They're a Weird Mob

They're a Weird Mob (1966) is one of the last collaborations by the British filmmakers Powell & Pressburger.

Story

Nino Culotta (Walter Chiari) is an Italian immigrant, newly arrived in Australia. He is expecting to work for his cousin as a sports writer on the Italian magazine his cousin has been producing. But when he gets there he discovers that his cousin has left leaving a substantial debt to Kay Kelly (Clare Dunne). Nino declares that he will get a job and pay back the debt.

The film tells how he does this, making new mates, and the growing attraction between Nino & Kay. All this despite some difficulties with Australian slang and Kay's father (Chips Rafferty) and his dislike of Italians.

Production

The film is based on the book of the same name by "Nino Culotta" (pen name of John O'Grady).

The book had been optioned many times before but nobody had figured out how to make it into a decent film. Michael Powell managed to make it into a film that showed Australia from the point of view of an outsider while still avoiding many of the worse sterotypes.

There were a few attempts at writing the scrip but none of them worked until Powell brought in his old friend Emeric Pressburger who wrote it under the pseudonym Richard Imrie.

The film is said to have been one of the factors that led to an Australian Film Industry.

External links

• They're a Weird Mob at the Internet Movie Database
• Reviews and articles at the Powell & Pressburger Pages