FILM · 1975 · AUSTRALIA
The Great MacArthy
21 archived facts 3 topics 1 source Last reviewed Oct 2026
All facts (21)
- #001
Most of the football and training scenes in The Great MacArthy were shot at the South Melbourne ground, which is no longer used for football. The scenes from the final match, along with the earlier crowd scenes, were filmed at the Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG), the spiritual home of Australian Rules Football. The MCG also hosted the 1956 Olympic Games and the 2006 Commonwealth Games, and is the home of Test cricket in Melbourne.
- #002
Actor John Jarratt had never played Australian Rules Football before this film; he had only played Rugby.
- #003
To prepare for his role as an Australian Rules footballer in this film, John Jarratt trained with the South Melbourne Football Club.
- #004
The number worn by Macarthy (39) happens to be the same number worn in the 1980s by Warwick Capper, one of the Swans' best forwards.
- #005
The film's title, The Great MacArthy, was a shortened version of the title of the novel it was based on, A Salute to the Great MacArthy.
- #006
The film was made and released about seven years after the source novel by Barry Oakley, A Salute to the Great MacArthy, was first published in 1968.
- #007
The Great MacArthy is possibly the first Australian cinema film about Australian Rules Football.
- #008
This film is the only filmed adaptation of a written work by author Barry Oakley.
- #009
In a DVD interview, actor John Jarratt claims that in this film he performed the first full-frontal male nude shot in an Australian feature film. However, Robert McDarra and Haydn Keenan preceded him in 27A (1974), and before that Gary Bond appeared in the Australian/US co-production Wake in Fright (1971).
- #010
When the film was released in Australian cinemas in 1975, it was both a critical and a commercial failure at the box office.
- #011
According to the DVD introduction, when the temperature was very high, the film's director, David Baker, would reportedly strip off and direct the film naked.
- #012
The film's Australian theatrical distribution was rejected by both Greater Union's GUO Film Distributors and the Roadshow Organisation's Roadshow Film Distributors. It was picked up by the smaller Seven Keys Film Distributors.
- #013
Barry Humphries improvised heavily while performing on this picture.
- #014
The Great MacArthy is one of several Australian films about Australian Rules Football, alongside others including The Club (1980) and Australian Rules (2002).
- #015
The South Melbourne Football Club seen in this film, also known as The South Melbourne Swans, no longer exists in that form. At the time of filming, the club was part of the Victorian Football League (VFL); when it moved to Sydney, New South Wales, in 1982, it became the Sydney Swans in the new Australian Football League (AFL). The South Melbourne Football Club was founded in 1874.
- #016
Actor Max Gillies plays two characters in this film.
- #017
The film was shot in July and August 1974.
- #018
Real live football match action was intercut with footage of the fictional football performances.
- #019
The production shoot for this picture lasted six weeks.
- #020
The film's publicity stated that it was shot in twenty-four locations in and around Melbourne, the capital of Victoria, Australia, including nearby rural areas.
- #021
The cast of this Australian film consisted of ninety-two people.
Continue through the archive
Sources & editorial notes
Reference databases
Sources for the entries on this page
- IMDb IMDb kaydı
Information from external sources is independently selected, consolidated and edited by Arka Evren. Sources are listed for verification and further reading. Encyclopedia text is used under its licence (CC BY-SA). How we work