Wake in Fright

All right.

Off you go.

Happy Christmas, teacher!

- Happy new year.

- Thank you, Dave.

Give my love to your

girlfriend in Sydney, sir.

I'll do that, sir, thank you.

Have a happy holiday, sir.

And you, Chris, thank you.

Enjoy yourself.

For your collection, sir.

Thank you very much, Lou.

Bye-bye.

So I'll see you

next year, mate.

Shut up!

A middy, please, Charlie.

Having one yourself?

Yeah.

You've, uh,

got snakes in your

pocket, have you?

Mmm...

Keys.

Will you be wanting your

room when you come back?

Where else would I stay?

But if you get

a flood of tourists

or anything, Charlie,

I can always stay

in the schoolhouse.

See you in six weeks, huh?

Not if I can rob a bank.

- Sure, Ned Kelly.

- Mmm.

See you, then.

Uh-huh.

Excuse me, please.

Oi, fella, come and

have a beer with us.

No. No, thanks.

Come on, come and have a beer.

New to the yabba?

Yes.

Staying long?

No, just tonight.

Oh, that's hard luck.

Want to see a bit more

of the yabba than that.

You think it's worth seeing?

It's the

best place in Australia.

Everybody likes the yabba.

Why?

Well, it's a friendly place.

Nobody worries who you are

or where you come from.

You're a good bloke, you're all right.

You know what I mean?

Excuse me.

Do you have a room for John grant?

I made a booking by letter.

Oh, I'm only staying the night.

I'm flying to

Sydney in the morning.

You have to pay now.

I think we can manage that.

It'll be $4.

There's $1 deposit on the keys.

You'll get that back when

you bring the keys back.

Thank you.

Could you tell me where

room seven is, please?

Up the steps and down

the corridor to the right.

Hey. Shut it, mate.

We're closed.

Excuse me.

You're new to the yabba?

Well, I just dropped

in for the night.

I'm flying to

Sydney in the morning.

Uh-huh.

- Come far?

- Tiboonda.

Ah, nice little place.

Do you like it?

Paradise on earth.

Yeah.

What do you do out there?

Oh, I'm a bonded slave of

the education department.

I'm a school teacher.

Oh, yes.

You took over from old

Murchison, didn't you?

McDonald, his name is.

Of course.

And you're, uh...

Grant.

Yeah, that's right.

Well, I'll be blown.

Crawford's the name.

Jock Crawford.

John grant.

I'm pleased to know you, Jack.

What about another beer?

Thanks, Mr. Crawford.

- Here you are, Jack.

- Thanks.

You, uh...

You say you're a slave.

What do you mean by that?

You wouldn't know how our

educational authorities

get teachers for the outback?

Wouldn't have a clue, mate.

Now, a new teacher has

to post a bond for $1,000.

That 1,000 guarantees you'll

serve out your contract

wherever they send you.

Oh, well. I suppose they

know what they're doing.

You clever blokes never like to

stop in the one spot long, do you?

Depends on the place.

Yeah, that's right.

Well, never mind, Jack.

You can always come to the

yabba for your holidays.

Good luck.

Yes, that's something

to look forward to.

No, thanks,

I'll be running along.

Police have much to

do in Bundanyabba?

No. No, not really.

We sort of...

We just sort of

keep an eye on things.

Honestest little town in

Australia, this is, mate.

But, mind you,

there are not too many

game enough to try

anything around here.

You see, we're so isolated,

there's nowhere to go.

We get 'em, and quick.

Sounds like an easy life.

Yeah, not bad.

Of course,

we do have a few suicides.

Yeah?

Yeah. Yeah,

they reckon it's the heat.

Me...

I like the heat.

Yeah, it's one way of

getting out of town.

What is?

Killing yourself.

Hey, that's good. I like a

bloke with a sense of humor.

Oh... killing yourself.

Two more, Kate.

Have you ever

been anywhere else?

Yeah. Did three months'

training in the city.

Didn't like it.

A couple more?

Here, give us your dough.

I'll get 'em quicker than you.

The one foggy Christmas Eve

Santa came to say

Rudolph,

with your nose so bright

won't you guide

my sleigh tonight?

Then all the reindeer

loved him

Here you are. I slung your

change to the steward.

Told him it was yours.

Do you a bit of good

when you come back again.

Get up, get up.

Ladies and gentlemen,

let us pay a tribute

to our fallen comrades.

They shall grow not old,

as we that are left grow old.

Age shall not weary them,

nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun,

and in the morning,

we will remember them.

We will remember them.

Lest we forget.

Lest we forget.

Thank you,

ladies and gentlemen.

No, as long as they close before

the show, they're shut...

Come on, the beer's

real good here.

Oh, no, jock. No, I'll pass

out if I don't eat soon.

Well, it's easy to see

you're not a yabba man.

A yabba man!

A yabba man...

You're the yabba man, jock.

The Bundanyabba man.

All right, all right.

Come on, I'll show you where

you can get a real good steak.

This is a mate of mine, John grant.

You can let him in anytime.

He's all right.

How's it going there, jock?

Oh, not too bad, Jim.

How's it with you?

Great.

Hey, Joe. Put a steak on

for me mate, will you?

Yeah, lovely. Hey, Tim.

One steak, mate.

Oh, rare, please.

Yeah, all right.

How's the missus?

Oh, she was a bit crook last week.

She all right now, jock.

- And the kid?

- Oh, this kid's gold.

You tell him to stop missing

school or I'll have you.

All right, mate.

Come on, I'll show you

inside while we're waiting.

All right.

Biggest two-up game

in Australia, Jack.

Right on, fellas.

I want 100 in the middle.

The spinner's

the bloke with the kip.

Kip?

Yeah, the bit of wood

they put the pennies on.

He's just dropped

$100 in the center.

That's got to be covered

before they can spin 'em.

Now it's been covered, they can

all get in for a side bet.

Heads, heads, heads...

Tails. Tails.

- Who wants to go on the heads?

- Put 50 on heads.

You know, the little fella with the

kip's a fella named Charlie Jones.

Comes in here every Friday

night with his pay packet.

Bets are closing.

Clear a space.

Quiet! Hey!

Settle down, settle down.

What do you think it is?

Fair go, chaps.

Heads!

Do you get the idea now, Jack?

Well, you just bet on whether the

pennies come down heads or tails.

Yeah, that's right.

You think this

crowd will be at each

other's throats

when they settle?

Ah, there's hardly a fight.

Each man knows what's coming to

him, he just goes and gets it.

Heads, heads, heads...

Tails, tails, tails...

Sixty on tails...

Fair go.

Watch your feet now.

Watch yourself there.

Wait for it. Wait for it now.

Heads!

Four hundred, Charlie,

what do you wanna do?

Put the lot on.

Yeah, Charlie always

goes for 800 or bust.

You gotta throw four heads

in a row to do it, too.

Come on now, hurry up.

Get 'em on.

And what does he do

with the winnings?

Well, nothing.

Simmer down, boys.

Settle down.

Put 'em on,

Charlie, now, come on.

When you're ready, Charles.

When you're ready.

Fair go.

Fair go.

Heads.

Beauty, Charlie.

You're casting

a spell around here.

There's a nice

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