THE MOVIE

Walter Chiari stars as Nino Culotta, an Italian immigrant who has just arrived in Australia. His cousin Leonardo has promised him a job as sports editor for a magazine called ‘La Seconda Madre’. Only trouble is that when Nino arrives he learns that his cousin has shot through and left Nino with a huge debt to pay. He even owes 232 pounds for his ticket to Australia, which his cousin borrowed off Ms Kay Kelly (Clare Dunne), the daughter of Harry Kelly (Chips Rafferty), the boss of a large Sydney construction firm.

Needing some money, Nino applies for a job as a builder’s labourer with a bloke by the name of Joe Kennedy (Ed Devereaux). He soon makes friends with his workmates Pat (Slim DeGrey), Dennis (John Meillon) and Jimmy (Charles Little) who teach him the Aussie lingo and local customs. On the weekend, he goes to Bondi Beach and visits Ms Kelly so he can make a down payment on the debt owed. He promises to make instalments each week. Thus a relationship between the two begins to blossom.

They’re A Weird Mob is based on the best selling book written by John O'Grady (writing under the pseudonym Nino Culotta). The film was directed by Michael Powell (The Red Shoes). The film also stars Tony Bonney, Jeanie Drynan, Barry Creyton, Charles Little and Anne Haddy. A very young looking Graham Kennedy also makes a cameo appearance.

THE TRANSFER

Video:

They’re A Weird Mob is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.85:1 widescreen and it is also 16:9 enhanced. This film is a restored feature from Screensound Australia (the National Screen and Sound Archive located in Canberra). The first thing you’ll notice about this transfer is that it’s loaded with film grain. It is evident in virtually every scene, with white specks showing up on dark backgrounds and black specks showing up on the light backgrounds. I guess it is too be expected given the age of this film.

Colours are somewhat muted and often vary quite markedly. Dramatic colour shifts even occur part way through scenes on occasion. The layer change sticks out like a sore thumb as well. It occurs between chapter 9 and 10 (82.49 minutes). Thankfully it has been placed in between two scenes so dialogue is not disrupted.

Audio:

This DVD comes with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 channel soundtrack. It isn’t the best but I’ve heard worse. Dialogue is generally clear but there are a number of audio synch problems. Thankfully there were no noticeable audio cracks or other sound glitches to be heard. This DVD also features English subtitles for the hearing impaired.

THE EXTRAS

TV Special: The Story of the Making of They’re A Weird Mob
As the title suggests, this is a documentary film about the making of the film They’re A Weird Mob. It runs for 54 minutes and is presented in black and white (1.33:1 full frame). This documentary film is presented by Ed Devereaux (Joe). It considers the book written by John O’Grady, which sold more than 400,000 copies. The director, Michael Powell, is also profiled and we get a look at some of his previous work (Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes).

The documentary film contains heaps of behind the scenes footage as well as screen tests, location scouting and interviews with several of the actors. It even reveals how the special effects at the start of the film were achieved in camera. Interestingly, this film was shot on a budget of $600,000 (around $3 million in today’s money).

Picture Gallery
Here you’ll find a number of black and white production and behind the scenes photos taken during filming of They’re A Weird Mob. All of the photos come with captions.

Original Theatrical Trailer
The trailer for this film is presented in an aspect ratio of 1.33:1 full frame and features Dolby Digital 2.0 channel sound. The trailer has a running time of 2.51 minutes.

SUMMARY

They’re A Weird Mob is said to be THE classic original Aussie hit comedy. It was filmed in 1966 and stars Walter Chiari as Nino Culotta, an Italian immigrant who quickly learns how to be an Aussie. The visual and audio transfer aren’t all that great, but if you’re into classic Australian films then this film might appeal to you.