BB17-068 — CRY SWEET REVENGE
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YEAR: 1965
ORIGINAL TITLE: Onkel Toms Hütte / Uncle Tom’s Cabin
FILM STUDIO / PRODUCTION: CCC Filmkunst / Melodie Film / Avala Film / Debora Film / Sipro
AUSTRALIAN DISTRIBUTOR: David Distribution Films Australia Pty Ltd — released by Independent International
TAGLINE: “An Epic of Courage… Love… Savagery… Humiliation…”
DIRECTOR: Géza von Radványi
CAST: John Kitzmiller, Herbert Lom, Olive Moorefield, O.W. Fischer, Mylène Demongeot, Juliette Gréco, Eleonora Rossi Drago
SCREENPLAY: Fred Denger and Géza von Radványi, based on the novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe
MUSIC: Peter Thomas
GENRE: Historical Drama / Slavery Drama / Literary Adaptation
POSTER PRINTER: Robert Burton Printers Pty. Ltd.
FORMAT: Australian Daybill

Cry Sweet Revenge is the Australian release title used for the 1965 European production of Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin. The Australian Centre for the Moving Image catalogues the film under Cry Sweet Revenge = Uncle Tom's Cabin, identifies it as a 1965 West German production and confirms Géza von Radványi as director and Herbert Lom as Simon Legree and John Kitzmiller as Uncle Tom.

POSTER DESIGN FEATURES: A confronting Australian exploitation-style treatment that substantially repositions the literary adaptation as a hard-edged adult attraction. The poster uses a salmon-pink, black, white and red palette, dominated by an illustrated hand gripping a whip. Smaller images depict violence, slavery and characters from the film, while the huge headline “SHOCKING, SAVAGE VERSION” dominates the top. The lower black panel carries the Australian title CRY SWEET REVENGE in red and white. The Australian R classification, Independent International release credit, David Distribution Films Australia credit and Robert Burton printer mark make this a particularly distinctive Australian release design.

COLLECTOR'S NOTE: This is an interesting example of a film being dramatically repackaged for a different market. Rather than emphasising the familiar Uncle Tom's Cabin title, the Australian campaign uses Cry Sweet Revenge and promotes the film through provocative exploitation-style imagery and language. The underlying production was an international European adaptation of Harriet Beecher Stowe's landmark 1852 anti-slavery novel, with Dr. No actor John Kitzmiller as Uncle Tom and Pink Panther series actor Herbert Lom as Simon Legree.