Round the Bend (novel) Round the Bend (novel) Round the Bend is a 1951 novel by Nevil Shute. It tells the story of Constantine "Connie" Shaklin, an aircraft engineer who founds a new religion transcending existing religions based on the merit of good work. It deals with racism, including the White Australia policy, and also with the importance of private enterprise. It was one of the first novels Shute wrote after emigrating from Britain to Australia in 1950. The novel, written in the first person, adopts the voice and eyes of Tom Cutter, an aircraft pilot, engineer, and entrepreneur. The novel starts with Cutter's
A Town Like Alice (1956 film) was written by W. P. Lipscomb, who concentrated on the first half of the novel (the second half being set in Australia). Producer Joe Janni sent a copy of the script to director Jack Lee who later recalled "the script made me cry and I knew it would make audiences cry too." Janni and Lee took the script to Rank, who agreed to finance. Lee did further work on the script with Lipscombe and then with Richard Mason. Lee flew to Singapore and Malaya and "soon realised that if we cast the film in the UK, decided on their exact