Journey Out of Darkness
1967 film
Journey Out of Darkness is a 1967 Australian film which was directed by James Trainor and one of the leads of the film was singer Kamahl.
Plot
In 1901, trooper Peterson is sent to the Australian Outback to arrest an Aboriginal man responsible for a ritual killing. He is accompanied by tracker Jubbal. On the way back Jubbal is killed, and Peterson and the prisoner form a relationship.
Cast
Konrad Matthaei as Peterson
Ed Devereaux as Jubbal
Kamahl as prisoner
Ron Morse as Sergeant Miller
Marie Clark as Mrs Miller
Betty Campbell as Jubbal's wife
John Campbell as first child
Don Campbell as second child
Julie Williams as Aboriginal girl
Nukitjilpi as chief
Roy Dadaynga as tribesman
the Arnhem Land Dancers from the Yirrkala Mission
Production
Director James Trainor had worked at the Commonwealth Film Unit and worked in the United States as a documentary director. He wrote the script with his father-in-law, noted Hollywood screenwriter Howard E. Koch. Konrad Matthaei agreed to help finance the film if he was allowed to play the lead role.
Kamahl, a popular singer, was cast in a lead role. White actor Ed Devereaux was cast as an Aboriginal character. "If the producers had had the time they undoubtedly would have cast about for an Aboriginal actor," said Devereaux.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Journey Out of Darkness” is 1967 film. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Journey, Darkness and film, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “1967 film” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
Object files, edition statements, performance records and contemporary criticism preserve different stages of the work’s history. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q12125270. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1967 and 1901.
Later fame can flatten the distinction between original context, subsequent adaptation and institutional collecting history. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.
- Identifying works and editions
- Tracing reception history
- Finding collection records
The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Journey Out of Darkness”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Journey Out of Darkness primary sources, Journey Out of Darkness archive and Journey research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Journey Out of Darkness”?
- Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
- Which edition, object, performance or recording is being described?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Journey Out of Darkness” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.