100
TV Guide Magazine
Big, funny, tender and humane all at the same time, The Sundowners is a true "family" film, without any of the cloying connotations of that term.
The Sundowners
Critic Rating
(read reviews)User Rating
- United Kingdom,
- United States,
- Australia
- 1960
- · 133m
Director
Fred Zinnemann
Cast
Deborah Kerr,
Robert Mitchum,
Peter Ustinov,
Michael Anderson Jr.,
Glynis Johns,
Dina Merrill
Genre
Adventure
In the Australian Outback, the Carmody family -- Paddy, Ida, and their teenage son Sean -- are nomadic sheep drovers. Ida and Sean want to settle down and buy a farm. Paddy wants to keep moving. A sheep-shearing contest, the birth of a child, drinking, gambling and a race horse will all have a part in the final decision.
Stream The Sundowners
What are critics saying?
100
TV Guide Magazine by Staff (Not Credited)
Big, funny, tender and humane all at the same time, The Sundowners is a true "family" film, without any of the cloying connotations of that term.
90
Variety
Jon Cleary's novel is the basic source from which director Fred Zinnemann's inspiration springs. Between Cleary and Zinnemann lies Isobel Lennart's perceptive, virile screenplay, loaded with bright, telling lines of dialog and gentle philosophical comment. But, fine as the scenario is, it is Zinnemann's poetic glances into the souls of his characters, little hints of deep longings, hidden despairs, indomitable spirit that make the picture the achievement it is.
90
Variety by Staff (Not Credited)
Jon Cleary's novel is the basic source from which director Fred Zinnemann's inspiration springs. Between Cleary and Zinnemann lies Isobel Lennart's perceptive, virile screenplay, loaded with bright, telling lines of dialog and gentle philosophical comment. But, fine as the scenario is, it is Zinnemann's poetic glances into the souls of his characters, little hints of deep longings, hidden despairs, indomitable spirit that make the picture the achievement it is.
88
USA Today by Mike Clark
Mitchum's celebrated skill with dialects has never been more evident. [02 Feb 2007, p.10D]
83
IndieWire
A remarkably effective and absorbing picture (if a little too long), with another sterling performance from Mitchum.
83
IndieWire by Staff (Not Credited)
A remarkably effective and absorbing picture (if a little too long), with another sterling performance from Mitchum.
80
Orlando Sentinel
A beautifully photographed, sentimental film about a family of itinerant Australian sheepherders who travel from job to job during the 1920s.
80
The New Yorker by Pauline Kael
Though the story builds slowly (and the first half may seem a little pokey), the characters are more red-blooded and vigorous and eccentric than in most other Zinnemann films.
80
Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum
A touching Fred Zinnemann movie (1960) about an Australian sheepherding family.
80
The New York Times by Bosley Crowther
A sense of outdoor living and a tingle of open-air adventure are the breath of life in this film.
80
Orlando Sentinel by Crosby Day
A beautifully photographed, sentimental film about a family of itinerant Australian sheepherders who travel from job to job during the 1920s.
60
Time Out
Zinnemann's customary care for detail pays occasional dividends, but the film goes on rather too long.
60
Time Out by Staff (Not Credited)
Zinnemann's customary care for detail pays occasional dividends, but the film goes on rather too long.
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