Rough Diamonds

Rough Diamonds is a 1994 Australian film directed by Donald Crombie. It was the first lead role in a feature for Jason Donovan. Premise Mike Tyrell drives a cattle truck and hits a car picked on the side of the road that belongs to ex-singer Chrissie. Production Donald Crombie was inspired to make the film while filming The Irishman in north Queensland in 1977. He saw a farmer, who owned 80,000 hectares of beef country and on paper was a millionaire, working on a council road gang to make money. He wrote this up as a social drama for Film Australia to star Michelle Fawdon but it was never made. A number of years later Crombie was approached by Damien Parer who wanted to make features in Queensland and was looking for projects; Crombie showed him his treatment and they developed it into a more populist film. The farmer who needed money became a singer who had a romance with a girl singer and saves his farm on the country and western circuit.