 First US edition | |
| Author | Jon Cleary |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Scribner (US) Werner Laurie (UK) |
Publication date | 1952 |
The Sundowners is a 1952 novel by Australian writer Jon Cleary.
| First US edition | |
| Author | Jon Cleary |
|---|---|
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Scribner (US) Werner Laurie (UK) |
Publication date | 1952 |
The Sundowners is a 1952 novel by Australian writer Jon Cleary.
The story is set in the Australian Outback during the 1920s and deals with one year in the life of the Carmody family. Paddy Carmody, Australian-born son of Irish migrants, is an itinerant worker, travelling the country with his wife Ida and son Sean in a horse-drawn wagon. Whilst Ida longs to settle in a place of their own, Paddy is unwilling to abandon his way of life and continues to pick up work where he can. He takes cattle-droving jobs and also sheep-shearing – which he doesn't like, but pays well.
At one point, he joins a shearing team with Sean as tarboy and Ida as the shearers cook.
They meet various colourful outback characters, ranging from prosperous graziers to drunks, including Rupert Venneker, a well-educated Englishman in self-imposed exile.
Along the way. Sean develops from boy into young man. Venneker marries and settles in a small town. And the Carmodys continue on their way.
The book was based on stories Cleary had been told by his father, who ran away to Queensland when he was a teenager. Additional research was provided by C. E. W. Bean's On the Wool Track. [1] Cleary wrote the novel in long-hand during the evenings after work while he was living in New York working as a journalist, with the manuscript typed out by his wife Joy. [2] [3]
The novel was a great success, eventually selling over three million copies, and was well reviewed overseas. It was his second book to be published in the USA. [4]
It was adapted for Australian radio in 1953 (with Rod Taylor playing Paddy), [5] and film rights were purchased by the American producer Joseph Kaufman, then in Australia to make Long John Silver (1954). Kaufman commissioned a script from Australian author Kay Keavney. [3] No movie resulted, but the rights then transferred to Fred Zinneman who directed a film version in 1960. Stills from this film were used in a 1961 adaptation for the TV series Telestory , where the novel was read by actor Leonard Teale.
The character of Sean Carmody later appeared in Cleary's novel The City of Fading Light . [6]
The Sundowners is a 1960 Technicolor comedy-drama film that tells the story of a 1920s Australian outback family torn between the father's desires to continue his nomadic sheep-herding ways and the wife's and son's desire to settle down in one place. The film stars Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, and Peter Ustinov, with a supporting cast including Glynis Johns, Dina Merrill, Michael Anderson Jr., and Chips Rafferty.
Jedda is a 1955 Australian film written, produced and directed by Charles Chauvel. His last film, it is notable for being the first to star two Aboriginal actors, Robert Tudawali and Ngarla Kunoth, now known as Rosalie Kunoth-Monks, in the leading roles. It was also the first Australian feature film to be shot in colour.
D'Arcy Francis Niland was an Australian farm labourer, novelist and short story writer. In 1955 he wrote The Shiralee, which gained international recognition in its depictions of the experiences of a swagman and his four-year-old daughter. It was made into a 1957 film, starring Peter Finch, and a 1987 TV mini-series, starring Bryan Brown. Niland married fellow writer, Ruth Park (1917–2010), on 11 May 1942 and the couple had five children: Anne, Rory, Patrick and twin daughters, Kilmeny (1950–2009) and Deborah (1950–present). Niland died on 29 March 1967 of a myocardial infarction, aged 49.
John William Pilbean Goffage MBE, known professionally as Chips Rafferty, was an Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the late 1930s until his death in 1971, and during this time he performed regularly in major Australian feature films as well as appearing in British and American productions, including The Overlanders and The Sundowners. He appeared in commercials in Britain during the late 1950s, encouraging British emigration to Australia.
Jon Stephen Cleary was an Australian writer and novelist. He wrote numerous books, including The Sundowners (1951), a portrait of a rural family in the 1920s as they move from one job to the next, and The High Commissioner (1966), the first of a long series of popular detective fiction works featuring Sydney Police Inspector Scobie Malone. A number of Cleary's works have been the subject of film and television adaptations.
Nobody Runs Forever, also called The High Commissioner, is a 1968 political neo noir spy thriller film directed by Ralph Thomas based on Jon Cleary's 1966 novel The High Commissioner. It stars Rod Taylor as Australian policeman Scobie Malone and Christopher Plummer as the Australian High Commissioner in Britain caught up in corrupt dealings, during delicate negotiations. Taylor's production company was involved in making the film as was the American Selmur Productions.
The Green Helmet is a 1961 British film starring Bill Travers, Ed Begley and Sid James. The film is centred on a British motor racing team. It is based on a 1957 novel by Australian author Jon Cleary.
The Phantom Stockman is a 1953 Australian western film written and directed by Lee Robinson and starring Chips Rafferty, Victoria Shaw, Max Osbiston and Guy Doleman.
You Can't See 'Round Corners is a 1947 novel by Australian author Jon Cleary. It was his first published novel.
Scobie Malone is a fictional Sydney homicide detective created by Australian novelist Jon Cleary.
The Climate of Courage is a 1954 novel by Australian writer Jon Cleary. It was his fifth published novel. It is set during World War II and involves a group of Australian soldiers who have returned from service in the Middle East.
Justin Bayard is a 1955 novel by Australian author Jon Cleary about a policeman working in the Kimberley region. It was Cleary's sixth novel.
North from Thursday is a 1960 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary. It is set in New Guinea and concerns the eruption of a volcano, forcing a group of survivors to flee across the country. The story is based on the 1951 eruption of Mount Lamington.
Ransom was a 1973 novel by Australian author Jon Cleary, the third to feature his detective hero Scobie Malone. Cleary also wrote The Sundowners and The High Commissioner. The novel was published by Fontana Press on November 3, 1975.
A Very Private War is a 1980 novel by Australian writer Jon Cleary about coastwatchers during World War II.
Dragons at the Party is a 1987 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary. It was the fourth book featuring Sydney homicide detective Scobie Malone, and marked the character's first appearance in print in fourteen years.
Remember Jack Hoxie is a 1969 novel written by Australian author Jon Cleary. It was a deliberate departure from the author after writing a series of adventure novels, being set in the world of pop music.
The City of Fading Light is a 1985 novel written by Australian author Jon Cleary about a Hollywood actress who tries to rescue her Jewish mother from 1939 Berlin. The book features Sean Carmody, the character from his earlier novel The Sundowners.
A Different Turf is a 1997 novel from Australian author Jon Cleary, the fourteenth book featuring Sydney detective Scobie Malone. A series of gay bashings have taken place throughout Sydney and someone is murdering the culprits. Cleary explored the psychology of serial killers from Australia's leading police profiler, Inspector Bronwyn Killmier, who inspired the character of Tilly Orbost.
The Tin Scratchers: The Story of Tin Mining in the Far North is a 1959 autobiographical book by Ion Idriess.