SYNOPSIS
The war has ended and newsreel cameramen were recording events that changed the shape of the nation.
Len (Bill Hunter) is the top cameraman at Cinetone News, the battling Australian company, while Frank, his brother (Gerard Kennedy) heads up Newsco International, the Australian arm of an American Corporation. The brothers, who come from tough Irish-Catholic stock, have weathered the depression and defended their country. Their rivalry was fierce.
Len and his wife, Fay (Angela Punch-McGregor) are growing apart as she contends with a young family and the loneliness while Len is on assignment. Frank is an opportunist, who decides to try his luck in the American movie world, leaving A.G. Marwood, head of Cinetone, is fighting to keep the undercapitalised company going in the face of Newsco competition and the arrival of television. On Marwood’s death, Amy becomes an important and powerful employee at Cinetone.
Through their eyes we see the events which took Australia into a new era and brought about a major change which was to affect them all – Television.
“Newsfront” is the story of the loves and loyalties of a group of Australians whose work it was to capture, on screen the historic moments of a turbulent decade. The film brilliantly combines actual newsreel footage from Cinesound, Movietone and Fox Movietone News with drama.
“Newsfront encapsulates the passing of an earlier time… Newsfront remains luminous in the memory, standing the test of time better than almost any other film from that golden mid-70’s period of exuberance and vitality”
Australian Film
Geoff Gardner, Film Critic
STARRING
- BILL HUNTER – Len
- GERARD KENNEDY – Frank
- ANGELA PUNCH-McGREGOR – Fay
- WENDY HUGHES – Amy
- CHRIS HAYWOOD – Chris
- BRYAN BROWN – Geoff
CREW
- DIRECTOR – Phillip Noyce
- PRODUCER – David Elfick
- SCRIPTWRITER – Phillip Noyce
- Based on original screenplay by Bob Ellis