Eggby
Music Producer: Rod Coe
Audio Post: Roger Savage
Sound Recordist: Paul Clarke
Sound Assistant: Chris Piper
Concert Sound Mixer: Clive Jones

Box office

The Slim Dusty Movie grossed $225,000 at the box office in Australia.[3]

Soundtrack

A soundtrack was released from the movie. It peaked at number 73 on the Australian Kent Music Report.[4]

The Slim Dusty Movie
Soundtrack album by
ReleasedAugust 1984
GenreCountry
LabelEMI Music
ProducerRod Coe
Slim Dusty chronology
Trucks on the Track
(1983)
The Slim Dusty Movie
(1984)
The Best of Slim Dusty
(1984)

Track listing

LP/Cassette
Side A
No.TitleLength
1."Where Country Is"3:33
2."Song for the Aussies"2:46
3."Old Sunlander Van" (performed by Anne Kirkpatrick)2:39
4."Walk a Country Mile"3:09
5."Wind Up Gramophone" (performed by Joy McKean)2:51
6."Trouble" (performed by David Kirkpatrick)2:10
7."Losin' My Blues Tonight"3:23
8."Only The Two of Us Here / Old Fellar" (performed with Lew Williams)5:39
Side B
No.TitleLength
1."My Final Song"2:08
2."When the Rain Tumbles Down in July"1:52
3."Rehearsal Sequence Back to My Old Northern Home" (performed by Buck Taylor)1:35
4."Old Time Country Halls"3:29
5."The Biggest Disappointment" (with Buck Taylor)3:05
6."Lights on the Hill"3:05
7."Gymkhana Yodel" (performed by McKean Sisters)3:19
8."Stay Away from Me"2:54
9."Keep the Lovelight Shining" (with Joy McKean)1:36
Side C
No.TitleLength
1."The Man With the Hat Turn" (performed by Buddy Weston)1:37
2."Country Revival"2:04
3."Isa Rodeo"2:39
4."Roughriders"2:09
5."Cunnamulla Fella"2:43
6."Isa"2:58
7."Just Rollin'"3:26
8."Corroboree Sequence / Plains of Peppimimenarti" (performed with Gordon Parsons)4:20
Side D
No.TitleLength
1."How Will I Go With Him Mate?"3:48
2."Pushin' Time"2:36
3."A Pub With No Beer" (with Gordon Parsons)3:41
4."Camooweal"3:04
5."Indian Pacific"2:45
6."Are the Good Days Gone Forever"3:32
7."Gumtrees By the Roadway"3:06

Release history

Region Date Format Label Catalogue
Australia August 1984 EMI Music VMP.430004/2

See also

References

  1. ^ "Production Survey", Cinema Papers, March–April 1984 p76
  2. ^ "The Slim Dusty Movie (1984) – IMDb". Archived from the original on 20 April 2023. Retrieved 29 June 2018.
  3. ^ Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office Archived 23 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ "David Kent's "Australian Chart Book 1970-1992"". Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 4 April 2020.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to The Slim Dusty Movie.
  • The Slim Dusty Movie at IMDb
  • The Slim Dusty Movie at Oz Movies
  • The Slim Dusty Movie is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive
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