Kodak/Atlab Cinema Collection

A new 35mm print of the feature film, GETTING OF WISDOM, is now in progress. Courtesy of Phillip Adams and the sponsors, Kodak (Australasia) and Atlab Australia. the National Film and Sound Archive National Collection Title number 22426.

The Getting of Wisdom

GETTING OF WISDOM (1977)
Classification: PG rating

Director: Bruce Beresford

Year of Production: 1977

Duration: 100 minutes
Format: 35mm, Colour. Mono-optical soundtrack.
Production Company: Southern Cross Films
Producer: Phillip Adams
Screenplay: Eleanor Witcombe, adapted from the novel by Henry Handel (nee Ethel) Richardson
Director of Photography: Don McAlpine
Camera Operator: Gale Tattersall
Production Designer: John Schubert
Editor: William Anderson
Music: Franz Schubert, Sigismund Thalberg, Arthur Sullivan
Sound recordists: Des Bone, Gary Wilkins
Hair and Make-up: Vivien Mepham

Cast: Susannah Fowler (Laura), Hilary Ryan (Evelyn), Terence Donovan (Ton Macnamara), Patricia Kennedy (Miss Chapman), Sheila Helpmann (Mrs Gurley), Candy Raymond (Mis Zielinski), Barry Humphries (Reverend Strachey), John Waters (Reverend Shepherd), Julie Blake (Isabella Shepherd), Dorothy Bradley (Miss Hicks), Kay eklund (Mrs Rambotham), Max Fairchild (Mr O'Donnell), Jan Friedl (Miss Snodgrass), Diana Greentree (Maisie Shepherd), Maggie Kirkpatrick (Sarah), Monica Maughan (Miss Day), Kerry Armstrong (Kate), Celia De Burgh (M.P.), Kim Deacon(Lilith), Alix Longman (Chinky), Jo-Anne Moore (Tilly), Amanda Ring (Cupid), Janet Shaw (Bertha), Karen Sutton (Pin), Sigrid Thornton (Maria).

The Getting of Wisdom

Synopsis

Laura Tweedle-Ramsbotham is a high-spirited country girl who is sent to an exclusive ladies college, a very strict boarding school in Melbourne in 1910. Laura finds it difficult to conform to the standards and decorum and her rebellious nature brings conflict among her peers and teachers. To cause excitement among the girls, Laura fabricates a story about her secret romance with the school's young minister. Eventually she finds a soulmate in one of the senior girls, Evelyn, with whom she develops her interest in music and shares her deepest feelings.

Background

The film was shot on location in Victoria on a budget of $520,000, it was the first film made through the new Victorian Film Corporation. Additional investment came from the Australian Film Commission and the Nine Television Network. The leading role was given to a Melbourne schoolgirl in her first professional role. The film opened at the Bryson Cinema in Melbourne on 17 August 1977. In May 1978 it was screened at the Directors' Fortnight at the Cannes Film Festival.

'A fine film which deserves much more attention than it's had (probably because of its lack of availability)' – David Stratton

Preservation

The 35mm original picture negative and sound negative are preserved in the National Screen and Sound Archive. The new print will be struck from the original negative.