The Sundowners

Released Dec 8, 1960

2h 13m

Drama

List

79%

Tomatometer

14 Reviews

64%

Audience Score

500+ Ratings

In 1920s Australia, Paddy Carmody (Robert Mitchum) is a roaming Irish sheepherder who loves his nomadic lifestyle. His wife, Ida (Deborah Kerr), and young son, Sean (Michael Anderson Jr.), don't share his wanderlust, and family tensions come to a head after Ida persuades Paddy to settle down with a steady job. Meanwhile, the family's boarder (Peter Ustinov) has to contend with the rigors of outback life and the attentions of a hotel-keeper (Glynis Johns) looking to land a husband.

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Penelope Houston

Sight & Sound

The Sundowners carries leisureliness to a point where it becomes self-defeating. There is not nearly enough in the film that has to be there, and far too much that is there merely to hold the straying eye.

Feb 10, 2020

Full Review

Trevor Johnston

Time Out

Zinnemann's customary care for detail pays occasional dividends, but the film goes on rather too long.

Jun 24, 2006

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Chicago Reader

A touching Fred Zinnemann movie.

Jan 1, 2000

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Zita Short

InSession Film

This serves as an effective rebuke to critics of Kerr who claim that she was only capable of playing ladylike, aristocratic types.

Feb 10, 2023

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

“The Sundowners” does run a tad too long, and there is an occasional lull or two. The absence of a more defined plot may be an issue for some as well. But the movie does a great job of selling its characters and drawing us to them.

Rated: 4/5

Aug 25, 2022

Full Review

Dwight MacDonald

Esquire Magazine

The Sundowners, directed by Fred Zinnemann, is a good film to take the kiddies to and I mean this as a compliment.

Jul 12, 2019

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Alec B

Billed as an epic, but this is more episodic and character driven and that is by no means a bad thing. Also everyone in the cast is more low key than you might expect which was a welcome choice.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/20/24

Full Review

Teresa R

I found this movie entertaining and enjoyable.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

04/27/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Billed as an epic, but this is more episodic and character driven and that is by no means a bad thing. Also everyone in the cast is more low key than you might expect which was a welcome choice.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/13/23

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christopher h

A lovely film with excellent performances!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

Full Review

steve d

The characters were flat and also unlikable.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

Audience Member

During this era Hollywood produced films that were essentially travelogues to bring in audiences from middle America who wanted to see other parts of the world depicted in fabulous Technicolor. This was one of the more successful and it earned a Best Picture nomination but other than shots of beautiful scenery and strong performances from Deborah Kerr, Glynis Johns and Peter Ustinov there is not much to recommend it. Modern audiences with little patience will likely be bored by the film as it is lacking in any real plot and the visuals will be less stunning than it was when less people were able to travel to Australia. Australian Paddy Carmody, Robert Mitchum, is a drifter who travels around the country working mainly as a sheepherder for various different employers. His wife Ida, Deborah Kerr, is irritated by this lifestyle and she and their young son Sean, Michael Carmody, Jr., plot to have him settle somewhere. In order to do this they need to have enough money to purchase a house and hope that if Carmody takes on a new job he will bring in these funds and find himself attached to a new town. When Carmody takes up a job as a sheepherder in Cawndilla he employs the stuffy British Rupert Venekker, Peter Ustinov, whom the family quickly befriend. Venekker is pursued by the vivacious barmaid Mrs. Firth, Glynis Johns, but their burgeoning romance is threatened by his intent to leave and move to another town and her other suitors. Carmody is initially successful as a professional sheepshearer while Ida takes on the role of chef for the men and becomes a close confidant of the wives of the women in the town. Carmody invests all of their savings in a horse, known as "Sundowner", but eventually agrees to settle down much to the delight of his wife. One thing that differentiates this film from others of it's era is it's positive depiction of marriage as Ida is no nagging shrew and she and her husband argue over his irresponsible actions while remaining supportive of one another. There is a surprisingly frank scene at the opening of the film in which the two make love and their banter back and forth seemed like that of two people who have been together for a long time and know each other's boundaries. Kerr and Mitchum also add dimension to the characters as although Mitchum's accent slips into his familiar American drawl far too often they are convincing as two hard living, Aussie larrikins. As usual Kerr is on hand to play a disciplinary figure of sorts but there is a warmth to her Ida that is missing in some of her other characterizations and the suspicion with which she regards her husband is the lens through which we view him. She should be applauded because she takes a role that does not have a great deal of layers in the screenplay and makes her more complex with her fear of losing her husband and security really coming to the fore. Mitchum is weaker than Kerr but he still gets the wounded pride of Carmody after he loses a sheep shearing competition as has great chemistry with his on screen wife. They are the real reason to watch the film as although Johns and Ustinov are fun in supporting roles there is not enough of them in the film to justify the two and a half hour running time. Where the film stumbles is in the fact that it has very little plot to run on and yet it is extremely long and largely feels padded with unnecessary scenes and ‘plot points' like Mitchum getting into a brawl at the local pub one night. Had the film been just 90 to 100 minutes it would have been a lot easier to like and were it just a study of the relationship between the Carmodys with a few turns from colorful supporting characters thrown in. Director Fred Zinnemann was often responsible for over long pieces of ‘entertainment' that could have had a lot of fat cut off of them but this was certainly a better film than A Nun's Story (1959) which put me to sleep.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

02/01/23

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Fred Zinnemann

Director

Deborah Kerr

Ida Carmody

Robert Mitchum

Paddy Carmody

Peter Ustinov

Rupert Venneker

Glynis Johns

Mrs. Firth

Dina Merrill

Jean Halstead

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Synopsis

In 1920s Australia, Paddy Carmody (Robert Mitchum) is a roaming Irish sheepherder who loves his nomadic lifestyle. His wife, Ida (Deborah Kerr), and young son, Sean (Michael Anderson Jr.), don't share his wanderlust, and family tensions come to a head after Ida persuades Paddy to settle down with a steady job. Meanwhile, the family's boarder (Peter Ustinov) has to contend with the rigors of outback life and the attentions of a hotel-keeper (Glynis Johns) looking to land a husband.

Director: Fred Zinnemann
Screenwriter: Isobel Lennart
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Bros.
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 8, 1960, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 1, 2012
Runtime: 2h 13m

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