Ginger Meggs

Loved this movie growing up. Knew a couple of the actors as kids, whilst growing up in the. 80s in Sydney The memories / nostalgia and sets are great.

Producers did a great job making a 1930s Sydney Suburb of Hornsby (where Ginger grew up) . Bowral still looks the same. The bridge where Ginger pulls up the cart is still there , the lake setting in Mittagong etc etc. The school still looks the same, (other than the fencing ) . The use of vintage cars pony carts etc is great and the extras are dressed in detailed perfect tine period clothing

That corner / ice cream bar construction set was well made , should have been kept - it looked that great.

The child acting is poor , and comes over as they are reading a book with no full stops. Minimal emotion But the script isn't the best , some lines don't make sense relating to the movie .

Coogan - Daniel Cumerford is the best child actor , with Mini the worse Meggs / Paul Daniel has minimal charisma

RIP - Daniel Cumerford.

Having worked as a projectionist during an L.A. Film Market way back around 1982 (LA- the Tiffany on Sunset Strip), I had the thrill of showing this bit of Aussie weirdness one day. Yeah, there's quite not-so-subtle cultural differences, but who can tell what. Must've been something I ate, like mushrooms or some forbidden fruit, 'cause this oddity left me befuddled but amused by the intense (and I do mean intense) beyondo color palette employed. Quirky and surreal, this baby never made it onto the American market. Someone out there has to have seen this one, too, please tell me, anyone.... Strange but not terribly fascinating. Had the same experience with a 3-D wonder called "Rottweiller," which has somehow slipped under the radar and been on TV. If "Ginger" shows anywhere, watch this truly bizarre kids film unfold in all of its pre-Pee-Wee near Fellini-esque glory.

Most just loved the amazing look of this Aussie eccentric: John Seale (OSCAR for The English Patient) shot it in what was then a very surreal visual style... wild revue acting with a great cast of character actors also made it a lot of fun and it did very well in Oz according to box office figures...the young actors did their best competing with a very stylish set and some Big Top scenes that tended to overwhelm the whole shebang at times. Many of the actors went on to star in other things (John Wood has become a legend in the TV series Blue Heelers, which make the whole movie a rather historic time capsule.

But above all, the sheer high spirited energy and great look of the art direction and cinematography as well as a totally over the top rock(?) soundtrack -when you'd think a mouth organ would have done the job- make this a real and underestimated keeper. But GM never got a DVD release...why?

I was delighted to view this movie for the first time recently on Foxtel. I always enjoyed the comic strip as a kid. This movie is certainly not politically correct by today's standards but it fairly represents (in a comic book way) life for kids in the 1940-1960 era. It is beautifully filmed but the acting is all over the place. I loved Gary McDonald as Mr Meggs. It is probably a bit too long but very enjoyable for anyone who remembers those good old days. Of course the story is a bit far fetched but forget that and just enjoy the visuals. I would go so far as to say that this is destined to be an Aussie Classic with the increased exposure on Foxtel and DVD. It deserves it.

It's good to see that someone else saw this movie as well, because I remember as a kid watching it, and again when I was about 14, for old time's sake...I remember thinking 'oh my gosh, the acting is SOOOOOO bad!'

But the happy ending was what sucked me into watching the movie again and again as a child. I used to have such a crush on the kid who played Eddie Coogan, but was shocked to see that he was sadly hit by a train not too long after Ginger Meggs was made.

I can still vaguely remember the song that plays at the beginning and end of the movie, it went something like, 'Ginger Ginger Meggs...hey there Ginger!'

I remember the tune, just not the lyrics...but would love to hire it out again one day, just for a laugh, although I'm not sure whether it is still available. Definitely a movie to watch when you're not sober, makes it all the more funnier :-)