Australian
Screen

Clip description

Now that Stormalong is a champion racehorse, Tommy (Frank Leighton) has a Sydney address with a harbour view. When Joan (Helen Twelvetrees) invites old friends Bill Peel (John Longden) and his father, Sir Russell (Harold Meade), Tommy behaves badly. He regards Bill Peel as his rival for Joan’s affection, and is jealous of his social status. Joan tells Tommy off and apologises for her fiancé.

Curator’s notes

A common theme in Australian films of the 1930s is the question of native-born masculinity. Bill Peel is one of many upper-class characters that are seen as predominantly English, even if native-born. The comical ‘new chum’ in Splendid Fellows (1934) is one of many others. Many of these characters are shown as foppish, even distinctly effeminate, especially in comparison with rugged Australian outdoor stereotypes. Tommy Dawson is a variation on this, as is Bill Peel. Peel is definitely more polished and worldly, but Dawson is rough, tough and much more of a matinee idol in the film, even with his insecurities. It’s fairly obvious that many of these films were working out Australian identity in relation to the motherland of Great Britain, in the same way that Tommy Dawson is desperate to establish his independence and competence from his mother (see clip one).

Thoroughbred is interesting partly because of how much male insecurity it allows us to see in Tommy. Most masculine heroes in Australian cinema of the time were less troubled by doubt. The parallel between insecure Tommy and the emaciated horse is another element to the script – the film makes specific references to whether men, like horses, need to be well bred (and finds, obviously, that they don’t).

Note – the ‘harbour view’ we see is done with back projection.