Newsfront (1978) User Reviews

A great-looking film that never really comes together.

[SteveSkafte · 6/10 · 28 April 2010]

The difficulty with a film like "Newsfront" is how it tends to have the same approach to its characters as the characters have to themselves. Which is to say, a lot of emotional distance. The film is especially well directed, but it never really becomes the sum of all its parts. The best bits revolve around the newsroom stuff, so that the relationships seem rather unimportant by comparison. A much more recent film, "Good Night and Good Luck" is more balanced and intense in this respect.

Vincent Monton's cinematography is particularly good (He would work with Noyce 4 years later again on "Heatwave"). This is a film that's always fun to look at. The black & white is crisp and clean and the colour footage is warm and vibrant. But, in the end, it's like a pretty picture postcard. Fun to watch, but just too hard to get into.

Great doco, average screenplay

[jldowsing · 7/10 · 3 September 2021]

When respected film critic David Stratton rates a movie as his all time Australian favourite it's a high bar to reach. And there's no doubt Newsfront conveys a terrific sense of post WW2 life and times, fortified by the injection of a generous dose of archival newsreel footage.

But despite boasting so many of Australia's finest new wave actors, there's a certain emotional pull missing from the fictional narrative, script and characters around the real life events. Even the film's saddest moment, occurring during the 1955 Maitland floods, whilst technically clever on one level, lacked gravitas (not aided by the newsreel inspired music). And the stunning Wendy Hughes, who plays a strong female lead in the early going, becomes oddly passive and morose by the latter stages. Perhaps it was a deliberate pattern that went to Len Maguire's (played by Bill Hunter) effect on women, his ex-wife portraying a similar demeanour throughout.

Also curious was the back and forth between colour and black & white, which I found mildly distracting for lack of any logical pattern.

Interestingly, the project was originally conceived as a documentary, and whilst the surrounding story added some depth and context to the political and historical aspect, as a drama it felt like a skipping stone through time. Writer Bob Ellis' displeasure at the cuts to his screenplay might have been justified. Or maybe the production tried to achieve too much.

All criticism aside, overall Newsfront is an above average movie that will engage, until the final Cinetone credits, anyone with an interest in Australian cinema and history.

A finely crafted little film

[pae-sk · 10 February 2001]

This finely crafted little film from Australia has a freshness and spontaneity lacking in most major productions, and because it is so fresh and spontaneous, and because the actors are not known in the States (except for Bryan Brown, who has since made a name for himself) nothing is predictable. The backdrop of the newsreel industry, and the men and women dedicated to their careers is slightly reminiscent of some of those Warner Brothers pictures of the early 30's where everything happened in the pressroom or the police station or the hospital, the job itself structuring the plot and moving the characters' development forward. A thoroughly different and enjoyable film.

One out of the box !

[BruceCorneil · 9/10 · 6 March 2003]

A really good Australian film .Beautifully recreates the look and feel of Sydney as it was in the 1950s. This movie greatly impressed me when I first saw it during its initial cinema release and it still stands up very well. Fine directing job by Phil Noyce, wonderful camera work , thoughtful lighting and some fine performances across the board. An absolute "must see" for any students of '70's Australian cinema.One out of the box !

A totally enthralling masterpiece.

[opsbooks · 10/10 · 6 April 2003]

As a child growing up in the Sydney of the 1950s, I can readily identify with the content of this fine film. Each week I visited the Wynyard Newsreel cinema on George Street to watch the Cinesound (and usually 3 Stooges) shorts. Never has there been a better blending of B/W and colour in a film. Faultless production values round off a never to be forgotten movie experience.

Newsfront = Authenticity

[campbell-russell-a · 10/10 · 24 March 2013]

Many films set in the past don't really work for me because they put a modern-day spin on the attitudes and dialogue. Case in point - "Titanic". "Newsfront" is authentic not only because the characters wear the clothes or drive the cars of Australians from pre-1960, but because they move and speak like them. The writers of "Newsfront" didn't shy away from having characters say things that sound a bit daggy by today's standards. The problems and issues dealt with are also genuinely of the time. The language is authentic without the pandering to or the overuse of the stereotypical."I ought to knock your bloody block off" is used but at the absolutely right time and place and by the right character. Better still,Bruce Spence delivers it with the perfect intonation. It is Australia of the 1950's in a single sentence. There is humour and drama and there is warmth and sadness but never melodrama. There is Wendy Hughes who is surely the classiest actress Australia ever produced. What a face and voice! And there is a friendly rivalry that is by turns humorous and touching between Bill Hunter and John Ewart that could only be portrayed by two such fine actors.There is a wonderful score that is reminiscent of the soundtracks used on radio and early Australian TV. Lastly, there is great use of old footage from the newreels that were watched prior to the cartoons, the second feature and then the feature film. You got your money's worth in those days at the flicks. If you want intelligence and authenticity, this is the film for you.

More catalogue than story

[rooak · 5/10 · 28 December 2018]

Noyce's film has a stylish feel for the times, but no real sense of drama. His telling of the post-war history of the decline of the cinema movie reel because of the emergence of the daily news report on television had lots of good historical footage interspersed with his well-filmed and, generally, competently acted story. The problem was that he treated it as an opportunity to squeeze in as many historical references as possible. This left the development of the story to feel almost as though it was also a catalogue of events, each marked by a photo and year. It was a story with a number of tragic events, but no real emotional pull. I was disappointed.

Newsreel filmmakers find their identity in postwar Australia

[case-23 · 19 March 2000]

Phillip Noyce's historical and oddly prophetic first feature traces the story of two newsreel photographers in post-war Australia. Starting from the first waves of European post-war immigration, the storyruns through to the 1956 Olympic Games in Melbourne. As colour narrative and genuine black-and-white newsreel footage merge together with brilliantly recreated events(the 1954 Maitland flood scenes slip from story to newsreel quite seamlessly) so the stories of the characters, the newsreel industry (eventually to fall to television's instant power) and indeed the political development of the nation itself are cleverly intertwined in a multi-layered tour de force by editor John Scott.

Chris Hayward's cockney - and cocky - young camera assistant is a great foil to Bill Hunter's doggedly dependable and ever-cautious senior cameraman Len Maguire, trapped in a world of changing values, always knowing the "right" thing to do, but always troubled by the outcome as his marriage falters, his job is threatened by TV, and his company is taken over and its work marginalised. Meanwhile his brother and rival cameraman Frank, played by Gerard Kennedy "sells out" his values, abandoning his responsibilities, and heading off to success in the USA.

Scriptwriter Bob Ellis has remained a fierce supporter of a strong and distinctly Australian film industry (Newsfront was among the first of the features of the Australian "Renaissance" of the mid-70s), while director Phillip Noyce has found success in Hollywood with films he could never have made in Australia (Clear & Present Danger, Sliver, The Bone Collector). How would he treat Len and Frank today - who would be the hero?

This film is a compelling story, essential viewing for all film fans, film history fans, anyone interested in learning where Australian films emerged from, and a good yarn for everyone else.

take a step back and see what it was like in 1950s Australia

[s3082443 · 3 August 2004]

If you are interested in Australian Cinema this is a film for you. Although it is long, you will be thankful you sat it through. 'Newsfront' takes us back in time to a different Australia - a country that has no television or other technologies of today. Noyce uses the backdrop of the rivalry between the two newsreel production companies to explore the tensions that exist in the character's lives, set against the historical moments recorded in the Newsreels. With engaging characters and a superb depiction of what life was like in the newsreel industry of the 1950s, Noyce gives us an enjoyable and memorable experience of Australian film and national history.

decent oz new wave film

[jzathajenious · 27 October 2003]

i saw this film as part of my australian cinema course and i thought it was very good, if a little too long. casting was very good, with bill hunter doing a good job as len mcguire, the quintessential aussie battler who has old fashioned values and a strong commitment to his work. wendy hughes was absolutely GORGEOUS in this film, she puts many hollywood starlets to shame, she was so hot in this movie. the transitions from B&W to colour were inventive and the use of stock newsreel footage gave the film a sense of reality. overall, a good but not excellent aussie film.

needs subtitles

[cherold · 29 March 2009]

This movie had excellent cinematography, first in black and white, and a great sense of period. And the acting seemed quite good. The problem is, I had no idea what anyone was saying most of the time. I've seen Australian movies before and haven't had any problems with the language, but this movie was full of strange words spoken in the fast cadence that has long been used to represent old-fashioned newsmen. I tried to watch it for a while, because really, it looks like it would be a really good movie if I understood it, but it was just impossible. I once saw an English movie that was subtitled for Americans, because it was a very slangy sort of English, and I wish they'd done the same thing with this one.

Easily the best Australian film of the 70s

[BatonRougeMike · 13 August 2011]

Newsfront is a film with a great deal of integrity. It's superbly crafted and acted with a real feel for the times it deals with. It's a film made by Australians FOR Australians with a sense of, and love for, Australia's past. It's also funny, honest and moving. I've seen it many times now and it gets better with each viewing. I value Bill Hunter especially and, as an Australian, am proud of his achievements and his contribution to the cinema. I can't think of an Australian film that has affected me in quite the same way Newsfront has. It's a near flawless achievement and to those who think it too long I really think you ought to work on your attention spans.