Australia is Like This
Written byJack S Allan
Jesse Lasky Jnr
Produced byJack S Allan
StarringGrant Taylor
Production
companies
Commonwealth Department of Information
US Signal Corps Motion Picture Unit[1]
Release date
1945
Running time
18 mins
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Australia is Like This is a 1945 documentary about the experiences of two American soldiers in Australia during World War II until they leave for battle. It takes the form of a letter written by one of the soldiers to his family in America describing Australia.[2]

It was also known as A Letter from Australia.[3]

The film was not released in Australia, but made for the US.[4]

Plot

The film is told in the form of a letter written by an American soldier and his friend on leave in Sydney. They leave a troopship and see the sights, encounter 'wrong side' traffic, and meet two Australian soldiers on leave who abandon their girlfriends to buy the Americans a beer. The Americans go to a Red Cross canteen and meet a waitress whose brother is in New Guinea. They take her to the zoo and accept a dinner invitation to her house. The troops then head north.

Cast

Production

The film was one of a series of shorts made by Australia's Department of the Interior, others including Island Target.

Filming began late September 1944, using a predominantly American crew.[5]

Release

The film was completed by January 1945.[6]

References

  1. ↑ ""AUSTRALIA IS LIKE THIS"". The Queensland Times. 13 September 1944. p. 2 Edition: DAILY. Retrieved 10 March 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ↑ Australian Broadcasting Commission. (1939), "A.B.C. Orchestra in U.S. Film", ABC weekly, Sydney: ABC (Vol. 7 No. 18 (5 May 1945)), nla.obj-1326764375, retrieved 23 December 2023 – via Trove
  3. ↑ A Letter from Australia at National Film and Sound Archive
  4. ↑ Pike, Andrew Franklin. "The History of an Australian Film Production Company: Cinesound, 1932-70" (PDF). Australian National University. p. 240.
  5. ↑ "AMERICAN FILM". The Cairns Post. Qld. 13 September 1944. p. 4. Retrieved 10 March 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "PRIME MINISTER MEETS CABINET". The Sydney Morning Herald. 12 January 1945. p. 5. Retrieved 10 March 2014 – via National Library of Australia.


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