True Story of Eskimo Nell, The (1975)

In 19th-century Australia (which looks not unlike the Wild West), one-eyed peeping tom Deadeye Dick (Max Gillies) and cowboy stud Mexico Pete (Serge Lazareff) travel from town to town, from brawl to brawl, from bar to bar, from brothel to brothel until – in some remote and sleet-ridden mountain township – they reach their longed-for goal; the saloon of Eskimo Nell – “The Queen of the Wompers”.

There is no plot as such – the film is merely a series of escapades whose only connection is their chronological order – which creates long periods of tedium on the journey to the final extended sequence in the saloon.

The juvenile humour had already been done to death in local Australian cinema by 1975, and it was no longer inherently funny (if indeed it ever was) to watch people taking a piss or threatening in the most unambiguous terms to cut each other’s balls off.

To top it all off, bad jokes and a weak script made the going that much harder. The whole thing only cost $240,000 to make and you definitely get what you pay for.

Based on the original 19th Century poem by Robert Service, The True Story Of Eskimo Nell was largely filmed on location at Sovereign Hill in Victoria. The movie was released in some markets as Dick Down Under to avoid confusion with the similarly-named British film, Eskimo Nell which was released the same year.

Deadeye Dick
Max Gillies
Mexico Pete
Serge Lazareff
The Alaskan Kid
Butcher Vachon
The Sprunker
Jerry Thomas
Waldo the Great
Kurt Beimel
Esmerelda
Abigail
Lil
Kris McQuade
Ellie
Elli Maclure
Bogger
Grahame Bond
Posthole Jack
Max Fairchild
Professor Brayshaw
Tony Bazell
Real Eskimo Nell
Paddy Madden
Dream Eskimo Nell
Victoria Anoux
Barman
Ernie Bourne

Director
Richard Franklin

Video