Australian
Screen

Clip description

The crooked publican has tricked Smiley (Colin Petersen) into making a delivery of opium to the blacks’ camp across the river. This is supposed to be 'out of bounds’ to whites, but Smiley has clearly been there before. He gives the package to King Billy (not credited), and greets his friend Jacky (not credited), before racing home.

Curator’s notes

The depiction of a town camp is probably a first in an Australian film, although the films of the 1950s were certainly more interested in the status of Australian Aborigines than at any time before. The scene is short but very clear: the blacks live in great poverty compared to the whites in the film. Their houses are ramshackle, their cooking fires are outdoors and the men of the camp are involved in dope and gambling.

The makeshift camp is in strong contrast to the idyllic natural surroundings that Smiley runs through to reach it. He wades and swims across a river, passes through lush green bushland and returns home across open fields to the sound of birdsong and sprightly music. The music becomes more subdued and even sinister when Smiley is in the camp but lightens up again as he resumes his journey. 


Depicting a town camp like this would have been unusual in a film for an adult audience at the time; seeing it in a children’s film is even more surprising, but it connects directly to the film’s sense of social justice. Smiley is an innocent boy but the world around him has many injustices and dangers. The movie keeps confronting him with hard choices and disturbing realities. It may be that this honesty was part of the reason it was so popular.