THE CALL OF THE KARROO (1954) (20:41)

A newly married couple, Steve and Ann, arrive on the Karoo sheep farm Steve runs together with his father. A city girl, it will be a new experience for Ann, who is introduced to life on the farm by her husband and father-in-law. Activities are followed over a period of a year, from the lambing season to the shearing of the flock of some 3,000 sheep. It also touches upon the inevitable set-backs, which include drought, various illnesses to which sheep are prone and the menace of a predator jackal that fatally injures a prize ram. With the exception of the “boss boy”, Hendrik, the farm labourers feature only marginally, notably when a witchdoctor is called upon to get rid of the jackal.
The film was sponsored by the South African Wool Board and points out that wool is the country’s second largest export commodity after gold.

Steve’s father is played by Cecil Cartwright, who had a small role in Zoltan Korda’s “Cry, the beloved country” (1951) and there is an uncredited appearance by Nico Carstens.