LOVE OF AN ICON: THE LEGEND OF CROCODILE DUNDEE, Australia, 2025. Directed by Victoria Baldock, Delvene Delaney. 88 minutes. Rated PG (Mild coarse language)
Yes, it is almost 40 years since the release of Crocodile Dundee, which became part of our national consciousness with its enormous popularity in Australia, then around the world. With the death of its producer, John Cornell, his wife of 46 years, Delaney, started to look at the various boxes he had kept, discovering old reels, photos, souvenirs and negatives. And, with her collaborator, Baldock, she has shared them with cinema audiences, helping many to relive that enjoyable past, inviting younger audiences into the world of Crocodile Dundee.
There are three interesting sections in the film. In the first 30 minutes, we revisit the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on that harbour bridge worker and part-time television comic, Paul Hogan, who then gets his own show. Happily, Hogan is interviewed throughout this film. We are back in that era of Australian comedy, the introduction of Hoges’ rather dopey sidekick, Strop (Cornell himself), their collaboration with bright new young star, Delaney, and working with television director, Peter Faiman. Plenty of clips, plenty of interviews, especially with the television CEOs of the period. And, throughout the film, a long interview with Faiman.
After getting to know Hoges again, the second part of the film focuses on the making of the film. It was a first film for Hogan, Cornell and Faiman. There are interviews with their top cinematographer, Russell Boyd, the composer, Peter Best, their memories of the making of the film. There are interviews from archives with star, John Meillon, as well as with David Gulpilil and sequences with the Indigenous cast. And, 40 years on, a long interview with co-star, Linda Kozlowski, happily reminiscing.
We are in the Northern Territory, the vast desert, the small town, the Indigenous community, the large prop crocodile, and close-ups of a lot of the filming. Then we are in New York – the noisy contrast to the silence of the NT. And, what we will probably be eagerly waiting for, the filming of the sequence, ‘now that’s a knife’ and the fact that the take in the film was initially overlooked and had to be rescued from the garbage bin.
The third part of the film starts with its premiere in Australia, the immediate successful response, everybody enjoying it, the huge box office, television interviews, the retrospect. Of interest is the release of the film in the US, interviews with executives from Paramount and their memories of other studios rejections before their acceptance. And then the extraordinary US box office, second only to Top Gun in 1986, Golden Globe for Hogan and Oscar nomination for the screenplay.
Thanks to Delaney and engaging commentary throughout for the opportunity for memories, nostalgia, laughter, this portrait of the larrikin Australian which is now deeply embedded in our consciousness. For those who lived through the ’70s, happy television memories. For those who lived through the ’80s, the immediate experience of Crocodile Dundee. For younger audiences an invitation to appreciate the development of the Australian film industry, as well as seeing how Australian films have contributed to our self-awareness and Australian distinctiveness.
Kismet
Released 27 March
All Peter Malone reviews are available from https://www.misacor.org.au/movies. This week Peter also reviewed The Cats of Cokugu Shrine.