All titles in the ‘Drama’ genre
407 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 next
1900s
The Story of the Kelly Gang feature film – 1906
Audiences of the time loved this film’s boldness and, with its live sound effects and narration, to them it didn’t seem silent.
1910s
The Hero of the Dardanelles feature film – 1915
Hero is the first surviving feature film depiction of Australian troops of the First World War and includes images of a real army camp and real soldiers, in training at Liverpool, NSW.
The Enemy Within feature film – 1918
Snowy Baker stars as a secret agent who smashes a ring of German spies in Sydney during the First World War.
The Man from Kangaroo feature film – 1919
John Harland, a bush parson, is dismissed from his job for teaching children how to box. Harland moves to another town, where he combats ruffians and rescues his girlfriend from a forced marriage.
1920s
Sunshine Sally feature film – 1922
The working-class Sally falls in love with the adopted son of wealthy parents from whom she was kidnapped as a child.
The Birth of White Australia feature film – 1928
This early feature depicts racial tension in NSW in 1861. Despite its offensive representation of Aboriginality, the film has cultural and historic value.
The Exploits of the Emden feature film – 1928
A reconstruction of Ken G Hall’s composite film about the destruction of the German warship Emden in November 1914.
1930s
Rinso Soap Powder: Then Came Happiness advertisement – 1931
Helen, worn out by the drudge of washing day, is introduced to Rinso by a girlfriend during a bridge night.
Heritage feature film – 1935
Heritage is a thunderous piece of endorsement for the pioneer mythology of Australia, made by the prolific Charles Chauvel.
Rangle River feature film – 1936
NSW legislation required exhibitors and distributors to invest in, and show, Australian films — but not for long.
Mystery Island feature film – 1937
Two of the principal actors disappeared at sea after filming finished and what became of them is still unknown.
The Broken Melody feature film – 1938
A film with music rather than a musical, The Broken Melody is one of the few films of the 1930s that tries to depict the Depression’s effect on real people.
Mr Chedworth Steps Out feature film – 1939
Cecil Kellaway was probably the best actor that Ken G Hall ever worked with. He returned from Hollywood to play the titular little man who learns to assert himself.
1940s
Forty Thousand Horsemen feature film – 1940
Chauvel introduced a very young and fresh-faced Chips Rafferty, who modelled his performance in part on the comical digger created by Pat Hanna in Diggers (1931).
The Rats of Tobruk feature film – 1944
The Rats of Tobruk may not be Charles Chauvel’s best movie, but it deserves serious consideration as his best movie about war.
The Overlanders feature film – 1946
As the Japanese threaten northern Australia in 1942, a drover takes a mob of prime beef cattle across 2,600 kms of hazardous country to Queensland.
Smithy feature film – 1946
Smithy was Charles 'Bud’ Tingwell’s first film. With characteristic modesty, he later said he won the part as a control tower officer because he supplied his own uniform.
Bush Christmas feature film – 1947
In a rare villainous role, Chips Rafferty plays a horse thief, Long Bill. He is tracked by five kids spending Christmas in the Blue Mountains.
Eureka Stockade feature film – 1949
In 1854, miners in the Ballarat goldfields take up arms against government troops in a defining moment of Australian history.
Into the Straight feature film – 1949
Australian horse breeder WJ Curzon hires British trainer Hugh Duncan and his playboy son Paul. Father and son are both attracted to JW’s daughter, June.
Sons of Matthew feature film – 1949
Sons of Matthew is an extremely vivid depiction of the heroic conquest of the land by Australia’s white settlers.
1950s
Bitter Springs feature film – 1950
A family of white farmers fight to take possession of land and water that is home to a well-established Aboriginal clan.
Il Contratto feature film – 1953
In 1950s Melbourne, four recent Italian migrants eager for work to pay off their debts finally find employment on a rural farm near the city.
Jedda feature film – 1955
Jedda (1955) is probably Charles Chauvel’s best film, as well as his last. It is historic both for being the first colour feature film made in Australia, but more importantly, because it is arguably the first Australian film to take the emotional lives of Aboriginal people seriously.
The Shiralee feature film – 1957
Arguably there are two major themes in Australian cinema – the problem of the landscape, and the related problem of masculinity – and both are the subject of The Shiralee.
1960s
Mr Squiggle and Friends – Episode 148 television program – c1960
Mr Squiggle is one of the most recognised children’s television characters. Although no longer on air, he continues to appear at exhibitions and science fiction conventions.
The Sundowners feature film – 1960
The Sundowners is remarkable for the number of Australian actors it showcases. Chips Rafferty plays Quinlan, the contractor at an outback shearing station.
Clay feature film – 1965
Nick, a killer on the run from the police, takes shelter in an isolated artists’ colony. He falls in love with Margot, a sculptress.
Homicide – The Decimal Point television program – 1965
When Homicide first aired, Australian television drama, complete with Australian cops and accents, was a novelty on screen.
Wandjina! – Episode 5 television program – 1966
Strange events occur when people search for two boys missing in the bush.
Skippy – Be Our Guest television program – 1968
Clancy wants to make a good impression on her visiting mother. Instead, she gets lost in the bush where she is rescued by a group of Aboriginal men (played by visiting members of the Aboriginal Theatre from Yirrkala, Arnhem Land).
Skippy – Long Way Home television program – 1968
Dastardly Dr Stark kidnaps ‘no ordinary kangaroo’ Skippy for his own private zoo, but Skippy has other plans.
2000 Weeks feature film – 1969
2000 Weeks (1969) was one of the first features of the modern era in Australian cinema. Autobiographical and intensely personal, it’s still highly watchable.
Play School – Trains Thursday television program – 1969
An early episode of iconic pre-school program Play School featuring presenters Don Spencer, Anne Haddy and Ruth Cracknell.
The Set feature film – 1969
Aspiring young designer Paul Lawrence is drawn into the hedonistic world of Sydney’s upper-class society.
You Can’t See ‘Round Corners feature film – 1969
This film, shot at Kapooka camp, contains one of the only depictions in Australian cinema of soldiers training for Vietnam.
1970s
Bellbird television program – 1970
Australia’s first successful national weekly serial, dealing with the lives and loves of ordinary people in a small country town.
Dynasty – Have You Got the Numbers? television program – 1970
A drama series that revolves around the Mason family, owners of a media empire in the tradition of the real-life Packer and Murdoch clans.
Homicide – The Superintendent television program – 1970
This extraordinary episode breaks away from many of the usual Homicide conventions and dispenses with the customary police investigation in record time.
Jack and Jill: A Postscript feature film – 1970
Jack lives in a condemned house and rides with a bikie gang. Gillian, a kindergarten teacher from a middle-class family, is attracted to Jack.
Walkabout feature film – 1970
A 16-year-old English girl and her 8-year-old brother are stranded in the desert, after their father shoots himself. They are rescued by a young tribal Aborigine.
Division 4 – The Return of John Kelso television program – 1971
This superb hour of drama was Division 4’s most awarded individual episode. It sustains a mood of simmering tension and the supporting cast deliver deliciously malicious performances.
Matlock Police – Episode 1, Twenty-six Hours television program – 1971
From an opening sequence strongly reminiscent of Easy Rider (1969) to a rollicking country car chase at its climax, this is a bumper first episode.
Wake in Fright feature film – 1971
A young schoolteacher loses all his money in an outback two-up game, while en route to Sydney. In the next two days he loses a lot more – self-respect, inhibitions, almost his life.
Adventure Island – Episode 1174 television program – 1972
A successful children’s show set on the magical Adventure Island, a ‘land that’s far across the sea’.
Number 96 – Episode 35 television program – 1972
One of the only surviving early black-and-white episodes of Number 96 is a rollicking ride through an apartment building and its class values and sex-obsessed situations.
The Office Picnic feature film – 1972
Bored employees in a mindless bureaucracy are barely more than automatons until released by alcohol at the office picnic, during which sexual and generational differences explode.
Sunstruck feature film – 1972
Welsh schoolteacher Stanley Evans takes a posting in Kookaburra Springs, a tiny outback town. He forms a children’s choir which travels to Sydney for a national competition.
Homicide – The Friendly Fellow television program – 1973
This was star Charles 'Bud’ Tingwell’s favourite Homicide episode.
Seven Little Australians television program – 1973
This is a delightful and faithful adaptation of Ethel Turner’s iconic Australian story, Seven Little Australians, into a charming television series.
