Synopsis
In the Australian Outback, the Carmody family--Paddy, Ida, and their teenage son Sean--are sheep drovers, always on the move. Ida and Sean want to settle down and buy a farm. Paddy wants to keep moving. A sheep-shearing contest, the birth of a child, drinking, gambling, and a racehorse will all have a part in the final decision.
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Cast
- Deborah KerrIda Carmody
- Robert MitchumPaddy Carmody
- Peter UstinovRupert Venneker
- Glynis JohnsMrs. Firth
- Dina MerrillJean Halstead
- Chips RaffertyQuinlan
- Michael Anderson Jr.Sean Carmody
- Lola BrooksLiz Brown
- Wylie WatsonHerb Johnson
- John MeillonBluey Brown
Recommendations
- 100
TV Guide Magazine
Big, funny, tender and humane all at the same time, The Sundowners is a true "family" film, without any of the cloying connotations of that term. - 90
Variety
Jon Cleary's novel is the basic source from which director Fred Zinnemann's inspiration springs. Between Cleary and Zinnemann lies Isobel Lennart's perceptive, virile screenplay, loaded with bright, telling lines of dialog and gentle philosophical comment. But, fine as the scenario is, it is Zinnemann's poetic glances into the souls of his characters, little hints of deep longings, hidden despairs, indomitable spirit that make the picture the achievement it is. - 88
USA Today
Mitchum's celebrated skill with dialects has never been more evident. [02 Feb 2007, p.10D] - 83
IndieWire
A remarkably effective and absorbing picture (if a little too long), with another sterling performance from Mitchum. - 80
The New York Times
A sense of outdoor living and a tingle of open-air adventure are the breath of life in this film. - 80
Orlando Sentinel
A beautifully photographed, sentimental film about a family of itinerant Australian sheepherders who travel from job to job during the 1920s. - 80
Chicago Reader
A touching Fred Zinnemann movie (1960) about an Australian sheepherding family. - 80
The New Yorker
Though the story builds slowly (and the first half may seem a little pokey), the characters are more red-blooded and vigorous and eccentric than in most other Zinnemann films.
