ALL AT SEA

Australia, 1977, 75 minutes, Colour.
Michael Preston, Noel Ferrier, Barry Creyton, Abigail, Stuart Wagstaff.
Director Igor Auzins.

All At Sea is a minor comedy telemovie. It is really an occasion for many Australian television and stage personalities to perform their regular characters - with sometimes amusing variations. It is not much more.

Noel Ferrier has the chance to be the manager of a Queensland island resort - and do a bit of double-take lechery with his attractive staff. Stuart Wagstaff has the opportunity to be a politician - all suave but two-timing with an eccentric family, a domineering wife, a son who is preoccupied with adolescent sex - which ultimately comes in the form of sex symbol Abigail. Johnny Pace is the comic, Mike Preston is the surly hero of the island. A number of feminine stars, later to emerge in television, have the chance to be either heroines or repressed spinsters - especially Cornelia Francis. Barry Creyton is there doing his comic turns, so is Ugly Dave Grey. Johnny Lockwood probably has the showiest part as an eccentric priest - who turns out to be a robber in disguise. There is quite a lot of innuendo, a lot of corny comedy. The film culminates with a long chase over land and water.

The film is an opportunity to see some of the stars of the '70s doing their thing.

The film was directed by Igor Auzins who made the telemovie Night Nurse and moved to television features with High Rolling. After making the mini-series Water Under the Bridge, he made We of the Never Never and Coolangatta Gold.