I was born in Cairns in 1965 and still live here.If Tony Madden was a policeman he would know my father as he was a policeman at the time.Good to see the old Cairns.
I've lived in Cairns for the past 8 years and it was interesting to see some of the buildings in this video that are still here today. The hospital is still on the Esplanade, most of the churches still exist, some of the shops and buildings remain. Sadly the Coral Drive-in is closed, the current owners failed to maintain it and the screen was pulled down last year I believe.
@JCM1959A I wonder how many Aboriginal families were even allowed to live in the Cairns area at the time. Not many would be my guess, I feel many would be forced to live on the fringes out of sight out of mind etc. Fortunately things started changing for them a few years after this was filmed.
oh my, this is just wonderful.... my mother plays the youngest daughter Julie, and I really look forward to showing this to her after so many years (she is a grandmother now). She also still lives in Cairns, we have 4 generations here now. Thank you for putting this on You Tube where we can all enjoy it.
My Grandfather is Tony Taylor! Tony Madden. The house in the film was Tony's house. I have been told that my Grandma, Joan Nancy, wanted to be play Mrs Taylor but wasn't allowed! My Dad, Ray Madden, is the little boy with the white t-shirt on in the beach scene - 18.30. Thank you for uploading to youtube, I had planned to buy a copy. We treasure this film with Tony Taylor!!
Hi, I knew your Dad and your Grandfather. I am a friend of your Aunt Tricia and often played at her house. I loved the video and it was great to see 'Mr Madden' in it (and now that you pointed it out, Ray!)
The band at 16:10 was not our band The Fireflies John Sues & myself (Tom Duffy) are a bit older. The band was The Sapphires playing at the Trocadero hall in Grafton Street. The band members were from L to R Graham Morrow/ Drums John O'Connor/Bass Bill Goodall/Guitar and Keith Caesar/Guitar. John O'Connor later joined the Fireflies. They certainly were the golden days for bands & some great memories. John Sues & I and still playing in the Fireflies band & after 53 years still loving it!
Do you think that this film might had been made with a British audience in mind; to encourage the poms to part with 10 quid & migrate? It all seems idyllic, as it assuredly was in the early 60s!, with no mention or footage showing taipans slithering out of the cane during the burn-off, or crocs in the creeks & other miscellaneous aquatic nasties! Nor, indeed, are cyclones spoken of, however, in those halycon days, like as in Hampshire, Herefordhire & Hertfordshire, hurricanes hardly happened.
Amazing. I grew up in Cairns and went to Saint Monicas high school, though the skirts were a bit shorter when I went. I wasn't born until 1978 so thanks for showing me what Cairns was like. Great job
wow, shop owners who sold quality fruit and vegand actually had pride in the appearance of the shop.....methinks current shop owners and corner stores in the CBD could learn a lot from this vid.
My parents are Mr & Mrs Kevin and Lynn Whyte from Cairns. I was born in the Cairns Hospital in 1971. I recognised so many places in the film!! My Dad worked for TAA at the time and I remember having Christmas Parties for TAA in the hanger! My Mum worked at Edge Hill Primary School for many years as a Teachers Assistant. We all live in Western Australia now. Mum and Dad will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary next year (2012). They were married in Cairns 1962....
My mother was Mrs Taylor and Tony Madden (Police Officer) played Mr Taylor. We came to Cairns in 1954 and my brother and I still live here. Briought back some wonderful memories.
Yes -- this IS how it was. I also would very much like a copy on DVD or whatever -- the hospital DID look like that -- ditto the shops, the railway station AND the old airport. WOW! We lived there fofr 31 years from 1971, only one set of lights at the fiveways -- and hardly a roundabout!!!! This brings back so many memories. KL
@mortein43 Yes a great reminder of times gone by. Glad you enjoyed it. If you would like a DVD please contact the Film Australia Collection Library at: faclibrary@nfsa.gov.au Thanks keep watching.
A good friend of mine likened this video as dishonest as any Nazi propaganda, Goebels would be proud. The Govt should apologise to all those who were fooled into thinking that this was the true Australia.
I find it disturbing. No wonder the Poms whinged when they got here and discovered that although it painted a picture of a pure white culture and there were black people living here too god forbid. Apart from all that, it was amazing to see what Cairns town looked like when I was born.
@CairnsBlog agreed! I thorougly enjoyed the sanctity of the footage. But is a safe, sanitised, unbalanced white christian view and it was not always my reality.
As a boy growing up in Cairns in the 1960's, I saw the ugly drunken side of the Barbary Coast, displaced Murray people and the corrupt culture of (some) Queensland politicians.
That said, I consider myself very fortunate to have experienced my seminal years in that paradise.
I grew up in the town when it was like this, my dad had a newsagency in the city. It was an really interesting childhood for me spending a lot of my free time helping dad, meeting interesting people and engaging in conversation. The town had a real spirit, shopping was real, people really cared. Time moves on and much of of the old is gone. However...some of our heritage lies within the buildings that are disguised with dilapidated facades. Let's push for town heritage laws that enforce the res
Fabulous gem full of old memories..The Imperial Hotel, Drive in and Ellis Beach with the surf boards 'to hire' stand, to name just a few! Well the lack of surf would be one of the few things that has remained unchanged here! Thanks for the smiles!
Cairns Born and bred ! happy to help how i can with any details you need. Have a fair bit of info on the history of Cairns and recognise some of the businesses / people in this one! THANK YOU for finding it ! How do i get a hard copy ??
@CairnsMum Great response any ideas are very welcome. Will be in touch about a DVD and get someone to contact you about what you know about the film. Thanks again.
A cut down version of this film will be screening with a feature1 October 2011, 7pm Cairns, QLD
Tickets: $10/ $8, ticket sales at gate, BYO picnic, gates open 6pm, movies start at 7pm Cairns Botanic Gardens, Cnr Collins Ave & MacDonnell St, Edge Hill, Cairns
I was born in Cairns in 1965 and still live here.If Tony Madden was a policeman he would know my father as he was a policeman at the time.Good to see the old Cairns.
CairnsWoody 1 week ago
I've lived in Cairns for the past 8 years and it was interesting to see some of the buildings in this video that are still here today. The hospital is still on the Esplanade, most of the churches still exist, some of the shops and buildings remain. Sadly the Coral Drive-in is closed, the current owners failed to maintain it and the screen was pulled down last year I believe.
bronnyhall1986 2 weeks ago
I love this. I wish I was alive in this time
halachames 3 weeks ago
@JCM1959A I wonder how many Aboriginal families were even allowed to live in the Cairns area at the time. Not many would be my guess, I feel many would be forced to live on the fringes out of sight out of mind etc. Fortunately things started changing for them a few years after this was filmed.
liftwell 1 month ago
Beautiful film, an excellente way of life!!!! The time should have stopped there!! Thanks for posting, a hug from Brazil!!!
Angelo32516 1 month ago in playlist Life In Australia Series
oh my, this is just wonderful.... my mother plays the youngest daughter Julie, and I really look forward to showing this to her after so many years (she is a grandmother now). She also still lives in Cairns, we have 4 generations here now. Thank you for putting this on You Tube where we can all enjoy it.
Lanson13 2 months ago
I live here and i love it so much that if i eave anywhere else i get so homesick i love you cairns :)
BTW HAPPY NEW YEARS EVERYONE
MrClone655 2 months ago
nice ports at 5-10-5.13 and you can see the old council chambers/library just before that from Abbott with the Ibis fig trees
peaceconvergence 2 months ago
Hmmmm... not too many Indigenous people living in cairns back then by the LOOK of it.
peaceconvergence 2 months ago
Well it was filmed 3 years before the 1967 referendum that gave Aboriginals greater rights under law.
liftwell 1 month ago
My Grandfather is Tony Taylor! Tony Madden. The house in the film was Tony's house. I have been told that my Grandma, Joan Nancy, wanted to be play Mrs Taylor but wasn't allowed! My Dad, Ray Madden, is the little boy with the white t-shirt on in the beach scene - 18.30. Thank you for uploading to youtube, I had planned to buy a copy. We treasure this film with Tony Taylor!!
scoopentertainment 2 months ago
@scoopentertainment
Hi, I knew your Dad and your Grandfather. I am a friend of your Aunt Tricia and often played at her house. I loved the video and it was great to see 'Mr Madden' in it (and now that you pointed it out, Ray!)
Ann Doherty
annie6069 2 months ago
Wow! It's amazing to see how much Cairns has changed over time and how some things remained to this day!
Pockytastic 2 months ago
The band at 16:10 was not our band The Fireflies John Sues & myself (Tom Duffy) are a bit older. The band was The Sapphires playing at the Trocadero hall in Grafton Street. The band members were from L to R Graham Morrow/ Drums John O'Connor/Bass Bill Goodall/Guitar and Keith Caesar/Guitar. John O'Connor later joined the Fireflies. They certainly were the golden days for bands & some great memories. John Sues & I and still playing in the Fireflies band & after 53 years still loving it!
TheFNQs 2 months ago
Do you think that this film might had been made with a British audience in mind; to encourage the poms to part with 10 quid & migrate? It all seems idyllic, as it assuredly was in the early 60s!, with no mention or footage showing taipans slithering out of the cane during the burn-off, or crocs in the creeks & other miscellaneous aquatic nasties! Nor, indeed, are cyclones spoken of, however, in those halycon days, like as in Hampshire, Herefordhire & Hertfordshire, hurricanes hardly happened.
frpetermark 4 months ago
Amazing. I grew up in Cairns and went to Saint Monicas high school, though the skirts were a bit shorter when I went. I wasn't born until 1978 so thanks for showing me what Cairns was like. Great job
sonicat9 4 months ago
wow, shop owners who sold quality fruit and vegand actually had pride in the appearance of the shop.....methinks current shop owners and corner stores in the CBD could learn a lot from this vid.
Fantastic vid and thanks for posting! :)
Ansett76 4 months ago
Can anyone confirm the venue and band at 16:10?
Is/was that The Aquatic and The Fireflies?
mazzyboy 4 months ago
@mazzyboy I'm pretty sure it was the Aquatic and the Firefly's. Ask John O'Connor. He'll know.
paulspoonerisawesome 4 months ago
@mazzyboy It was actually "The Sapphires"
harvestmba247 4 months ago
RIP drive-in
rcspoon1 4 months ago 2
My parents are Mr & Mrs Kevin and Lynn Whyte from Cairns. I was born in the Cairns Hospital in 1971. I recognised so many places in the film!! My Dad worked for TAA at the time and I remember having Christmas Parties for TAA in the hanger! My Mum worked at Edge Hill Primary School for many years as a Teachers Assistant. We all live in Western Australia now. Mum and Dad will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary next year (2012). They were married in Cairns 1962....
QuarterMum3 4 months ago
Another excellent FILMAUSTRALIA nostalgic trip back in time!
gusruth 4 months ago
My mother was Mrs Taylor and Tony Madden (Police Officer) played Mr Taylor. We came to Cairns in 1954 and my brother and I still live here. Briought back some wonderful memories.
helenzoo11 4 months ago 3
@helenzoo11 Amazing! Thanks for letting us know.
FILMAUSTRALIA 4 months ago
@FILMAUSTRALIA
Thanks FILMAUSTRALIA....seeing 'Tony Taylor' again has made my day....:)
scoopentertainment 2 months ago
@helenzoo11
Hi Helen....I am Tony Madden's granddaughter, Fiona Madden. Maybe you can remember my Dad, Ray Madden.
scoopentertainment 2 months ago
This brings back great memories. Is it possible to buy a copy, I am sure I can see myself in this film. Would love a copy just for old time sake.
TheRocknoel 5 months ago
@TheRocknoel Wow that's great if you are actually in the film - a blast from the past I bet.
If you would like a DVD please contact the Film Australia Collection Library at: faclibrary@nfsa.gov.au
Glad you liked it please keep watching.
FILMAUSTRALIA 5 months ago
Comment removed
Lanson13 2 months ago
I, also grew up in this time, recognise most of it and even my sister's boyfriend worked at Irelands!!!
cheryla64 5 months ago
lol at the OH+S standards back then.
stoogeaRS4 5 months ago
Fantastic Video! Watched it twice! by the way, at 2:25 was she collecting milk from the post box? seems strange in a hot climate?!
justadroid 5 months ago
Kuranda Range road hasn't changed, still a narrow winding "death trap"....
mamaduke16 5 months ago
Yes -- this IS how it was. I also would very much like a copy on DVD or whatever -- the hospital DID look like that -- ditto the shops, the railway station AND the old airport. WOW! We lived there fofr 31 years from 1971, only one set of lights at the fiveways -- and hardly a roundabout!!!! This brings back so many memories. KL
mortein43 5 months ago
@mortein43 Yes a great reminder of times gone by. Glad you enjoyed it. If you would like a DVD please contact the Film Australia Collection Library at: faclibrary@nfsa.gov.au Thanks keep watching.
FILMAUSTRALIA 5 months ago
A good friend of mine likened this video as dishonest as any Nazi propaganda, Goebels would be proud. The Govt should apologise to all those who were fooled into thinking that this was the true Australia.
I find it disturbing. No wonder the Poms whinged when they got here and discovered that although it painted a picture of a pure white culture and there were black people living here too god forbid. Apart from all that, it was amazing to see what Cairns town looked like when I was born.
CairnsBlog 5 months ago
@CairnsBlog agreed! I thorougly enjoyed the sanctity of the footage. But is a safe, sanitised, unbalanced white christian view and it was not always my reality.
As a boy growing up in Cairns in the 1960's, I saw the ugly drunken side of the Barbary Coast, displaced Murray people and the corrupt culture of (some) Queensland politicians.
That said, I consider myself very fortunate to have experienced my seminal years in that paradise.
mazzyboy 4 months ago
This was my growing up era. I so remember all of this. Dad was a spraypainter down the end of Sheridan St. Mum shopped every Thursday at A.L&S.
judyc5201 5 months ago
I grew up in the town when it was like this, my dad had a newsagency in the city. It was an really interesting childhood for me spending a lot of my free time helping dad, meeting interesting people and engaging in conversation. The town had a real spirit, shopping was real, people really cared. Time moves on and much of of the old is gone. However...some of our heritage lies within the buildings that are disguised with dilapidated facades. Let's push for town heritage laws that enforce the res
eddieh58 5 months ago
boycott chain stores and cairns central!
cannoliii 5 months ago
Who built shopping centres in cairns and made the city reduntant?
cannoliii 5 months ago
Fabulous gem full of old memories..The Imperial Hotel, Drive in and Ellis Beach with the surf boards 'to hire' stand, to name just a few! Well the lack of surf would be one of the few things that has remained unchanged here! Thanks for the smiles!
thetrelads 5 months ago
Fantastic I wonder where the people are now who were featured in the movie :)
flappyhands 5 months ago
great
mattyo30 5 months ago
Oh boy, do I miss the Cairns I used to live and work in. I moved to Gordonvale in self defence 20yrs ago.
I'd love a copy of the DVD too.
VickieFarquhar 5 months ago
Great video. Can anyone work out where Tony was casting for prawns. Oak Beach?
The old train station with the Sunlander, The Esplanade before it was extended, Tobruk Pool. Great memories
JodiNelson 5 months ago
@JodiNelson I'd guess just north of Ellis Beach as you can see Double Island in the distance.
bmhcjs 5 months ago
This is wonderful, the memories are great.
mazstar2001 5 months ago
Cairns Born and bred ! happy to help how i can with any details you need. Have a fair bit of info on the history of Cairns and recognise some of the businesses / people in this one! THANK YOU for finding it ! How do i get a hard copy ??
CairnsMum 5 months ago
@CairnsMum Great response any ideas are very welcome. Will be in touch about a DVD and get someone to contact you about what you know about the film. Thanks again.
A cut down version of this film will be screening with a feature1 October 2011, 7pm Cairns, QLD
Tickets: $10/ $8, ticket sales at gate, BYO picnic, gates open 6pm, movies start at 7pm Cairns Botanic Gardens, Cnr Collins Ave & MacDonnell St, Edge Hill, Cairns
FILMAUSTRALIA 5 months ago
HOORAY! for T.A.A. and where are all those obese children and adults?
terrythe 5 months ago
Really enjoying this series of films.
tomasford 5 months ago
Awwe ♥ at the holden at 1:26 my dad had a green one just like that :)
THEMAYQUEEN1 5 months ago