Smiley Gets a Gun (1958) – Nostalgia Central

10-year-old Smiley Greevins (now played by Keith Calvert instead of Colin Petersen) gets into more strife in this sequel to the 1956 movie Smiley as he attempts to prove himself a responsible citizen by helping others, so that he can earn a new .22 rifle which Sergeant Flaxman (legendary Australian actor Chips Rafferty) promises him if he can behave for a period of time.

Each good deed the lad performs is recorded as a notch on a tree. Smiley must earn eight notches to receive the gun. For every lapse or bit of trouble, a notch is subtracted.

Smiley’s tries his hardest to turn over a new leaf – helping the eccentric old storekeeper Granny McKinley (Dame Sybil Thorndike) and pumping the church organ –  but his young schoolboy rivals sabotage him (including letting a live goat loose during Sunday church service) and are almost able to stop him earning his good marks.

Things turn serious when a big-city writer named Quirk (Guy Doleman) steals a hidden stash of gold coins belonging to Granny McKinley. Smiley is falsely accused of the theft and runs away into the bush.

With the help of his friends and a local water-driller, Smiley returns to clear his name and expose the real thief.

Justice prevails in the end – and a serving police officer provides a 10-year-old boy with a firearm!

Different times . . .

To capture the fictional outback town of Murrumbilla for the film, director Anthony Kimmins cleverly utilised rural locations on the outskirts of Sydney and regional New South Wales to recreate the rugged outback. The historic town of Camden, located just southwest of Sydney, served as the primary location for Murrumbilla.

The crew constructed dirt roads, vintage storefronts, and rustic outback buildings to flawlessly simulate an early-20th-century rural Australian community.

All interior scenes were filmed at Pagewood Studios in Sydney.

Granny McKinley
Sybil Thorndike
Sergeant Flaxman
Chips Rafferty
Smiley Greevins
Keith Calvert
Joey
Bruce Archer
Ma Greevins
Margaret Christensen
Pa (Bill) Greevins
Reg Lye
Stiffy
Grant Taylor
Quirk
Guy Doleman
Mr Stevens
Leonard Teale
Miss McCowan
Verena Kimmins
Dr Gaspen
Bruce Beeby
Mrs Gaspen
Ruth Cracknell
Tom Graham
John Fegan
Fred Jackson
Brian Farley
Jean Holt
Janice Dinnen
Elsie
Barbara Eather
Mr Protheroe
William Rees
Rev. Galbraith
Gordon Chater
Nurse
Val Cooney
Jimmy Goodwin
Richard Pusey
Mick Mooney
Frank Ransome
Vicar
Charles Tasman
Dave Rudge
John Tate

Director
Anthony Kimmins