Kangaroo (1952) User Reviews

Desperados Along The Outback

[slokes · 6/10 · 5 March 2009]

"Kangaroo" is a decent film once you get past the lame title. There's hardly a kangaroo to be seen in the movie, but it seems the producers of this big-budget film shot on location in Australia wanted something to say "exotic" right away, and why take a chance misspelling "koala bear"?

Not otherwise much different from the types of films they called Westerns and made by the score in Hollywood in the 1950s, "Kangaroo" features Peter Lawford and Richard Boone playing a pair of outlaws, on the run after killing a no-good gambling-hall owner. They find themselves able to make their escape by pretending to have bought a herd of cattle from an old rancher with a drinking problem (Finlay Currie). And if the rancher happens to think one of them is his long-lost son, what's the harm in indulging him for some extra security?

Having low expectations of both Boone and especially Lawford going in, I was pleasantly surprised at how well the two anchored the proceedings as gritty, amoral partners of circumstance. Boone has a fun time playing a devil-may-care type with a deep vocabulary who makes his philosophy clear early on: "I never feel any regrets. I died years ago...To live, one must first die."

The two even manage to launder their bloody booty by giving it to the rancher and pretending its their payment to him in exchange for cattle. What if the cattle die, from a long-standing drought now gripping the whole region? Well, it's better than a noose for this pair, and as a game of chance, it's no worse a bet than any other either man has taken on in recent months.

Lawford's Richard Connor is the conscience of the pair, a solid backboard for the proceedings as Boone gnashes on the hammy script for all its worth. He has a hard time reconciling himself to pretending to be the rancher's long-lost son, especially after he gets a load of the rancher's other sibling Dell (Maureen O'Hara).

O'Hara is only okay here, a far cry from the light of so many John Ford movies shot around the same time. Director Lewis Milestone is himself no slouch, he shot "All Quiet On The Western Front" and gets value both from the location shoots and isolated moments like when a few raindrops plink down on dusty ground.

"Kangaroo" offers a ripping set-up, and in sequences like a long cattle drive where parched cows attract crows while the cattle drivers wait in vain for rain, you feel the desperation of the story and its main characters right in your guts. Perhaps I was the victim of a poorly-edited cut, but my 85-minute version of the movie feels otherwise gruesomely truncated, especially when a sudden whipfight breaks out in the last five minutes and is resolved by an off-camera gunshot. Not a way to end a movie!

Still, there's more to like than not to like here, even if the plot feels at times lamely stretched to take in such vintage Australian elements as aborigines and boomerangs. Everyone wears a Crocodile Dundee hat, too. Yet there's a charm to all this, too, in Hollywood's first movie shot in Australia playing like a Randolph Scott western with a bigger budget and more ambitious cinematography.

The biggest problem is the truncated sense of time; one can imagine the film going a little longer in certain directions, fleshing out story lines that seem to wither here. Maybe it did, and I was only the victim of a cheap DVD transfer. I liked "Kangaroo" enough to enjoy the better parts and not sweat the weaker stuff so much. Not great, as I said, but decent entertainment.

Kangaroo is an interesting early Hollywood-Australian production

[tavm · 6/10 · 22 June 2007]

Peter Lawford and Richard Boone are two criminals who befriend on old drunk (Finley Currie) who turns out to be the rancher father of Maureen O'Hara who's been looking for him for two weeks. All this takes place, and entirely filmed, in the wonderful outback of Australia where you see the Aborigines dance for rain, kangaroos hopping, and flocks of birds flying around. Plenty of exciting scenes of stampede herding of steer and windmill stopping and fights between Lawford and Boone. One part I wasn't too crazy about was one when O'Hara and Lawford were about to kiss in the middle scene since Peter was supposedly passing himself off as the long-lost son of her father! Good thing it didn't happen then! Pretty good direction from old pro Lewis Milestone. Worth a look for old-time movie buffs.

Somewhat disappointing

[artzau · 6/10 · 15 March 2003]

You look at this cast, Peter Lawford, Maureen O'Hara, Chips Rafferty, Richard Boone and Finlay Currie, and you'd think this would be a winner. Well, not quite. The story line which draws on the fortunes of an Irish immigrant (Currie) and his daughter (O'Hara)to rural Australia just kind of wears out. Boone, of course, is at his hammy best as the bad guy and Lawford, in his pre-Ratpack days, provides the romantic interest but the story just seems to run out of steam, even with the efforts of veteran Aussie character actor, Chips Rafferty. If it shows up one night on the late show, you might want to watch it but I doubt if you'll remember much of it afterwards.

An Identifiable Aussie Image

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 2 October 2011]

Kangaroo which is the title of this first Hollywood production shot in Australia has this title if for no other reason than to give the movie-going public an identifiable Aussie image. It could have been entitled duck billed platypus and I wish they'd featured one or two of those in the film. As it was there weren't all that many kangaroos to see.

Maureen O'Hara actually fought to get into this film according to her memoirs and then regretted it. She liked the original script as a straightforward Aussie western and looked forward to the trip. Darryl Zanuck was going to cast his current mistress in the part, but Maureen talked him into using her.

However once she got to Australia the story was changed to include an incest angle that she found abhorrent. Part of the plot involved a pair of confidence men and robbers played by Peter Lawford and Richard Boone to lead Maureen's father Finlay Currie into believing Lawford is his long lost son. It wasn't real necessary to the story in my opinion either.

The fact that this was a first Hollywood production there and that any disharmony might have caused an international incident between the USA and Australia kept her from walking off the set. Not that there weren't problems with her co-stars, both Lawford and Boone she says treated her badly, especially after they were caught in a nasty scandal there that never saw the light of day until her memoirs.

On the other hand the scenes on the Australian outback are nicely done and when all is said and done, the film is just an average western set in the land down under.

The next Hollywood production shot there was The Sundowners and while star Robert Mitchum had his problems with the Aussie press also, The Sundowners is a light years better film than Kangaroo.

Every Icon in Australia was in it.

[swojtak · 7/10 · 31 March 2014]

Being half Australian myself and knowing something about Australia, I really liked the movie. In addition, I am a "Paladin" fan so it was great to see Boone in the movie. As far as icons, I saw Chips Rafferty, koala bears, kangaroos, joey's (small kangaroos), two-up (the gambling using two coins tossed up in the air after resting on a piece of wood), the word tucker (food), cockatoos (the white bird), and the Australian Kingfisher bird. There were also the aborigines aka Abos (natives) with their boomerangs and spears with throwing boards (they help throw the spears). Shown too were the Abos on a walkabout. That is where they travel in groups. There was also drought, bush fires, and the men carrying on their shoulders the short whip they use for the cattle. Also mentioned was how good the Abos are in tracking. They are world famous as being the best in the world. Like Chips said, they can track a man by the shadow the man left on a rock a week before. I kept waiting to see what else showed up. For additional information, I can throw a boomerang--ask me how! All in all a good and interesting movie.

Uninspired dusty outback tale, centered on moos, not roos.

[weezeralfalfa · 3/10 · 18 April 2014]

Maureen O'Hara, in her prime, is wasted in this rather dreary , pointless, outback yarn, shot in Technicolor, on location in Australia. Fortunately, she would rebound with 2 of her best roles, in "The Quiet Man" and "Against All Flags", where she had more interesting leading men(John Wayne, Errol Flynn) than the badly miscast urbane Peter Lawford, barely recognizable behind all that facial hair.

In a minimal effort to justify the title, we do see a couple of roos hopping about in one scene. But, at times, we see many more thirsty, hungry , cattle, who only have wind-blown dust to eat much of the time. The plot is an unfocused mishmash, that never really grabs our attention and never comes to any dramatic conclusion, aside from a big rainstorm that finally ends the long drought, that has the townies doing 'a rain dance'. Shortly before this, Lawford and Boone engage in a bizarre fight with bullwhips and a rifle, after being spotted in the bush by a couple of lawmen. ......Maureen, after begging to be included, wanted out after discovering what it was really going to be like. Perhaps the only saving grace for contemporary audiences was the brief shots of some of the native animals and natives, at a time when such weren't commonly available.

A thrilling , emotive and compellingly dramatic adventure set in Australian pioneering days

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 11 December 2021]

This is a 1952 epic Aussie Western adventure in dazzling and glamorous Technicolor . During early 20th century Australia a young man who goes bankrupt is attempting to find cash to afford him to go back home and he'll stop at nothing to get it . The young called Richard Connor (Peter Lawford) checks into a Sydney boarding house where he's mistaken for an alcoholic rancher's long-lost son . The same night Richard attempts to steal a stranger , John Gamble (Richard Boone) , but when he finds out that this person too is broke , they befriend , join forces and decide together to steal a local gambling house . Just by chance , they meet the drunk rancher (Finlay Currie) again. The rancher insists the young Richard is his lost son . When Richard and his robber colleague discover that , they decide to carry out a set-up about the long-lost son and claim the eventual inheritance . However , the rancher's daughter , Dell (Maureen O'Hara) , becomes an unforeseen obstacle to their twisted schemes . Then the two pals become rivals for the affection of the rancher's gorgeous daughter . A roaring chip on their shoulder---A rousing challenge on their lips! . There's a new word for Excitement ...There's a new name for Adventure . They're real people , fun people , fervent people. We see the wild aborigines of Australia dance the blood-tingling corroboree . They have a tremendous urge to keep breathing. Their rousing story comes roaring across six thousand miles of excitement...You are part of its blazing excitement...its elemental drama...its rousing laughter, all of which made 'Kangaroo' the year's record-shattering tops in entertainment ! Dedicated to the Pioneers who made Australia Great!. Adventure...As far as the eye can see! .The Cry of Mighty Adventure! . The continent time Tribute to greatness...to-night screen history is made ...as "Kangaroo," the first feature film in Technicolor produced by Hollywood in Australia, makes its debut before distinguished audiences at gala charity previews in Canberra, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane and Port Augusta (S. A.) ...memorable occasions to mark the beginning of a new phase of this great enterprise ...Soon all Australia will be seeing the motion picture that has excited world-wide interest...Two years to make but worth waiting for . A motion picture of Australia - for Australia - expertly made as only Hollywood knows how ! Australia as seen through the eyes of Lewis Milestone who gave you impressive films . Thrill to a new kind of outdoor adventure !

This is a nice movie that blends a renowned cast , the rugged country and the joyous adventure classic . A mighty drama of Australian adventure set in turn-of-the-century , where two criminals ingratiate and join themselves to execute a robbing and subsequently proceeding a complex swindle , but then things go wrong . An exciting , unusual and consistently dramatic action-adventure set in the Australian Outback , being first and only Technicolor production made in Australia and in which excitement stampedes the screen . As the cameras record the sight and sound of aborigines in the exciting dance of the corroboree and they have caught the thunder of thirst-crazed herds, the scream of the boomerang, and a bull-whip fight never before seen on the screen ; in addition we see Kangaroos , giant lizards , wombats, dingos, bull ants , extinct everywhere else for 60,000,000 years . Here stands out the moving and rousing musical score by the classic composer Alfred Newman and being well cinematographed in blazing and brilliant Technicolor by Charles G. Clarke . Interpretations are uniformly acceptable, all of them contributing fortright performances , stars the red hair Mauren O'Hara as the stubborn young confronted with all manner of prejudice and temptation to three suitors : Peter Lawford , Richard Boone and Chip Rafferty . As Peter Lawford as a young broke man who's wishing to take money at whatever cost to allow him to return home, though eventually falling in love . While Richard Boone's Gamble giving a magnificent study of cynical opportunism . Likewise the veteran Finlay Currie as the drunk rancher who has an extensive property.

The motion picture was professionally directed by Lewis Milestone . This one was a vintage filmmaker who shot a lot of films in all kinds of genres with penchant for warlike genre , getting some masterpieces . As Lewis Milestone directed the following ones : " Mutiny on the Bounty" , "Oceans' 11", "Pork Chop Hill" , "Halls of Moctezuma" , "Arch of Triumph" , "The Strange Love of Martha Ivers" , "Of Mice and Men" , "The General died at Dawn", "The Front Page" , "All Quiet on the The Western Front" , "The Garden of Eden" . Rating : 6.5/10 . Well worth watching . Essential and indispensable seeing for Maureen O'Hara fans.

Two thumbs down and hippety-hop out of here.

[bombersflyup · 1/10 · 20 February 2023]

Kangeroo or otherwise known as The Australian Story is a dreary, unmemorable and monotonous mid-day movie type film.

With no likeable characters, an unfocused plot and weak performances. Even Maureen O'Hara who was wonderful in "Miracle on 34th Street," adds nothing positive here. There are bits and pieces of Australia and a representation of the harsh landscape. One of the main characters has a throw of two-up, an Aussie gambling pastime, but the scene's so brief, that it wouldn't captivate anyone. The plot sort of just tapers away and ends poorly, including a whip fighting scene out of some ridiculous kung fu film. Two thumbs down.

Fairly good plot but....

[PatrynXX · 5/10 · 22 April 2020]

Yet another movie without a real ending. Alot of Westerns even down under, don't seem to have an ending which makes it hard to rewatch them. Although having bad VCI somehow get the rights to it. That was the worst restoration I ever did see on a dvd. Restoration about as much as putting it simply on a disc. Little else. I hope it gets a proper restoration. As for what's in a name for the movie's sure there is plenty of Kangaroo's in it. and dead ones. A plot hole though is why the cattle. Not well explained. One thing I did learn is that swinging sound maker the aborigines use. I'd thought it was only a gizmo Crocodile Dundee used in the second movie. Nope made the same noise here too. 35 yrs before the other one or so. I do think there was some Chemistry from the love interest and Maureen. But not alot (so goes the trivia and the Gay bar or whatever it was. It was well worth the watch I won't say it's that bad. Just tired of no ending movies. :(

Quality: 8/10 Entertainment 3/10 Re-Playable: 2/10

THIS IS A WINNER

[grahamvr · 8/10 · 7 January 2021]

Good old fashion action drama set in the outback of Australia and actually filmed there. No cgi in this good adventure. Excellent cast of the day, great action, good music score, cinematography very good and one of the best dire history of its time. Cattle stampede, bushfires and kangaroos, what more can you want from a story. See it for what it is and don't judge it on things some reviewers obviously know nothing about. Now available mon PRIME.

It just misses the mark.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 18 July 2021]

"Kangaroo" is an unusual film because it was made by Hollywood...on location in Australia. However, oddly, the stars are all Brits or Irish or Americans!

When the story begins, two crooks, Richard and John (Peter Lawford and Richard Boone), meet up and decide to fleece a nice old guy (Finlay Currie). However, as the film progresses, the nicer of the two crooks has second thoughts.

The problems for me are that the story never is very interesting and both leading men were awful....so I had a hard time caring for either. Overall, a mildly interesting time passer, and it's in color, but otherwise uninspired.