Displaying items by tag: Love of an Icon: the Legend of Crocodile Dundee movie

LOVE OF AN ICON : THE LEGEND OF CROCODILE DUNDEE

Australia, 2025, 88 minutes, Colour.

Directed by Victoria Baldock, Delvene Delaney.

Yes, it is almost 40 years since the release of Crocodile Dundee, the suddenness of its enormous popularity in Australia, then around the world, part of our national consciousness. With the death of its producer, John Cornell, his wife of 46 years, Delvene Delaney, started to look at the various boxes he had kept, discovering old reels, photos, souvenirs, negatives leading to be restored. And, with her collaborator, Victoria 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 very interesting sections in the film. In the first 30 minutes, we go back to the 1960s and 1970s, focusing on that harbour bridge worker, comic interlude provider on television, Paul Hogan, and then his show. And, happily, Paul Hogan is interviewed right 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, Delvene 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 Peter Faiman.

After getting to know Hoges again, the second part of the film focuses on the making of the film itself, a first film for Paul Hogan and John Cornell, and for Peter 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 and dance, 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, again scenes of the filming. 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 United States, interviews with executives from Paramount and their memories of other studios rejections, their acceptance, seeing John Cornell and Paul Hogan is nice blokes, working with them – and the extraordinary US box office, second only to Top Gun in 1986, Golden Globe winner for Paul Hogan, Oscar nomination for the screenplay.

Thanks to Delvene 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, Australian distinctiveness.