"cobbers" in plenty." Filming began on 15 September 1941 and took 14 days. Various members of the cast were granted leave from the army to appear in the film, including Grant Taylor, John Fleeting and Barry Ross. Fleeting, Taylor, Joe Vallie, Lorna Westbrook, Aileen Britton and Shirley Ann Richards had all appeared in films for Ken G. Hall previously. A number of amateurs were also used in the cast. Barry Ross was an experienced stage actor. 100,000 Cobbers was mostly filmed at Liverpool Military camp using national servicemen. There was also location shooting at Luna Park. Shirley Ann Richards plays a chiropractor. It was her last role in Australia before leaving for Hollywood. Ken Hall later recalled in his memoirs: It [the film] provided a much bigger snag to make than we had expected: there were next to no troops available to make it with. The army had a few hundred militiamen in camp at Liverpool. They had been called up for national service and home defence, were raw and as yet untrained. Eighteen-year-olds formed a big percentage, and they were out to prove their manhood by stacking their own normal conversation with every four-letter word in the language. As soldiers they had a long way to go, but they were all we had. The veteran NCOs got stuck into them and soon had them in at least rough shape. There was an AIF officers' training school also in the area, with keen young men aspiring to leadership. We were mighty glad to have them, and they provided the front (close-to-camera) people we needed. I'm sure those militiamen were turned into good soldiers eventually and indeed some of them could have been among those originals at Kokoda. Roden Cutler was a liaison officer at Liverpool. Release While the film was originally made to increase recruitment for the AIF, after Japan entered the war additional footage was shot and the film recut to also appeal to the Australian Militia Force. The film was previewed to the Department of Information on 29 January 1942. It was released throughout Australia as a supporting featurette in Greater Union cinemas. Critical The Sydney Morning Herald called 100,000 Cobbers "a fine film call to the fighting youth of Australia in this grave hour... the best film Ken Hall as made and it will have particularly nostalgic appeal for old diggers... It is often a quietly moving