Fascinating trivia (and any goofs) connected with the film
- Alida Chelli was the girlfriend of leading man
Walter Chiari and almost didn't get the part because
she was thought to be too glamorous and might have upstaged
female lead Clare Dunne.
- "The House That Nino Built" was in Greenacre, a suburb of Sydney,
Australia. Actors dug trenches, poured concrete, laid bricks, etc.
The house was finished by George Wimpey & Co. Ltd. and then sold to
raise funds for The Royal Life Saving Society. The stars footprints
were set in concrete slabs in the pathway.
- The 'dream house' that Nino plans to build for Kay would be
sited on Dobroyd Point. North of
Manly Beach and right near it is Grotto Point! - further out than
Cremorne Point. Grotto Point has a lighthouse which resembles a small
Greek church.
- The cast and crew had a long weekend at Smiggin Holes, Kosiusko
Park in the Snowy Mountains as a working holiday after the main
filming was completed. Some pick up shots were made there.
- Graham Kennedy, the man in the car who asks for directions, was the host of the long running "In Melbourne Tonight" TV show. The friendly rivalry between Sydney & Melbourne was the reason why, when he asks where the Channel-9 studios are,, the passer-by tells him to get out of town & get back to Melbourne.
- Ray Hartley, the newsboy who helps Nino sort out his change, played children on Australian radio for years and was probably getting on for 50 when the film was made.
- The barmaid behind the bar (The Marble Bar) where Nino and "the fat man" shout each other a drink, is Anne Haddy, better known as Helen Daniels in long running Aussie soap "Neighbours".
- Muriel Steinbeck, who played Kay's mother, was a well known radio
actress who was usually heard doing Barbara Stanwyck roles such as
Sorry, Wrong Number.
- The
National Library of Australia holds a collection of the
Papers of John O'Grady which includes:
-
Box 1; Folder 4
Correspondence with Michael Powell and others
concerning film scripts. Letters from actors.
Hunting chapter deleted from They're a Weird Mob.
-
Box 2; Folder 17
Projects '66-'67; includes ideas for a "Weird Mob"
cartoon strip
-
Box 2; Folder 18
"Weird Mob" film treatment
-
Box 3; Folder 22
draft screen play for They're a weird mob
-
Box 3; Folder 23
Weird Mob film (diary of the making of the film)
-
Box 3; Folder 24
They're a Weird mob (presumed first draft, handwritten in minute book)
-
Box 3; Folder 25-26
They're a weird mob (handwritten, loose leaf, as
sent from Samoa, with handwritten pages deleted
from original manuscript)
-
Box 7; Folder 61
They're a weird mob (referred to in Samoan letters
but never produced, handwritten loose-leaf pages,
cardboard front and back covers detached)
-
Box 9; Folder 73
"Weird Mob" tour of Vietnam
-
Box 9; Folder 80
Screenplay for Weird Mob by Richard Imrie (with
handwritten notes)
- WOW!!
[Richard Imrie is of course Emeric Pressburger]
-
Box 9; Folder 81
They're a weird mob screenplay by Richard Imrie
(with handwritten notes)
-
Box 9; Folder 82
They're a weird mob screenplay by Richard Imrie
-
Box 9; Folder 83
On the beach (screenplay by John Paxton; given to
O'Grady while discussing Peck version of Weird Mob
as film)
[Gregory Peck optioned TaWM while he was filming On the Beach
(1959) in Australia. Fred Astaire had passed him the book.
But Peck couldn't find any producers interested in making a film
of TaWM so he passed the option over to Powell.]
-
Box 9; Folder 95
File entitled "Film notes They're a weird mob et
al, includes assorted papers, including copy of Il
progresso, December 25 1965
Plenty of material there for any researchers.
