CMPs in the movies

[Keith Webb]

Originally Posted by motto

Thanks Keith, I was unaware of the Landline program about, 'Back of Beyond'.
I'm always interested in the history of the area accessed from the Birdsville Track. Particularly since driving it in my L/L Chev in 2000

Dave

My co-producer Ian Doyle and I allowed Landline to use part of our documentary Mailmen from the Back of Beyond which they cut down to a story about the making of the movie, but of course that's only a small part of the overall story we tell. I will have copies of the complete documentary set (including Last Mail from Birdsville) for sale at Corowa next March, or you can order one earlier through the RFDS.
One of the great finds for us was Colin Wagener's footage in colour taken over a series of trips to the outback, the first one where he went on a mail run in the green Chev blitz Tom was using at the time. There's a shot of it in Marree being re-engined with a Perkins as too much load was taken up with fuel when using petrol engines, especially going through the Naterannie sand dunes north of the Cooper, a lot of low range 4X4 driving. Tom described climbing a sandhill in a blitz was like taking off in a DC3. If you go to http://www.lastmailfrombirdsville.co...collection.php you can see a lot more of the footage shot by Colin Wagener. I have been making a series of videos for the website with additional material and stories we couldn't include in the main documentary.

[Little Jo]

Hi Kieth

I just finished watching the ABC Landline Program here in Penang Malaysia. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Thanks mate well put together.
Cheers

Tony

[Richard Farrant]

Hi Keith,
I watched the Landline programme earlier and thought it was excellent. Many years ago, before I ever thought I would make it out there I bought a book, which I sadly lost through lending it, which might have been called something like "Last of the Mailmen", with stories of all those doing the mail runs, absolutely fascinating. I would love to read it again since now having driven though that area several times.

regards Richard

[Allan L]

'MAIL for the Back of Beyond' by John Maddock has a good history of the Birdsville, Strzelecki etc mail runs, including the operators and their trucks.

[Richard Farrant]

Originally Posted by Allan L

'MAIL for the Back of Beyond' by John Maddock has a good history of the Birdsville, Strzelecki etc mail runs, including the operators and their trucks.

Thanks Allan, I think that may well have been the book I once had, I recollect the cover showed an old Blitz mail truck coming over a sandhill

[Bruce Parker (RIP)]

"Escape from Iran: The Canadian Caper (1981)" is a Canadian movie about the time the Canadian embassy saved a batch of Americans when the Iranian Shaw was deposed. I don't have the movie but in the opening scenes there is a Chev 15cwt wireless van dressed up as a Iranian army truck. I know because it was my truck they used!!

[Jon Skagfeld]

Bruce...the Shah was deposed...