French Poster for Orphan of the Wilderness

This poster for the feature film Orphan of the Wilderness shows how an Australian film in 1936 was marketed to a French audience – by making the wildlife the prime attraction. The film stars a glorious gathering of native animals that were filmed in a wild bush setting made entirely from scratch inside Bondi’s Cinesound studios. The orphaned joey, Chut, who transforms into a boxing kangaroo, is front and centre in the film and the poster. Before Skippy hopped onto the scene, Chut was arguably our most famous kangaroo.

Director Ken G Hall was rightly concerned about accusations of animal cruelty, so much so that he arranged for the RSPCA to supervise the filming. In the boxing scenes, Chut is forced to fight with travelling circus owner Shorty McGee (played by Harry Abdy). Chut was Abdy's pet in real life, and they often toured Australia performing a boxing kangaroo act. 

The film was shown around the world, including in the UK, the US (where it was retitled Wild Innocence) and France, where this beautiful poster originated. Vive le kangourou!