Bush Country Adventure

Moviecut—Bush Country Adventure

Bush Christmas

Four children ride up a short cut despite their black friend's warning. They encounter two horse thieves who tell them not to reveal their presence. When a prized mare goes missing, the mystery men are suspected. The oldest kid Helen failed to warn her father beforehand and is distraught by her father's disappointment. The police gives up the search and ignores the children's suspicion for the thieves' hideout. The five children decide to search on their own. I love the Aboriginal kid teaching some bush skills. The danger is not that intense. Mostly, the situations are dangerous but one gets the sense that no kids would ever get hurt in this family film. Quite frankly, the ice house situation is more funny than scary, having the kids hang up like that. It reminds me of a couple of sitcoms with a comedic struggle while hung on a hook. All in all, this is a fine kiddie adventure with kiddie dangers and kiddie thrills.

Christmas doesn't play a large role in Bush Christmas, except as perhaps a motivator. It's primarily a film about youngsters surviving in scrublands of Australia. The child actors are alright, and while the story isn't extremely engaging always, it gets the job done. Yes I recommend it. James Welch Henderson, Arkansas 12/8/2020

The exotic wildlife looks without too much interest in this Aussie travelogue and template for the sort of thing the Children's Film Foundation were making ten years later as a trio of crooks (led inevitably by Chips Rafferty) are harassed by a bunch of kids. This being Down Under, there isn't the water for (SLIGHT SPOILER COMING:) the miscreants to get their usual dunking at the conclusion.

This film must have done wonders to get people to emigrate to Australia from the UK as the life style looked most appealing, except for the horse thieves of course. A great cast, especially the children, and very well shot and a pity it wasn't in colour but it was made in 1947 when colour was not all that common. The children came up with a variety of very inventive ways to delay the baddies who, as always, got their just deserts at the end. A great adventure well worth watching.

We're watching this every Christmas with our grandchildren. Very nice story,with the children as stars,the kids watching it can relate. Its old,but its timeless! Really a good old dinki di show!

I didn't really expect much going into this movie, why would I? The name, the age and even it's country of origin (my own country) didn't have much to offer it. That is probably a reason why I enjoyed this movie so much, it blew my low expectations out of the water. The film was shot a lot more cleanly than I expected, showcasing a nice look at Australian Bushland. The children actors, who if I'm to understand correctly were not very experienced, did a great job allowing me to believe their performance. To top it off it wasn't your typical holiday movie, its only tie to Christmas being the time of year it is set. I honestly can't recommend this movie enough. If you can get your hands on a copy I recommend watching it.

Given that this is one of the very first Children's Film Foundation movies in existence, I wasn't quite sure what to expect from it. The story is set in Australia and sees a group of kids hunting down some horse thieves including Chips Rafferty among their number. Would it be twee and dated? I needn't have worried in that respect; this is fun and inventive entertainment, with the kids displaying all kinds of HOME ALONE-style ingenuity in their battles with the adult villains, and the stunning wilderness scenery brings to mind the later classic WALKABOUT. Kudos too for the presence of Neza, the Aboriginal kid who proves an expert tracker and whose presence is handled with more sensitivity than expected.

The story could be tighter and the film shorter, but otherwise it's hard to find fault with this superb adventure film for children. The black and white cinematography is gorgeous - it's actually rather difficult to capture sweeping landscapes on black and white, but here it looks easy, it's so well done. The story is interesting, the dialog well written, the acting is superb - the kids never get annoying and remain authentic throughout, well supported by the adults who display a remarkable naturalism. Certainly it's "just for kids," that was its intent, and it succeeds admirably. If only one of the many versions of "Tom Sawyer" could have achieved such natural grace and energy! Has held up quite well after more than sixty years.