Don's Party (1976) on Netflix
Schoolteacher Don Henderson throws a party on the night of the 1969 federal election, expecting a Labor win. His wife Kath is dismayed by the plan.
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- Netflix3.8/5
- IMDb6.8/101,706 votes
- Rotten Tomatoes83%
Trailer
Plot summary
In 1969, Don Henderson invites friends to his house in Westleigh, in Sydney's northern suburbs, to celebrate a Labor Party victory he expects at the federal election. His wife Kath is dismayed. The guests drink, joke, make love and fight, and each of them is dealing with struggles of their own. Mal, Don's mentor, is a former psychologist who now works as a management consultant. Mack is a design engineer who recently separated from his wife. Cooley, a lawyer, comes with Susan, his nineteen-year-old girlfriend, a university student.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Don's Party (1976)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Barry Crocker was originally meant to play Don but was replaced by John Hargreaves, who said the change came at short notice because Crocker broke his back the day before rehearsals.
- Adams wanted Paul Hogan to play Cooley but Hogan declined; Ray Barrett, who had played the role in London, was considered too old for the film and was given the part of Mal instead.
- The director Lee pulled out of Don's Party because he wanted to make it a broader comedy, which made screenwriter Williamson uncomfortable; Ken Hannam, Tim Burstall and Peter Weir all turned the film down before Bruce Beresford agreed to direct.
- Graeme Blundell took the role of an accountant in order to escape being typecast as Alvin Purple; he had produced the original stage play in 1971.
- The video for You Am I's 1998 single 'What I Don't Know 'bout You' was a tribute to Don's Party, with scenes from the film re-enacted by Australian actors including Stephen Curry as Mack, Ben Mendelsohn as Don, Matt Day, Tania Lacy and Nadine Garner.
