The Sundowners (1960)

Set in 1920s Australia, a family of drovers (the sundowners of the title) are suddenly at odds. The husband (Robert Mitchum) enjoys the wandering life with no ties and nothing to hold him down. His wife (Deborah Kerr) is tired of the drifting life and wants a home and to settle down. Based on the novel by Jon Cleary and directed by Fred Zinnemann (FROM HERE TO ETERNITY). Upon its initial release, the film was a critical success including five Oscar nominations for best picture, actress (Kerr), supporting actress (Glynis Johns), director (Zinnemann) and adapted screenplay. But it did poorly at the box office despite the star cast and prestigious accolades. The film must have seemed somewhat "exotic" to U.S. audiences as Australia wasn't a common setting for movies at that time though ON THE BEACH had been set there the year before. Nothing much happens. There's a sheep shearing contest, a couple of horse races and a baby gets born. It's an amiable film that benefits from some good performances (Kerr might have won the Oscar if Elizabeth Taylor hadn't almost died and won the sympathy vote) but it's not a particularly memorable movie. Dimitri Tiomkin's overbaked score does the film no favors. With Peter Ustinov, Dina Merrill, Michael Anderson Jr., Lola Brooks and Chips Rafferty.