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Meg Blake is the widowed owner of a pub in a small desert town in
Western Australia. Corrupt American mining executive Ed Benson starts the rumour of a nickel discovery to sell shares to gullible investors. Meg heads the rumour and stakes the first claim. Benson promotes her as the "Nickel Queen".
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Hippie Claude
Fitzherbert follows Meg into Perth high society and becomes her lover. Benson is exposed as a fraud, Fitzherbert deserts Meg and runs off with Benson's wife and Meg is reunited with an old suitor from her hometown.
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The original story was co-written by Henry James, an
Australian journalist who had worked in England since the 1930s. It was inspired by the 1969–70
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in the late 1960s, and tells of an outback pub owner who stakes a claim and finds herself an overnight millionaire.
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was cast in the lead after impressing John McCallum with his performance in an episode of the TV series
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The film was highly popular in Perth, running for six months. It did less well in the eastern states.
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Shooting started in
November 1970 and took place in Perth and in the mining town of
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and directed by her husband John McCallum. The story was loosely based on the
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392:. Alfred Sandor came out to Australia to play opposite Googie Withers in
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Brian McFarlane, 'Class Act: Googie
Withers and John McCallum',
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591:. National Library of Australia. 18 November 1970. p. 10
478:. National Library of Australia. 28 October 1981. p. 160
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Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to
Feature Film Production
547:. National Library of Australia. 7 December 1970. p. 2
519:. National Library of Australia. 4 December 1970. p. 8
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from West
Australian politicians, including Premier Sir
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511:"Premier and Minister criticised for film appearances"
644:is available for free viewing and download at the
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367:for companies which helped finance the film and
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496:John McCallum interview with Brian McFarlane,
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340:in Western Australia. British film producer
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375:and Minister for Industrial Development
348:and was interesting in moving back into
498:The Oxford Companion to Australian Film
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304:Eileen Colocott as Beatrice Whittaker
453:'Googie Withers and John McCallum',
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891:Nickel mining in Western Australia
701:Nickel mining in Western Australia
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307:Maurice Ogden as Ernest Whittaker
657:National Film and Sound Archive
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570:at Classic Australian TV, 2008
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500:, Oxford Uni Press, 1999 p 300
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615:. Retrieved 21 September 2012
588:The Australian Women's Weekly
583:"Mum Was Circus Strong Woman"
572:. Retrieved 21 September 2012
475:The Australian Women's Weekly
459:. Retrieved 21 September 2012
439:Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper,
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896:1970s English-language films
817:Kambalda Nickel Concentrator
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841:Mining in Western Australia
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812:Kalgoorlie Nickel Smelter
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886:Australian comedy films
822:Kwinana Nickel Refinery
363:. The film was full of
301:Ross Thompson as Arthur
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148:1 April 1971
398:and decided to stay.
262:as Claude Fitzherbert
338:Poseidon nickel boom
134:British Empire Films
18:1971 Australian film
416:Cinema of Australia
124:Woomera Productions
805:Process facilities
544:The Canberra Times
539:"The nickel queen"
516:The Canberra Times
382:Radio personality
881:1971 comedy films
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354:Fauna Productions
274:as Harry Phillips
229:Western Australia
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835:Related articles
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745:Ravensthorpe
708:Active mines
666:at Oz Movies
663:Nickel Queen
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652:Nickel Queen
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641:Nickel Queen
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630:Nickel Queen
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595:21 September
593:. Retrieved
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566:Don Storey,
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549:. Retrieved
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521:. Retrieved
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482:21 September
480:. Retrieved
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470:"Pete Smith"
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346:Barrier Reef
345:
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280:as Andy Kyle
278:Peter Gwynne
272:Ed Devereaux
268:as Ed Benson
256:as Meg Blake
242:
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205:Nickel Queen
204:
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202:
169:Running time
141:Release date
101:Don Saunders
61:Anneke James
24:Nickel Queen
15:
730:Mount Keith
715:Forrestania
551:10 December
523:10 December
395:Plaza Suite
373:David Brand
361:Broad Arrow
356:in Sydney.
312:David Brand
213:comedy film
110:Sven Libaek
66:Produced by
56:a story by
29:Directed by
876:1971 films
870:Categories
771:Black Swan
457:8 Oct 2007
422:References
342:Sydney Box
332:Production
327:as himself
321:as himself
314:as himself
290:Tom Oliver
210:Australian
208:is a 1971
173:89 minutes
152:1971-04-01
117:Production
71:Joy Cavill
47:Joy Cavill
39:Written by
766:Beta Hunt
384:John Laws
260:John Laws
215:starring
197:$ 500,000
181:Australia
158:Australia
98:Edited by
84:John Laws
796:Windarra
750:Savannah
725:Leinster
720:Kambalda
410:See also
350:features
227:boom in
186:Language
106:Music by
76:Starring
53:Based on
655:at the
612:Meanjin
402:Release
189:English
178:Country
150: (
119:company
786:Cosmos
776:Bulong
568:Skippy
369:cameos
225:nickel
194:Budget
156: (
781:Cawse
365:plugs
740:Nova
635:IMDb
597:2012
553:2013
525:2013
484:2012
317:Sir
310:Sir
248:Cast
235:Plot
223:, a
633:at
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430:^
379:.
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693:e
686:t
679:v
599:.
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486:.
160:)
154:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.