Movies - The Man From Snowy River

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	Movies - The Man From Snowy River

"The Man From Snowy River" is a poem by Australian bush poet Banjo Paterson. It was first published in The Bulletin, an Australian news magazine, in April 1890.

The poem tells the story of a horseback pursuit to recapture the colt of a prizewinning racehorse that escaped from its paddock and is living wild with the brumbies (wild horses) of the mountain ranges. Eventually the brumbies descend a seemingly impassably steep slope, at which point the assembled riders give up the pursuit, except the young hero, who spurs his pony down the "terrible descent" to catch the mob.

Several characters mentioned in the early part of the poem are featured in previous Paterson poems, Clancy of the Overflow and Harrison from "Old Pardon, Son of Reprieve".

Films

The poem inspired two films with the title "The Man From Snowy River" — one being a 1920 silent version, and the other being the better-known 1982 version — as well as inspiring a sequel film in 1988.

Bruce Rowland composed the music for both the 1982 and 1988 "The Man From Snowy River" films. The soundtrack for the 1982 film became one of the most critically acclaimed in the history of motion pictures.

NBC Sports uses some of the exact music from the soundtrack for their coverage of The PLAYERS Championship.

For the titles which were used for both the original and sequel films in Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom, please check the following table:

Television

"Banjo Paterson's The Man From Snowy River" ("Snowy River: The McGregor Saga") was a television series, which was produced in the 1990s.

The series was about Matt McGregor (the TV version of 'The Man'), and his family. The action takes place a number of years after 'the Ride' of the poem. The episode, 'The Race', celebrates the ride.

The television series is known in the United States as "Snowy River: The McGregor Saga") . The television series was extremely loosely based on the concept of "The Man From Snowy River".

Olympics

The poem was also commemorated at the opening ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Olympic Games by Steve Jefferys, the lone rider who cracked the stockwhip and whose Australian Stock Horse "Ammo" reared to begin the ceremony. Steve Jefferys and Ammo were then followed by another 120 Stock Horses and their riders (who wore Driza-Bone riding coats for the ceremony) during The Man From Snowy River segment.

The Man From Snowy River segment included formation riding, with the horses forming the five Olympic Rings and the riders carrying special Olympic flags - which was followed by the riders carrying Australian flags.

The Man From Snowy River segment was performed to a special Olympics version of the soundtrack music for the 1982 The Man From Snowy River film, by Australian composer Bruce Rowland, the composer of the music for both The Man From Snowy River film and its sequel The Man From Snowy River II (Return to Snowy River). The creative team behind the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games Opening Ceremony were David Atkins and Ignatius Jones.

The special theme can be heard here:

Theatre musical

A very popular live musical theatre production, The Man from Snowy River: Arena Spectacular, which was also based on the poem, toured Australian capital cities twice during 2002.

The CD won the 2002 Australian Record Industry Association (ARIA Music Award) for Best Original Cast / Show Album.

Live action shows

The poem has also been commemorated, in live entertainment, by an enactment of "The Man From Snowy River" at various Australian Royal Agricultural Shows, including the Sydney Royal Easter Show and the Ekka (the Royal Queensland Show).

There is also special tribute entertainment at Warner Bros. Movie World at the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

The River and 'The Man'

The Snowy River is indeed a real river, with its headwaters in the highest section of the Great Dividing Range near the easternmost part of the border between New South Wales and Victoria. Corryong, a small town on the western side of the range, claims stockman Jack Riley as the inspiration for the character, and like many other towns in the region uses the image of the character as part of the marketing to tourists.

There is a possibility that another exceptional and fearless rider, Charlie McKeahnie, who was born in 1868 might have been the inspiration for the poem, because of a dangerous riding feat in the Snowy River region in 1885, in which Charlie McKeahnie took part when he was only 17 years of age.

The location of the ride in the poem is left unspecified, though clearly it takes place somewhere in the Great Dividing Range.

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for The Man From Snowy River ]

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