L'enfant de la ville

The story of the making of The Earthling might in itself prove to be as interesting a film as The Earthling itself. The film tries, but doesn't quite make it to the top rung of films that William Holden did. As it sadly turned out The Earthling was the next to last film that Holden completed before he died the following year.

Only in the movies could we have the strange tale about one of the two protagonists dying of cancer, directed by someone who was himself dying of the same. Peter Collinson was terminally ill and knew it when he was directing The Earthling. I'm sure his cast didn't know it though. His own plight might have been what attracted Collinson to the project.

According to the Citadel Film series book, The Films Of William Holden, Collinson was especially hard on young Rick Schroder during the making of The Earthling. So much so that Holden had to intervene and the two bonded.

Which may have helped the film because three quarters of it is only dealing with Holden and Schroder on screen. The two really play well together.

Holden has returned to Australia to die where he grew up in a very rugged part of the Blue Mountains of New South Wales. Heading in the same general direction are Jack Thompson and Olivia Hamnett with their child Rick Schroder on a camping holiday. But when their camper goes off a cliff killing the parents and Schroder is left alone in the wilderness, he's lucky to find Holden.

But Bill proves to be a stern taskmaster. He can't tell him that it would be worse to go back, that it's farther than his old homestead. He has to teach Schroder and hope he learns well, the tools needed for survival in the wild. The bulk of the film is concerned with just that.

Collinson died and some scenes were shot afterward, the ending you see is not what Collinson had in mind. But who knows what he did have in mind as the disease ruled him as surely as it ruled Holden's character. The viewers will have to judge for themselves.

Rick Schroder never forgot William Holden and when he married, he named his first child Holden Schroder in honor of the movie legend who was also battling some demons of his own, but took time to help and befriend a young child player.

I think if Rick Schroder reads this review he'd like me to honor William Holden as well. And so this review is dedicated to William Holden one of the cinema's brightest stars.

I'm rarely moved to comment on a movie, but the Earthling is one of my favorites. I like thought-provoking and heart-touching movies, this film aims right at my emotional core and gets me in the breadbasket.

It's not a family film in the Disney sense, but it's a true family film in the spiritual sense. Sometimes the happy ending teaches that life is hard, suffering has a cause and an end, and within us lies the answer to the cessation of suffering: We can endure and find happiness, so long as we remember to find love.

Holden's performance was right-on, playing the embittered but compassionate mentor to Shroeder's traumatized child. The cinematography was outstanding, the Australian landscape was full of color and the story line quite refreshing.

Most people I talk to perceive this as a bad or downbeat movie. And, yes I concur that it has a very sobering but uplifting point to make. I was 14 years old when I first saw this movie and I found it to be very telling. Most people can't seem to take care of themselves by the time they're in their late 20's, but here is a kid who through a very strict but realistic mentor not only learns to take care of himself, but to be totally responsible for himself. I find it quite refreshing to see a movie, or any other popular culture, advocating that young people not only can but should accept responsibility for themselves and their actions. We, as a culture, tend to treat all kids under the age of 18 as if they can't possibly understand or be responsible for the actions. Very sad! This story tries to shatter that image, and in my opinion, does a wonderful job at it while telling a tale that if focused on correctly can be a great inspiration to a young person today.

This was on ShowTime or HBO a number of times in the early 80s when I saw it and whenever it was on I would stop down to watch it. Little Ricky Schroder is excellent at a young age and counters William Holden's maturity for an interesting balance of young and old. I'm not sure why the rating shows a 5.6 since over 60% of the votes for this film were over a 7 and the majority voted a 10. It is definitely worth a watch if you're a Holden fan like I am. While the premise seems unrealistic at first as we go through the movie we find there is much more to this than expected. I liked this movie for the outdoor scenery and the beautiful backwoods areas of Australia. If you get a chance to see this film, please do.

Patrick Foley (William Holden) is dying, and he's returned to New South Wales after decades of living in the U.S. He plans on making a dangerous trek to the secluded valley where he lived as a child in order to die there. His plans are interrupted when he encounters Shawn (Ricky Schroder), a small American child vacationing in the area with his mother and father. His parents were killed in an accident, and Patrick is forced to take the boy along with him, teaching him the ways of survival so that Shawn can make the journey back to civilization by himself.

I'm usually not a fan of family films, or ones with a kid as a main character, but this one grew on me over time, and by the end I was moved by it. Schroder is still often annoying, particularly when he's shouting that he's God while swinging a dead rabbit around. Holden is craggy and weathered and tired looking, but his usual world-weariness fits with his role as a dying man. The real stars of the film are the beautiful locations and the almost comically abundant wildlife, of all shapes and sizes. This was the next to the last of Holden's credited roles, the very last being the sardonic film "S.O.B". the following year.