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Sons of Matthew (1949)

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clip Putting in a good word

Original classification rating: G. This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

The yearly muster of brumbies goes on, with Matthew O’Riordan (John O’Malley) riding with other local graziers. At home, his wife Jane (Thelma Scott) takes care of the youngest children, including Cathie McAllister (Charmian Young). Jane’s youngest boy, Michael (Jimmy White), wonders why she has to look after somebody else’s baby. Michael says his prayers, as eldest boy Shane (Tom Collins) looks on.

Curator’s notes

The scene’s mixture of heroic action outdoors and tender maternal love indoors contains Chauvel’s distillation of family virtues – physical courage, combined with great compassion, all bound together by love and religious piety. The sentimentalism is leavened by the use of humour, when young Michael refuses to be deflected from squandering his prayers on his brother. Jimmy White, who plays Michael, was the son of a farmer from Penrith, west of Sydney, and one of Chauvel’s best casting decisions. He speaks with an earthy country accent that has all but disappeared from Australian speech. Chauvel added the scene of a woman washing her baby on the kitchen table after seeing a farming woman doing just that, when he was growing up in the Fassifern Valley, south-east Queensland.

These scenes depict the usual gender roles of wife-mother-kitchen and husband-father-outdoors, but Sons of Matthew never really sticks to them. Cathie McAllister grows up to be a fine horsewoman, and a fearless, pioneering spirit (see her ride in clip three). There are many examples of such women in Australian cinema of the 1930s – particularly in the films of Ken G Hall (see Tall Timbers, 1937). There’s someone like Cathie McAllister in most of Chauvel’s films – although often she’s more of a temptress. Cathie remains a virtuous beauty and an idealised picture of Australian womanhood – athletic, beautiful, brave and steadfast.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions. All rights are reserved.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

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  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

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