Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
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Susannah Fowle | ... | Laura Tweedle Rambotham |
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Dorothy Bradley | ... | Miss Hicks |
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Patricia Kennedy | ... | Miss Chapman |
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Sheila Helpmann | ... | Mrs. Gurley |
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Candy Raymond | ... | Miss Zielinski |
Terence Donovan | ... | Tom McNamara | |
Barry Humphries | ... | Rev. Strachey | |
John Waters | ... | Rev. Shepherd | |
Kerry Armstrong | ... | Kate | |
Sigrid Thornton | ... | Maria | |
Alix Longman | ... | Chinky | |
Julia Blake | ... | Isabella Shepherd | |
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Kay Eklund | ... | Mrs. Rambotham |
Max Fairchild | ... | Mr. O'Donnell | |
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Jan Friedl | ... | Miss Snodgrass |
Oscar-nominated director Bruce Beresford (Driving Miss Daisy, Tender Mercies) crafts a tender coming-of-age tale that introduces one of Australian literature's most beloved characters to the screen, Laura Tweedle Rambotham (Susannah Fowle). Written by Anonymous
What a real feeling of Australia this film has. It is like a documentary, unapologetically showing us teenage girls as bullies and snobs. Their cruelty is matched only by an underlying innocence. The film does not hate them, but shows them for what they are - all too human. This includes the heroine in her struggles to stand out. She does because she has a talent for music, nurtured by her long-suffering mother. Great supporting cast and background detail. Another remarkable fact is that the same director and production team who made all those ocker comedies had the versatility to adapt a literary classic.