55: CROCODILE DUNDEE
All images are the copyright of their respective rightsholder and may not be reproduced from this site without permission of the rightsholder.
(Year refers to British release)
Running Time: 102 minutes
Colour
Estimated Attendance: 9.8 million
What they said at the time...
Synopsis
On assignment in Australia, Sue Charlton - a reporter with New York's Newsday magazine - follows up a story about a legendary figure called Michael J. "Crocodile" Dundee. Flying out to the remote outback town of Walkabout Creek, Sue is met by Dundee's friend and business associate Walter Reilly, owner of Never Never Tours. Dundee arrives with a stuffed crocodile under his arm, and offers to show Sue the remote spot where he was attacked by a giant crocodile. Sue and Dundee trek into the bush, where they encounter drunken kangaroo hunters, deadly snakes, and a crocodile which attacks Sue as she is about to bathe and from which she is saved by Dundee. Following an encounter with Dundee's Aborigine friend Neville, and a swim in Lake Echo, Sue persuades Dundee to return with her to New York. Accommodated in a luxury hotel suite, Dundee later joins Sue and her fiancé, Richard Mason, for an awkward dinner at an expensive Italian restaurant. Taken to a bar by a friendly Italian taxi driver, Dundee encounters a hip black dude, an amorous transvestite, and two prostitutes, whose aggressive pimp he beats up. At a chic party, Dundee meets some bizarre metropolitan poseurs. Invited to a "Welcome Home" dinner at Sue's father's house, Dundee is devastated when Richard publicly announces his official engagement to Sue. Leaving the party alone, the drunken Dundee is dropped on Broadway by chauffeur Gus. Attacked by the pimp and two of his henchmen, Dundee is saved by Gus. The next day, Sue phones Dundee to explain, but the TV is on and he does not hear the phone ringing. Dundee goes walkabout, heading for Grand Central Station subway. Sue arrives at the hotel, chases after Dundee, and on a crowded platform tells him that she loves him.
Review
While the decision to set the first half of "Crocodile" Dundee in Australia and the second half in the United States makes sound commercial sense (as the film's success at the American box-office testifies), it also emphasises a split in the film's overall conception. In the early scenes, Mick Dundee's self-mocking tone and wry humour tend to suggest that he is a fraud, with the story about his struggle with the killer crocodile growing more exaggerated with every telling. Similarly, there is an incident in which Dundee looks first at his partner Walter's watch, then at the sun, before announcing the time and suggesting that he and Sue should make a move. All of which serves to undercut Dundee's image as an Indiana Jones-style hero, especially when seen in the context of his commercial involvement in the Never Never Tours company. However, once the action moves to New York, any residual doubts about his authenticity are instantly effaced, as if the contrast between his ingenuous charm and the New Yorker's sophisticated cynicism were enough to establish his heroic status. An Aussie innocent abroad, Dundee now casts an oblique light on the absurdities of Manhattan coke-snorting, pretentiousness and materialism. This is a none too original idea, and the targets are equally predictable, but Dundee's disarming naively does yield some choice comic moments, and one or two quite touching ones. Asked what he thinks of New York, Dundee replies that it's "A real lunatic asylum. That's why I like it. I fit right in". This telling phrase is the key to the film's main strength, and to its major weakness. Dundee is never developed beyond the level of a mythical cypher, and for all his shrewd observations on urban life styles, he fits in a little too comfortably. This makes his commentary a rather muffled one, and allows for the ridiculous ending in which he gets the girl. The film's humour is clearly derived from the sketch format of the star's TV series, The Paul Hogan Show, with each episode looking as if it has been set up to facilitate the one-liner which caps it. First-time film director Peter Faiman also displays a distinctly televisual style, especially in the studio sequences which punctuate the location shots of the outback.
Synopsis and Review from Monthly Film Bulletin Vol.53 No.635 December 1986 p.367
The Monthly Film Bulletin was published by the BFI between 1934 and 1991. Initially aimed at distributors and exhibitors as well as filmgoers, it carried reviews and details of all UK film releases. In 1991, the Bulletin was incoporated into Sight and Sound magazine.
