Squeeze a Flower

Brother George is the only monk at the Italian Monastery who knows the secret recipe of the popular liqueur that is the sole source of income for the monastery. When he feels their sole distributor, a local wine merchant, is not giving the monastery a fair price, he leaves and moves to Australia. There he works at a vineyard picking grapes and starts making the liqueur in his spare time.

George then comes to the attention of the winery owner Alfredo Brazzi and the two agree to a partnership to make the liqueur. Alfredo is unaware George is a monk and that he sends 50 percent of the money back to his Italian monastery.

Alfredo and his son-in-law Tim constantly try to steal the secret recipe. They recruit June for their skulduggery, but she falls in love with George, also unaware of his religious calling. Finally, the Italian wine merchant travels to Sydney, willing to make a deal with Brother George. The merchant ends up paying double the price he had previously rejected.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46080499 |title=Italian monk with a secret liqueur recipe. |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly | date=18 February 1970 |access-date=3 September 2012 |page=26 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

• Walter Chiari – Brother George
• Jack Albertson – Alfredo Brazzi
• Rowena Wallace – June Phillips
• Dave Allen – Tim O'Mahoney
• Kirrily Nolan – Maria O'Mahoney
• Alec Kellaway – The Abbot (in his final film appearance)
• Michael Laurence – Brother James
• Alan Tobin – Brother Peter
• Charles McCallum – Brother Sebastian
• Harry Lawrence – Vequis
• Roger Ward – Bosun
• Harry Britton – Photographer
• Alex Mozart – Truck Driver
• Sandy Harbutt – Grape Picker
• Amanda Irving – Grape Picker
• Jeff Ashby – Bert Andrews
• Penny Sugg – Stewardess
• Sue Lloyd – Receptionist
• Barry Crocker – Waiter
• Lea Denfield – Flower Seller
• Pat Sullivan – Laboratory Assistant
• Bobby Limb - Bobby Lambert
• Dawn Lake - Dawn Lambert

The film was meant to be the first in a proposed series of ten films made jointly by NLT Productions and Group W. NLT Productions was a television production company in Sydney and was supported by Motion Picture Investments, a company associated with various Australian businessmen including Sir Reginald Ansett.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107091561 |title=Mr ANSETT ON BOARD. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=13 March 1969 |access-date=10 December 2013 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Group W was a division of the American Westinghouse Broadcasting Company.

Leading cast and crew were imported: the director, writer and producer were all American and the lead actors were from overseas: Italian Walter Chiari, American Jack Albertson and Irish David Allen. It was Allen's first major film role.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article107079058 |title=Comedian returns. |newspaper=The Canberra Times |date=18 February 1969 |access-date=10 December 2013 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

Filming began in mid February 1969 and only took a month. Shooting took place in the studio of Ajax Films in Sydney and on location in St Patrick's College, Manly, and Mount Pleasant vineyard in the Hunter Valley.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article44025920 |title="SQUEEZE A FLOWER". |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly | date=21 May 1969 |access-date=11 September 2012 |page=17 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

Walter Chiari had previously made They're a Weird Mob (1966) in Australia. He married his girlfriend during the shoot.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article46932169 |title=Happiness is a man called Walter Chiari. |newspaper=The Australian Women's Weekly | date=2 April 1969 |access-date=11 September 2012 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

The film's premiere in Sydney was attended by Australian Prime Minister John Gorton but the movie was not well received, commercially or critically.

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|0131027|Squeeze a Flower}}
• [http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=%22squeeze%20a%20flower%22;querytype=;rec=9;resCount=10 Squeeze a Flower] at National Film and Sound Archive
• [http://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/squeeze-a-flower Squeeze a Flower] at Oz Movies

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Category:Australian comedy films

Category:1970 films

Category:Films directed by Marc Daniels

Category:1970s English-language films