Sunstruck (1972)

Young Welsh schoolteacher and choral director Stanley Evans (Harry Secombe) decides to emigrate to Australia where the New South Wales Education Department invites him to “teach in the sun”.

His dream of a new life in sunny Sydney is upended by a posting to Kookaburra Springs, a tiny outback town in the far west of New South Wales, teaching children from 8 to 15 years of age. Stanley is a fish out of water in this hot and dusty land.

Boarding at the pub run by Mick Cassidy (John Meillon) and his wife, Sal (Dawn Lake), Stanley is cautiously welcomed by pub regulars Norm (Norman Erskine), Pete Marshall (Peter Whittle) and Banjo (Jack Allen).

After suffering numerous practical jokes played by his students, Stanley decides to form a school choir, which rehearses in the local pub (the Mayfair Hotel).

While Stanley finds romance with local farmer Shirley Marshall (Maggie Fitzgibbon), Mick secretly enters the choir in a national competition.

Mick’s son, Stevie (Dennis Jordan), replaces the Kookaburra Springs audition tape with a recording of Stanley’s acclaimed Welsh school choir.

The school is accepted into the competition and travels to Sydney to perform. Stuart Wagstaff, a fixture of Australian stage and screen since the 1950s, plays the competition host.

Sunstruck was filmed in Treharris, Wales, and near Parkes in western NSW.

Stanley Evans
Harry Secombe
Shirley Marshall
Maggie Fitzgibbon
Mick Cassidy
John Meillon
Sal Cassidy
Dawn Lake
Pete Marshall
Peter Whittle
Bill
Bobby Limb
Norm
Norman Erskine
Banjo
Jack Allen
Jennifer Morgan
Lornal Wilde
Ben
Roger Cox
Gunboat
Tommy Mack
Shiller
John Armstrong
Announcer
Stuart Wagstaff
Pearson
Jeff Ashby
Willie Marshall
Max Brouggy
Alice
Benita Collings
Carter
Charles McCallam
Stevie Cassidy
Dennis Jordan

Director
James Gilbert

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