Squeeze a Flower
Australian daybill film poster
Directed byMarc Daniels
Written byCharles Isaacs
Script reconstruction by
  • Walter Black
Produced byGeorge Willoughby[1]
StarringWalter Chiari
Jack Albertson
Dave Allen
Rowena Wallace
Alec Kellaway
Kirrily Nolan
Michael Laurence
Alan Tobin
Jeff Ashby
Bobby Limb
Dawn Lake
Barry Crocker
CinematographyBrian West
Edited byStanley Moore
Music byTommy Leonetti
Production
companies
Distributed byBritish Empire Films
Release date
13 February 1970
Running time
102 minutes
CountriesAustralia
United States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$750,000[2][3]

Squeeze a Flower is a 1970 Australian comedy film directed by Marc Daniels and starring Walter Chiari.

Plot

Brother George is the only monk at the Italian Monastery who knows the secret recipe of the popular liqueur that is the sole source of income for the monastery. When he feels their sole distributor, a local wine merchant, is not giving the monastery a fair price, he leaves and moves to Australia. There he works at a vineyard picking grapes and starts making the liqueur in his spare time.

George then comes to the attention of the winery owner Alfredo Brazzi and the two agree to a partnership to make the liqueur. Alfredo is unaware George is a monk and that he sends 50 percent of the money back to his Italian monastery.

Alfredo and his son-in-law Tim constantly try to steal the secret recipe. They recruit June for their skulduggery, but she falls in love with George, also unaware of his religious calling. Finally, the Italian wine merchant travels to Sydney, willing to make a deal with Brother George. The merchant ends up paying double the price he had previously rejected.[4]

Cast

  • Walter Chiari – Brother George
  • Jack Albertson – Alfredo Brazzi
  • Rowena Wallace – June Phillips
  • Dave Allen – Tim O'Mahoney
  • Kirrily Nolan – Maria O'Mahoney
  • Alec Kellaway – The Abbot
  • Michael Laurence – Brother James
  • Alan Tobin – Brother Peter
  • Charles McCallum – Brother Sebastian
  • Harry Lawrence – Vequis
  • Roger Ward – Bosun
  • Harry Britton – Photographer
  • Alex Mozart – Truck Driver
  • Sandy Harbutt – Grape Picker
  • Amanda Irving – Grape Picker
  • Jeff Ashby – Bert Andrews
  • Penny Sugg – Stewardess
  • Sue Lloyd – Receptionist
  • Barry Crocker – Waiter
  • Lea Denfield – Flower Seller
  • Pat Sullivan – Laboratory Assistant
  • Bobby Limb - Bobby Lambert
  • Dawn Lake - Dawn Lambert

Production

The film was meant to be the first in a proposed series of ten films made jointly by NLT Productions and Group W. NLT Productions was a television production company in Sydney and was supported by Motion Picture Investments, a company associated with various Australian businessmen including Sir Reginald Ansett.[5] Group W was a division of the American Westinghouse Broadcasting Company.[2]

Leading cast and crew were imported: the director, writer and producer were all American and the lead actors were from overseas: Italian Walter Chiari, American Jack Albertson and Irish David Allen. It was Allen's first major film role.[6]

Filming began in mid February 1969 and only took a month. Shooting took place in the studio of Ajax Films in Sydney and on location in St Patrick's College, Manly, and Mount Pleasant vineyard in the Hunter Valley.[2][7]

Walter Chiari had previously made They're a Weird Mob (1966) in Australia. He married his girlfriend during the shoot.[8]

Release

The film's premiere in Sydney was attended by Australian Prime Minister John Gorton but the movie was not well received, commercially or critically.[2]

References

  1. ↑ "Foreign actors for Australian film". The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia. 3 January 1969. p. 10. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 246
  3. ↑ Hall, Sandra (15 February 1969). "Who's filming what". The Bulletin. p. 42.
  4. ↑ "Italian monk with a secret liqueur recipe". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 18 February 1970. p. 26. Retrieved 3 September 2012.
  5. ↑ "Mr ANSETT ON BOARD". The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia. 13 March 1969. p. 3. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  6. ↑ "Comedian returns". The Canberra Times. National Library of Australia. 18 February 1969. p. 3. Retrieved 10 December 2013.
  7. ↑ ""SQUEEZE A FLOWER"". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 21 May 1969. p. 17. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
  8. ↑ "Happiness is a man called Walter Chiari". The Australian Women's Weekly. National Library of Australia. 2 April 1969. p. 3. Retrieved 11 September 2012.
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