Sunstruck -1972
Good ‘evans it’s Evans
Director
James Gilbert

Writer
Stan Mars

Starring
Harry Secombe
John Meillon
Dawn Lake
Maggie Fitzgibbon
Bobby Limb
Dennis Jordan
Peter Whittle
Stuart Wagstaff
Norm Erskine
Jack Allen
John Armstrong
Jeff Ashby
Benita Collings
Roger Cox
Donald Houston
Tommy Mack
Charles McCallum

Review by Noel Bailey

A teacher’s rude awakening in outback New South Wales
Well-loved little film that has stood the test of time. Rare dramatic performance from ex-goon, the late Harry Secombe. Here he plays a Welsh schoolteacher who has long dreamed of a move to Australia, where minimal research has led him to believe that sun, surf and girls are on tap! On his arrival at hicksville, the one-horse town of Kookaburra Springs in the blazing outback and where he has been commissioned to run the local school there, reality and fantasy clash head on.

Best described as a fish-out-of-water comedy, the film plays it for laughs, pathos, romance and light drama. Absolutely nothing to offend anyone. Filmed in and around the Parkes area (THE DISH!!) the cast here is uniformly good and lends Secombe great support.

Scripted by Stan Mars, at no stage does the film lag. True it is a little dated, but what would you expect just on thirty years later? Neat music score from Brian West….oh yeah, plenty of sun too!!!