Don't Rush to See Bush Christmas

Once upon a time, a girl excessively fond of Christmas movies raided Netflix in search of fun holiday films. Recovering from her disappointment that there was no separate section set aside especially for yuletide delights, she improvised and did a keyword search. And so it was that she stumbled upon Ralph Smart's Bush Christmas, a 1947 children's film in which five kids brave the outback and risk missing Christmas dinner in hopes of tracking down a bunch of nasty horse-thievin' blokes.

The 80-minute-long black-and-white movie reminded me of something you might see on the Wonderful World of Disney, rather along the lines of The Apple Dumpling Gang. The troop of kids consists of responsible, braided Helen Thompson (Helen Grieve), the oldest at about 12; her brothers John (Morris Unicomb) and Snow (Nicky Yardley), a lively six-year-old; Michael (Michael Yardley), a nerdy Brit taking refuge with the Thompsons while war rages back home; and Neza (Neza Saunders), an easy-going, resourceful child of Aboriginal descent. With faithful pooch Kanga in tow, they set off in search of the outlaws whose trickery lost Mr. Thompson his prize mare and her young foal.

Because the movie took place in 1947, I had steeled myself for black and white, but the menu screen is colorized, which gave me a momentary surge of hope. I really find it hard to warm to a world entirely devoid of color, and that may have detracted from my enjoyment of the film. Mostly, though, everything about the movie just felt so antiquated, from the flowery, detached narrator (John McCallum) to the notion of a mother sending five kids off on an alleged several-day camping trip with no adult supervision, especially when she knows there are a bunch of bandits about.

Not to worry, of course; these children are more than a match for a trio of bumbling no-goodniks. Ringleader Long Bill (Chips Rafferty), a quintessential Aussie who seems to be easily the best actor in the movie, would probably do all right on his own. He's tough and clever, and if he weren't such a heavy sleeper I doubt the kids could outsmart him too easily. But his sidekicks, Jim (John Fernside) and Blue Kennedy (Stan Tolhurst), are useless, and with the kids' sabotage and the lackeys' muddling, it's a fair bet those horses will be back to their rightful owners in no time.

There's some nice footage of the Australian outback, but aside from a brief glimpse of a kookaburra it might as well be the American west. There's a disappointing lack of kangaroos, koalas, crocodiles and other distinctly Australian creatures. I can't decide if the treatment of Aboriginal culture is respectful or condescending. For the most part, the kids seem to regard Neza as an equal, even someone with a bit of an edge when it comes to surviving in the wilderness, but there's something grating about the way various characters keep joking about "those blacks".

Mostly, though, while this was a short movie and it was supposed to be an adventure, I was bored. The outlaws were occasionally funny, and the kids faced some interesting challenges - especially poor Michael, who lost his glasses out in the bush - but generally, I found it pretty dull. If you want a rip-roaring, kid-friendly Australian adventure, skip Bush Christmas and go for The Rescuers Down Under instead.