Ben's Story

Young University graduate Ben Dixon has always wanted to be a newspaper reporter, even though he's from a farming background, so he goes to the editor of Queensland's biggest morning daily, the Brisbane Courier-Mail and asks him for a job--not the usual path followed by aspiring reporters. Gray admires the young man's unorthodox approach and tell Ben to go out into the city and bring back a story. Ben dresses in old clothes, moves into a home for destitute men and lives with them for three days, writes his story and presents it to the editor. His story is published and Gray employs him. But Ben is totally untrained and unprepared for the job. It's nothing like he thought. He gets off to a bad start when he clashes with beautiful Milly Bartlett, a rising star at the paper.She's known as Miss Icechip. Other reporters, seeing that Ben needs some guidance, help him find his way and even Milly thaws and befriends and helps him. Ben quickly becomes a competent reporter. He and Milly become friends and then lovers. He takes her home to his parents' cattle property near the Great Dividing Range and they are married. When they return to work Milly has received a big promotion, putting her in the executive class and on her ambitious path to the top. Ben then mistakenly raises the question of children and Milly fiercely disillusions him. There is no room for children in her plans. The dispute almost ends their marriage but Ben concedes to Milly's ambitions. But she later changes her mind and they try unsuccessfully to become parents until Ben, realizing Milly is becoming distressed at their failure calls their plan off. Milly becomes a special writer and is becoming famous around Australia. Her fame consumes her and she totally neglects Ben and their marriage. Ben offers her a divorce and she accepts and Ben returns to his parents' cattle property, finished with journalism and now a cattleman. But Milly, now aware and frightened, has other plans.