Cinema
Phar Lap
Simon Wincer · 1983
Synopsis
Bought sight unseen in New Zealand for 168 pounds, a skinny colt arrives in Sydney; the trainer Harry Telford prepares him on behalf of his American owner, David Davis. A young stable lad, Tommy Woodcock, bonds with the horse and realises that he runs better when coming from behind; Phar Lap then wins race after race, in the middle of the Depression. A man tries to shoot him; Tommy protects him and hides him before the 1930 Melbourne Cup. The racing authorities then impose record weights on him, and Davis takes him to race in the United States and Mexico.
Context
The screenplay is by a playwright whom this catalogue includes, and the film was produced by John Sexton, with Tom Burlinson as the strapper, Martin Vaughan as the trainer and Ron Leibman as the owner. Australian Screen sees in it a folk tale and a political film as much as an entertainment, which also shows people caring little for the horse. The real Phar Lap, born in New Zealand, won the big Melbourne race in 1930, and the Great Depression made him a hero for a country that lacked them.
Who it is for
A film in English from Australia about a racehorse who became a national hero, requiring no prior knowledge of racing.
Prizes and reception
Nominated at the AFI Awards for its direction; for Australian Screen, a film about a horse that lifted a country's morale.