Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
'40s Australian adventure has casual racism, outdated feel.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 9+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Bush Christmas
What's the Story?
After getting out of school for the Christmas holiday, five children -- ranch kids Helen (Helen Grieve), John, and Snow Thompson, a bookish English boy named Michael who is staying with the Thompsons, and an Aborigine boy named Neza whose father works on the ranch -- living in a small Australian outback town venture off where they shouldn't and come across a pair of horse thieves who are covering over the white spots on a horse with paint. The children don't put two and two together until the next morning when two of the horses on the ranch have been stolen. When Mr. Thompson finds out and then learns that the children ventured where they shouldn't have, he threatens to cancel Christmas altogether, and it's up to the children to sneak away from the ranch, pursue the horse thieves -- even as they realize they're lost in the bush -- and outwit them until the authorities can manage to track them down.
Is It Any Good?
BUSH CHRISTMAS has not aged well, and it's not only because of the casual racism on display toward the Aborigines. Although the pace of the adventure was surely exciting for its time (1947), by today's standards the movie drags in quite a few places. Also, this is less of a "Christmas movie" and more of an adventure of sorts -- a walkabout, if you will -- that really only shows and talks about Christmas at the beginning and at the end.
Still, it's not totally unredeemable decades later. There are some engagingly suspenseful moments of adventure and peril and some moments of slapstick that call to mind Home Alone. Also, remarkable for its time, the girl of the group -- Helen -- is portrayed as a strong leader, as skilled with horseback riding and as brave as the boys once they realize they're lost in the bush while pursuing the horse thieves.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about how this is a movie from 1947. In what ways does this movie seem dated? How does it reflect the times in which it was created?
How is Helen, the only girl in the movie, portrayed? How might this portrayal be unusual for a film from the '40s?
What are some of the good and not-so-good ways that Neza, the young Aborigine boy, is portrayed in the movie?
Movie Details
- In theaters : November 2, 1947
- On DVD or streaming : November 8, 2005
- Cast : Chips Rafferty , Helen Grieve , John Fernside
- Director : Ralph Smart
- Studio : MGM/UA
- Genre : Family and Kids
- Topics : Holidays
- Run time : 80 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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