My First Wife

My First Wife is a 1984 Australian drama film directed by Paul Cox. The film won several AFI Awards in 1984.

My First Wife
Promotional poster
Directed by	Paul Cox
Written by	Bob Ellis Paul Cox
Produced by	Paul Cox Jane Ballantyne
Starring	John Hargreaves Wendy Hughes David Cameron
Cinematography	Yuri Sokol
Edited by	Tim Lewis
Music by	Ann Boyd Renée Geyer
Release date	13 September 1984 (1984-09-13)
Running time	96 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	A$690,000[1]
Box office	A$413,199 (Australia)

Plot

The film follows the dissolution of John and Helen's marriage and the aftermath.

Cast

• John Hargreaves as John
• Wendy Hughes as Helen
• Lucy Angwin as Lucy
• David Cameron as Tom
• Anna Maria Monticelli as Hilary
• Betty Lucas as Helen's Mother
• Lucy Uralov as John's Mother
• Robin Lovejoy as John's father
• Charles 'Bud' Tingwell as Helen's Father
• Jon Finlayson as Bernard
• Julia Blake as Kirstin

Production

The film was based on the breakdown of Cox's marriage. He started writing the script, showed it to Bob Ellis and the two men wrote the screenplay together. (Ellis says they spent a day and a half on it.^[2])

The film was shot mostly at a house in Williamstown in Melbourne.^[1]

Music

Choir: Members of the Tudor Choristers directed by David Carolane

Christoph Willibald Gluck: "Orpheus & Euridice".

Berliner Symphoniker – Hermann Prey

Conductor – Horst Stein

Joseph Haydn - "Paukenmesse"

Bayerischen Rundfunks Symphony Orchestra & Chorus

Conductor – Rafael Kubelik, Polygram

Ann Boyd - "As I crossed a Bridge of Dreams", "Cycle of love", Faber Music Ltd.

Carl Orff - "Carmine Burana"

Czech Philharmonic Orchestra & Chorus, Conducted by Vaclev Smetacek, Supraphon

Rene Geyer - "Hot Minuets", Mushroom Records, Australia

Frans Sussmayr - "Grandfather's Birthday Celebration", Hungarian Radio Children's Chorus, Budapest Symphony Orchestra, Conductor – Laszlo Csanyl

Box office

My First Wife grossed $413,199 at the box office in Australia,^[3] which is equivalent to $1,049,525 in 2009 dollars.

Awards

My First Wife won in 1984 AFI Awards in the Best Actor in a Lead Role (John Hargreaves), Best Director (Paul Cox), Best Original Screenplay (Paul Cox, Bob Ellis) categories and was nominated in 4 more categories. Paul Cox also won the 1986 Grand Prix award at Film Fest Gent in 1986.^[4]

See also

• Cinema of Australia

References

1. David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p99-100
2. Interview with Bob Ellis, 13 August 1996 Archived 24 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine accessed 14 October 2012
3. "Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2010.
4. IMDb awards

• Murray, Scott; (ed.) (1994). Australian Cinema. St.Leonards, NSW.: Allen & Unwin/AFC. p. 275. ISBN 1-86373-311-6. {{cite book}}: |author2= has generic name (help)

External links

• My First Wife at IMDb
• My First Wife at the Australian screen