Sunstruck

Rangy denim-wearing blonde female lead Maggie Fitzgibbon (who recently died aged 91) will be remembered by older Brits as Vivienne Cooper in the sixties TV series 'The Newcomers'.

Here the positions are reversed as it's 'Welsh pom' Harry Secombe who's the stranger in town in yet another film set Down Under that mentions the heat but neither the aborigines nor the enormous spiders.

A real gem of a movie starring Sir Harry Secombe as Stanley Evans, a Welsh choir master emigrating to Australia to escape his past in Wales to teach kids in the Australian outback. In real life Secombe was himself a Welsh-born tenor, and his dual talent for music and comedy is perfectly suited to this role. It's a shame it was to be the former Goon's final movie, besides later television roles in the UK. Ironically, Secombe concentrated on his singing and television presenting career later in his career and didn't exploit his huge comedy potential for the last few decades of his life. For this reason, "Sunstruck" is a sad reminder of what could have been.

Well-loved little film that has stood the test of time. Rare dramatic performance from ex-goon, the late Harry Secombe. Here he plays a Welsh schoolteacher who has long dreamed of a move to Australia, where minimal research has led him to believe that sun, surf and girls are on tap! On his arrival at hicksville, the one-horse town of Kookaburra Springs in the blazing outback and where he has been commissioned to run the local school there, reality and fantasy clash head on.

Best described as a fish-out-of-water comedy, the film plays it for laughs, pathos, romance and light drama. Absolutely nothing to offend anyone. Filmed in and around the Parkes area (THE DISH!!) the cast here is uniformly good and lends Secombe great support.

Scripted by Stan Mars, at no stage does the film lag. True it is a little dated, but what would you expect just on thirty years later? Neat music score from Brian West....oh yeah, plenty of sun too!!!

Being and Australian I can relate to this movie especially as I was educated at a Country School. The Hotel is the center of town and all business, talk and public discussion goes on there, especially back in the 1960's. And so it goes that all business about the town was conducted in the hotel and if you were a "wowser" (you didn't have a beer) you were on the outer. Stanly (the new teacher from england) soon learns about "having a beer", and is subsequently accepted into the community. I would like this movie and its message to be passed on to future generations so lets get into the 21st Century and bring it out on DVD. -U2SPATS

I think it helps to be a fan of old 1970s Aussie films which indeed i am , this is very easy going and a pleasant way to spend an afternoon , i would put it right up there with such classics as Wake in Fright , Theyre a Weird Mob , Age of Consent etc. It was filmed in Parkes , the location of the Dish that played an important role in the moon landing , ( see also the film the Dish , another classic ) one of my favourite actors is in Sunstruck namely John Meillon , who seemed to be in all of these films lol , he was right up there with the likes of the mighty Chips Rafferty in my humble opinion , back to the film , its not overly complex , a Welsh Pom Teacher lol who emigrates to Aussie land to forget about an unrequited love , and thats where the film becomes fun , he lands in Australia only minutes into the film and works his way into the affections of the locals , and Shirl lol , if you just want to escape todays trials and tribulations give this a whirl , especially if your like me older rather than younger , enjoy.