The original working title was "A Carrier Called Kruse".
Tom Kruse received no money for featuring in the movie. He owed the Shell Company $20,000 (Aust) at the time. For appearing in the film, they wiped the debt and put him back in the black in the ledger book.
Queen Elizabeth II saw the film and recognized the outback mailman's efforts in distributing mail to remote areas. On 1st January 1955, Her Majesty Queen of England made him an MBE (Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire) for services to the community in the outback. He is today still the only outback mailman to receive an MBE.
This documentary film's opening prologue reads: "The development of
inland Australia largely
depends on the men who
keep open the supply lines
and communications -
the outback mailmen.
In an area larger than
Europe, beyond the last
roads and railways, their
tracks make the map of
the inland - become the
roads of tomorrow - and
mark the growth of the
Nation.
This is the story of
one of them and the people
he serves -
THE
BACK
OF
BEYOND".
This film was the winner of the Absolute Grand Prize at the Venice International Film Festival in 1954.