The Delinquents is a 1989 Australian coming-of-age romantic drama film directed by Chris Thomson from a screenplay by Clayton Frohman and Mac Gudgeon, based on Criena Rohan's 1962 book of the same name.
After the ship docks, Lola and Brownie attend a party held by a young couple, Lyle and Mavis.
One night, both couples are socialising in a local pub when Lola and Brownie are arrested for underage drinking and vagrancy.
Lola collects the mail and, after a brief conversation with the postman, realises that Aunt Westbury has disposed of Brownie's letters.
Finding her mother drunk and unsympathetic, Lola heads to Lyle and Mavis's house, only to be arrested and taken to a reform school to restart and complete her sentence.
Although Lola and Brownie offer to adopt Sharon (Lyle & Mavis' surviving daughter), they are unable to as they are unmarried.
Lyle subsequently leaves after telling Lola he plans to travel the world, taking on odd jobs to make ends meet.
Lola leaves the house, suitcase packed, ready to take Sharon to the welfare office before heading back to Bundaberg.
It is uncertain whether the screenplay was adjusted or the missing parts of the book were filmed and removed to meet a lower certificate.
They had been trying to obtain the rights to another Australian novel but had difficulty negotiating with the author; someone suggested they have a look at The Delinquents, which Penguin were about to reissue.
In 1987 David Bowie announced in an interview he thought the book would make a good film, which re-ignited a great deal of interest in the project.
"[10] The Australian Film Commission provided further script development money enabling Dorothy Hewett to write a second draft.
[11] At one stage Ben Mendelsohn was signed to appear opposite her but eventually it was decided to go with an imported actor so the film might appeal to an international market: Charlie Schlatter was chosen.
Village Roadshow agreed to provide half the budget and the producers applied to the FFC for further finance in October 1988.
[14][13] After a London world premiere, The Delinquents opened in Australia and New Zealand on 21 December 1989 in wide release.
[12] The film was hit with controversy over its content, with Britain's Daily Mail asserting that it was "immoral and dangerous" that it had been given a 12 certificate, allowing young children to see it.
[13] David Stratton of Variety called the story "trite stuff" and felt that Schlatter was miscast and that "as for Minogue, the verdict still is out regarding a future acting career ... but it's unfair to judge her on this material".
[21] In one interview, producer Mike Wilcox hit out over the "mythology" that the film was a financial failure, saying, "I wonder where these people get their information from because I was part of the production and I don't have accurate figures on what its performance was.
[22] The soundtrack release consisted of old standards (one of them performed by Minogue and one by Johnny Diesel and the Injectors), as well as one track from the film's score.