Set in the summer of 1910 in Australia the film follows the story of 14 year old Alan Marshall (Alexander Outhread) as he stumbles out of childhood towards the exciting yet forbidding world of adulthood. For Alan, despite the effects of polio, there is only one passion in life - to become a great horseman just like his hero, the reclusive horse trainer East Driscoll (Russell Crowe). Alan is one of East's few friends and also one of the few who knows about the affair between East and the aristocratic English woman Grace McAlister (Charlotte Rampling). Things inevitably take a turn towards the tragic when East becomes determined to force Grace to leave her husband and run away with him. Hammers Over The Anvil is an evocative coming of age film from Australian director Ann Turner.
Russell Crowe
as East Driscoll
Charlotte Rampling
as Grace McAlister
Alexander Outhread
as Alan Marshall
Frankie J. Holden
as Bushman Marshall
Jake Frost
as Joe Carmichael
Alethea McGrath
as Mrs. Bilson
John Rafter Lee
as Charles McAlister
Frank Gallacher
as Mr. Thomas the Preacher
Amanda Douge
as Nellie Bolster
Kirsty McGregor
as Elsie Marshall
Daphne Grey
as Mrs. Herbert
Caroline Kemp
as Lucy Taylor
