I Live with Me Dad

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2015}} {{Use Australian English|date=July 2015}} {{Infobox television | image = | caption = | director = Paul Moloney | producer = [[Ross Jennings]] | writer = Paul Moloney | based_on = | starring = [[Peter Hehir]]<br />Haydon Samuels<br />[[Rebecca Gibney]]<br>[[Peter Cummins]] | music = | cinematography = | editor = | network = [[Nine Network]] | company = [[Crawford Productions|Crawfords Australia]] | released = {{Start date|1985}} | runtime = 90 minutes | country = Australia | language = English | budget = }} '''''I Live with Me Dad''''' is a 1985 TV movie, produced by [[Crawford Productions|Crawfords Australia]]. The film is about six-year-old Crispy who lives with his destitute father Sid (Hehir). Based on a true story, it follows the street adventures of a father and son and his unconventional upbringing. A heart warming film that explores the extraordinary bond between a father and his son, amidst the pressures and emotions of those who would separate them.

==Plot== Sid McCall is down on his luck. His greatest friend is his son Crispy and together they share all the joys and disappointments that street life can bring. Although only 6 years old, Crispy mixes easily with the street people, who share a common fellowship that always unites them during times of trouble.<ref name="scott">Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p85</ref>

==Cast== * [[Peter Hehir]] as Sid * Haydon Samuels as Crispy * [[Rebecca Gibney]] as Jill Harkness * [[Peter Cummins]] as Sergeant * [[Tommy Dysart]] as Griffin * [[Nigel Bradshaw]] as Mr Ross * [[Dennis Miller (Australian actor)|Dennis Miller]] as Joe Kazzinak * [[Fiona Corke]] as Nursing Sister * [[Gus Mercurio]] as Waldo Skrimm

==Production== It was based on a true story.<ref>[http://www.eatonfilms.co.uk/node/43 ''I Live with Me Dad''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402103921/http://www.eatonfilms.co.uk/node/43 |date=2 April 2015 }} at Eaton Films</ref>

==Reception== Sian Powell of the Sydney Morning Herald concludes "It reeks of sentimentality, but there are redeeming features. The adult acting is patchy, but young Haydon Samuel turns in a solid performance as the seven-year-old son of the alcoholic battler. Paul Kelly's music is superb, as always."<ref>{{Citation | last=Powell |first=Sian | title= ''I Live With Me Dad'' | url= | periodical= The Sydney Morning Herald | date= 15 August 1990}}</ref> Reviewing the video release Graham Cooke wrote in The Canberra Times "The pair fall foul of the welfare serrvices and it is here that the film loses its way a little. Rebecca Gibney as Jill Harkness is a social worker out of another, less-enlightened age, mounting a virtual crusade to separate father from son. It gives the story a harder edge, at the same time making it seem more than a little contrived."<ref>{{Citation | last= Cooke | first= Graham | title= Atom bombs and ambition make intriguing tale | url= https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/101974999 | periodical= The Canberra Times | date=8 February 1988 |access-date=17 May 2023}}</ref> In a capsual review Doug Anderson of the Sydney Morning Herald says "It's a two-hankie job with golden redemption at the end but quite agreeable."<ref>{{Citation | last=Anderson |first=Doug | title= ''I Live With Me Dad'' (1988) | url= | periodical= The Sydney Morning Herald | date= 22 January 1996}}</ref>

==References== {{reflist}}

==External links== *{{IMDb title|0089320}} * {{Cite web |url=http://www.eatonfilms.co.uk/node/43 |title=I Live With Me Dad |access-date=9 July 2013 |archive-date=2 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402103921/http://www.eatonfilms.co.uk/node/43 |url-status=dead }}

[[Category:Australian television films]] [[Category:1985 television films]] [[Category:1985 films]] [[Category:Films directed by Paul Moloney]] [[Category:1985 English-language films]]