The True Story Of Eskimo Nell

Richard Franklin is a genuine maverick of the Australian film industry. This, his first feature, has the two main axes of the 1970s film revival - nostalgia (Picnic At Hanging Rock et. al.) and sex (Alvin Purple et. al.) but failed to capitalize on the appeal of either arguably because of the director's un-Australian penchant for Hollywood cinema (aside from the fact that it wasn't very good, but then neither was Alvin Purple) and bombed at the box office.

A kind of low rent Cat Ballou (it was made on budget of $AU240,000) based on the famous bawdy "pome" alluded to in the title, it was scripted by Franklin along with Alan Hopgood who specialized in the aforementioned sexual axis, giving us not only the Alvin Purple films but also Pacific Banana. It is now largely of interest as a curio with to-be political satirist Max Gillies engaging as Dead Eye Dick, a brief appearance by thespianally-challenged Graham Bond (ABC TV's Aunty Jack) and an equally unimpressive full-frontal nude appearance by '70s queen of TV sex, Abigail.

As a Western spoof it is not particularly funny and whilst the relationship between the sexually impotent Dead Eye and pantsman extraordinaire, Mexican Pete (played by Serge Lazareff, another popular face on the small screen during the '70s who was cast after Jack Thompson pulled out) is regularly cited as a touching comment on the co-dependent psychology of Australian mateship it does not make the film as such any more watchable.even if it did win an AFI award for Best Photography for Vincnet Monton.

FYI: The film was released as Dick Down Under for theatrical release in the UK where the British film Eskimo Nell (1975) had screened earlier the same year, The UK film was retitled 'The Sexy Saga of Naughty Nell and Big Dick' for theatrical release in Australia.

 

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