The Sundowners

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The Sundowners

1960

2h 13m

Drama

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Popcornmeter

77%

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13 Reviews

65%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

In the 1920s Australia, Paddy Carmody (Robert Mitchum) is a roaming Irish sheepherder who loves his nomadic lifestyle. His wife, Ida (Deborah Kerr), and young son, Sean (Michael Anderson Jr.), don't share his wanderlust, and family tensions come to a head after Ida persuades Paddy to settle down with a steady job. Meanwhile, the family's boarder (Peter Ustinov) has to contend with the rigors of outback life and the attentions of a hotel-keeper (Glynis Johns) looking to land a husband.

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Penelope Houston

Sight & Sound

02/10/2020

The Sundowners carries leisureliness to a point where it becomes self-defeating. There is not nearly enough in the film that has to be there, and far too much that is there merely to hold the straying eye.

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Trevor Johnston

Time Out

06/24/2006

Zinnemann's customary care for detail pays occasional dividends, but the film goes on rather too long.

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Chicago Reader

01/01/2000

A touching Fred Zinnemann movie.

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Keith Garlington

Keith & the Movies

08/25/2022

4/5

“The Sundowners” does run a tad too long, and there is an occasional lull or two. The absence of a more defined plot may be an issue for some as well. But the movie does a great job of selling its characters and drawing us to them.

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Dwight MacDonald

Esquire Magazine

07/12/2019

The Sundowners, directed by Fred Zinnemann, is a good film to take the kiddies to and I mean this as a compliment.

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Isabel Quigly

The Spectator

07/20/2018

An extremely attractive view of Australian life in a story about a drover who re fuses to settle down and his wife and son who want to.

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Leaburn O

@RT35452347 2d

Best film ever made about sheep shearing. Has some unexpected twists and an interesting ending. Good characters abound, as do terrible accents. Watched on Amazon Prime.

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Jim T

@RT58526887 02/02/2025

As a world traveling sheepshearer in 1980's I can tell you the lifestyle, attention to detail, laid back attitude, hard work, fights, shed living and nomatic life is accurate in this film. I cry when I watch it. The competitiveness in the shearing shed is daily and real. The independence and lifestyle, as real as can be shown on the screen. I know, I lived it for 10 years of my life.

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Alec B

@Alec97 02/20/2024

Billed as an epic, but this is more episodic and character driven and that is by no means a bad thing. Also everyone in the cast is more low key than you might expect which was a welcome choice.

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Teresa R

@RT49274427 04/27/2023

I found this movie entertaining and enjoyable.

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03/20/2022

Billed as an epic, but this is more episodic and character driven and that is by no means a bad thing. Also everyone in the cast is more low key than you might expect which was a welcome choice.

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steve d

@RT35616104 07/20/2020

The characters were flat and also unlikable.

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Fred Zinnemann

Director

Deborah Kerr

Ida Carmody

Robert Mitchum

Paddy Carmody

Peter Ustinov

Rupert Venneker

Glynis Johns

Mrs. Firth

Dina Merrill

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Synopsis

In the 1920s Australia, Paddy Carmody (Robert Mitchum) is a roaming Irish sheepherder who loves his nomadic lifestyle. His wife, Ida (Deborah Kerr), and young son, Sean (Michael Anderson Jr.), don't share his wanderlust, and family tensions come to a head after Ida persuades Paddy to settle down with a steady job. Meanwhile, the family's boarder (Peter Ustinov) has to contend with the rigors of outback life and the attentions of a hotel-keeper (Glynis Johns) looking to land a husband.

Director: Fred Zinnemann
Producer: Fred Zinnemann
Screenwriter: Isobel Lennart
Distributor: Warner Bros. Pictures
Production Co: Warner Bros.
Genre: Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Dec 8, 1960, Original
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 1, 2012
Runtime: 2h 13m