The Great Macarthy


The Great Macarthy is a 1975 comedy about Australian rules football. It was an adaptation of the 1970 novel A Salute to the Great McCarthy by Barry Oakley. It stars John Jarratt as the title character as a local footballer playing for Kyneton, who is signed up by the South Melbourne Football Club. It also stars Barry Humphries and Judy Morris. It was released at a time of resurgence in Australian cinema but was not very successful despite its high-profile cast, including many well-known footy personalities.

Plot

Macarthy is a country football player who is kidnapped by the South Melbourne Football Club and made a star player in the city. The Club Chairman, Colonel Ball-Miller, gives Macarthy a job in one of his companies and makes him attend night school. He is seduced by his English teacher, Miss Russell, and has an affair with Ball-Miller's daughter, Andrea.
Macarthy and Andrea get married but then divorce. Macarthy goes on strike to claim the family fortune.

Cast

David Baker was an emerging director who was interested in Barry Oakley's novel. Richard Brennan optioned it for him and they agreed to make the film together, hiring playwright John Romeril to do the adaptation. According to Brennan, Romeril's second draft was "fantastic" but later drafts included too much sex and slapstick to make it more like other successful Australian films at the time such as The Adventures of Barry McKenzie and Alvin Purple.
Phillip Adams later claimed he always knew the film would struggle "because of its idiosyncratic and complex nature".
The film was shot in mid 1974. Half the budget was provided by the Australian Film Development Corporation. As he looked like Jarratt, South Melbourne player Garry Scott doubled for the star in the match long shots.

Release

The film performed poorly critically and at the box office.