Another Threshold
Directed byKen G. Hall
Written byMichael Terry
Produced byKen G. Hall
StarringGrant Taylor
Peter Finch
Joe Valli
Muriel Steinbeck
Pat Firman
Production
companies
Cinesound Productions
Department of Information
Distributed byBEF
Release date
5 September 1942[1]
Running time
10 mins[2]
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Another Threshold is a 1942 Australian propaganda short film directed by Ken G. Hall and starring Peter Finch.[3][4]

It was produced for the Austerity Loan Campaign and features an appearance by then Prime Minister John Curtin.[5]

Premise

An Australian family have lost a son in action and discuss whether it was worth it. The father (Joe Valli) is a World War One veteran. One family member (Peter Finch) has returned from war service in the Air Force. Another (Grant Taylor) is in the army.

Cast

Reception

The Sydney Morning Herald wrote that:

The film's appeal from this angle is anything but forceful. In an amiable discussion that lacks strength and conviction because of its generalities and cliches, an average Australian family and some of their friends from the fighting forces review the situation in Australia today. They find much to be proud of in the country's war effort, despite certain elements of complacency in the community. In the general summing up, in a much too rambling and superficial argument, "squealers", "slackers", "lounge lizards", hoarders, blackmarket operator, and the rest of their kind are found to be very small fry when weighed in the balance against those who are earnestly doing their share in the struggle for victory... [a]rather too conscious effort.[6]

The Mercury said "the film is well produced and presented."[7]

Smith's Weekly called it "another excellent documentary for the Dept of Information" in which "refreshing candor marks the dialogue in which lack of effort by all classes of people comes in for censure. Mr. Hall's fearlessness is, In fact, to be as highly commended as his management of the film, which should certainly make the lazy minded think. Of the actors Joe Valli is the easiest and perhaps the most true to life, but Peter Finch turns in an outstanding job."[8]

The Daily Telegraph called it "ingeniously drawn, well-acted (Joe Valli is superb)... although a trifle over-dialogued, the film is the most vivid, most characteristic, of Australia's wartime shorts."[9]

References

  1. ^ "Advertising". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 4 September 1942. p. 2. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  2. ^ Pike, Andrew Franklin. "The History of an Australian Film Production Company: Cinesound, 1932-70" (PDF). Australian National University. p. 239.
  3. ^ ""Another Threshold"". The Truth. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 6 September 1942. p. 26. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  4. ^ "Peter Finch in Austerity Film", ABC Weekly, Sydney: Australian Broadcasting Commission, 4 (37), 12 September 1942, nla.obj-1329222967, retrieved 14 November 2023 – via Trove
  5. ^ "Documentaries That Grip". The News. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 7 September 1942. p. 5. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  6. ^ "New Films". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 7 September 1942. p. 9. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  7. ^ ""Another Threshold"". The Mercury. Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 8 September 1942. p. 6. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  8. ^ ""Another Threshold"". Smith's Weekly. New South Wales, Australia. 12 September 1942. p. 27. Retrieved 18 April 2020 – via Trove.
  9. ^ "The New Films". The Daily Telegraph. New South Wales, Australia. 6 September 1942. p. 27. Retrieved 18 April 2020 – via Trove.


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