One of the stars of the classic, Tom Burlinson, is heading to Merrijig for the Mountain Cattlemen’s Get Together to take part in events to mark the milestone.
In the early 1980s Mr Burlinson, a classically trained actor who looked younger than his years, was encouraged by his agent to try out for a movie that “no-one knew anything about”.
“All we knew was that they had imagined this whole background story for the boy in the Banjo Patterson poem The Man from Snowy River.”
Sigrid Thornton had already been cast as Jessica Harrison and was reading opposite during the auditions.
The pair connected on stage and, from that moment on, he had her support for the role of Jim Craig.
“I remember reading the script and thinking, this guy sounds like he needs to be a pretty good rider — I’ve only sat on a horse two times,” Mr Burlinson said.
Merrijig local Charlie Lovick’s horse had already been selected as the one for the movie, so he “was the natural pick” to teach Mr Burlinson to ride.
“As it turned out, I had a natural seat as a rider,’’ Mr Burlinson said.
“No-one guessed that this green young man from Sydney would be able to learn to ride quickly.”
Most of the shooting took place in 1981, from March to June, and though the poem was set in southern NSW, filming took place in the High Country near Mansfield.
“I lobbied the directors to let me ride the ‘terrible descent’,” Mr Burlinson said.
“... while (stunt double) Gerald (Egan) did the leap over, all those shots going downhill were me.”
The movie premiered at the Star Cinema in Mansfield on March 20, 1982, and was a box office success, grossing $17,228,160 — the highest-grossing Australian film until Crocodile Dundee was released four years later.
The get-together will be held at McCormack Park, Merrijig, from Friday, September 30 to Sunday, October 2.
For more information and tickets, visit www.mcav.com.au
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