The Bounty leaves Portsmouth in 1787. Its destination: to sail to Tahiti and load bread-fruit. Captain Bligh will do anything to get there as fast as possible, using any means to keep up a strict discipline. When they arrive at Tahiti, it is like a paradise for the crew, something completely different than the living hell aboard the ship. On the way back to England, officer Fletcher Christian becomes the leader of a mutiny.
An Italian sports journalist arrives in Australia but finds no work. The only employment he can find is as a builder's labourer. At first, he cannot comprehend the culture, but eventually he finds mateship and romance.
A young schoolteacher descends into personal moral degradation after finding himself stranded in a brutal, menacing town in outback Australia.
Docudrama recreating events in the Malayan Emergency
Lieutenant Rip Crandall is hoodwinked into taking command of the "Wackiest Ship in the Navy" – a real garbage scow with a crew of misfits who don't know a jib from a jigger. What none of them knows, including Crandall, is that this ship has a very important top-secret mission to complete in waters patrolled by the Japanese fleet. Their mission will save hundreds of allied lives – if only they can get there in one piece.
Steve McAllister, an Australian official for The New Guinea Administration, gets orders to investigate an oil discovery by Ned 'Shark-Eye' Kelly in the interior. He selects his native policeman, Sergeant-Major Towalaka, to accompany him on his "walk into hell" and then finds that a French lady doctor, Louise Dumurcet, is to go with them part of the journey. They find the malaria-stricken Jeff Clayton in a deserted village and he joins the trek. They are captured by jungle-natives but are released after Dr. Dumurcet cures the fever-stricken children of the chief.
In 1854, Australian gold rush miners struggle for their rights against an oppressive government.
It's the start of WWII in Northern Australia. The Japanese are getting close. People are evacuating and burning everything in a "scorched earth" policy. Rather than kill all their cattle, a disparate group decides to drive them overland half way across the continent, from Wyndham in Western Australia through the Northern Territory outback of Australia to pastures north of Brisbane, Queensland.
Three friends enlist in the Australian Army and serve in North Africa, holding the city of Tobruk against Rommel's forces.
Charles Chauvel's 1940 cinematic tribute to the mounted troops of the Australian Light Horse regiments is a rousing call to arms, giving life to the heroic tales of mateship during the Great War.
In Australia, five children pursue horse thieves through the mountains.
The happy-go-lucky young Smiley gets into more strife as he attempts to prove himself a responsible citizen by helping others - all so he can earn a new gun from Sergeant Flaxman.
Smiley Greevins is a cheeky, mischievous, imaginative little boy who lives in the small town of Murrumbilla in the Australian outback. His father Bill is a poor drover who is often away from home. Much to the exasperation of his overworked wife, Ma Greevins, Bill is also very fond of the drink. Smiley is determined to buy himself a push bike and so he takes on odd jobs in an effort to save up enough money. But Smiley always seems to get caught up in some sort of misadventure. Smiley is a classic Australian film that will delight audiences of all ages.
Sam Moran is a Honolulu charter-boat captain who leads fishing expeditions in the tropical paradise. When his daughter is found murdered at the party of a wealthy young playboy, he seeks the truth about the murder. Convinced the playboy is guilty, he enlists the help of his friend Kittibelle, who runs an alcohol abuse treatment center. Sam runs into a wall of silence obviously built by hush money and islanders fearful of reprisals from the rich and powerful family. The determined dad fights to uncover the information that will land the murderer in jail as he avenges the death of his daughter.
A family buy land set around a water hole in a remote location, that is occupied by native Australians. The two groups clash.
In the Australian Outback, the Carmody family--Paddy, Ida, and their teenage son Sean--are sheep drovers, always on the move. Ida and Sean want to settle down and buy a farm. Paddy wants to keep moving. A sheep-shearing contest, the birth of a child, drinking, gambling, and a racehorse will all have a part in the final decision.
In North Africa, German Field Marshal Rommel and his troops have successfully fended off British forces, and now intend to take Tobruk, an important port city. A ramshackle group of Australian reinforcements sent to combat the Germans is put under the command of British Captain MacRoberts. The unruly Aussies immediately clash with MacRoberts, a gruff, strict disciplinarian, however this unorthodox team must band together to protect Tobruk from the German forces.
An expedition into the interior of Papua New Guinea comes across a tribe of ape-like people who may or may not be ancestors of early man.
A body is found floating in the Torres Strait and pearler Ted King is asked to investigate. He discovers the murder is connected to a people smuggling ring and involves one of his men, Yusep. He is helped by Peter Merriman, the playboy owner of King's company who romances King's daughter Rusty. Yusep kidnaps Rusty but Merriman and King rescue her.
Joanna Godden falls heir to a farm when her father dies.
Kim Marsden inherits a cattle station near Alice Springs after the death of her father. Kim becomes convinced her father was murdered. She sends for a legendary local bushman called the Sundowner, who was one of her father's best friends.
When singer Guy Lambert goes on tour in Europe, he is pursued by two beautiful women, bumbling jewel thieves, and a mysterious killer.
In turn-of-the-century Australia, two criminals ingratiate themselves with a rancher in order to swindle him. However, the two partners become rivals for the affection of the rancher's beautiful daughter.
‘Bring Out a Briton’ was a short appeal for Australians to help the Immigration Department in its plan to form and assist a ‘Bring Out a Briton’ Committee in each district. It featured popular Australian actor Chips Rafferty as the spokesman for the campaign. Aimed at the Australian public rather than the prospective immigrants it was designed to allay a perceived anxiety amongst the public about non-British European migration.
The Big Picture details the careers Charles and Elsa Chauvel – known as Australia’s most enduring and successful filmmakers, having made nine feature films between 1926 and 1955. The Chauvels were innovators and pioneers, constantly testing the boundaries of what was possible physically and financially. Featuring in depth interviews with Susanne Chauvel Carlsson, Ric Carlsson as well as fascinating archival material, including rare footage of Charles and Elsa Chauvel, Chips Rafferty and Michael Pate. The Big Picture – the films of Charles Chauvel is based on the biography/memoir The Life and Cinema of Charles Chauvel by Susanne Chauvel Carlsson and is an important documentary depicting a vital piece of film making history.