Fourth Wish, The (1976)

Filmed in Adelaide, the Australian film The Fourth Wish is the story of a 12-year-old boy dying of leukaemia which had already been told as a three-part ABC television series in 1974.

It proved popular enough to be repeated shortly after it was first shown, and the writer, Michael Craig, then rewrote the script into a feature film.

The boy, Sean, is played by 13-year-old Robert Bettles, and it’s a fine performance in a role which requires him to convey many things at once. He is supposed to know that he is dying yet not want to admit that he knows. He is to show concern for his father without being cute about it.

In other words, he is supposed to come across as a 12-year-old saint unblemished by sanctimoniousness or awareness beyond his years.

And he does it by understating everything and conveying an essential calmness which works well against the more explosive style of John Meillon who plays Casey, Sean’s shift-working father whose wife left him to bring up their son alone eight years ago.

It’s not a great life. When the boy is at home at night, he’s at work, the landlord is unsympathetic, and the flat is small and dull.

But Sean makes it all worthwhile and Casey can’t believe it when the boy, after collapsing at school, is taken to the hospital and diagnosed with leukaemia.

But, painfully, he lets himself be convinced and trains himself not to have too much hope in the drugs and the blood transfusions. Instead, he gives up his job and concentrates on making Sean’s last months as happy as possible.

There is a camping trip and a game in which Sean makes three wishes, which Casey promises to fulfil. He wants a dog and to meet both his mother and the Queen.

For Casey this is supposed to be a journey in which he discovers himself, and the script works hard to have it seen that way, but the mechanics are not ingenious enough.

The film’s best sequences deal with Casey’s efforts to grant the second wish, a meeting with the boy’s mother, Connie.

There are no gimmicks in this part of the story, just a well-drawn picture of a realistic relationship and a great performance by Robyn Nevin as Connie, a woman who thinks she is well beyond caring about anything except whisky.

While she pulls herself together long enough to do as Casey asks and not disappoint the boy, the script resists all temptation to become sentimental about her.

Meillon’s performance is not so interesting. He has done more than any other actor to define a particular Australian type, the sort of man who masks unworldliness with bombast and would rather pretend to be angry than let anyone see that he’s hurt. But he is now letting the character calcify. He has done all that Casey does many times before. The mannerisms are too pat.

But the film’s real trouble is in the writing. It doesn’t give Casey and Sean enough people to play off. It surrounds them with caricatures so that it is only in the scenes with Connie that the film really comes alive.

It’s a complex story given an uncomplicated treatment, which is sad because when it’s good, it’s very good.

The Fourth Wish was nominated for 5 AFI (Australian Film Institute) Awards, including Best Actress in a Lead Role for Robyn Nevin, Best Screenplay for Michael Craig, Best Achievement in Editing for Gerard Turney-Smith, and Best Actress in a Supporting Role for Anne Haddy.

In the end, the film won one AFI Award, for Best Actor in a Lead Role, for the movie’s star John Meillon.

Casey
John Meillon
Sean
Robert Bettles
Dr Richardson
Michael Craig
Dr Kirk
Anne Haddy
Harbord
Ron Haddrick
Connie
Robyn Nevin
Jenny
Julie Hamilton
Wally
Brian Anderson
Hannah
Julie Dawson
Simms
Edwin Hodgeman
Specialist
Norman Yemm
Jarvis
Brian James
Priest
Don Crosby
Patcheck
Cul Cullen
Policeman
Gordon McDougall
Ross
Dennis Olsen
Pat
Les Foxcroft
Mrs Peterson
Audrey Stern
Mr Peterson
Lionel Williams
Matron
Marilyn Allen
Roger
Moishe Smith

Director
Don Chaffey

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