This movie is one of those films over shadowed when it was released because of the top films of 1939. It is a solid "B" feature, a swash buckling adventure attempt from the Hal Roach studios to make a film like 1938's Robin Hood, using a different setting and black and white film. It succeeds more than one would realize.
While the list of stars in this one is not A List, a fair amount of the cast worked for careers in films ranging from Titanic (1953) to The Quiet Man (1952) and others. One of the strengths of this movie is the cast as they really do a great job acting on a solid script.
It is quite easy to recognize the Culver City, California western sets which are being used as Australia here. The story of Blokes in Australia and the history of the British sending their prisoners to the Island to get rid of them is pretty accurate, and the minds of a couple of very capable screenwriters put this script together well. The reason the history is covered and feels well is due to Grover Jones work as he very a very adept screen writer. A year later, another of his screen plays based on some real history, Dark Command, Republics only teaming on screen of John Wayne and Roy Rogers proves where things would move on from here.
There is one sequence with Kangaroos which is put in to try and give the Australian feel to this. The cast does a good job selling this is actually happening in that country. This film and Raoul Walsh's Dark Command are both films which have Western Casts doing something different. The difference is this one has a much lower budget and a B cast from the Roach studios. This film does hold it's own quite nicely, though it is a bit dated now.
Prisoners helping settler's whose freedom is being threatened is a Robin Hood type of plot. In this instance, pretty well done.
While the list of stars in this one is not A List, a fair amount of the cast worked for careers in films ranging from Titanic (1953) to The Quiet Man (1952) and others. One of the strengths of this movie is the cast as they really do a great job acting on a solid script.
It is quite easy to recognize the Culver City, California western sets which are being used as Australia here. The story of Blokes in Australia and the history of the British sending their prisoners to the Island to get rid of them is pretty accurate, and the minds of a couple of very capable screenwriters put this script together well. The reason the history is covered and feels well is due to Grover Jones work as he very a very adept screen writer. A year later, another of his screen plays based on some real history, Dark Command, Republics only teaming on screen of John Wayne and Roy Rogers proves where things would move on from here.
There is one sequence with Kangaroos which is put in to try and give the Australian feel to this. The cast does a good job selling this is actually happening in that country. This film and Raoul Walsh's Dark Command are both films which have Western Casts doing something different. The difference is this one has a much lower budget and a B cast from the Roach studios. This film does hold it's own quite nicely, though it is a bit dated now.
Prisoners helping settler's whose freedom is being threatened is a Robin Hood type of plot. In this instance, pretty well done.