From 1959 to 1965, a Tommy Kirk film appeared in the annual list of the top twenty most popular films in North America every year. It was an astonishing run of commercial successes - The Shaggy Dog (1959), Swiss Family Robinson (1960), The Absent Minded Professor (1961), Bon Voyage (1962), Son of Flubber (1963), The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964) and The Monkey's Uncle (1965). In particular, it was Kirk's appeal that propelled the last two films, originally shot for television, to stunning grosses. Yet within a few years he was washed up, basically forgotten. His story remains one of the least known falls from graces in Hollywood history.
I've long been interested in the career of Tommy Kirk. I would read about Disney as a teen film buff, see that he was in all these hit movies and note he sort of... vanished. He didn't die or retire; he didn't have a famous "tragic child star" end like, say, Bobby Driscoll; he just seemed to become an un-person. There were good (if also horrible) reasons for this, as we shall find out, but his career achievements should definitely be better known and more celebrated.
Kirk was born in Louisville Kentucky in 1941, his family moving to Los Angeles shortly afterwards. Kirk's elder brother Joe wanted to be an actor, and in 1954 attended an audition for Eugene O'Neil's "Ah Wilderness" at the famous Pasadena Playhouse; Tommy decided to tag along. Joe lost his part to Bobby Driscoll, who had just left Disney and was beginning his descent into unemployment, drug addiction and death, but there was another small role available;Tommy auditioned on a whim and wound up cast. He was seen in the production by an agent, and a career was launched.
Tommy Kirk was in heavy demand as an actor almost immediately. Watching his early performances it's easy to see why - he was wide-eyed, gangly, keen and immensely likeable... the very picture of Eisenhower Era American youth, unaffected and natural, surprisingly non-annoying, extremely easy to cast as someone's kid brother, or son, or neighbour. He appeared in countless episodes of TV shows as well as the short feature Down Liberty Road (1956).
It was almost inevitable in a way that the Disney organisation would come calling, and they did, casting Kirk as one of the leads of The Hardy Boys: The Mystery of the Applegate Treasure (1956). This was a serialised adaptation of the famous mystery stories, broadcast in nineteen separate 15-minute installments during episodes of The Mickey Mouse Club; Kirk played Joe Hardy alongside Tim Considine as his brother Frank. Watching the serial today it's a very much an item of its time, but Kirk's performance is a wonder - relaxed, energetic, a complete natural; he's not as conventionally good looking as Considine but he seems more at home on screen. He was the perfect Disney star.
The studio knew it too - they hired Kirk and former Mouseketeer Judy Harriet to attend both the Republican and Democratic presidential nominating conventions in 1956 for newsreel specials that later appeared on The Mickey Mouse Show. Kirk never became a mousketeer but he hosted short travelogues and voiced over segments; he and Considine also reprised their roles in The Mystery of Ghost Farm (1957).
Disney then gave Kirk the lead role in Old Yeller (1957), based on Frank Gipson's classic tale of a boy who learns to love a stray mongrel dog... then has to kill him when the dog contracts rabies. While Dorothy McGuire and Fess Parker were top billed, it's Kirk's movie all the way - the film is about his character's journey to maturity, having to look after the farm while pa is away, dealing with an annoying brother, as well as the turmoil of Old Yeller. He does a marvellous job and the film was a big success. It's probably Kirk's best remembered film, achieving some sort of cultural immortality when Billy Murray's character in Stripes (1981) makes everyone admit they cried when Old Yeller got shot. Kevin Corcoran played Kirk's whiny little brother and Disney liked that combination so much the two would be teamed several more times in the future (unfortunately - his performances date less well).
A decade or two earlier Kirk might have been launched as a star on the basis of Old Yeller alone, but in late 1950s Hollywood the only studio consistently making family films was Disney. Still, he kept busy guesting on television, then Disney called again with The Shaggy Dog (1959), written by Bill Walsh. This is known as a Fred MacMurray movie and MacMurray is top billed but like Old Yeller it's actually Kirk's film - he's the character who turns into a dog and who drives most of the action (the film seems devised so that MacMurray does a little work as possible - he sits down in most scenes and only appears in a few sets). Corcoran, Considine and Annette Funicello also featured.
The Shaggy Dog was the definition of a "sleeper hit" - Walt Disney had pitched the idea for television and been rejected; annoyed, he shot it as a feature on the backlot in black and white and it grossed a fortune, becoming Disney's most profitable film ever. The movie kicked off a whole bunch of comedies with a slight fantastical element that powered Disney film division for the next two decades. Much of the credit went to MacMurray; a lot of the credit should have gone to Kirk, whose easy-going boy next door charm made him the ideal American teen.
Disney decided to offer Kirk a long term contract and put him in their expensive adventure film, Swiss Family Robinson (1960), directed by Ken Annakin. He, James MacArthur and Corcoran play the very American children of John Mills and Dorothy McGuire who get shipwrecked on a tropical island. While Mills gets top billing, it's Kirk and MacArthur who power the second act, in their love triangle with Janet Munro. Kirk also has the juiciest part, as the one member of the family who wants badly to get off the island. The film was a huge hit, became a deserved classic, and is the movie Kirk remains most proud of today.
Disney reteamed him with Fred MacMurray in The Absent Minder Professor (1961), written by Walsh and directed by Stevenson. Unlike The Shaggy Dog this film genuinely did belong to MacMurray; Kirk's part was relatively small, playing the jock son of Keenan Wynn. The film - surprisingly sly and subversive - was very popular.
Disney kept Kirk busy, putting him in support parts the musical Babes in Toyland (1962), as the geeky assistant of Edd Wynn, and the satirical comedy Moon Pilot (1962). Both these films were box office disappointments and would have been better had Kirk been given more to do - or, come to think of it, played the male lead, instead of Tommy Sands and Tom Tryon respectively. Male actors who excel in light comedy were exceedingly rare, then as now, as Disney was coming to appreciate.
Kirk and Funicello appeared in two TV movies made for Disney's TV show that were released theatrically outside America, both shot in Europe: The Horsemasters (1961), and Escapade in Florence (1962). The Horesemasters, a horse riding drama, was really a vehicle for Janet Munro but Escapade in Florence (1962) very much puts Kirk front and center, and he is charming as an American abroad getting into hijinks with art thieves.
He was one of the family in Bon Voyage (1962), a comedy written by Walsh about an American family going abroad; MacMurray was dad, Jane Wyman was mom, and Kirk, Corcoran and Deborah Walley played the kids. Kirk has fun as the eldest son, constantly trying to pick up women. It's interesting to contrast his performance with that of Michael Callan, who plays the man chasing Deborah Walley in the same film - when Kirk tries to seduce its hapless and inoffensive but Callan gives off a dangerous, wife-beating vibe. There was a safeness to Kirk that made him immensely appealing to Disney audiences.
Disney put him in two sequels, Son of Flubber (1963) a follow up to The Absent Minded Professor, playing a bigger role, but still very much second fiddle to Fred MacMurray, and Savage Sam (1963), a sequel to Old Yeller, again with Corcoran. Neither were as good as the originals in quality - both felt pointless, especially Savage Sam, though Kirk's work was professional.
The studio then gave him another vehicle, The Misadventures of Merlin Jones (1964), written by Walsh and directed by Stevenson; Kirk played a college student inventor alongside Funicello. This was originally made for TV but Disney decided to release it theatrically in the US - whereupon the film surprised everyone by being one of the biggest hits of the year, making over $4 million. There was no Fred MacMurray to share the praise this time - Disney knew they had one of the most popular male actors in the country under contract.
Then something happened.
Kirk was gay. He had an affair with a teenager he met at the local pool; the boy's mother complained to Disney, who fired Kirk. Money counted, but the brand name of Disney counted more.
Still, the news did not make the press and Kirk was snapped up by American International Pictures, who focused on films for the teen audience. They gave him the lead in the fourth Beach Party movie, Pajama Party (1964), reuniting him with Funicello. It's a colourful, lively musical, directed by Don Weis like a comic book, in which Kirk plays a martian who comes to earth; Kirk even sings a duet with Funicello. One of the best of the Beach Party series, it was a box office success and proved the movies did not need Frankie Avalon.
AIP signed Kirk for a follow up with Funicello, How to Stuff a Wild Bikini (1965), and Gene Corman wanted him for another teen movie, Beach Ball (1965). Most notably, Disney called him back to make a Merlin Jones sequel, The Monkey's Uncle (1965). Following that he was going to co star with John Wayne and Dean Martin in a Western, The Sons of Katie Elder (1965) -a film that would give him exposure to a new kind of mass audience; it would also be the first feature he would make for a major Hollywood studio outside Disney (Paramount). Kirk, it seemed, had dodged a bullet.
Then something happened again.
On Christmas Eve 1964 Kirk was arrested for suspicion of possession of
marijuana at a house in Hollywood... and this did make the newspapers. The district attorney's office
subsequently refused to file a complaint against him on the marijuana
charge but the city attorney's office filed an illegal drugs
charge because police officers found a vial of barbiturates in Kirk's car. This
charge was dismissed by a judge in early January 1965 when Kirk's attorney
established that the barbiturates had been prescribed by a physician.
A drug arrest scandal was survivable in Hollywood, even back then, especially if it suited your image - Robert Mitchum's imprisonment for marijuana possession in 1948 arguably helped his career. But it was trickier if you were meant to be the all American boy. Kirk was replaced on Wild Bikini by Dwayne Hickman, on Beach Ball by Edd Byrnes and on Katie Elder by Michael Anderson Jnr.
When the noise died down, Kirk found he could still get work, especially since The Money's Uncle (1965), released after the drug bust, proved to be another hit. AIP brought him back into the fold for The Weird World of Dr Goldfoot (1965) on TV and The Ghost in the Invisible Bikini (1966), with Walley and Weis. Bert I. Gordon gave him the lead in Village of the Giants (1965) alongside Beau Bridges, and he got leads in movies that tail ended the beach party cycle, like Catalina Caper (1967) and It's a Bikini World (1967) with Walley.
Maybe Kirk could have turned it around. There was demand in Hollywood for bright young leading men all through the late sixties and seventies - Kirk could have taken roles played by Beau Bridges, say, or even Dean Jones - every Dean Jones part at Disney (eg The Love Bug) feels as though it was originally written for Tommy Kirk. The Dexter Reiley college films with Kurt Russell (The Computer Who Wore Tennis Shoes, etc) could have starred Kirk. Even if Disney hadn't taken him back he could have reinvented himself as a counter-culture figure, like Dean Stockwell, or a character actor like Roddy McDowell. He could have segued into television, like Tim Considine, or become an executive, like Kevin Corcoran.
But that drug arrest? It wasn't a one off mistake. By the mid 60s Kirk had developed a serious drug problem which was badly affecting his life. It didn't help that in a period in his career when he needed to take stock - do some theatre, say, or hold out and audition for a supporting role in a really good movie - he kept taking gigs as leading men in low budget pictures. He made two films in Texas for the legendary Larry Buchanan, Mars Needs Women (1967) and It's Alive (1969), did the insane LSD comedy Unkissed Bride (1966) and made a little-seen car racing film, Track of Thunder. By the time of It's Alive Kirk was looking physically unwell on screen. He did two films for Duke Kelly, Ride the Whirlwind (1971) - a weird biker-slash-My Lai drama, and My Name is Legend (1975), a Western that was never released, and the legendary-in-its-own-way Al Adamson horror film, Blood of Ghastly Horror (1971). He spent all his money, and became near unemployable.
The story does have a happy ending. By the mid 70s Kirk managed to kick drugs, avoiding a Bobby Driscoll style finale to his life. He set up his own carpet cleaning business and made a living out of that for twenty years, enabling him retire. He received occasional acting offers, notably from Fred Olen Ray who had a soft spot for actors from yesteryear. He began to appear regularly on the convention circuit, and outlived contemporaries such as Funicello, Walley and Corcoran.
I met Tommy Kirk at an autograph show a year ago. He was reflective, polite, philosophical, clearly well read - he quoted Wordsworth and Coleridge. He spoke with great affection and admiration for Bill Walsh, Robert Stevenson and Fred MacMurray, wasn't overly fond of the beach party movies he starred in, and expressed no desire to get back into acting.
I think Tommy Kirk was a screen natural who found the perfect studio for his skills at Disney - but he did it at at time when he had things to figure out about himself. It took him a decade to figure them out, but he did. Maybe he didn't fulfill his cinematic potential but his CV still has a plenty of great performances on it.
Wednesday, July 31, 2019
Tuesday, July 30, 2019
The Cinema of Fabian
In a recent interview for the Pure Cinema Podcast (https://purecinemapodcast.libsyn.com/new-beverly-calendar-july-2019-with-quentin-tarantino), Quentin Tarantino talked at length about his influences for the Rick Dalton character in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood (2019). Among such names as Ty Hardin, George Maharis, and Edd Byrnes was the pop star turned actor Fabian, whose talent was admired by the director ("he was very personable"), leading to Tarantino scheduling three Fabian movies at his New Beverly Cinema in July 2019.
Fabian is still probably best known for his (relatively) brief heyday as a pop star - specifically the year 1959 when he had three top ten hits - "Turn Me Loose", "Tiger" and "Hound Dog Man". Yet he also had a career as a motion leading man that spanned over a decade. It's one that is worth revisiting.
Early Career
Fabiano Anthony Forte was born in Philadelphia in 1943. His launch into showbusiness was something out of a Ruby Keeler musical: in 1957 his policeman father had a heart attack at home; Fabian was waiting by the ambulance when spotted by record producer Bob Marcucci. Marcucci was on the hunt for a good looking teen who could be the next Elvis Presley and asked the fourteen year old if he was interested in a singing career. Fabian, wanting to help his family financially, agreed to give it a shot.
Fabian wasn't a natural singer, but he worked hard, looked good and could at least put over a song. Marcucci gave him singing lessons and new clothes, made him lose the crew cut and get an Elvis-style pompadour, and shorted his name to "Fabian". After a few false starts the teenager started appearing at Dick Clark record hops, lip syncing to songs. Girls went wild, Clark put him on American Bandstand and a star was born.
Right from the start Fabian was something of a joke within the industry - his name, inexperience and limited singing ability were all much mocked (for example on the comedy album 2000 Years With Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks there's a interview with the teen idol "Fabiola"). But the baby boomer teens who formed the bulk of his audience didn't care - Elvis was in the army and they needed a new idol. By 1959 Fabian was earning $250,000 a year and Hollywood came calling.
20th Century Fox
Fabian (or, rather, his managers) elected to go with 20th Century Fox, who had a decent teen idol track record: they made the highly successful debut features of Elvia Presley (Love Me Tender) and Pat Boone (Bernandine), albeit also the flop first film of Tommy Sands (Sing Boy Sing).
It was a smart decision - Fox gave Fabian a top producer (Jerry Wald), skilled director (Don Siegel), colour and CinemaScope, plus a decent budget and source material - Hound Dog Man (1959), based on the novel by Fred Gipson who had written Old Yeller. His co stars included two Fox contract players: Carol Lynley coming off Blue Denim (1959) and Stuart Whitman, an emerging name. There was also Arthur O'Connell who played paterfamilias to pretty much all the teen idols on screen around this time, and an excellent line up of character actors including Royal Dano, Claude Akins and Edgar Buchanan. While Fabian was top billed he really had a supporting role - the protagonist was Blackie Scantling, the "Hound Dog Man", played by Whitman. This was in line with Love Me Tender where Elvis made his debut supporting a more experienced actor, Richard Egan.
The film is set in 1912 Texas and revolves around shiftless Blackie going on a hunting trip over the weekend with young friend Clint (Fabian). It doesn't have the heavy plot of Love Me Tender - that was a serious Western with brothers betraying brothers, shoot outs, Civil War and so on. Hound Dog Man is a more slice-of-life, coming-of-age piece - a little hunting, some singing, Claude Akins pops around periodically to snarl at Whitman, Lynley pants over Whitman as does Akins' wife. There's a comic doctor, a dog, a barn dance. It's actually a sweet film - well made, with great production values, and a very strong cast.
Fabian seems to consciously ape Elvis a lot in his debut, playing a yes ma'm type complete with Southern drawl. It's an ideal role for him - a bored young teen on a farm, - occasionally sulky, but a decent kid underneath it all - and he is extremely well protected. Every time he sings, however, Don Siegel arranges it so the song is interrupted - a dog barks, or Fabian walks off in anger, or something, I'm not joking - this happens four times. Actually some of the tunes are good, notably the title track and 'This Friendly World'.
The film was not a box office success. Maybe it was too "plot lite". Maybe it needed more star power than Whitman - Robert Mitchum was attached to play Blackie in the early 50s and he would have been ideal; an elder singer, like say Pat Boone or Ricky Nelson, could also have worked. Fox didn't lose faith in Fabian, however, and decided instead to shift him to support roles, where he would be teamed with an older star of a different generation. This was a common device at the time (eg John Wayne and Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo (1959)), the logic being the film would then appeal to two demographics.
Fabian's second film was High Time (1960), directed by Blake Edwards, starring Bing Crosby as a restaurant magnate who decides to go back to college, where his fellow students include Fabian, Richard Beymer and Tuesday Weld. The film is set over four years giving it a surprisingly wistful time-moves-on quality; there are bright colours and some funny jokes though it is badly hurt by the performance of Nicole Maurey as Crosby's love interest. Fabian has a decent role as a jock who struggles at college and winds up with Weld at the end.
Far more enjoyable was North to Alaska (1960), a comedy "northern" set during the Klondike Gold Rush with John Wayne. It's the sort of movie that could have gone disastrously wrong - battle of the sex comedies with Wayne often had an abusive vibe about them (eg McLintock (1963)); female star Capucine was the producer's mistress, a model who had only made one film before; and filming started without a completed script. But it completely works - it's charming and sweet, director Henry Hathaway keeps the pace fast, and Capucine turned out to be one of the best co-stars Wayne ever had. Fabian has a great little role as the younger brother of Wayne's partner (Stewart Granger!) who tries to seduce Capucine; he sings a song and joins in on a few comic brawls. His performance won him the "Uncrossed Heart" award for least Promising Actor of 1960 in Harvard Lampoon's Annual Movie awards - a completely unfair accolade but typical of the snarkiness with which Fabian was treated at the time. High Time was reasonably popular but North to Alaska turned into a big hit and affirmed Fox's commitment to Fabian; in November 1960 they signed a new contract with the singer, to last for seven years, with an option to make two films a year.
Fox had a lively TV division and assigned Fabian to star in an episode of the anthology series Bus Stop (based on the 1956 Marilyn Monroe film) - "A Lion Walks Among Us", directed by Robert Altman. Fabian plays a drifter who rocks into a small town and soon makes waves: hitting on the middle aged drunken lady who gives him a lift, robbing and killing a grocer, singing without permission at a tavern, starting a brawl and pulling out a switchblade. He's hauled into prison and is arrested but remains cocky, keeps singing to himself a lot and actually gets freed at the trial... whereupon he propositions a blonde groupie, kills his lawyer, then is killed in a murder-suicide by the drunken lady. It's excellent television, superbly directed by Altman, with Fabian giving his best performance.
Unfortunately the episode screened at a time when America was undergoing one of its periodical moral panics about the influence of television violence on children. Part of the problem apparently was Fabian's presence - he's handsome, young, sings a few songs, is shown to be attractive, speaks a lot of groovy early 60s slang, and gets away with it (for the most part). This perceived glamourisation of violence was very confronting for some: Jack Gould of the New York Time wrote not one, not two but three separate columns decrying the episode; several sponsors withdrew their support from the series and and a number of stations would not run it. The episode was criticised in congress, leading to Bus Stop being axed and and the president of ABC being fired.
To be fair, the show was intense, not really suitable for young kids, but it is worthy adult drama. Apparently Fox wanted to turn it into a feature but Fabian refused to shoot the necessary extra scenes - it's a shame, because then this would be better known, and his fine work more widely seen.
The blow back didn't seem to hurt Fabian personally - indeed, he decided to quit singing, buy himself out of his contract with Marcucci, and focus entirely on acting. When Fox's management underwent major restructuring in the wake of the Cleopatra (1963) debacle, numerous people lost their jobs but Fabian held on to his contract. One possible fall out - Fabian veered away from villainous roles for the next decade. He played anti-heroes, yes, but not out-and-out villains, which I feel in hindsight was a mistake.
Fox loaned him to the producers of Breakfast at Tiffany's who put him in a teen comedy at Paramount: Love in a Goldfish Bowl (1962). Fabian played a coast guard who comes between two platonic friends - newcomer Toby Michaels and fellow pop star Tommy Sands, whose black hair was dyed blonde so he would look different from Fabian. The film has problems of movies of its time - for instance, Fabian basically tries to sexually assault Michaels - but also its pleasures (the cinematography and tunes - Burt Bacharach and Hal David did the title track). It's very possible to do a gay reading of this film, with Sands displaying zero sexual interest in Michaels or any woman throughout the film. Or maybe that's too limiting: because when Fabian puts the hard word on Michaels she is very coy and not keen at all, despite flirting heavily with him until then. So maybe it's more accurate to describe this movie as being about two people with low sex drives who find each other. Sands has the showier role but lacked the chops to pull it off (he's not a believable intellectual). Fabian is far more comfortable in a more straightforward part.
Fabian was one of many Fox contract players who appeared in The Longest Day (1962). He played a US Ranger who stormed Normandy alongside other teen idols like Tommy Sands, Paul Anka, Robert Wagner and George Segal. Okay maybe Segal wasn't a teen idol but the others were - it's like a late 50s pop supergroup put into a war movie. The film was a blockbuster - the most commercially successful movie Fabian appeared in, although his role was brief.
He was one of several names in Irving Allen's Jules Verne adaptation Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962). The studio had previously made a terrific film based on Verne, Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1959) with Pat Boone, but Five Weeks is not in that class. It has bright colours and solid actors (Cedric Hardwicke, Barbara Eden) but too many of them seem miscast, such as Red Buttons trying to channel Clark Gable. Fabian has relatively little to do though he sings a song - the title track, which did not become a hit. The film was a box office disappointment that helped kill off the Jules Verne cycle.
Fox teamed Fabian with another old star, James Stewart in Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962), a sweet comedy about Mr Hobbs (Stewart) and his family, well, taking a vacation. Fabian's role is not big but he has a lovely scene - Hobbs pays Fabian to dance with his lonely awkward daughter but Fabian has so much fun he refuses the cash. The film, written by Nunnally Johnson and directed by Henry Levin, and was popular, leading to two more comedies from the same team - Take Her She's Mine (1963) and Dear Brigitte (1965).
Fabian was meant to be in Take Her She's Mine alongside Stewart and Sandra Dee but doesn't appear in the final film - presumably because he was meant to play Dee's boyfriend and Fox head Daryl F. Zanuck eventually decided to make that character French. He is in Dear Brigitte (1965) playing the boyfriend of Stewart's daughter (Cindy Carol); it's not a very good movie and flopped at the box office, though Fabian has some decent moments trying to exploit a child genius at the race track -the film would have been better had they done more with this storyline.
In between these films Fabian was borrowed by Columbia Pictures for a surf movie, Ride the Wild Surf (1964). Production on this was difficult - original director Art Napoleon was fired and replaced by Don Taylor; Fabian's original co-stars Jan and Dean (fellow pop artists) got the sack when a good friend of theirs kidnapped Frank Sinatra Jnr and were replaced by Tab Hunter and Pete Brown. The resulting film is, however, one of the best beach movies of the 60s - it actually makes an attempt to understand surf culture, has decent female roles, and features some spectacular surf footage. Fabian has a solid part, accessing his pseudo-Elvis schtick playing a surfer with a chip on his shoulder. He is charming with Shelley Fabares, although yet again there's a scene where he uses rough handling on her - this was very common in 60s cinema.
Fox announced Fabian for several projects which did not happen - adaptations of the novels Beardless Warriors and A Summer World as well as a Western, Custer's Last Stand. He made no more films for the studio after Dear Brigitte but it had been a good run.
In 1965 he appeared in an adaptation of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians for producer Harry Alan Towers, playing a singer who is the first guest killed. He was also appearing regularly as a guest star on episodes of TV shows such as Wagon Train and The Virginian, always doing professional work - though never under a director as good as Robert Altman and they never came up to the standard of A Lion Walks Amongst Us.
AIP
Samuel Z Arkoff, one of the vice presidents in American International Pictures, wrote in his memoirs that he wanted Fabian to co star alongside Annette Funicello in Beach Party (1963) but was prevented by Fabian's contract with Fox. Even if the story is accurate - Arkoff was notorious for bending the truth - it was probably lucky for AIP they got Frankie Avalon instead: the amiable actor-singer had a broader, more cartoon-style persona that fitted those movies better.
AIP were still keen on Fabian however and signed him to a seven picture contract in November 1965. By then the studio had made six beach party films and the formula was waning so they took key members of the team - notably Avalon, Funicello, and director William Asher - and put them in a stock car racing movie, Fireball 500 (1966)... co starring Fabian. The film awkwardly straddles the broad surrealistic musical comedy of the Beach Party movies with AIP's more serious works of the late 60s - it has a claymation title sequence, Avalon does a double take at the camera and characters break out into song, but it has more adult themes (characters have sex, people die, 50% of Julie Parrish’s dialogue is sexual innuendo). Fabian brings his pseudo-Elvis snarling to this one and it works well - he was a believable race car driver, angry but good underneath. Funicello winds up with Fabian at the end rather than Frankie, which after all those beach party movies she made with Avalon feels like cheating.
The film was produced by Burt Topper who put Fabian in another stock car racing film for AIP, Thunder Alley (1967). It co-stars Funicello and Diane McBain under the direction of later cult favourite Richard Rush (Getting Straight, The Stuntman). Thunder Alley is far more cohesive and successful film than Fireball 500 - a solid drama with a thumping soundtrack (some of which Tarantino appropriated for Deathproof) and Annette Funicello is really good - but then it's a strong role, perhaps her best ever for AIP. Fabian is also strong - cocky, arrogant, but haunted and basically decent; it's one of his best parts.
In between these two movies AIP sent Fabian to Italy to replace Frankie Avalon in Dr Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966), a sequel to Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) starring Vincent Price. Girl Bombs, directed by Mario Bava of all people, is a nutty comedy that was mashed up between two different styles of films - a Goldfoot sequel (Price reprised his role) and vehicle for the Italian comedy duo Franco and Ciccio. There are two main versions of the film - one for America (with more Vincent Price) one for Italy (with more Franco and Ciccio). Fabian is an amiable straight man but it's a terrible movie, considered among Price's and Bava's worst.
Fabian's third racing film for AIP was very different from the others. The Wild Racers (1968) was shot on location in six different countries throughout Europe. Producer Roger Corman supervised a tight crew who would go from race to race shooting footage (a method he had used earlier on The Young Racers (1963)). It's a very arty avant garde film, directed by Dan Haller - shots rarely go longer than ten seconds, most dialogue is voice over. Fabian is very good as the cocky race driver who is meant to help his more senior partner win but can't help winning himself. That's the gist of the plot - plus a romance with a stunningly beautiful Mimsy Farmer. There are plenty of scenes of cars zipping around, groovy music and credits, great production values and consistently interesting techniques - Nestor Almendros did the cinematography. There's not a lot of drama going on and only Fabian gets a full fleshed character - the way the movie is made causes you to feel distance from it. Still, it's worth seeking out if you're interested in a race car movie that is very "late 60s funky". It's Tarantino's favourite race car movie.
Fabian's fifth film for AIP was a surprisingly conventional drug drama, Maryjane (1968) where he plays a teacher who uncovers a marijuana racket at his high school. It's bewildering to think that AIP made this the year after The Trip (1967)... but then Sam Arkoff and Jim Nicholson were concerned about the former movie being too pro drug so maybe they churned this out to cover their bases. Maury Dexter's handling is generally quite lively and there is some decent enough acting but this is just silly, with gangs of kids puffing weed and driving off cliffs, like in Reefer Madness (1936). It's a little odd seeing Fabian play a teacher; he's alright, but it's a shame this wasn't made a few years earlier when he could have played the charismatic bad student.
The Devil's Eight (1968), produced and directed by Topper, was an AIP rip off of The Dirty Dozen where agent Chris George recruits a bunch of convicts to take on moonshiner Ralph Meeker. Fabian's role is surprisingly small for someone second billed - he plays a convict with a drinking problem, and he's fine, but his part is not as good as Ross Hagen, who plays a former moonshine driver whose ex is Meeker's mistress. Maybe Fabian didn't seem Southern enough, or they only used him in the movie under suffrance. The film was the first credit script credit for John Milius and Willard Hyuck and was based on a story by Larry Gordon - all would become major players in Hollywood in the 70s but none of them used Fabian again. Neither did other collaborators who went on to bigger things, such as Mario Bava and Richard Rush.
Fabian took time out from AIP to play a Depression era gangster, John Ashley, in a film for Crown International - Little Laura and Big John - a low budget knock off of Bonnie and Clyde (1967). Fabian gives a decent performance as does co star Karen Black but the film, shot in 1968 was not seen until 1973.
Fabian's seventh and final movie for AIP was Bullet for a Pretty Boy (1970) another Depression-era biopic of a gangster, in this case Pretty Boy Floyd. It was mostly directed by legendary schlockmeister Larry Buchanan, given his biggest budget ever, with Maury Dexter coming in to shoot some additional scenes. Fabian gives another accomplished performance as a gee-it-isn't-his-fault-kid-forced-to-crime. His physical attractiveness is exploited heavily in the movie - surprisingly few films did this considering Fabian became a pop star mostly by being good looking. Here he's got Jocelyn Lane and Astrid Warner throwing themselves at him, as well as a brothel madam. The film itself is competent rather than inspired - it could have done with more passion - but isn't bad.
Later Career
Without a contract to a studio, Fabian found himself in considerably less demand for feature film work in the 1970s. He made a few career missteps this decade - he posed nude for Playgirl and regretted it, was involved in a car accident. He had the lead in some low budget features that few people saw - Soul Hustler (1973), directed by Burt Topper, where Fabian plays a drifted who becomes a Christian rock star; and Disco Fever (1978), disco-splotatoin effort with Casey Kasem.
Fabian returned to singing and hit the nostalgia circuit, notably in places like Las Vegas; he was well received and still remains in demand for this in 2019, sometimes teaming up with fellow idols like Avalon and Bobby Rydell. On a personal front, he had two unsuccessful marriages but struck gold with the third, marrying magazine editor Andrea Patrick in 1998. A son from his first marriage, Christian, wrote the film Albino Alligator (1996).
Fabian continued to act through the 70s, 80s and 90s, mostly guest shots on TV shows - Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, and so on. Perhaps his best performance from this period was the George Peppard TV movie Crisis in Mid Air (1979) where Fabian plays an airport worker who kills taxi drivers. He was a cop in the zombie film Kiss Daddy Goodbye (1981), Joe Dante gave him a small role in Runaway Daughters (1994) and he had a cameo as himself in Up Close and Personal (1996).
He wasn't forgotten as a cultural touchstone. The leads in Laverne and Shirley were obsessed with Fabian, as was the Nicolas Cage character in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986). "Turn Me Loose" was used in Ralph Bakshi's American Pop (1981) and Fabian provided the inspiration for the character of Cesare (Peter Gallagher) in The Idolmaker (1980) a thinly disguised account of the rise of Bob Marcucci directed by Taylor Hackford (Fabian sued the filmmakers and won an out of court settlement.)
Conclusion
What to make of the cinematic career of Fabian Forte? He was no Elvis Presley, or even Pat Boone, but he certainly did better as an actor than, say, Tommy Sands or Bobby Rydell. His career was more analogous with his fellow Philadelphian Frankie Avalon. He was mainly called upon to play basically nice young men, sometimes with a chip on his shoulder. When offered a meaty role he usually rose to the occasion - Hound Dog Man, A Lion Walks Among Us, Thunder Alley - when he had to support he did it effectively s - North to Alaska, Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation. He wasn't a great actor but he was good one, and should be better remembered.
Fabian is still probably best known for his (relatively) brief heyday as a pop star - specifically the year 1959 when he had three top ten hits - "Turn Me Loose", "Tiger" and "Hound Dog Man". Yet he also had a career as a motion leading man that spanned over a decade. It's one that is worth revisiting.
Early Career
Fabiano Anthony Forte was born in Philadelphia in 1943. His launch into showbusiness was something out of a Ruby Keeler musical: in 1957 his policeman father had a heart attack at home; Fabian was waiting by the ambulance when spotted by record producer Bob Marcucci. Marcucci was on the hunt for a good looking teen who could be the next Elvis Presley and asked the fourteen year old if he was interested in a singing career. Fabian, wanting to help his family financially, agreed to give it a shot.
Fabian wasn't a natural singer, but he worked hard, looked good and could at least put over a song. Marcucci gave him singing lessons and new clothes, made him lose the crew cut and get an Elvis-style pompadour, and shorted his name to "Fabian". After a few false starts the teenager started appearing at Dick Clark record hops, lip syncing to songs. Girls went wild, Clark put him on American Bandstand and a star was born.
Right from the start Fabian was something of a joke within the industry - his name, inexperience and limited singing ability were all much mocked (for example on the comedy album 2000 Years With Carl Reiner and Mel Brooks there's a interview with the teen idol "Fabiola"). But the baby boomer teens who formed the bulk of his audience didn't care - Elvis was in the army and they needed a new idol. By 1959 Fabian was earning $250,000 a year and Hollywood came calling.
20th Century Fox
Fabian (or, rather, his managers) elected to go with 20th Century Fox, who had a decent teen idol track record: they made the highly successful debut features of Elvia Presley (Love Me Tender) and Pat Boone (Bernandine), albeit also the flop first film of Tommy Sands (Sing Boy Sing).
It was a smart decision - Fox gave Fabian a top producer (Jerry Wald), skilled director (Don Siegel), colour and CinemaScope, plus a decent budget and source material - Hound Dog Man (1959), based on the novel by Fred Gipson who had written Old Yeller. His co stars included two Fox contract players: Carol Lynley coming off Blue Denim (1959) and Stuart Whitman, an emerging name. There was also Arthur O'Connell who played paterfamilias to pretty much all the teen idols on screen around this time, and an excellent line up of character actors including Royal Dano, Claude Akins and Edgar Buchanan. While Fabian was top billed he really had a supporting role - the protagonist was Blackie Scantling, the "Hound Dog Man", played by Whitman. This was in line with Love Me Tender where Elvis made his debut supporting a more experienced actor, Richard Egan.
The film is set in 1912 Texas and revolves around shiftless Blackie going on a hunting trip over the weekend with young friend Clint (Fabian). It doesn't have the heavy plot of Love Me Tender - that was a serious Western with brothers betraying brothers, shoot outs, Civil War and so on. Hound Dog Man is a more slice-of-life, coming-of-age piece - a little hunting, some singing, Claude Akins pops around periodically to snarl at Whitman, Lynley pants over Whitman as does Akins' wife. There's a comic doctor, a dog, a barn dance. It's actually a sweet film - well made, with great production values, and a very strong cast.
Fabian seems to consciously ape Elvis a lot in his debut, playing a yes ma'm type complete with Southern drawl. It's an ideal role for him - a bored young teen on a farm, - occasionally sulky, but a decent kid underneath it all - and he is extremely well protected. Every time he sings, however, Don Siegel arranges it so the song is interrupted - a dog barks, or Fabian walks off in anger, or something, I'm not joking - this happens four times. Actually some of the tunes are good, notably the title track and 'This Friendly World'.
The film was not a box office success. Maybe it was too "plot lite". Maybe it needed more star power than Whitman - Robert Mitchum was attached to play Blackie in the early 50s and he would have been ideal; an elder singer, like say Pat Boone or Ricky Nelson, could also have worked. Fox didn't lose faith in Fabian, however, and decided instead to shift him to support roles, where he would be teamed with an older star of a different generation. This was a common device at the time (eg John Wayne and Ricky Nelson in Rio Bravo (1959)), the logic being the film would then appeal to two demographics.
Fabian's second film was High Time (1960), directed by Blake Edwards, starring Bing Crosby as a restaurant magnate who decides to go back to college, where his fellow students include Fabian, Richard Beymer and Tuesday Weld. The film is set over four years giving it a surprisingly wistful time-moves-on quality; there are bright colours and some funny jokes though it is badly hurt by the performance of Nicole Maurey as Crosby's love interest. Fabian has a decent role as a jock who struggles at college and winds up with Weld at the end.
Far more enjoyable was North to Alaska (1960), a comedy "northern" set during the Klondike Gold Rush with John Wayne. It's the sort of movie that could have gone disastrously wrong - battle of the sex comedies with Wayne often had an abusive vibe about them (eg McLintock (1963)); female star Capucine was the producer's mistress, a model who had only made one film before; and filming started without a completed script. But it completely works - it's charming and sweet, director Henry Hathaway keeps the pace fast, and Capucine turned out to be one of the best co-stars Wayne ever had. Fabian has a great little role as the younger brother of Wayne's partner (Stewart Granger!) who tries to seduce Capucine; he sings a song and joins in on a few comic brawls. His performance won him the "Uncrossed Heart" award for least Promising Actor of 1960 in Harvard Lampoon's Annual Movie awards - a completely unfair accolade but typical of the snarkiness with which Fabian was treated at the time. High Time was reasonably popular but North to Alaska turned into a big hit and affirmed Fox's commitment to Fabian; in November 1960 they signed a new contract with the singer, to last for seven years, with an option to make two films a year.
Fox had a lively TV division and assigned Fabian to star in an episode of the anthology series Bus Stop (based on the 1956 Marilyn Monroe film) - "A Lion Walks Among Us", directed by Robert Altman. Fabian plays a drifter who rocks into a small town and soon makes waves: hitting on the middle aged drunken lady who gives him a lift, robbing and killing a grocer, singing without permission at a tavern, starting a brawl and pulling out a switchblade. He's hauled into prison and is arrested but remains cocky, keeps singing to himself a lot and actually gets freed at the trial... whereupon he propositions a blonde groupie, kills his lawyer, then is killed in a murder-suicide by the drunken lady. It's excellent television, superbly directed by Altman, with Fabian giving his best performance.
Unfortunately the episode screened at a time when America was undergoing one of its periodical moral panics about the influence of television violence on children. Part of the problem apparently was Fabian's presence - he's handsome, young, sings a few songs, is shown to be attractive, speaks a lot of groovy early 60s slang, and gets away with it (for the most part). This perceived glamourisation of violence was very confronting for some: Jack Gould of the New York Time wrote not one, not two but three separate columns decrying the episode; several sponsors withdrew their support from the series and and a number of stations would not run it. The episode was criticised in congress, leading to Bus Stop being axed and and the president of ABC being fired.
To be fair, the show was intense, not really suitable for young kids, but it is worthy adult drama. Apparently Fox wanted to turn it into a feature but Fabian refused to shoot the necessary extra scenes - it's a shame, because then this would be better known, and his fine work more widely seen.
The blow back didn't seem to hurt Fabian personally - indeed, he decided to quit singing, buy himself out of his contract with Marcucci, and focus entirely on acting. When Fox's management underwent major restructuring in the wake of the Cleopatra (1963) debacle, numerous people lost their jobs but Fabian held on to his contract. One possible fall out - Fabian veered away from villainous roles for the next decade. He played anti-heroes, yes, but not out-and-out villains, which I feel in hindsight was a mistake.
Fox loaned him to the producers of Breakfast at Tiffany's who put him in a teen comedy at Paramount: Love in a Goldfish Bowl (1962). Fabian played a coast guard who comes between two platonic friends - newcomer Toby Michaels and fellow pop star Tommy Sands, whose black hair was dyed blonde so he would look different from Fabian. The film has problems of movies of its time - for instance, Fabian basically tries to sexually assault Michaels - but also its pleasures (the cinematography and tunes - Burt Bacharach and Hal David did the title track). It's very possible to do a gay reading of this film, with Sands displaying zero sexual interest in Michaels or any woman throughout the film. Or maybe that's too limiting: because when Fabian puts the hard word on Michaels she is very coy and not keen at all, despite flirting heavily with him until then. So maybe it's more accurate to describe this movie as being about two people with low sex drives who find each other. Sands has the showier role but lacked the chops to pull it off (he's not a believable intellectual). Fabian is far more comfortable in a more straightforward part.
Fabian was one of many Fox contract players who appeared in The Longest Day (1962). He played a US Ranger who stormed Normandy alongside other teen idols like Tommy Sands, Paul Anka, Robert Wagner and George Segal. Okay maybe Segal wasn't a teen idol but the others were - it's like a late 50s pop supergroup put into a war movie. The film was a blockbuster - the most commercially successful movie Fabian appeared in, although his role was brief.
He was one of several names in Irving Allen's Jules Verne adaptation Five Weeks in a Balloon (1962). The studio had previously made a terrific film based on Verne, Journey to the Centre of the Earth (1959) with Pat Boone, but Five Weeks is not in that class. It has bright colours and solid actors (Cedric Hardwicke, Barbara Eden) but too many of them seem miscast, such as Red Buttons trying to channel Clark Gable. Fabian has relatively little to do though he sings a song - the title track, which did not become a hit. The film was a box office disappointment that helped kill off the Jules Verne cycle.
Fox teamed Fabian with another old star, James Stewart in Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation (1962), a sweet comedy about Mr Hobbs (Stewart) and his family, well, taking a vacation. Fabian's role is not big but he has a lovely scene - Hobbs pays Fabian to dance with his lonely awkward daughter but Fabian has so much fun he refuses the cash. The film, written by Nunnally Johnson and directed by Henry Levin, and was popular, leading to two more comedies from the same team - Take Her She's Mine (1963) and Dear Brigitte (1965).
Fabian was meant to be in Take Her She's Mine alongside Stewart and Sandra Dee but doesn't appear in the final film - presumably because he was meant to play Dee's boyfriend and Fox head Daryl F. Zanuck eventually decided to make that character French. He is in Dear Brigitte (1965) playing the boyfriend of Stewart's daughter (Cindy Carol); it's not a very good movie and flopped at the box office, though Fabian has some decent moments trying to exploit a child genius at the race track -the film would have been better had they done more with this storyline.
In between these films Fabian was borrowed by Columbia Pictures for a surf movie, Ride the Wild Surf (1964). Production on this was difficult - original director Art Napoleon was fired and replaced by Don Taylor; Fabian's original co-stars Jan and Dean (fellow pop artists) got the sack when a good friend of theirs kidnapped Frank Sinatra Jnr and were replaced by Tab Hunter and Pete Brown. The resulting film is, however, one of the best beach movies of the 60s - it actually makes an attempt to understand surf culture, has decent female roles, and features some spectacular surf footage. Fabian has a solid part, accessing his pseudo-Elvis schtick playing a surfer with a chip on his shoulder. He is charming with Shelley Fabares, although yet again there's a scene where he uses rough handling on her - this was very common in 60s cinema.
Fox announced Fabian for several projects which did not happen - adaptations of the novels Beardless Warriors and A Summer World as well as a Western, Custer's Last Stand. He made no more films for the studio after Dear Brigitte but it had been a good run.
In 1965 he appeared in an adaptation of Agatha Christie's Ten Little Indians for producer Harry Alan Towers, playing a singer who is the first guest killed. He was also appearing regularly as a guest star on episodes of TV shows such as Wagon Train and The Virginian, always doing professional work - though never under a director as good as Robert Altman and they never came up to the standard of A Lion Walks Amongst Us.
AIP
Samuel Z Arkoff, one of the vice presidents in American International Pictures, wrote in his memoirs that he wanted Fabian to co star alongside Annette Funicello in Beach Party (1963) but was prevented by Fabian's contract with Fox. Even if the story is accurate - Arkoff was notorious for bending the truth - it was probably lucky for AIP they got Frankie Avalon instead: the amiable actor-singer had a broader, more cartoon-style persona that fitted those movies better.
AIP were still keen on Fabian however and signed him to a seven picture contract in November 1965. By then the studio had made six beach party films and the formula was waning so they took key members of the team - notably Avalon, Funicello, and director William Asher - and put them in a stock car racing movie, Fireball 500 (1966)... co starring Fabian. The film awkwardly straddles the broad surrealistic musical comedy of the Beach Party movies with AIP's more serious works of the late 60s - it has a claymation title sequence, Avalon does a double take at the camera and characters break out into song, but it has more adult themes (characters have sex, people die, 50% of Julie Parrish’s dialogue is sexual innuendo). Fabian brings his pseudo-Elvis snarling to this one and it works well - he was a believable race car driver, angry but good underneath. Funicello winds up with Fabian at the end rather than Frankie, which after all those beach party movies she made with Avalon feels like cheating.
The film was produced by Burt Topper who put Fabian in another stock car racing film for AIP, Thunder Alley (1967). It co-stars Funicello and Diane McBain under the direction of later cult favourite Richard Rush (Getting Straight, The Stuntman). Thunder Alley is far more cohesive and successful film than Fireball 500 - a solid drama with a thumping soundtrack (some of which Tarantino appropriated for Deathproof) and Annette Funicello is really good - but then it's a strong role, perhaps her best ever for AIP. Fabian is also strong - cocky, arrogant, but haunted and basically decent; it's one of his best parts.
In between these two movies AIP sent Fabian to Italy to replace Frankie Avalon in Dr Goldfoot and the Girl Bombs (1966), a sequel to Dr Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine (1965) starring Vincent Price. Girl Bombs, directed by Mario Bava of all people, is a nutty comedy that was mashed up between two different styles of films - a Goldfoot sequel (Price reprised his role) and vehicle for the Italian comedy duo Franco and Ciccio. There are two main versions of the film - one for America (with more Vincent Price) one for Italy (with more Franco and Ciccio). Fabian is an amiable straight man but it's a terrible movie, considered among Price's and Bava's worst.
Fabian's third racing film for AIP was very different from the others. The Wild Racers (1968) was shot on location in six different countries throughout Europe. Producer Roger Corman supervised a tight crew who would go from race to race shooting footage (a method he had used earlier on The Young Racers (1963)). It's a very arty avant garde film, directed by Dan Haller - shots rarely go longer than ten seconds, most dialogue is voice over. Fabian is very good as the cocky race driver who is meant to help his more senior partner win but can't help winning himself. That's the gist of the plot - plus a romance with a stunningly beautiful Mimsy Farmer. There are plenty of scenes of cars zipping around, groovy music and credits, great production values and consistently interesting techniques - Nestor Almendros did the cinematography. There's not a lot of drama going on and only Fabian gets a full fleshed character - the way the movie is made causes you to feel distance from it. Still, it's worth seeking out if you're interested in a race car movie that is very "late 60s funky". It's Tarantino's favourite race car movie.
Fabian's fifth film for AIP was a surprisingly conventional drug drama, Maryjane (1968) where he plays a teacher who uncovers a marijuana racket at his high school. It's bewildering to think that AIP made this the year after The Trip (1967)... but then Sam Arkoff and Jim Nicholson were concerned about the former movie being too pro drug so maybe they churned this out to cover their bases. Maury Dexter's handling is generally quite lively and there is some decent enough acting but this is just silly, with gangs of kids puffing weed and driving off cliffs, like in Reefer Madness (1936). It's a little odd seeing Fabian play a teacher; he's alright, but it's a shame this wasn't made a few years earlier when he could have played the charismatic bad student.
The Devil's Eight (1968), produced and directed by Topper, was an AIP rip off of The Dirty Dozen where agent Chris George recruits a bunch of convicts to take on moonshiner Ralph Meeker. Fabian's role is surprisingly small for someone second billed - he plays a convict with a drinking problem, and he's fine, but his part is not as good as Ross Hagen, who plays a former moonshine driver whose ex is Meeker's mistress. Maybe Fabian didn't seem Southern enough, or they only used him in the movie under suffrance. The film was the first credit script credit for John Milius and Willard Hyuck and was based on a story by Larry Gordon - all would become major players in Hollywood in the 70s but none of them used Fabian again. Neither did other collaborators who went on to bigger things, such as Mario Bava and Richard Rush.
Fabian took time out from AIP to play a Depression era gangster, John Ashley, in a film for Crown International - Little Laura and Big John - a low budget knock off of Bonnie and Clyde (1967). Fabian gives a decent performance as does co star Karen Black but the film, shot in 1968 was not seen until 1973.
Fabian's seventh and final movie for AIP was Bullet for a Pretty Boy (1970) another Depression-era biopic of a gangster, in this case Pretty Boy Floyd. It was mostly directed by legendary schlockmeister Larry Buchanan, given his biggest budget ever, with Maury Dexter coming in to shoot some additional scenes. Fabian gives another accomplished performance as a gee-it-isn't-his-fault-kid-forced-to-crime. His physical attractiveness is exploited heavily in the movie - surprisingly few films did this considering Fabian became a pop star mostly by being good looking. Here he's got Jocelyn Lane and Astrid Warner throwing themselves at him, as well as a brothel madam. The film itself is competent rather than inspired - it could have done with more passion - but isn't bad.
Later Career
Without a contract to a studio, Fabian found himself in considerably less demand for feature film work in the 1970s. He made a few career missteps this decade - he posed nude for Playgirl and regretted it, was involved in a car accident. He had the lead in some low budget features that few people saw - Soul Hustler (1973), directed by Burt Topper, where Fabian plays a drifted who becomes a Christian rock star; and Disco Fever (1978), disco-splotatoin effort with Casey Kasem.
Fabian returned to singing and hit the nostalgia circuit, notably in places like Las Vegas; he was well received and still remains in demand for this in 2019, sometimes teaming up with fellow idols like Avalon and Bobby Rydell. On a personal front, he had two unsuccessful marriages but struck gold with the third, marrying magazine editor Andrea Patrick in 1998. A son from his first marriage, Christian, wrote the film Albino Alligator (1996).
Fabian continued to act through the 70s, 80s and 90s, mostly guest shots on TV shows - Fantasy Island, The Love Boat, and so on. Perhaps his best performance from this period was the George Peppard TV movie Crisis in Mid Air (1979) where Fabian plays an airport worker who kills taxi drivers. He was a cop in the zombie film Kiss Daddy Goodbye (1981), Joe Dante gave him a small role in Runaway Daughters (1994) and he had a cameo as himself in Up Close and Personal (1996).
He wasn't forgotten as a cultural touchstone. The leads in Laverne and Shirley were obsessed with Fabian, as was the Nicolas Cage character in Peggy Sue Got Married (1986). "Turn Me Loose" was used in Ralph Bakshi's American Pop (1981) and Fabian provided the inspiration for the character of Cesare (Peter Gallagher) in The Idolmaker (1980) a thinly disguised account of the rise of Bob Marcucci directed by Taylor Hackford (Fabian sued the filmmakers and won an out of court settlement.)
Conclusion
What to make of the cinematic career of Fabian Forte? He was no Elvis Presley, or even Pat Boone, but he certainly did better as an actor than, say, Tommy Sands or Bobby Rydell. His career was more analogous with his fellow Philadelphian Frankie Avalon. He was mainly called upon to play basically nice young men, sometimes with a chip on his shoulder. When offered a meaty role he usually rose to the occasion - Hound Dog Man, A Lion Walks Among Us, Thunder Alley - when he had to support he did it effectively s - North to Alaska, Mr Hobbs Takes a Vacation. He wasn't a great actor but he was good one, and should be better remembered.
Monday, July 29, 2019
Movie review - "The Adventures of Hal 5" (1959) *1/2
I think Bush Christmas gave me an unrealistic expectation of the standard of British CCF films. This is about a car that has a personality, a dodgy mechanic who keeps wantintg it to break down for money, a creepy vicar who is meant to be nice, some young kids who lack spark. There's some decent car chase scenes it was directed by Don Sharpl
Sunday, July 28, 2019
Unsung Aussie Filmmakers - Grant Taylor: A Top Ten
Grant Taylor (1917-71) should have been the biggest Australian film star in the world. He had it all: looks, talent, charisma, a relaxed masculinity, sex appeal, likeability and a star part in a big fat hit. But while he had a long, distinguished career he never quite made it as a star. Stephen Vagg looks at his career.
1) Dad Rudd MP (1939)
Taylor was a Pom whose family emigrated to Australia when he was young. He drifted around for a bit, working in the merchant career and having a decent career as a boxer, before deciding to try his hand at acting in the late 1930s.
Australia had a small, yet decent industry at the time - but it had a chronic short of male juveniles i.e. handsome lunks who could play the romantic male lead. If they were any good they tended to go overseas (Errol Flynn, Frank Leighton) or they were from overseas and just here on a brief holiday (Billy Rayes, John Longden) or they disappeared mysteriously at sea (Brian Abbott, who no kidding disappeared at sea sailing from Lord Howe Island to Sydney).
So Grant Taylor's complete lack of experience didn't bother Ken G Hall looking for someone to play the juvenile in Dad Rudd MP, the fourth in his Dad and Dave franchise. Taylor had looks, swagger and charm, albeit a hairline that was already receding. He was a man. His performance was well received and he was launched as an actor.
Clip from the film is here - https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/dad-rudd-mp/clip2/
2) Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940)
Taylor was promoted to lead for his second film, Charles Chauvel's look at the 1917 Battle of Beersheba by the Australian Light Horse. It was a great role - Red Gallagher got to brawl Poms, sing in a nightclub, romance a French girl in a towel, get captured by Germans, ride horses and save the day. Because it was an Australian not Hollywood film his character even got to have sex before being married.
The film - joyous, exciting, enthusiastically Australianising Hollywood tropes - was a huge success locally and overseas. It also launched the career of Taylor's co star, Chips Rafferty, but Rafferty was very much a sidekick - the film was Taylor's. There had been other notable leading men in Australian films - Snowy Baker, Errol Flynn - but it was really Taylor who was the first tough Aussie star type, that would be so exemplified by Rod Taylor, Jack Thompson, Mel Gibson and Bryan Brown.
It has been said a Hollywood career beckoned for Taylor - though I've never read of any hard offers. But World War Two intervened. Taylor joined the militia and his career never regained this momentum.
A talky clip from the film is here - https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/forty-thousand-horsemen/clip2/. Some of the best bit, the charge at the end, can be seen here - https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/forty-thousand-horsemen/clip3/.
3) 100,000 Cobbers (1943)
Like most actors in the armed services, Taylor was allowed time out to appear in propaganda shorts. Easily the best one was 100, 000 Cobbers, directed by Ken G Hall, a look at civilians joining the army, which is so slickly made that one wishes it could have been a full length feature. Taylor gets to do scenes with the leading female juvenile of the time, Shirley Ann Richards, and they make a fantastic team. Richards soon afterwards went to Hollywood and had an okay career in American films as "Ann Richards", a sort of back up Greer Garson for MGM. Taylor stayed behind.
A complete copy of the film is here. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/F01301/
4) The Rats of Tobruk (1944)
Chauvel arranged for Taylor to be released from the army to star in this unofficial follow up to Horsemen, with Rafferty returning as a best friend and Peter Finch thrown in for good measure. I'm not quite sure what Taylor did during his war service but it was having its impact already by the time of this film - Taylor looks puffier, more balder, less enthusiastic. He's still pretty good, just not as good as in Horseman - like the film itself really, which was a commercial disappointment.
The US trailer is here https://archive.org/details/TheRatsOfTobruk-UsTrailer
5) Eureka Stockade (1948)
Taylor got out of the army in 1946 but struggled to recover his career momentum. Admittedly there weren't many films being made around this time but there were some such as Smithy (1946), a biopic of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, for which Taylor would have been an ideal leading role candidate..., but the only serious contenders appear to have been Peter Finch and Ron Randell (who got the gig).
There was also Chauvel's Sons of Matthew (1949), where the lead role again would have been perfect for Taylor (he was attached to the project in 1945 when it was known as Green Mountain), but it went to Michael Pate.
The McCreadie brothers made two melodramas, giving the lead roles in both to Charles Tingwell. Ealing Studios made The Overlanders (1946) but gave the lead role to Chips Rafferty, and the male juvenile part to Peter Pagan. Then they did Eureka Stockade (1949); Taylor would have been perfect for Peter Lalor but director Harry Watt wanted Peter Finch and was forced to use Rafferty; Taylor has a support role.
What happened? Why did Taylor go from a leading man to support player in such a short period of time? Did he deteriorate physically too much? Look too old? (He was only around 30.) Difficult to deal with? Did he charge too much money? (That may have been a consideration for the very long film shoot of Sons of Matthew.)
Another reason may have been in the late 40s Taylor became in great demand as a stage actor. This meant he would have to go on tour with shows, which made being available for films more difficult.
Nonetheless it feels a great shame that such a charismatic star actor type did not play more leads. In hindight, he should have gone to England around now like Taylor's co star Peter Finch did. But he elected to stay.
6) Inland with Sturt (1951)
The Australian government held a festival to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Federation. Part of this involved a re-enactment of Charles Sturt's row down the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers. (Not very well remembered today, mostly because no one died heroically). This was done by a troop of Duntroon graduates and two actors fit enough for the job - Grant Taylor, who played Sturt, and Rod Taylor (no relation) as his off sider. The re-enactment was a huge success, greeted by thousands along the way, and was turned into a short film. Rod Taylor was a similar actor in many ways to Grant - tough, two fisted, "masculine" type, fond of a drink yet capable of sensitivity. It would be Rod Taylor who would have the far greater international career.
A newsreel clip of the trip can be seen here - https://commerce.veritone.com/search/asset/8866998
7) Captain Thunderbolt (1953)
Taylor did play one more lead in a feature film - a biopic of the famous bushranger, Captain Thunderbolt. An action adventure story with a vaguely left wing slant, it struggled to find distribution.
The trailer is herre - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkdFUO7lTfc. Taylor looks to be in good shape so it's a mystery people didn't think of him more for lead roles around this time. Sure only one or two films were made, but there were some done for which Taylor would have been suited like Walk into Paradise (1956) and Dust in the Sun (1958).
8) Long John Silver (1954)
By the mid 50s Taylor mostly worked on stage and radio but he appeared in the occasional film.Hollywood director Byron Haskin hired him and some other Australian actors to play support roles in His Majesty O'Keefe (1953), a Burt Lancaster south seas adventure tale shot in Fiji. Haskin liked Taylor and cast him as a pirate in Long John Silver (1954) a film and TV series that was an unofficial sequel to Treasure Island. Robert Newton played the title role, and Taylor was his sidekick Patch. It was a good chance for Taylor and he's great fun. His son Kit played Jim Hawkins. Rod Taylor was in the film, playing Israel Hands - he used it as a spring board for a Hollywood career but Grant Taylor elected to stay at home.
The complete film is public domain and can be seen here - https://archive.org/details/LongJohnSilver1954. You can also see episodes of the show here - https://archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22Long+John+Silver%22&and[]=mediatype%3A%22movies%22.
9) Funnel Web (1962)
By the late 50s and early 60s Taylor was a big name in Australian theatre, notably for JC Williamsons. He would play the occasional support role in a film like Smiley Gets a Gun (1958), The Siege of Pinchgut (1959) and On the Beach (1959). By now he looked tubby and overweight - the years had not been kind to his looks. He experienced personal tragedy in 1956 when his wife died after a fall. His acting had gotten richer and deeper though, as demonstrated by the reviews for his appearances in some of the (rare) live TV dramas that aired on Australia in the early 1960s. The most notable of these was Funnel Web, a Dial M for Murder type take where Taylor played a murderous businessman. It s frustratingly hard to get copies of these - why can't they just be put on line?
A review of the play is here - https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19620426&id=EX5WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9uUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5526,6215957
10) Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Eventually Taylor, like pretty much every Australian actor from the 40s to 60s, decided to give it a crack overseas, and he headed to England in 1964. He had some decent roles on TV - including a production of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and a part in Gerry Anderson's UFO.
His last feature film performance was as a policeman in the super smart Hammer sci-fi horror classic, Quatermass and the Pit (1967), looking chubby and unwell, as if he was about to have a heart attack.
A Trailers from Hell on the film is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jEO5oHg1sM.
Taylor died of cancer in 1971, aged only 54, looking older than his years. Ironically that year saw Jack Thompson reach TV screens in Spyforce playing a character very much in the Grant Taylor mode - swaggering, cocky, humorous, tough, brave. Thompson would go on to be Australia's leading star of the 70s until, ironically also like Taylor, he prematurely shifted into character roles, in part because he put on weight. Someone like Peter Finch or Bryan Brown, who kept the weight off, remained a leading man for much longer.
It was tough for Australian actors to make it in movies in the 40s, 50s and 60s, but many of Taylor's contemporaries did it - Ron Randell, Chips Rafferty, Peter Finch, Charles Tingwell, Rod Taylor. Was it a lack of ambition? Something else?
Nonetheless he left behind one great star performance, and for that Australian film fans should be grateful.
1) Dad Rudd MP (1939)
Taylor was a Pom whose family emigrated to Australia when he was young. He drifted around for a bit, working in the merchant career and having a decent career as a boxer, before deciding to try his hand at acting in the late 1930s.
Australia had a small, yet decent industry at the time - but it had a chronic short of male juveniles i.e. handsome lunks who could play the romantic male lead. If they were any good they tended to go overseas (Errol Flynn, Frank Leighton) or they were from overseas and just here on a brief holiday (Billy Rayes, John Longden) or they disappeared mysteriously at sea (Brian Abbott, who no kidding disappeared at sea sailing from Lord Howe Island to Sydney).
So Grant Taylor's complete lack of experience didn't bother Ken G Hall looking for someone to play the juvenile in Dad Rudd MP, the fourth in his Dad and Dave franchise. Taylor had looks, swagger and charm, albeit a hairline that was already receding. He was a man. His performance was well received and he was launched as an actor.
Clip from the film is here - https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/dad-rudd-mp/clip2/
2) Forty Thousand Horsemen (1940)
Taylor was promoted to lead for his second film, Charles Chauvel's look at the 1917 Battle of Beersheba by the Australian Light Horse. It was a great role - Red Gallagher got to brawl Poms, sing in a nightclub, romance a French girl in a towel, get captured by Germans, ride horses and save the day. Because it was an Australian not Hollywood film his character even got to have sex before being married.
The film - joyous, exciting, enthusiastically Australianising Hollywood tropes - was a huge success locally and overseas. It also launched the career of Taylor's co star, Chips Rafferty, but Rafferty was very much a sidekick - the film was Taylor's. There had been other notable leading men in Australian films - Snowy Baker, Errol Flynn - but it was really Taylor who was the first tough Aussie star type, that would be so exemplified by Rod Taylor, Jack Thompson, Mel Gibson and Bryan Brown.
It has been said a Hollywood career beckoned for Taylor - though I've never read of any hard offers. But World War Two intervened. Taylor joined the militia and his career never regained this momentum.
A talky clip from the film is here - https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/forty-thousand-horsemen/clip2/. Some of the best bit, the charge at the end, can be seen here - https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/forty-thousand-horsemen/clip3/.
3) 100,000 Cobbers (1943)
Like most actors in the armed services, Taylor was allowed time out to appear in propaganda shorts. Easily the best one was 100, 000 Cobbers, directed by Ken G Hall, a look at civilians joining the army, which is so slickly made that one wishes it could have been a full length feature. Taylor gets to do scenes with the leading female juvenile of the time, Shirley Ann Richards, and they make a fantastic team. Richards soon afterwards went to Hollywood and had an okay career in American films as "Ann Richards", a sort of back up Greer Garson for MGM. Taylor stayed behind.
A complete copy of the film is here. https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/F01301/
4) The Rats of Tobruk (1944)
Chauvel arranged for Taylor to be released from the army to star in this unofficial follow up to Horsemen, with Rafferty returning as a best friend and Peter Finch thrown in for good measure. I'm not quite sure what Taylor did during his war service but it was having its impact already by the time of this film - Taylor looks puffier, more balder, less enthusiastic. He's still pretty good, just not as good as in Horseman - like the film itself really, which was a commercial disappointment.
The US trailer is here https://archive.org/details/TheRatsOfTobruk-UsTrailer
5) Eureka Stockade (1948)
Taylor got out of the army in 1946 but struggled to recover his career momentum. Admittedly there weren't many films being made around this time but there were some such as Smithy (1946), a biopic of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, for which Taylor would have been an ideal leading role candidate..., but the only serious contenders appear to have been Peter Finch and Ron Randell (who got the gig).
There was also Chauvel's Sons of Matthew (1949), where the lead role again would have been perfect for Taylor (he was attached to the project in 1945 when it was known as Green Mountain), but it went to Michael Pate.
The McCreadie brothers made two melodramas, giving the lead roles in both to Charles Tingwell. Ealing Studios made The Overlanders (1946) but gave the lead role to Chips Rafferty, and the male juvenile part to Peter Pagan. Then they did Eureka Stockade (1949); Taylor would have been perfect for Peter Lalor but director Harry Watt wanted Peter Finch and was forced to use Rafferty; Taylor has a support role.
What happened? Why did Taylor go from a leading man to support player in such a short period of time? Did he deteriorate physically too much? Look too old? (He was only around 30.) Difficult to deal with? Did he charge too much money? (That may have been a consideration for the very long film shoot of Sons of Matthew.)
Another reason may have been in the late 40s Taylor became in great demand as a stage actor. This meant he would have to go on tour with shows, which made being available for films more difficult.
Nonetheless it feels a great shame that such a charismatic star actor type did not play more leads. In hindight, he should have gone to England around now like Taylor's co star Peter Finch did. But he elected to stay.
6) Inland with Sturt (1951)
The Australian government held a festival to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Federation. Part of this involved a re-enactment of Charles Sturt's row down the Murrumbidgee and Murray Rivers. (Not very well remembered today, mostly because no one died heroically). This was done by a troop of Duntroon graduates and two actors fit enough for the job - Grant Taylor, who played Sturt, and Rod Taylor (no relation) as his off sider. The re-enactment was a huge success, greeted by thousands along the way, and was turned into a short film. Rod Taylor was a similar actor in many ways to Grant - tough, two fisted, "masculine" type, fond of a drink yet capable of sensitivity. It would be Rod Taylor who would have the far greater international career.
A newsreel clip of the trip can be seen here - https://commerce.veritone.com/search/asset/8866998
7) Captain Thunderbolt (1953)
Taylor did play one more lead in a feature film - a biopic of the famous bushranger, Captain Thunderbolt. An action adventure story with a vaguely left wing slant, it struggled to find distribution.
The trailer is herre - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkdFUO7lTfc. Taylor looks to be in good shape so it's a mystery people didn't think of him more for lead roles around this time. Sure only one or two films were made, but there were some done for which Taylor would have been suited like Walk into Paradise (1956) and Dust in the Sun (1958).
8) Long John Silver (1954)
By the mid 50s Taylor mostly worked on stage and radio but he appeared in the occasional film.Hollywood director Byron Haskin hired him and some other Australian actors to play support roles in His Majesty O'Keefe (1953), a Burt Lancaster south seas adventure tale shot in Fiji. Haskin liked Taylor and cast him as a pirate in Long John Silver (1954) a film and TV series that was an unofficial sequel to Treasure Island. Robert Newton played the title role, and Taylor was his sidekick Patch. It was a good chance for Taylor and he's great fun. His son Kit played Jim Hawkins. Rod Taylor was in the film, playing Israel Hands - he used it as a spring board for a Hollywood career but Grant Taylor elected to stay at home.
The complete film is public domain and can be seen here - https://archive.org/details/LongJohnSilver1954. You can also see episodes of the show here - https://archive.org/search.php?query=subject%3A%22Long+John+Silver%22&and[]=mediatype%3A%22movies%22.
9) Funnel Web (1962)
By the late 50s and early 60s Taylor was a big name in Australian theatre, notably for JC Williamsons. He would play the occasional support role in a film like Smiley Gets a Gun (1958), The Siege of Pinchgut (1959) and On the Beach (1959). By now he looked tubby and overweight - the years had not been kind to his looks. He experienced personal tragedy in 1956 when his wife died after a fall. His acting had gotten richer and deeper though, as demonstrated by the reviews for his appearances in some of the (rare) live TV dramas that aired on Australia in the early 1960s. The most notable of these was Funnel Web, a Dial M for Murder type take where Taylor played a murderous businessman. It s frustratingly hard to get copies of these - why can't they just be put on line?
A review of the play is here - https://news.google.com/newspapers?nid=1301&dat=19620426&id=EX5WAAAAIBAJ&sjid=9uUDAAAAIBAJ&pg=5526,6215957
10) Quatermass and the Pit (1967)
Eventually Taylor, like pretty much every Australian actor from the 40s to 60s, decided to give it a crack overseas, and he headed to England in 1964. He had some decent roles on TV - including a production of Summer of the Seventeenth Doll and a part in Gerry Anderson's UFO.
His last feature film performance was as a policeman in the super smart Hammer sci-fi horror classic, Quatermass and the Pit (1967), looking chubby and unwell, as if he was about to have a heart attack.
A Trailers from Hell on the film is here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jEO5oHg1sM.
Taylor died of cancer in 1971, aged only 54, looking older than his years. Ironically that year saw Jack Thompson reach TV screens in Spyforce playing a character very much in the Grant Taylor mode - swaggering, cocky, humorous, tough, brave. Thompson would go on to be Australia's leading star of the 70s until, ironically also like Taylor, he prematurely shifted into character roles, in part because he put on weight. Someone like Peter Finch or Bryan Brown, who kept the weight off, remained a leading man for much longer.
It was tough for Australian actors to make it in movies in the 40s, 50s and 60s, but many of Taylor's contemporaries did it - Ron Randell, Chips Rafferty, Peter Finch, Charles Tingwell, Rod Taylor. Was it a lack of ambition? Something else?
Nonetheless he left behind one great star performance, and for that Australian film fans should be grateful.
Rock Hudson Top Ten
1) Seconds (1966)
2) Pillow Talk (1959)
3) Giant (1956)
4) Written on the Wind (1957)
5) Come September (1961)
6) Lover Come Back (1962)
7) Ice Station Zebra (1968)
8) Sea Devils (1953)
9) All That Heaven Allows (1955)
10) Something of Value (1957)
2) Pillow Talk (1959)
3) Giant (1956)
4) Written on the Wind (1957)
5) Come September (1961)
6) Lover Come Back (1962)
7) Ice Station Zebra (1968)
8) Sea Devils (1953)
9) All That Heaven Allows (1955)
10) Something of Value (1957)
Saturday, July 27, 2019
Book review - "All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson" by Mark Griffin
Hudson gets a decent biography with this well researched, even handed account. It tackles head on Hudson's sexuality - the thing that really distinguished him as a Hollywood star, especially the AIDS stuff - but does with compassion and footnotes, and also analyses his appeal and skill as an actor.
Hudson was one of the luckiest stars around - he was blessed with great looks, height and charm. With no training or even stage experience, after a few years of bit parts he was a leading man, and a few years after that he was one of the biggest stars in the world. He remained a star in TV until the early 80s and a leading man all his life.
His great gift was he could play a tough guy but be sensitive - he had a warmth lacking in, say, Jeff Chandler or Audie Murphy, other leading men at Universal. He was more accessible and had more charisma than say Dale Robertson or Rory Calhoun.
He was also lucky. Universal was a good studio to learn your trade at in the late 40s and early 50s - the standard of acting wasn't too high, they turned out a lot of potboilers. Ross Hunter came along at just the right time to put him in Magnificent Obsession then George Stevens put him in another league with Giant and Hunter and Day put him in Pillow Talk which led to half a decade of comedy hits. He was less popular in the late 60s - even sure fire stuff like teaming with John Wayne and doing an Alistair MacLean adaptation and Julie Andrews musical didn't work out - but he found new life doing McMillan and Wife. I was surprised how much theatre he did - including several musicals on the road.
It wasn't all luck. He worked very hard, was conscientious and a nice person. Everyone comments on how nice he was.
He had an exotic personal life. While good friends George Nader and Michael Miller were married to all intents and purposes for years, Hudson had a revolving door of boyfriends, some okay, others a bit less suitable. He drank and smoke very heavily - even if AIDS hadn't have come along this could have knocked him off early anyway.
There's plenty of juicy stuff - stories which you'd assume were urban legends, like Hudson fathering a child after the war, and servicing a college football team, actually could have been true. His father shot through when Hudson was little. When he found out he had AIDS he informed ex lovers anonymously. His last few days were this weird combination of genuine friends paying call, Pat Boone and his wife bringing around the bible, Elizabeth Taylor getting in bed with him for a cuddle, and his friends arguing over memorial services and the estate.
Very good book. Depressing at the end - but Hudson had a pretty good life, a lot of success, and a lot of sex and good friends. He never had a great One True Love but I'm not sure he really wanted one. Like many actors he was probably most comfortable playing other people.
Hudson was one of the luckiest stars around - he was blessed with great looks, height and charm. With no training or even stage experience, after a few years of bit parts he was a leading man, and a few years after that he was one of the biggest stars in the world. He remained a star in TV until the early 80s and a leading man all his life.
His great gift was he could play a tough guy but be sensitive - he had a warmth lacking in, say, Jeff Chandler or Audie Murphy, other leading men at Universal. He was more accessible and had more charisma than say Dale Robertson or Rory Calhoun.
He was also lucky. Universal was a good studio to learn your trade at in the late 40s and early 50s - the standard of acting wasn't too high, they turned out a lot of potboilers. Ross Hunter came along at just the right time to put him in Magnificent Obsession then George Stevens put him in another league with Giant and Hunter and Day put him in Pillow Talk which led to half a decade of comedy hits. He was less popular in the late 60s - even sure fire stuff like teaming with John Wayne and doing an Alistair MacLean adaptation and Julie Andrews musical didn't work out - but he found new life doing McMillan and Wife. I was surprised how much theatre he did - including several musicals on the road.
It wasn't all luck. He worked very hard, was conscientious and a nice person. Everyone comments on how nice he was.
He had an exotic personal life. While good friends George Nader and Michael Miller were married to all intents and purposes for years, Hudson had a revolving door of boyfriends, some okay, others a bit less suitable. He drank and smoke very heavily - even if AIDS hadn't have come along this could have knocked him off early anyway.
There's plenty of juicy stuff - stories which you'd assume were urban legends, like Hudson fathering a child after the war, and servicing a college football team, actually could have been true. His father shot through when Hudson was little. When he found out he had AIDS he informed ex lovers anonymously. His last few days were this weird combination of genuine friends paying call, Pat Boone and his wife bringing around the bible, Elizabeth Taylor getting in bed with him for a cuddle, and his friends arguing over memorial services and the estate.
Very good book. Depressing at the end - but Hudson had a pretty good life, a lot of success, and a lot of sex and good friends. He never had a great One True Love but I'm not sure he really wanted one. Like many actors he was probably most comfortable playing other people.
TV review - "Big Little Lies Season 2" (2019) **
The acting is fantastic. The set design, costumes, etc is to die for. There are some good moments. But there's no overriding story. None of the leads have decent secrets or are in conflict with each other for extended periods of time. Laura Dern's part feels especially padded. The whole show is "fall out" of what happened in season 1. There's nothing new except Meryl Streep as the dead guy's mother but even then not much is done with her. Scenes feel choppy, written at the last minute, edited about. It doesn't feel like a cohesive goal. There's no strong narrative. They should have had Meryl kidnap the kids or something. A mess.
Friday, July 26, 2019
Book review - "Fast Fade: David Puttnam, Columbia Pictures, and the Battle for Hollywood" by Andrew Yule (1989)
Read this after reading My Indecision is Final. Some observations:
* It's got read "hot off the press feel" like a super indepth newspaper article. Not a criticism, that's praise. Yule gets so many people to go on the record - Hugh Hudson, Puttnam, Alan Parker. Plus a bunch go off the record. It feels very current and immediate.
* Half the book is a biography of Puttnam.
* So many big names in Hollywood are sooks and Puttnam was a godsend in terms of allocating blame. Warren Beatty - "oh I would've won the Best Picture Oscar for Reds if it hadn't been for Puttnam. Ishtar would've been a hit if not for Puttnam." Bill Cosby - "Puttnam wrecked Leonard Part 6."
*Plenty of British filmmakers are sooks too who like to blame Puttnam. Notably Hugh Hudson "The producer's first job is to protect the director." (no it's not)
*In fairness a lot of people are very put out that Puttnam is their BFF when he wants something but then cuts ties when that's past.
* Puttnam was a terrible studio chief. Bad. He made a big noise how he only wanted three years in the job and wanted to do it away from LA. He arrived and lectured Hollywood how to work. (How would he feel if an American did that?) He suggested the directors on The Big Town and Leonard Part 6. His choice of films was bodgy - Stars and Bars, Little Nikita. He also had Roxanne and La Bamba but they were given to him and Hope and Glory was a pick up. His definition of commercial was Vibes and Someone to Watch Over Me. He turned down Moonstruck. He had a knack of annoying powerful people like Ray Stark when there was no need to.
Something not discussed in the book: his failed stint seemed to curse him as a producer. From being a golden boy for the previous decade and a half no one seems to remember anything about his 90s films. Then he eventually gave it up.
Still a worthwhile slice of history. Yule was very thorough.
* It's got read "hot off the press feel" like a super indepth newspaper article. Not a criticism, that's praise. Yule gets so many people to go on the record - Hugh Hudson, Puttnam, Alan Parker. Plus a bunch go off the record. It feels very current and immediate.
* Half the book is a biography of Puttnam.
* So many big names in Hollywood are sooks and Puttnam was a godsend in terms of allocating blame. Warren Beatty - "oh I would've won the Best Picture Oscar for Reds if it hadn't been for Puttnam. Ishtar would've been a hit if not for Puttnam." Bill Cosby - "Puttnam wrecked Leonard Part 6."
*Plenty of British filmmakers are sooks too who like to blame Puttnam. Notably Hugh Hudson "The producer's first job is to protect the director." (no it's not)
*In fairness a lot of people are very put out that Puttnam is their BFF when he wants something but then cuts ties when that's past.
* Puttnam was a terrible studio chief. Bad. He made a big noise how he only wanted three years in the job and wanted to do it away from LA. He arrived and lectured Hollywood how to work. (How would he feel if an American did that?) He suggested the directors on The Big Town and Leonard Part 6. His choice of films was bodgy - Stars and Bars, Little Nikita. He also had Roxanne and La Bamba but they were given to him and Hope and Glory was a pick up. His definition of commercial was Vibes and Someone to Watch Over Me. He turned down Moonstruck. He had a knack of annoying powerful people like Ray Stark when there was no need to.
Something not discussed in the book: his failed stint seemed to curse him as a producer. From being a golden boy for the previous decade and a half no one seems to remember anything about his 90s films. Then he eventually gave it up.
Still a worthwhile slice of history. Yule was very thorough.
Book review - "My Indecision is Final" by Jake Eberts and Terry Illot
A classic business biography - I can't think of any look at a film production company that's as comprehensive. I meant it goes into a lot of detail about film financing - a lot. But I didnt mind that.
Goldcrest Films was a true shooting comet of the British film scene. It had incredible luck out of the gate, not just with Chariots of Fire and Gandhi but also side investments like The Howling and Escape from New York. But like many a fresh production company once it established a formula that worked - only invest in products from experienced responsible filmmakers, do British stories based on something - they departed from that formula, investing in a lot of first time filmmakers, getting lost in the wilds of television, over expanding.
This book is part memoir from co founder Jake Eberts so is very sympathetic to Eberts but not without criticism. It also tries to be fair to James Lee - which is why Lee ultimately comes out of it so badly.
The best bits of the book are in the second half when they make Absolute Beginners, The Mission and Revolution and you know it's going to end badly. It's gripping, watching-people-jump-off-a-cliff stuff.
There are plenty of lively personalities - David Puttnam, Hugh "perfectionist" Hudson, Dickie Attenborough, James Lee. Some talented, some simply mediocre white men who think the world owes them a living.
I've got to say while Absolute Beginners shouldn't have been made, at least not for anything other than a low budget, I'm glad it was made. And no one seems to watch Gadhi any more.
A grand book.
Goldcrest Films was a true shooting comet of the British film scene. It had incredible luck out of the gate, not just with Chariots of Fire and Gandhi but also side investments like The Howling and Escape from New York. But like many a fresh production company once it established a formula that worked - only invest in products from experienced responsible filmmakers, do British stories based on something - they departed from that formula, investing in a lot of first time filmmakers, getting lost in the wilds of television, over expanding.
This book is part memoir from co founder Jake Eberts so is very sympathetic to Eberts but not without criticism. It also tries to be fair to James Lee - which is why Lee ultimately comes out of it so badly.
The best bits of the book are in the second half when they make Absolute Beginners, The Mission and Revolution and you know it's going to end badly. It's gripping, watching-people-jump-off-a-cliff stuff.
There are plenty of lively personalities - David Puttnam, Hugh "perfectionist" Hudson, Dickie Attenborough, James Lee. Some talented, some simply mediocre white men who think the world owes them a living.
I've got to say while Absolute Beginners shouldn't have been made, at least not for anything other than a low budget, I'm glad it was made. And no one seems to watch Gadhi any more.
A grand book.
Movie review - "What Waits Below" (1985) ***
Most of this involves going down caves and location filming helps immensely (even if apparently in real life the crew were knocked out by poisoning when a generator busted). It looks fantastic. For the most part it is very creepy and there's some solid actors like Tim Bottoms, Anne Heywood and Richard Johnson helping.
When we meet the creatures they do seem a little silly like the Morlocks in The Time Machine. They would have been better off keeping these in darkness as much as possible. Still they are scary antagonists.
The spunky young female lead as a great feisty intro but then later on throws herself at Powell and of course she gets captured and needs to be rescued.
But this is an entertaining film. I think Don Sharp directs well.
Unsung Aussie Filmmakers - Ivan Goff - a Top Ten
The release of the new Charlie's Angels prompted Stephen Vagg to point out that the original TV series was co created by an Australian, Ivan Goff (1910-99). Goff was one of the most successful Australian screenwriters in history. He was nominated for an Oscar, head of the Writers Guild, had a career that spanned five decades. Yet he is very little known in this country. So Stephen did a top ten of Ivan Goff writings.
1) No Longer Innocent (1933)
Goff was born in Perth in 1910. He started working as a journalist while a teenager, and left his home town for London when he was twenty. Goff took the scenic route, going via New Zealand, Fiji, the US, Canada and Mexico over a 12 month period. He turned this adventure into a book No Longer Innocent which was published in 1933 to some acclaim. He wrote it with his travelling companion, Edward Irwin, and Goff would be at his best writing in collaboration.
2) My Love Came Back (1940)
Goff worked in London as a journalist, then was assigned to Hollywood where he tried to break in as a screenwriter. After a number of less prestigious jobs, including a Gene Autry Western, he earned his first decent credit on My Love Came Back (1940), with Olivia de Havilland. This really launched him as a screenwriter, but just as it seemed Goff's career was up and running the US entered World War Two and Goff joined the army.
3) Portrait in Black (1946)
Goff spent the war making propaganda shorts for the Army Signal Corps in New York. While there he became friends with a fellow screenwriter, Ben Roberts. The two of them decided to team up and write a murder mystery play, Portrait in Black, which they succeeded in getting produced on Broadway and London, as well as selling the film rights for a tidy sum. This established them as a team and Goff would not have any credits without Roberts for the remaining thirty plus years of his career.The play wasn't filmed until 1960 with Lana Turner, Anthony Quinn and Sandra Dee. It's a very entertaining mystery, a sort of riff on Double Indemnity - you can see it's appeal to producers.
4) White Heat (1949)
The next big break of Goff's career came when Warner Bros put he and Roberts under a five year contract and assigned them to work on a story written by Virginia Kellogg, White Heat (1949). This was a gangster tale which was to mark James Cagney's return to both that genre and Warner Bros. Roberts and Goff made considerable changes to the story, notably turning the lead character of Cody Jarrett into a mother obsessed psychopath... The resulting film, directed by Raoul Walsh, was a massive success, showcasing one of the all time legendary screen gangsters and one of the most iconic cinematic deaths of all time: Cagney/Jarrett blowing himself up on top of an oil tank yelling "made it, Ma, on top of the world". Kellogg earned an Oscar nomination but Goff and Roberts didn't under the rules of the time. However Cagney would go on to employ the team was writers on Come Fill the Cup (1951), The Man of a Thousand Faces (1957, see below) and Shake Hands with the Devil (1959).
5) Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951)
White Heat meant Goff and Roberts were in much demand as writers of action films during the 1950s. Some of these are underwhelming - eg White Witch Doctor (1953), King of the Khyber Rifles (1954), and Grace Kelly's one bad movie, Green Fire (1954) - but a very good one was Captain Horatio Hornblower, based on the novels by C.S. Forster. This was meant to be a project for Errol Flynn at one stage. Gregory Peck stepped in and the result is a rousing, entertaining movie.
6) The Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)
Goff and Roberts stepped out of their comfort zone with this entertaining biopic of Lon Chaney Jr, a vehicle for Cagney. Although (because) the script heavily fictionalised Chaney's life, it earned the writers an Oscar nomination, making Goff one of three Australians to be nominated for screenwriting in the 1950s (the others were Alec Coppel with The Captain's Paradise and John Farrow with Around the World in 80 Days).
7) Midnight Lace (1961)
Producer Ross Hunter, famous for his glossy entertainments, was the one who made a movie out of Portrait in Black. He promptly hired Goff and Roberts to do another thriller, Midnight Lace, a highly enjoyable piece of tosh which always seemed to be on television when I was growing up. The opening sequence of Doris Day being terrified by a high pitched voice in a foggy London scared the hell out of me and still does
8) Mannix (1967-75)
Feature film work dropped off for Goff and Roberts in the 1960s so they entered the world of TV. They had critical success with The Rogues (1964-65) and a big fat hit when they took over as show runners on the second season of Mannix , a private eye series starring Mike Connors. Goff and Roberts made several key changes, removing Mannix's computer-using boss, introducing a secretary and adding more humour. The results helped turn the show into a big success that ran for years.
9) Charlie's Angels (1976)
Goff and Roberts worked on a variety of projects in the 1970s, mostly on the small screen. Their most notable one was when Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg hired them to write a pilot script about three female detectives called The Alley Cats. This morphed into Charlie's Angels which became a sensation on its debut in 1976. Goff and Roberts walked away from the project after doing the pilot, but they were the ones who created it. The show remains a cultural touchstone.
10) The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981)
The careers of Goff and Roberts tailed off in the 1980s. Their last big credit was for The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Lew Grade's famous flop attempt to conquer the US market. Mind you, people judged it less harshly after the Johnny Depp version. Roberts died in 1984 and Goff effectively retired after that, although he lived until 1999. It was a hell of a career that should be better known.
1) No Longer Innocent (1933)
Goff was born in Perth in 1910. He started working as a journalist while a teenager, and left his home town for London when he was twenty. Goff took the scenic route, going via New Zealand, Fiji, the US, Canada and Mexico over a 12 month period. He turned this adventure into a book No Longer Innocent which was published in 1933 to some acclaim. He wrote it with his travelling companion, Edward Irwin, and Goff would be at his best writing in collaboration.
2) My Love Came Back (1940)
Goff worked in London as a journalist, then was assigned to Hollywood where he tried to break in as a screenwriter. After a number of less prestigious jobs, including a Gene Autry Western, he earned his first decent credit on My Love Came Back (1940), with Olivia de Havilland. This really launched him as a screenwriter, but just as it seemed Goff's career was up and running the US entered World War Two and Goff joined the army.
3) Portrait in Black (1946)
Goff spent the war making propaganda shorts for the Army Signal Corps in New York. While there he became friends with a fellow screenwriter, Ben Roberts. The two of them decided to team up and write a murder mystery play, Portrait in Black, which they succeeded in getting produced on Broadway and London, as well as selling the film rights for a tidy sum. This established them as a team and Goff would not have any credits without Roberts for the remaining thirty plus years of his career.The play wasn't filmed until 1960 with Lana Turner, Anthony Quinn and Sandra Dee. It's a very entertaining mystery, a sort of riff on Double Indemnity - you can see it's appeal to producers.
4) White Heat (1949)
The next big break of Goff's career came when Warner Bros put he and Roberts under a five year contract and assigned them to work on a story written by Virginia Kellogg, White Heat (1949). This was a gangster tale which was to mark James Cagney's return to both that genre and Warner Bros. Roberts and Goff made considerable changes to the story, notably turning the lead character of Cody Jarrett into a mother obsessed psychopath... The resulting film, directed by Raoul Walsh, was a massive success, showcasing one of the all time legendary screen gangsters and one of the most iconic cinematic deaths of all time: Cagney/Jarrett blowing himself up on top of an oil tank yelling "made it, Ma, on top of the world". Kellogg earned an Oscar nomination but Goff and Roberts didn't under the rules of the time. However Cagney would go on to employ the team was writers on Come Fill the Cup (1951), The Man of a Thousand Faces (1957, see below) and Shake Hands with the Devil (1959).
5) Captain Horatio Hornblower (1951)
White Heat meant Goff and Roberts were in much demand as writers of action films during the 1950s. Some of these are underwhelming - eg White Witch Doctor (1953), King of the Khyber Rifles (1954), and Grace Kelly's one bad movie, Green Fire (1954) - but a very good one was Captain Horatio Hornblower, based on the novels by C.S. Forster. This was meant to be a project for Errol Flynn at one stage. Gregory Peck stepped in and the result is a rousing, entertaining movie.
6) The Man of a Thousand Faces (1957)
Goff and Roberts stepped out of their comfort zone with this entertaining biopic of Lon Chaney Jr, a vehicle for Cagney. Although (because) the script heavily fictionalised Chaney's life, it earned the writers an Oscar nomination, making Goff one of three Australians to be nominated for screenwriting in the 1950s (the others were Alec Coppel with The Captain's Paradise and John Farrow with Around the World in 80 Days).
7) Midnight Lace (1961)
Producer Ross Hunter, famous for his glossy entertainments, was the one who made a movie out of Portrait in Black. He promptly hired Goff and Roberts to do another thriller, Midnight Lace, a highly enjoyable piece of tosh which always seemed to be on television when I was growing up. The opening sequence of Doris Day being terrified by a high pitched voice in a foggy London scared the hell out of me and still does
8) Mannix (1967-75)
Feature film work dropped off for Goff and Roberts in the 1960s so they entered the world of TV. They had critical success with The Rogues (1964-65) and a big fat hit when they took over as show runners on the second season of Mannix , a private eye series starring Mike Connors. Goff and Roberts made several key changes, removing Mannix's computer-using boss, introducing a secretary and adding more humour. The results helped turn the show into a big success that ran for years.
9) Charlie's Angels (1976)
Goff and Roberts worked on a variety of projects in the 1970s, mostly on the small screen. Their most notable one was when Aaron Spelling and Leonard Goldberg hired them to write a pilot script about three female detectives called The Alley Cats. This morphed into Charlie's Angels which became a sensation on its debut in 1976. Goff and Roberts walked away from the project after doing the pilot, but they were the ones who created it. The show remains a cultural touchstone.
10) The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981)
The careers of Goff and Roberts tailed off in the 1980s. Their last big credit was for The Legend of the Lone Ranger, Lew Grade's famous flop attempt to conquer the US market. Mind you, people judged it less harshly after the Johnny Depp version. Roberts died in 1984 and Goff effectively retired after that, although he lived until 1999. It was a hell of a career that should be better known.
Thursday, July 25, 2019
Unsung Aussie Filmmakers: Don Sharp - a Top 25
From Filmink
Don Sharp (1921-2011) was an Australian writer, producer, actor and director whose career spanned five decades and included several cinematic classics but who is still mostly unknown at home, even amongst film buffs. Part of this is due to the fact that he rarely worked in Australia - the bulk of his movies were made in Britain. Still, several of them are terrific so Stephen Vagg thought he would do up a quick primer on the man.
1) Smithy (1946)
Sharp was born in Hobart in 1921. His parents wanted him to be an accountant but he fell in love with the theatre, and became involved in amateur productions. He served in the air force during World War Two and was assigned to Singapore but became ill and was sent home just before that city fell to the Japanese. Sharp performed in shows for the armed services then when he was discharged he decided to become an actor. He pops up an unbilled role in Smithy (1946), the biopic of Sir Charles Kingsford Smith directed by Ken G Hall (Charles Tingwell was another recently-returned serviceman who made his film debut in this movie).
Sharp went on to have a decent career as an actor on Australian radio dramas and the stage, appearing in a number of shows for J.C. Williamsons. However Sharp wanted to make movies and in the late 1940s about two films a year at most were in shot in Australia. He headed to London.
2) Ha'penny Breeze (1950)
Like many an Australian artist then (and now), Sharp found the going tough when he got to England, but he had drive and nous. He teamed up with a friend to make a low budget film, Ha'penny Breeze, and succeeded in raising the money and getting it made. Sharp wrote it and starred. It was a slight comedy about a small town revitalised by yachting, but it was cinematically released and helped establish Sharp in England. A clip featuring Sharp's acting is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAjGFmip6Us
3) Journey into Space (1953)
Sharp's career was almost derailed when he fell ill with tuberculosis and spent over a year in hospital. Fortunately the NHS had kicked in by then and he recovered. For the next few years Sharp worked as a writer and actor in films, radio and television. His film roles were mostly small parts as military types in war stories, such as The Cruel Sea (1953). However he had a leading gig on the radio serial Journey into Space which is adored by a generation of British kids who grew up listening to it.
4) Conflict of Wings (1954)
Sharp continued to write, selling several scripts to a new company, Group Three. One of them was an original story, The Norfolk Story, which Sharp turned into a novel, Conflict of Wings - which was the title under which the movie was shot. Sharp had ambitions to direct and was allowed to work as assistant director. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=US74bAu4wTM)
5) The Stolen Airliner (1955)
Sharp wrote two films for children at Group Three, Child's Play (1954) and Blue Peter (1955), and worked as assistant director on both. He was then given the chance to direct The Stolen Airliner by the Children's Film Foundation (CFF), a non profit production company that made lower budgeted films for kids. It's a minor movie but launched Sharp as a director. A clip is here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bUnNvBav_U. He would go on to make The Adventures of Hal 5 (1959) for the CFF. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ku9I2s9pKRo)
6) The Golden Disc (1959)
To earn a living as a director in England, then (as now) one couldn't specialise in the one genre. So Sharp made some documentaries, did some second unit directing work (Carve Her Name With Pride, Harry Black and the Tiger) then accepted a job directing the rock and rock musical The Golden Disc which tried to make a film star out of Terry Dene. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exIJsGQwR9c) It is arguably the first British rock n roll movie.
The film was not a hit but at least Sharp got to marry the leading lady, Mary Steele. Sharp later went on to direct another British pop star, Tommy Steele, in another rock musical It's All Happening (1963).
7) The Professionals (1960)
Sharp then directed some low budget "B" drama movies, of which this thriller was the most noticeable. It was sold to American television, and received some excellent reviews there. More specifically it led to him being hired on Kiss of the Vampire.
8) Kiss of the Vampire (1963)
Alright. Now for the first film people reading this might have actually heard of. Sharp's work had not gone unnoticed Tony Hinds at Hammer, who needed a director for a new vampire film they wanted to make. He was offered the gig despite having never made a horror movie before. The result was a wonderful gothic chiller about a couple in Europe who get caught up with some vampires, Sharp's first great film. It wasn't spectacularly received at the time - it did not feature Christopher Lee or Peter Cushing - but now it is one of the most highly regarded Hammer horrors. How is this for an opening sequence: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTyBJrPPBy4
9) Witchcraft (1964)
Success begets success - Sharp was now a "horror guy" and received an offer to direct a film for Robert L. Lippert, a legendary producer of low budget movies. This atmospheric effort starring Lon Chaney Jnr also went on to have a small cult. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiXk6pwJSko) Sharp went to make The Curse of the Fly (1965) for Lippert.
10) The Devil Ship Pirates (1964)
Sharp's second film for Hammer wasn't a horror, though it did star Christopher Lee: it was a swashbuckler, a sort of pirate version of The Desperate Hours where a ship from the Spanish Armada winds up at an isolated English town and the sailors trick the locals into thinking that the invasion was successful. It's an exciting well made film with plenty of action - Sharp's first action movie. Brian Trenchard Smith talked about the movie in Trailers from Hell here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vXktJdvQ3M.
11) The Face of Dr Fu Manchu (1965)
Sharp got a call from notorious producer Harry Alan Towers, who wanted Sharp to revive the Fu Manchu franchise with Christopher Lee in that role. The resulting film is a very fast paced highly enjoyable action thriller, though as politically correct as you'd imagine a Fu Manchu movie made in the 60s would be. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33mJRSKipbw) It led to four sequels starring Lee, though Sharp only directed the first one, The Bride of Fu Manchu (1966).
12) Rasputin the Mad Monk (1966)
Sharp's third collaboration with Hammer, and with Lee, resulted in this semi-classic. A biopic of the notorious Russian religious figure, the script had to be heavily fictionalised to avoid lawsuits but it features a tremendous performance by Lee in the title role, and (like all Hammer films from this period) sumptuous art design. Apparently Lee loved the part and no wonder - in the first 15 minutes
he bursts into an inn, sculls a drink, brings someone back from the
dead, gets drunk, does a dance, makes love to a busty wench, gets in a
brawl. The film isn't up to his performance but is still good fun. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mTkGLaEtLU)
13) Our Man in Marrakesh (1967)
Harry Alan Towers got Sharp to direct this lively knock off of spy films from the period. It's a breezy, hugely entertaining film, helped by a smart script from fellow Australian Peter Yeldham, a superb cast that includes Senta Berger, Herbret Lom, Klaus Kinski and Wilfrid Hyde Whyte, and location work in Morocco. It is a little weird to see Tony Randall trying to be Cary Grant... (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbuFK5OJ5KI)
14) Jules Verne's Rocket to the Moon (1967)
Sharp occasionally did second unit directing gigs to help pay the bills, notably the flying sequences on Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (1965). The success of that movie prompted Harry Alan Towers to try his luck at the period-adventure-romp genre, with his loose adaptation of a Jules Verne novel. Sharp does what he can but it's not a good movie, sunk under the weight of lead Troy Donahue's performance (trying too hard to be funny) and a dumb script. It was known in the US as Blast Off. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdvoNoa0W-k)
15) The Violent Enemy (1968)
The IRA did not feature in many films of the 1960s (that was a relatively quiet decade for them) but they were the object of this little known thriller, based on a novel by Jack Higgins. It wasn't widely seen; neither was Sharp's other feature around this time, Taste of Excitement (1969) so Sharp turned to television directing to pay the bills. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CUDBY8lUAn8)
16) Puppet on a Chain (1971)
Sharp was brought back to features when offered to do some "director doctoring" on this adaptation of an Alistair Maclean novel. Among the additions Sharp made was shooting a marvellous boat chase on the Amsterdam canals which everyone pretty much agreed was the best thing about the (not very good) movie. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3p0O1QsXfnQ)
17) Psychomania (1973)
Delirious over the top nutty fun that you have to watch to believe exists. It's about the leader of a biker gang (Nicky Henson) who discovers his mother (Beryl Reid) and butler (George Sanders) are into the dark arts and know how to revive people from the dead. Henson decides to kill himself so he can come back to life. He succeeds and things only get weirder from there. At one stage this was mostly known for being Sanders' last film but it's actually great fun and is a deserved cult favourite. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qa8zcFMRwxo)
18) Callan (1974)
In the early 1970s the most popular genre at the British box office was big screen adaptations of popular TV shows. Callan was a superb show but, oddly, doesn't translate as well as some of the others, at least not here - in part because the script feels like what it was, a padded out re-do of the pilot episode. Callan worked best when it was cramped and intimate which suits TV; Sharp's attempts at opening it out (he throws in a car chase - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yg9mNquM24A) are not that successful. At least it's better than another film Sharp made around this time, the awful thriller Dark Places (1973).
19) Hennessy (1975)
In contrast to Callan this feels like a proper movie - an exciting, fast paced knock off of The Day of the Jackal with Rod Steiger as an Irishman determined avenge the death of his wife and child at the hands of a British soldier by blowing up the Queen at an opening of Parliament. It's very well done, a gripping thriller, which earned controversy when Buckingham Palace sold footage of the Queen to the filmmakers without realising why they wanted to use it, and kicking up a stink later. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YaEQsi5YqTM)
20) The Four Feathers (1978)
One of a series of TV movies based on classic novels by producer Norman Rosemont. He'd make them for American TV then release them theatrically overseas. This was based on AEW Mason's novel, filmed several times previously. Once you get used to chubby cheeked Beau Bridges in the lead it's quite good. (Bridges actually seems like a coward, unlike pretty much every other version of this story, giving it extra tension) I wish they hadn't used Richard Johnson in brownface though. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pF_uIxtjDmE)
21) The 39 Steps (1978)
Sharp takes on another classic adventure tale, John Buchan's famous "wrongly accused" thriller superbly adapted by Hitchcock in 1935 and less well filmed by Ralph Thomas and Kenneth More in 1959. This version is closer to the book than either of those, but is not that faithful. It stars Robert Powell who was in The Four Feathers and was a kind of star for a few years in the 70s and 80s. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_E365Wh0HM)
22) Bear Island (1979)
The Canadian film industry decided to go for gold with this expensive adaptation of an Alistair MacLean novel. Like the South Africans who filmed Golden Rendezvous no doubt the filmmakers dreamed of easy money from a MacLean adaptation, and like them they were disappointed. It had the biggest budget of any Canadian film to that date - $9 million - bu the money was wasted. I mean, I appreciate they went and shot in
the icy wilds - there's some spectacular locations: glaciers, fjords,
all that stuff - but at its heart this is a film about
a bunch of people stuck in a room struggling to get outside. Cast wise it's very much a B team - good actors to be sure but hardly
big box office, and all so old: Donald Sutherland is the hero, Vanessa
Redgrave is wasted as the girl (basically), Richard Widmark, Christopher
Lee and Lloyd Bridges. There's some decent action - snowmobiles zipping around, the odd fight, a chase on a boat at the end - but far too many scenes of people in parkas. Sharp helped write the script so he's got to take some of the blame and the box office failure of this sent him back to television. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAaZBYvE3yA)
23) What Waits Below (1985)
Sharp's last
feature film is a pulpy exciting horror-action film for legendary
producer Sandy Howard, about a caving expedition that discovers a
mysterious race of creatures down below. Location filming helps
tremendously as does Robert Powell having the time of his life in a role
seemingly meant for Chuck Norris. It was also known as Secrets of the Phantom Caverns. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sWUuUIGoZRI)
23) A Woman of Substance (1985)
Sharp revitalised his career with this hugely popular mini series based on a novel by Barbara Taylor Bradford. It made a star (ish) of Jenny Seagrove, and led to a series of gigs for Sharp in this genre - Hold the Dream (1986), Tears in the Rain (1988, with Sharon Stone!), Act of Will (1989, with Liz Hurley!) - before he retired.
25) Tusitala (1986)
Sharp's one Australian production - actually it was an Australian-English co production, a mini series about the last years of Robert Louis Stevenson. Based on a script by Yeldham it was respectable, solid drama which is why it's not as well remembered today as, say, Psychomania.
Sharp retired at the end of the 1980s . He passed away in 2011 leaving behind a pretty decent legacy. Perhaps the greatest ever director from Tasmania?
Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Book review - "Burt: But Enough About Me" by Burt Reynolds
Highly entertaining memoir from the beloved star, the first star I remember feeling sorry for because his run of luck with projects was so bad in the 80s. He always was a good raconteur and is so here (props to his ghost writer who gets the book to sound pure Burt).
We get lots of stories about his dad, who was so formative, but never told Burt he loved him and was a hard bastard; his longing to spend time with son Quentin (why only one child though?); he says he never loved Loni just sort of went along with it; Sally Field was the one who got away; Hal Needham was great; Darren McGavin was a prick on Riverboat; Marlon Brando hated the fact Reynolds looked like him; he didn't get Paul Thomas Anderson (thwarting another comeback); he regrets the Centrefold; loves Deliverance but fell out with John Boorman after turning down Zardoz due to injury; was shunned after being injured making City Heat and rumours spread he had AIDS; he was hit on by Greta Garbo (!) and became great mates with Bette Davis.
Burt is impulsive, needy, insecure, honest, a little dumb. He adored acting. A fun book.
We get lots of stories about his dad, who was so formative, but never told Burt he loved him and was a hard bastard; his longing to spend time with son Quentin (why only one child though?); he says he never loved Loni just sort of went along with it; Sally Field was the one who got away; Hal Needham was great; Darren McGavin was a prick on Riverboat; Marlon Brando hated the fact Reynolds looked like him; he didn't get Paul Thomas Anderson (thwarting another comeback); he regrets the Centrefold; loves Deliverance but fell out with John Boorman after turning down Zardoz due to injury; was shunned after being injured making City Heat and rumours spread he had AIDS; he was hit on by Greta Garbo (!) and became great mates with Bette Davis.
Burt is impulsive, needy, insecure, honest, a little dumb. He adored acting. A fun book.
Movie review - "Booksmart" (2019) *****
Wonderful movie - an absolute tonic. Perfectly realised and performed, terrific cast and direction. Olivia Wilde has had a dream debut (I'm sure it was a nightmare but she seems so sure of herself). Four writers are credited but the script feels smooth.
Okay some nitpicking - occasionally the adult stars go overboard and mug a little. I didn't quite buy these girls would be unable to find the party for so long, and would go to the library to do so. The Triple A character felt as though she needed a middle beat.
But so much is magical. The chemistry. The affection the filmmakers have for their characters. The Midsummer Night's Dream style feel this has at times - such as the character Gigi. The characters feel recogniseable yet fresh - the driven know it all nerd, the lesbian with oh so understanding Christian parents, the party guy, the enigma girl.
It's just a fantastic film.
Okay some nitpicking - occasionally the adult stars go overboard and mug a little. I didn't quite buy these girls would be unable to find the party for so long, and would go to the library to do so. The Triple A character felt as though she needed a middle beat.
But so much is magical. The chemistry. The affection the filmmakers have for their characters. The Midsummer Night's Dream style feel this has at times - such as the character Gigi. The characters feel recogniseable yet fresh - the driven know it all nerd, the lesbian with oh so understanding Christian parents, the party guy, the enigma girl.
It's just a fantastic film.
Movie review - "The Four Feathers" (1978) ***
One of producer Norman Rosemont's TV adaptations of classic novels. I'm always surprised this gets revived in the modern era because it is pro Imperial... but I guess the core factor about a man trying to prove he's not a coward is very strong.
It took me a while to get used to Beau Bridges as the hero (those chubby cheeks, that 70s hair) but then I appreciated his performance - he is a good actor, and he seems like someone who is, well, a coward, so it makes his derring-do more impressive. If more obviously heroic actors like say Robert Powell and Simon Ward (who play his friends) had been cast it wouldn't have worked as well. He also brings a contemporary freshness. Bridges has individuality whereas Powell and Ward tend to blend in.
The film looks pretty good for a TV movie - it was shot on location in Spain and in England. Solid action sequences - it proves you don't need a massive budget. (NB If I'm not mistaken they use footage from the 1939 sequence when Bridges watches the troops march off to Egypt).
I wasn't wild about Richard Johnson in brownface - surely they could have found a decent actor of colour? And Bridges' beard looks a little silly.
Harry Andrews is excellent as Bridges horrible scowly father. Jane Seymour was born to play the romantic female lead - achingly beautiful, even if her character is a little blood thirsty ("You'll go off and fight won't you?").
A decent effort.
It took me a while to get used to Beau Bridges as the hero (those chubby cheeks, that 70s hair) but then I appreciated his performance - he is a good actor, and he seems like someone who is, well, a coward, so it makes his derring-do more impressive. If more obviously heroic actors like say Robert Powell and Simon Ward (who play his friends) had been cast it wouldn't have worked as well. He also brings a contemporary freshness. Bridges has individuality whereas Powell and Ward tend to blend in.
The film looks pretty good for a TV movie - it was shot on location in Spain and in England. Solid action sequences - it proves you don't need a massive budget. (NB If I'm not mistaken they use footage from the 1939 sequence when Bridges watches the troops march off to Egypt).
I wasn't wild about Richard Johnson in brownface - surely they could have found a decent actor of colour? And Bridges' beard looks a little silly.
Harry Andrews is excellent as Bridges horrible scowly father. Jane Seymour was born to play the romantic female lead - achingly beautiful, even if her character is a little blood thirsty ("You'll go off and fight won't you?").
A decent effort.
Movie review - "Callan" (1974) **1/2
I really liked the TV series and have enjoyed recently seeing Don Sharp's 70s films Henessy and Psychomania so I was looking forward to this, but it's disappointing. I mean it's still Callan it's not the same cynical look at the world and those marvellous characters - Callan the ruthless killer who has a soul, his honest dodgy helper Lonely, the cynucal station chief Hunter.
But the show doesn't translate well to film - at least not as done here. It feels very much like an episode of a TV show - lots of two handers, in particular scenes of Callan talking to Schneider, his target. The crampy dingy atmosphere that worked well in TV and in black and white doesn't translate well to film.
Nothing much is done with Callan being brought out of retirement - within a few minutes its like he's been doing his job without stopping.
They don't use the opportunity to deepen the view of Callan or his world. It's a cheap looking film too. Don Sharp was better with pace and movement... but he could do atmosphere as shown with Kiss of The Vampire. But this doesn't have much atmosphere. (I did like how Sharp got to do a car chase towards the end. He goes nuts, as if relieved to be let out of prison.)
Catherine Schnell pops up in a nothing part as the target's girlfriend.
Some of this was a hard slog - it felt like a 55 minute story padded out - but the second half was better than the first.
But the show doesn't translate well to film - at least not as done here. It feels very much like an episode of a TV show - lots of two handers, in particular scenes of Callan talking to Schneider, his target. The crampy dingy atmosphere that worked well in TV and in black and white doesn't translate well to film.
Nothing much is done with Callan being brought out of retirement - within a few minutes its like he's been doing his job without stopping.
They don't use the opportunity to deepen the view of Callan or his world. It's a cheap looking film too. Don Sharp was better with pace and movement... but he could do atmosphere as shown with Kiss of The Vampire. But this doesn't have much atmosphere. (I did like how Sharp got to do a car chase towards the end. He goes nuts, as if relieved to be let out of prison.)
Catherine Schnell pops up in a nothing part as the target's girlfriend.
Some of this was a hard slog - it felt like a 55 minute story padded out - but the second half was better than the first.
Tuesday, July 23, 2019
Movie review - "Psychomania" (1973) ***
Quintessential batty early English horror film which throws in everything but the kitchen sink and is great fun. Nicky Henson leads a gang of bikers who wreck havoc- they include women as well as guys. His mother is an upper class lady who knows how to revive the dead so Nicky gives it a go. Soon all these bikers are killing themselves and coming back to life. Henson's girlfriend has reservations.
Lots of fun stuff - the music score, girl bikers running people over (including if I'm not mistaken a baby), bikers riding into walls, crazy hair cuts, early 70s production design, a fantastic cast having a ball (apart from Henson there's Beryl Reid as mother and George Sanders in his last role as her assisting butler).
For a while this film was considered a joke but it has a cult that has deservedly grown.
Lots of fun stuff - the music score, girl bikers running people over (including if I'm not mistaken a baby), bikers riding into walls, crazy hair cuts, early 70s production design, a fantastic cast having a ball (apart from Henson there's Beryl Reid as mother and George Sanders in his last role as her assisting butler).
For a while this film was considered a joke but it has a cult that has deservedly grown.
Book review - "Crackpot: The Obssessions of John Waters" by John Waters
Bright collection of essays from one of the greatest director raconteurs (up there with Kevin Smith). It was originally published in 1986 but this edition updates it with some more recent articles, including the making of Hairpsray and several speeches from the Independent Film Awards which tend to over-rely on the one joke structure - Waters advising people in ways to be shocking ("have affairs", "when you accept an award say you deserve it"). This got repetitive and made me realise a lot of Waters' shtick is based on this. But when he writes from the heart - about Buddy Deaners, or teaching in prison, or his love for stuntmiesters like William Castle and actors like Pia Zadora, or review Hail Mary by Godard - he can't be beaten, and he's always funny.
Book review - "Mel Brooks" by Patrick McGilligan
Instinctively I assumed the topic of Brooks was too light for McGilligan but then when you think about it more it isn't - Brooks has had one of the great careers spanning over half a century and incorporating many key cultural moments: the 2000 year old man, Sid Caesar, The Producers, Gene Wilder, Blazing Saddles etc. He won two Oscars in the 60s and has won a bunch of awards.
James Parish wrote a biography on him which was fine, but brief and he's not in McGilligan's class as a biographer. McGilligan does a typically superb job of tracing Brooks' history and the fact he's unauthorised means this depiction can be very warts and all. Brooks was a terrible husband to his first wife (he was moody, abused her, hit her, cheated on her, stinged her out of child support and alimony), was a credit hog, had a bad temper, was tight with the buck. On the positive side he was brilliantly funny, a great salesman, turned out some terrific dramas as producer (including My Favourite Year), was incredibly tenacious. To come back and conquer Broadway with The Producers is incredible.
The book is exhaustive- indeed it felt as though it could have done with an edit. Did we need all those reviews and information about financial deals and in dept accounts of the making of Dracula Dead and Loving It?
I loved how McGilligan loved Spaceballs. He mentions in the afterword that he's never encountered more people scared to go on the record than with this book - even more than his Clint Eastwood book. After reading about Brooks' anger I can understand why.
James Parish wrote a biography on him which was fine, but brief and he's not in McGilligan's class as a biographer. McGilligan does a typically superb job of tracing Brooks' history and the fact he's unauthorised means this depiction can be very warts and all. Brooks was a terrible husband to his first wife (he was moody, abused her, hit her, cheated on her, stinged her out of child support and alimony), was a credit hog, had a bad temper, was tight with the buck. On the positive side he was brilliantly funny, a great salesman, turned out some terrific dramas as producer (including My Favourite Year), was incredibly tenacious. To come back and conquer Broadway with The Producers is incredible.
The book is exhaustive- indeed it felt as though it could have done with an edit. Did we need all those reviews and information about financial deals and in dept accounts of the making of Dracula Dead and Loving It?
I loved how McGilligan loved Spaceballs. He mentions in the afterword that he's never encountered more people scared to go on the record than with this book - even more than his Clint Eastwood book. After reading about Brooks' anger I can understand why.
Movie review - "Overlord" (2018) **1/2
Gets off to a flying start with an excellent D Day sequence, with troops being shot out of the sky and winding up at a mysterious Germany castle. But it takes 50 minutes before there's a hint of zombie suff and the filmmakers don't do much with it - you actually could have taken the zombie stuff out and it would still play: the beautiful French girl, her brother, the nasty German, the archetypes in the squad (good natured guy, ruthless guy, wise cracking New Yawkers), the mission to blow up the caste...
I didn't want them to cut out the zombie stuff I wanted them to do more with it. I can see why it wasn't a big hit - not enough zombies, some unpleasant torture, cliched characters and dialogue ("that was before the war... when everything changed"). No surprises, no twists.
It looks good and is smartly directed. Just a bit disappointing.
I didn't want them to cut out the zombie stuff I wanted them to do more with it. I can see why it wasn't a big hit - not enough zombies, some unpleasant torture, cliched characters and dialogue ("that was before the war... when everything changed"). No surprises, no twists.
It looks good and is smartly directed. Just a bit disappointing.
Monday, July 22, 2019
50 Meat Pie Westerns
Westerns are meant to be the most American of film genres so it's surprising to see how many other countries make them. You've got Spaghetti Westerns (Italy/Spain), Charro Westerns (Mexico), Indo Westerns (India), Martial Arts Westerns (China), Red Westerns (Eastern Bloc), German Westerns, South African Westerns, and Roast Beef Westerns (Britain). And, from Australia, the Meat Pie Western.
Stephen Vagg looks at fifty of the best known of this genre. Seriously, he came up with at least fifty.
1) The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906)
(Arguably) The first feature film made in the world - definitely the first bushranger feature (though not the first bushranger short - that honour belongs to Bushranging in North Queensland (1904)). While often called Westerns, I would argue bushranger films are their own, uniquely Australian genre, deriving from local history and literary tradition rather than simply copying American tropes.
The Story of the Kelly Gang, for example, was adapted from an Australian stage play, based on an Australian historical event, and featured many traditions and tropes that are grounded more in Australian than American literary traditions - miscarriage of justice, Protestant-Catholic sectarianism, class warfare, feisty "squatter's daughters", etc.
Still, it is a story set in the rural past with shoot outs, outlaws, horses and police, so you could argue it's a western.A surprisingly large amount of it can still be viewed too. (https://archive.org/details/TheStoryOfTheKellyGang)
2) Captain Thunderbolt (1910)
Kelly Gang was a huge hit prompting a raft of films about bushrangers. Most were based on true stories (Moonlite, Dan Morgan, Ben Hall, Frank Gardiner), or hit plays (Captain Midnight) although there was an original about a female bushranger, The Lady Outlaw (1911). Almost none of them survive today except for Captain Thunderbolt, an opus from the husband and wife team of Frank and Agnes Gavin.
The footage that remains of this movie looks, to be honest, fairly terrible, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxx_jlfUcGk), but at least it was shot on location. It was popular, like most of these bushranger films - indeed they were so admired that several state governments went and banned them, worried about the impact they would have on the general population. This absurd decision wiped out the most commercially lucrative genre Australian filmmakers had.
3) A Bushranger's Ransom (1911)
Most early Australian films were adaptations of stage plays by family theatrical concerns. A Bushranger's Ransom was from the Cole family, who specialised in Wild West shows - travelling open air theatrical experiences about cowboys and Indians complete with horses and fake gunfire. Occasionally the Coles did an Australian story, like A Bushranger's Ransom, about Ben Hall, which they filmed in 1911.
It's possible the film was directed by Mrs Cole, his regular leading lady, Vene Linden, making this (possibly) the first Australian movie directed by a woman. No copy of the film exists unfortunately.
4) The Shadow of Lightning Ridge (1921)
Sportsman Snowy Baker was one of Australia's first genuine box office stars, featuring in a series of action melodramas designed to show off his physical abilities. Some of these were heavily influenced by Westerns, though they were also affected by bushranger movies, war films and outdoor colonial melodramas (which I'll discuss more in the section on The Squatter's Daughter below).
The Shadow of Lightning Ridge is one of three films Baker made with the American writer-director team of Bess Meredyth and Wilfred Lucas. It is the most"American Western" of them, being clearly based on Zorro - Baker is a man who dresses up as "The Shadow" and raids a baddy's property - only the one property, though! The Bulletin thought the film was too American.
Unfortunately no copy of it is known to exist. Only one of the Baker-Lucas-Meredyth films does, The Man from Kangaroo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ht1lwY2Nk) which is more an outlaw colonial melodrama.
5) The Bushranger (1928)
One of the first (if not the first) Hollywood films set in Australia, this MGM effort is about an English gentleman unjustly sentenced to Van Dieman's Land who escapes and becomes a bushranger. It stars Tim McCoy who appeared in numerous Westerns in the 20s and 30s - the Australian setting probably came about solely out of a desire to vary the formula a little. I've never seen it and would love to know if someone has a copy. Future director Arthur Lubin is in the support cast.
6) The Squatter's Daughter (1933)
This film was based on a hugely popular play which had first been filmed in 1910. It was part of an Australian subgenre, the outdoors colonial melodrama, which also included Breaking of the Drought (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8FhSy7AWNg) and Snowy Baker movies - stories set on outback stations featuring unscrupulous farmers, heroic foremen, upper class twists visiting from England, family secrets and feisty horse-rising heroines. The latter formed the "squatter's daughter" archetype - the brave, beautiful farm girl who galloped away from bushfires - and meant female starring roles were often stronger in Australian rather than American westerns.
This film is more a melodrama than a Western (it has long lost sons, treacherous neighbours), though it does involve action on horseback. (https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/squatters-daughter/)
Director Ken G. Hall wanted to make two films which sounded more Western-y - a remake of Robbery Under Arms and a story of the Overland Telegraph - but he could not raise money for either.
7) Stingaree (1934)
A Hollywood action melodrama about a gentleman bushranger in colonial Australia, with a surprising amount of musical numbers - so many, in fact, that you'd probably classify it more as an operetta, though it still has a bit of action and Andy Devine as a sidekick. (Horse riding operettas were in fashion at the time eg The Desert Song, Rio Rita.)
This film remains very little known, even among Australian film buffs, despite coming from a major Hollywood studio (RKO), starring two big stars, Irene Dunne and Richard Dix, being directed by a major filmmaker, William Wellman and adapted from the stories of EW Hornung who also wrote Raffles. It was out of circulation a long time and isn't that good as a movie - there is far too much singing, Dix is too fat to be a convincing bushranger and there's rapey elements to the romance - but it is fascinating in its depiction of 1874 Australia, which is shown to be a complete backwater (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L-2N4IlQP4)
In 1948 John Ford announced he would make a film version of the novel with Ben Johnson - now that would have been awesome - but it never happened. I'm surprised no one had a crack at the Stingaree stories in the 1970s and 1980s.
8) Rangle River (1936)
Shot in Australia, distributed by an American studio (Columbia), based on a story by Zane Grey with an American director and star (Victor Jory). The screenwriters were Australians, Charles and Elsa Chauvel, which may explain why the piece feels as much influenced by Australian stage melodramas than American Westerns, though you can feel the Hollywood influence strongly.
Jory really shouldn't be playing a romantic male lead but at least he looks like a cowboy; there's too much screen time devoted to Robert Coote playing a "silly ass" visiting Englishman (this trope was far too common in early Australian cinema) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEkjQNI0tBc) but it is fast paced with action, and features a genuinely kinky duel with whips. There were plans to make a sequel and it's a shame that never happened.
9) Captain Fury (1939)
Hal Roach, best known for comedies, occasionally made other films like this one - a Hollywood attempt at a bushranger epic. Brian Aherne, a sort of poor man's Errol Flynn, the actor you'd cast when you couldn't get George Brent, Pat Knowles or Ian Hunter, plays the title role, an Irish convict sent to Australia who escapes to become a good bushranger who helps the local settlers fight against a villainous land owner (George Zucco).
The Australian setting is not really emphasised, it's just the usual immigrant settlers and evil land baron that you'd see in the old West, which is why I classify this as a meat pie Western rather than a bushranging film. The cast includes Victor McLaglen, John Carradine, Paul Lukas and Douglas Dumbrille, which is cool. It's awkwardly directed but interesting.
10) The Overlanders (1946)
Michael Balcon, head of Britain's Ealing Studios, sent out Harry Watt to Australia and told him to find an idea for a movie. Watt came up with a cracker, based on a true story - a cattle drive in north Australia to escape the Japanese.
This is one of the best of the meat pie Westerns - it takes a very American concept, the cattle drive, and grounds it in the local culture. Sure there's stampedes and romance, but no outlaws and shoot outs, and there's a feisty "squatter's daughter"character who is sensibly given a romance with Peter Pagan rather than Chips Rafferty. The film made Rafferty a star. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq3GoVQmWh0)
Why hasn't it been remade?
11) Sons of Matthew (1948)
Charles and Elsa Chauvel were very comfortable with Western tropes in their films - as shown in their squatter's daughter feature Greenhide (1926), the aboriginies-attacking-the-homestead sequence in Heritage (1935) and the script for Rangle River (1936). This movie falls into the "pioneering family" subgenre of Western like Little House in the Prairie or Cimarron - stories about people hacking homes out of the wilderness, falling in and out of love, fighting disease/prejudice/Indians/whoever. Most tend to be driven by female leads but this is about a set of brothers, although there is a smurfette, Wendy Gibb, loved by Michael Pate and Ken Wayne. It is more melodrama than Western, but it feels influenced by Westerns in its pace and action. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7PgYQaOHcc)
NB Chauvel's final feature, Jedda (1955), would also have elements of Western - a hero torn between two cultures often popped up in movies about Indians. I would class it more as a melodrama though.
12) Bitter Springs (1950)
The first Australian movie to look directly at the land rights clash between European settlers and aboriginal Australians. It's weird Ealing Films thought this movie would be commercial... maybe they had visions of something like Cimarron only there's hardly any female characters in it. To compensate they put comic Tommy Trinder in it which does not help. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRDEalystlU)
In the filmmaker's defence, their hearts were in the right place and at least the film tries to tackle head on some of the issues of Australian settlement. And I actually think it could have found an audience had the filmmakers told the story from the point of view of female characters, like the later We of the Never Never. But Ealing, for all their progressive politics, were lousy at making films with female protagonists.
13) The Kangaroo Kid (1950)
The McCreadie brothers made two minor films after the war, Always Another Dawn and Into the Straight, whose only real mark of distinction was they gave early leading roles to Charles Tingwell. They tried to crack the American market with this one, which had an American writer and director, and American stars, although it was shot in Australia.
This is very much a "meat pie" Western - an essentially American story transplanted to Australia. It's okay, especially if you're not in a particularly nationalistic mood and don't mind films directed by Lesley Selander. At least it has local scenery and Alec Kellaway and Guy Doleman in the support cast. Sally Field's molesting step father, Jock Mahoney, stars.
14) Kangaroo (1952)
A much publicised flop of its day. 20th Century Fox wanted to make a film in Australia to use frozen currency and our exotic locations. They originally announced they'd make something called The Bushranger, which sounds exciting, but instead came up with this wayward melodrama about a conman (Peter Lawford) pretending to be the long lost son of a land baron (Finlay Currie) and falling for his "sister" (Maureen O'Hara).
This film isn't as bad as it's reputation (Richard Boone is excellent as Lawford's friend and there's some great visuals), it's just frustrating because it should have been better - it's flabby and goes all over the place, Lawford is a wet fish of a leading man, and it needs more action. Like many films on this list, it would have been more entertaining if it had embraced being a Western more.
It's in the public domain so check it out. (https://free-classic-movies.com/movies-05/05-1952-Kangaroo-The-Australian-Story/index.php)
15) The Phantom Stockman (1953)
Chips Rafferty and Lee Robinson devised a pretty good formula for Australian cinema going in the challenging environment of the 1950s - take a simple well tried formula and give it a jazzy location with Rafferty in the lead. So they deliberately aped American Western formulas by concocting a tale about a mysterious gunman, but made the sidkick aboriginal and set it in Australia. The pacing and writing are lethargic but Rafferty has charisma and the locations are fantastic. Albert Namatjira is in it too! (https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/the-phantom-stockman/)
16) Captain Thunderbolt (1953)
An attempt to revive the bushranger film, this meant with limited success, though in fairness the filmmakers struggled to find distribution. Director Cecil Holmes was a bit of a lefty in real life, and he fashions the story so poor old Thunderbolt is a victim of the upper classes. Holmes was conservative enough however to remove Thunderbolt's aboriginal wife from the story entirely. Thunderbolt is allowed to live at the end of the film - Holmes was hoping to spin off the movie into a Robin Hood type TV series, but it never eventuated. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkdFUO7lTfc)
17) Robbery Under Arms (1957)
Once upon a time Rolfe Bolderwood's novel was hugely popular, leading to countless stage and film adaptations - Ken G Hall badly wanted to make a movie version for over two decades. So too did J Arthur Rank, who ponied up the cash for this underwhelming version. Director Jack Lee and star Peter Finch had just made the excellent A Town Like Alice (1956) but did not bring their A game to this movie which is lethargic and repetitive.
The basic story is about two brothers, here played by the brylcreamed Roland Lewis and David McCallum, who fall under the influence of the bushranger Captain Starlight (Finch). There's no real theme or story uniting it all - the boys are tempted to crime pretty easily and keep falling back into it (not that they commit much - a cattle drive and a robbery is about all). There's no interesting mystery or enigma to Starlight - he just sort of pops up and doesn't seem too sympathetic even if he doesn't kill anyone. All the cool things he does in the book (dance with a girl at a wedding despite being surrounded by enemies, play cards coolly under pressure, honouring an agreement with the Knightleys) are cut out except for the bit where he impersonates a gent from England. There's no real relationship between Starlight and the boys - indeed the only real character flair is their dad who bitterly whinges about him being transported to Australia for pinching a rabbit. There are some striking visual images (all those long shots), and having the final shoot out in long shot (again!) is at least different, even if it just serves to make us more emotionally distant from the characters. A real dull mess.
18) Dust in the Sun (1958)
Having made three successful movies with their Phantom Stockman formula, Chips Rafferty and Lee Robinson tried to alter it for their next three films, starting with this one, and soon went broke. This actually isn't a bad film, based on a decent novel by Jon Cleary - it's a modern day Western about an outback copper (Ken Wayne in a part Rafferty or Charles Tingwell should have played) escorting an aboriginal prisoner (Tudawali) to justice only to stumble into a homestead full of secrets. Things get a bit Tennessee Williams when there should have been more bang bang and locations - a kind-of Western that should have been more of a Western.
It has a whiff of the white man's burden movie about it like Where No Vultures Fly - Wayne is a solid no nonsense public servant dealing with troublesome natives and snarly whites. It's a little bit progressive but not exactly PC - Tudawli's character has a chain around his neck for a lot of the film and is talked about as if he's a dog. Still, the location filming helps and Tudawali has charisma to burn. (https://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/dust-in-the-sun)
19) Shadow of the Boomerang (1960)
And now for something completely different - a Christian Western, of all things, inspired by the visit Billy Graham made to Australia. It's about an American who learns to overcome his prejudice against aborigines. Truth be told this is a melodrama set in the outback rather than a Western, but I wanted to include it on this list because it's so random. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjR-788EA6I)
20) The Sundowners (1960)
Not really a Western either, although there have been American films like it set in the west - plotless peaceful character studies about drifters (eg JW Coop). This is an extremely good example of that subgenre, based on Jon Cleary's classic novel with superb handling and performances. Robert Mitchum shines as a drifter who can't change despite the wishes of his wife and son. He loves them, and they love him - which is the strength of this because they can't leave, and don't want to, but he can't change, so it's sad and happy and human. Fred Zinnemann was one of the few American directors who made a real effort to come to grips with Australian culture and it shows. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD5N4oWbQM4)
21) Journey Out of Darkness (1967)
This falls into the surprisingly large sub-genre, the aboriginal fugitive movie, which includes such classics as Jedda, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and Rabbit Proof Fence... and this camp effort. It has its heart in the right place, albeit in a 50s Hollywood liberal way (American screenwriter Howard Koch was blacklisted during the McCarthy era) but is fatally compromised by the casting of Sri Lankan Kamahl and white Ed Devereaux in blackface as aboriginals, not to mention Konrad Matthaei being simply dull in the lead. The film’s main problem is structural – there is no urgency in the trip and not much interesting happens on the way. Once you stop laughing at Devereaux it's just boring. There are some pretty shots of the outback. (https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/journey-out-of-darkness/)
22)The Drifting Avenger (1968)
Japan occasionally made its own Westerns and this one was shot in Australia. Its about a Japanese in the California gold rush who seeks revenge against some outlaws. It stars Ken Takakura who popped up in Hollywood films like Black Rain and Mr Baseball.
23) Adam's Woman (1970)
A convict Western, financed by an American studio (Warners), with American writers and stars. It's about a convict (Beau Bridges!) unjustly convicted of a crime and sent to Australia, where he deals with bushrangers and a forced marriage to a girl who he comes to love.
24) Ned Kelly (1970)
After The Story of the Kelly Gang, there were a string of terrible movies about the famous bushranger including When the Kellys Rode (1934) and The Glenrowan Affair (1951). In the 1960s Karel Reisz was going to make a film about Ned Kelly with Albert Finney which would have been better (one assumes - you never really know) than this version. Tony Richardson was a very good director but Mick Jagger wasn't up to the demands of the title role. There's a lot of dodgy acting, flimsy drama and too much Waylon Jennings on the soundtrack. Still the making of this was cool, with Australian press going nuts, Marianne Faithful trying to kill herself, Richardson hating Australia, etc etc. It's a more interesting story than what wound up on screen. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AJwogMrAU)
25) Stone (1974)
The biker movie was the modern day Western of choice in the 1960s. Australian cinema has been bewilderingly slow to embrace it as a story option, particularly considering the popularity of this movie which is about a lawman who joins a gang of outlaws who are being killed off one by one. You could imagine James Stewart playing this in the 50s on horseback - here it's Ken Shorter on a bike. A hit with a massive cult... yet it would be decades before Australian filmmakers put bikers front and center again. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utz7CImMXdQ)
26) The True Story of Eskimo Nell (1975)
An early work from Richard Franklin who went on to become one of Australia’s leading directors (Road Games, Psycho II), this was an adaptation of a bawdy ballad and stars Max Gillies and Serge Lazareff as two drifters in nineteenth century Australia who go looking for the legendary Eskimo Nell. Franklin's first draft was set in the American west but then he relocated it to Australia.
It's based on a poem that was apparently famous but no one seems to know anymore (maybe it was bigger in 1975). The adventures aren't very interesting - hooking up with some prostitutes, Lazareff bangs Abigail (cue nude sequences), they run into Graham Bond (random cameo), then some nasty people who make fun of Nell (like those who made fun of Lily Langtry in The Westerner), there are flashbacks to how Gillies lost his eye, they run into Nell who is (gasp shock horror) not as hot as we've been led to believe.
It's weird to think why this film was made or how it got funded. It's not really a Western or even a meat pie Western; there's some nudity (full frontal from Abigail) but not much (certainly not as much as say Alvin Purple); it's not very sexy or raunchy; it's not that funny; it's not that poignant; there's not a lot of action. We don't really care about Gillies or Lazareff - why should we? They're not particularly funny or engaging or exciting or attractive; they don't even seem to like each other that much, which is crucial since this is a male love story. Lazareff's role was originally meant for Jack Thompson, who would have been much better, but I don't think he would have saved it. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaKFbgnL3LA)
(An aside: the Brits made their own version of the Eskimo Nell poem the same year!)
27) Inn of the Damned (1975)
Weird sort of colonial Western horror movie from auteur Terry Bourke. It's about an old couple, traumatised by the loss of their children, who kill of visitors to a deserted inn - a perfectly acceptable concept for a horror movie, with one main location, opportunities for decent shocks etc. Though as developed here, really there's 30 to 60 minutes of plot - like Bourke's earlier featurette, Night of Fear.
The filmmakers pad out the running time with subplots - bounty hunter Alex Cord is looking for a killer, a woman guest is having a lesbian relationship with her step daughter. This pushes the film towards the two hour mark and was a mistake. The Cord subplot lacks tension and the lesbian subplot, which could have been good 70s exploitation erotica, isn't fun or hot because the step daughter isn't into it - she's forced into it, which isn't very sexy. The cast is strong - Alex Cord, Michael Craig, Judith Anderson - and it has oddity appeal. Perhaps Australia's first "horror western". (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uezwVt1FVE)
28) Mad Dog Morgan (1976)
Dan Morgan had a reputation as one of our worst bushrangers (he is heavily criticised in a 1911 biopic ) - but his treatment here is quite sympathetic: in the first 15 minutes Morgan witnesses the massacre of some Chinese, takes to petty crime, is given a very harsh sentence, is raped and tortured in prison. So you hardly blame him for turning bushranger. Having a nutty central figure does serve to distance Morgan slightly from the viewer (from me, at any rate) - he kind of goes loopy communing with the aboriginals in the bush.
But it's an interesting, exciting movie full of bold images and interesting set pieces, such as the massacre and Frank Thring's evil policeman. There is some decent action and period detail, and an excellent support casting including Jack Thompson, John Hargreaves and Bill Hunter. This was one of the first Australian Westerns to show the impact that Sam Peckinpah had on the genre. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uezwVt1FVEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uezwVt1FVEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uezwVt1FVE)
29) Barney (1976)
Little remembered, sweet kids film about a kid who is shipwrecked with a convict. This is an Australian version of the "young kid hero worshipping older man" template, quite common in Westerns. Normally he also has a mother hot for the guy (eg Hondo, Shane) and maybe this film would have done better with that element. It was financed by an American studio, Columbia, and you can feel the Hollywood influence in its storytelling though much of the talent was local.
30) Raw Deal (1977)
TV in 1970s Australia loved to explore the bushranging era - there was Rush, Cash and Company, Tandarra, Seven Little Australians, Against the Wind, Ben Hall, Luke's Kingdom. This movie was from the team that made Cash and Company and Tandarra, and is an attempt to do a Magnificent Seven style action flick. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jst9c6kpnEE)
The film uses Western tropes but it makes some attempt to adapt to Australia - the plot revolves around the sectarianism of the time, which was a much bigger issue here than in the USA. There's references to Guy Fawkes, and cricket. The handling is TV rather than cinema, although production values are decent. And the TV stars in it - Gerard Kennedy, Gus Mecurio and Rod Mullinar - are craggy types we don't have any more, and are missed.
31) The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)
Reportedly Hollywood regarded this film as a western, and it led to Fred Schepisci being offered a job directing a western (Barbarosa). You can see why because this is basically about someone in the rural past being pushed to the point where they turn outlaw and go on a rampage. Of course there's more to it than that - this is an excellent movie, commercially suicidal, and Tom Lewis should have been one of our major stars.
32) Last of the Knucklemen (1978)
The final film from Hexagon Productions, the company set up by Tim Burstall and co. following the success of Stork. This movie, about tough miners out in Aussie desert, may have been better received by the public if it hadn’t followed after Sunday Too Far Away (1975) which seems to resemble at times (though John Power’s original play debuted in 1973) and with which it suffers in comparison. A top notch cast of Aussie actors, including Steve Bisley and Gerard Kennedy, do some really good work. I never would have thought of it as a Western but the superb Ozmovies website classifies it as such and I guess there are Western elements which weren't in Sunday - it's about tough blokes in the outback punching each other out, a mysterious stranger comes to town, there's a climactic fight. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDeJ7JKNucA)
33) Mad Max (1979)
A lawman takes on a group of outlaws, who retaliate by killing the lawman's wife and kid... so the law man puts aside his badge and goes looking for revenge. George Miller and company raided many genres for their classic film - sci fi, horror - but most of all this was a "car Western", perhaps the most brilliant Australian reimagining of the Western - rivalled only by its sequel Mad Max 2 (1982) (homesteaders under siege from outlaws, mysterious stranger helps them to safety). A masterpiece - jt's hard to think of what else to say other than "the rest of the world ripped this off endlessly? Why didn't more Australian filmmakers?"
34) We of the Never Never (1982)
An Australian version of the "female homesteader" Western, like Cimarron - the tale of a pioneer who overcomes obstacles, is nice to the natives, walks around some impressive scenery, etc, etc. It's based on a true story like the most successful movies in this genre (Out of Africa is a Kenyan example). We should make more of them - for instance, why hasn't Sarah Henderson's book From Strength to Strength been filmed? The boomers would lap it up.
35) The Man from Snowy River (1982)
Geoff Burrowes once told me (#namedrop) the big challenge he had with Snowy was keeping guns out of it - he succeeded magnificently, in what remains a highly entertaining film. Truth be told this is influenced by colonial melodramas like The Squatter's Daughter as much as Westerns - Banjo Patterson's poem had already been filmed in 1920 - but it has the action, romance and sense of adventure of the best family-orientated Westerns, as well as imported star Kirk Douglas. The film never got much critical love but these sort of movies are damned hard to do - even Burrowes could never repeat his success, despite trying again at the genre with Cool Change (1985) (a modern day take), The Man from Snowy River 2 (1988) and Outback (1989).
36) Bullseye (1986)
Highly obscure comic take on the famous stolen cattle drive by Harry Redford, which inspired a sequence in Robbery Under Arms. This was originally meant to be a serious story but director Carl Schultz decided to send it up. Maybe that was a mistake - Australia's are fond of cattle drive stories if played straight, as The Overlanders and Australia would prove - but no one turned up for this. The film had a budget of $4.5 million and has been barely seen since - that's the 10BA era for you.
37) Shame (1987)
A modern day Western with many of the tropes - a mysterious stranger rides into an isolated town, kicks a lot of arse, stops several rapes and uncovers a secret. Rapes aren't new for Westerns (70s Westerns are rape crazy) but the female hero was (and remains) new. The script was published in full in Cinema Papers - I think it was the first script I ever read - and deservedly so because it's a very good piece of work, depressingly still relevant. It was remade by the Americans in 1992 and could be remade today. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD_7zU4vRSo)
38) Quigley Down Under (1991)
The script for this film was kicking around Hollywood since the 1970s - a white American gunslinger comes to Australia, discovered he's been hired to kill aboriginals, and takes down his former employer. Various stars such as Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen were mooted as stars, as Kirk Douglas had a run at making it after The Man from Snowy River, before it was eventually financed with Tom Selleck and an Australian director, Simon Wincer. It's a gorgeously looking movie which tries, but doesn't quite work. It's hard to make a broad appeal entertainment with a backdrop of genocide. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lj3LydT1uk)
39) Lightning Jack (1994)
Simon Wincer directed one of the all time great TV westerns in Lonesome Dove (1987) then did one of the all time comedy shockers with this Paul Hogan vehicle. It's not easy to make bank robbers sympathetic but it can be done - it's been done a lot - but this film sucks at it. Hogan is a great star - he's still one of our best - who is hopelessly at sea. There's a terrible love plot too. I remember vividly what a painful experience this was to see in the cinema. Crocodile Dundee had a good heart - this one doesn't.
40) The Tracker (2002)
This film led the revival of Australian westerns in the 2000s, an aboriginal fugitive film which proved very popular on the art house circuit. It's got Western tropes - the outlaw, the posse, the tracker - though it is still very Australian. It is set in 1922.
41) Ned Kelly (2003)
A fair few punters turned up to see this reunion of Heath Ledger and Gregor Jordan following Two Hands (1999) but the general sense is that it was a disappointment, despite some solid moments. For some reason when this movie came out every second critic turned into a Ned Kelly scholar. The problem with this film wasn't creating a fictitious love interest (Naomi Watts). It was a climax where Ned goes to his gang at Glenrowan "we've got to save the hostages". Um... Ned, you took the hostages in the first place. Such contradictions are I think why so many films about Ned Kelly fail: it's hard to make a broad popular entertainment about a terrorist unless you do some major fudging.
42) Ned (2003)
Very much the effort of a very young filmmaker, this comic take on the famous outlaw was nonetheless pretty funny. It has a genuine sense of anarchy, several laugh out loud moments, and is far better than Reckless Kelly (1993), a film where far too much time is spend having characters comment on how hot Yahoo Serious is. Mind you I haven't seen either for over a decade, maybe time has been less (or more) kind.
43) The Proposition (2005)
This involves bushrangers but I'd argue it's more a meat pie Western than bushranger film because it wasn't based on history or a beloved novel but rather feels as though the filmmakers watched a tonne of ultra-violent, nihilistic, rape-happy late 60s and 70s Westerns. It's a bold, uncompromising movie which established Nick Cave as a first rate screenwriting talent. Not a massive hit on release - it's hard to imagine this ever being a big crowd pleaser - it has, deservedly, an ever growing cult and is one of the best Australian films of this century.
44) Australia (2008)
Baz Lurhmann's redo of The Overlanders has its problems - subplots mysteriously come and go, they would have been better off focusing it on the cattle drive, characters use the word "creamy" to an irritating degree - but it is a sprawling, highly entertaining modern-ish era Western which embraces its tropes with gusto. Its historical accuracy was criticised by Peter Costello of all people (https://www.smh.com.au/national/an-aussie-love-story-that-strays-far-from-fact-20081210-gdt5yx.html) presumably touchy about the whole "apology to stolen generations" things. However Sky news watchers curious on checking it out will be relieved to know that Costello thinks "a love story, the film Australia is pretty good."
45) Dark Frontier (2009) aka Lucky Country
Kind of a western with an unusual time period - 1902 - that probably would have been better off as a movie had it embraced being a Western more. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9qZC0KHkVo)
46) Red Hill (2010)
Famously the best performing Australian film financially out of a cross section of 94 films (https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/screen-news/2017/02-28-94-films-a-commercial-analysis/part-3-best-financial-performers)... It's a solid modern day Western full of reliable tropes (the incoming railway line, a corrupt cop, a break out from prison, shoot outs at high noon) where the ostensible hero is Ryan Kwanten as a local sheriff but the real protagonist is Tommy Lewis, a great bad ass anti-hero looking for revenge.
47) Mystery Road (2013)
A neo-Western? A neo-noir? This is really its own genre but it does have Western tropes - the outback setting, the hero torn between two cultures. Not a big hit on release it's spawned it's own franchise including a sequel and a TV series.
48) Bullets for the Dead (2015)
Something a bit way-out - shot in Australia with local talent, this is set in America and is a Western-zombie-action flick. Very few westerns shot in Australia pretend to be set in America - this is one. And it has zombies. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkuRj_huleI)
49) Sweet Country (2018)
An example of the neo Westerns that are popular in the 21st century - it uses familiar Western tropes (brave loner hero, harsh environment, shoot outs, gallows, pursuing posse) but is in a less familiar time and place (in this case 1929 Northern Territory). It's based on a true story and is very grounded in Australian time and place. Extremely well done and depressing which is presumably why not many people went to see it despite superb reviews.
50) True Story of the Kelly Gang (2019)
There have been countless films about Ned Kelly since 1906... but not many of them have actually been that popular. Will this effort break the curse? Certainly you couldn't find a better actor to play a bushranger than Russell Crowe, so we'll see.
What conclusions can be drawn from this list, if any? I would put forward the following propositions:
a) Filmmakers looking to make a splash could do worse than try a modern-day neo-Western - look at Red Hill, Mystery Road. They don't need a lot of characters, they usually look good, and they can say Something About Australia which still appeals internationally.
b) Filmmakers looking for a big fat commercial hit set in the past would probably be better off looking towards colonial melodrama models (Australia, Man from Snowy River, The Overlanders) than bushranger films (Ned Kelly stories, Robbery Under Arms). Audiences haven't gotten that excited by bushrangers since the 1910s... but Australia showed there's still a hunger for stories set in our past involving romance, cattle, horses and women. I'm surprised no one's tried to remake The Man from Snowy River or The Overlanders. Anyone looking for texts to adapt, the plays Breaking the Drought and The Squatter's Daughter would be in public domain by now.
c) If you're going to make something that's a little bit of a Western, you're better off committing and going full throttle rather than pussy footing around eg like Lucky Country.
d) We don't make enough modern day Westerns that fetishize cars and bikes (eg Stone, Mad Max).
Stephen Vagg looks at fifty of the best known of this genre. Seriously, he came up with at least fifty.
1) The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906)
(Arguably) The first feature film made in the world - definitely the first bushranger feature (though not the first bushranger short - that honour belongs to Bushranging in North Queensland (1904)). While often called Westerns, I would argue bushranger films are their own, uniquely Australian genre, deriving from local history and literary tradition rather than simply copying American tropes.
The Story of the Kelly Gang, for example, was adapted from an Australian stage play, based on an Australian historical event, and featured many traditions and tropes that are grounded more in Australian than American literary traditions - miscarriage of justice, Protestant-Catholic sectarianism, class warfare, feisty "squatter's daughters", etc.
Still, it is a story set in the rural past with shoot outs, outlaws, horses and police, so you could argue it's a western.A surprisingly large amount of it can still be viewed too. (https://archive.org/details/TheStoryOfTheKellyGang)
2) Captain Thunderbolt (1910)
Kelly Gang was a huge hit prompting a raft of films about bushrangers. Most were based on true stories (Moonlite, Dan Morgan, Ben Hall, Frank Gardiner), or hit plays (Captain Midnight) although there was an original about a female bushranger, The Lady Outlaw (1911). Almost none of them survive today except for Captain Thunderbolt, an opus from the husband and wife team of Frank and Agnes Gavin.
The footage that remains of this movie looks, to be honest, fairly terrible, (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lxx_jlfUcGk), but at least it was shot on location. It was popular, like most of these bushranger films - indeed they were so admired that several state governments went and banned them, worried about the impact they would have on the general population. This absurd decision wiped out the most commercially lucrative genre Australian filmmakers had.
3) A Bushranger's Ransom (1911)
Most early Australian films were adaptations of stage plays by family theatrical concerns. A Bushranger's Ransom was from the Cole family, who specialised in Wild West shows - travelling open air theatrical experiences about cowboys and Indians complete with horses and fake gunfire. Occasionally the Coles did an Australian story, like A Bushranger's Ransom, about Ben Hall, which they filmed in 1911.
It's possible the film was directed by Mrs Cole, his regular leading lady, Vene Linden, making this (possibly) the first Australian movie directed by a woman. No copy of the film exists unfortunately.
4) The Shadow of Lightning Ridge (1921)
Sportsman Snowy Baker was one of Australia's first genuine box office stars, featuring in a series of action melodramas designed to show off his physical abilities. Some of these were heavily influenced by Westerns, though they were also affected by bushranger movies, war films and outdoor colonial melodramas (which I'll discuss more in the section on The Squatter's Daughter below).
The Shadow of Lightning Ridge is one of three films Baker made with the American writer-director team of Bess Meredyth and Wilfred Lucas. It is the most"American Western" of them, being clearly based on Zorro - Baker is a man who dresses up as "The Shadow" and raids a baddy's property - only the one property, though! The Bulletin thought the film was too American.
Unfortunately no copy of it is known to exist. Only one of the Baker-Lucas-Meredyth films does, The Man from Kangaroo (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8ht1lwY2Nk) which is more an outlaw colonial melodrama.
5) The Bushranger (1928)
One of the first (if not the first) Hollywood films set in Australia, this MGM effort is about an English gentleman unjustly sentenced to Van Dieman's Land who escapes and becomes a bushranger. It stars Tim McCoy who appeared in numerous Westerns in the 20s and 30s - the Australian setting probably came about solely out of a desire to vary the formula a little. I've never seen it and would love to know if someone has a copy. Future director Arthur Lubin is in the support cast.
6) The Squatter's Daughter (1933)
This film was based on a hugely popular play which had first been filmed in 1910. It was part of an Australian subgenre, the outdoors colonial melodrama, which also included Breaking of the Drought (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8FhSy7AWNg) and Snowy Baker movies - stories set on outback stations featuring unscrupulous farmers, heroic foremen, upper class twists visiting from England, family secrets and feisty horse-rising heroines. The latter formed the "squatter's daughter" archetype - the brave, beautiful farm girl who galloped away from bushfires - and meant female starring roles were often stronger in Australian rather than American westerns.
This film is more a melodrama than a Western (it has long lost sons, treacherous neighbours), though it does involve action on horseback. (https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/squatters-daughter/)
Director Ken G. Hall wanted to make two films which sounded more Western-y - a remake of Robbery Under Arms and a story of the Overland Telegraph - but he could not raise money for either.
7) Stingaree (1934)
A Hollywood action melodrama about a gentleman bushranger in colonial Australia, with a surprising amount of musical numbers - so many, in fact, that you'd probably classify it more as an operetta, though it still has a bit of action and Andy Devine as a sidekick. (Horse riding operettas were in fashion at the time eg The Desert Song, Rio Rita.)
This film remains very little known, even among Australian film buffs, despite coming from a major Hollywood studio (RKO), starring two big stars, Irene Dunne and Richard Dix, being directed by a major filmmaker, William Wellman and adapted from the stories of EW Hornung who also wrote Raffles. It was out of circulation a long time and isn't that good as a movie - there is far too much singing, Dix is too fat to be a convincing bushranger and there's rapey elements to the romance - but it is fascinating in its depiction of 1874 Australia, which is shown to be a complete backwater (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_L-2N4IlQP4)
In 1948 John Ford announced he would make a film version of the novel with Ben Johnson - now that would have been awesome - but it never happened. I'm surprised no one had a crack at the Stingaree stories in the 1970s and 1980s.
8) Rangle River (1936)
Shot in Australia, distributed by an American studio (Columbia), based on a story by Zane Grey with an American director and star (Victor Jory). The screenwriters were Australians, Charles and Elsa Chauvel, which may explain why the piece feels as much influenced by Australian stage melodramas than American Westerns, though you can feel the Hollywood influence strongly.
Jory really shouldn't be playing a romantic male lead but at least he looks like a cowboy; there's too much screen time devoted to Robert Coote playing a "silly ass" visiting Englishman (this trope was far too common in early Australian cinema) (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TEkjQNI0tBc) but it is fast paced with action, and features a genuinely kinky duel with whips. There were plans to make a sequel and it's a shame that never happened.
9) Captain Fury (1939)
Hal Roach, best known for comedies, occasionally made other films like this one - a Hollywood attempt at a bushranger epic. Brian Aherne, a sort of poor man's Errol Flynn, the actor you'd cast when you couldn't get George Brent, Pat Knowles or Ian Hunter, plays the title role, an Irish convict sent to Australia who escapes to become a good bushranger who helps the local settlers fight against a villainous land owner (George Zucco).
The Australian setting is not really emphasised, it's just the usual immigrant settlers and evil land baron that you'd see in the old West, which is why I classify this as a meat pie Western rather than a bushranging film. The cast includes Victor McLaglen, John Carradine, Paul Lukas and Douglas Dumbrille, which is cool. It's awkwardly directed but interesting.
10) The Overlanders (1946)
Michael Balcon, head of Britain's Ealing Studios, sent out Harry Watt to Australia and told him to find an idea for a movie. Watt came up with a cracker, based on a true story - a cattle drive in north Australia to escape the Japanese.
This is one of the best of the meat pie Westerns - it takes a very American concept, the cattle drive, and grounds it in the local culture. Sure there's stampedes and romance, but no outlaws and shoot outs, and there's a feisty "squatter's daughter"character who is sensibly given a romance with Peter Pagan rather than Chips Rafferty. The film made Rafferty a star. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tq3GoVQmWh0)
Why hasn't it been remade?
11) Sons of Matthew (1948)
Charles and Elsa Chauvel were very comfortable with Western tropes in their films - as shown in their squatter's daughter feature Greenhide (1926), the aboriginies-attacking-the-homestead sequence in Heritage (1935) and the script for Rangle River (1936). This movie falls into the "pioneering family" subgenre of Western like Little House in the Prairie or Cimarron - stories about people hacking homes out of the wilderness, falling in and out of love, fighting disease/prejudice/Indians/whoever. Most tend to be driven by female leads but this is about a set of brothers, although there is a smurfette, Wendy Gibb, loved by Michael Pate and Ken Wayne. It is more melodrama than Western, but it feels influenced by Westerns in its pace and action. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K7PgYQaOHcc)
NB Chauvel's final feature, Jedda (1955), would also have elements of Western - a hero torn between two cultures often popped up in movies about Indians. I would class it more as a melodrama though.
12) Bitter Springs (1950)
The first Australian movie to look directly at the land rights clash between European settlers and aboriginal Australians. It's weird Ealing Films thought this movie would be commercial... maybe they had visions of something like Cimarron only there's hardly any female characters in it. To compensate they put comic Tommy Trinder in it which does not help. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRDEalystlU)
In the filmmaker's defence, their hearts were in the right place and at least the film tries to tackle head on some of the issues of Australian settlement. And I actually think it could have found an audience had the filmmakers told the story from the point of view of female characters, like the later We of the Never Never. But Ealing, for all their progressive politics, were lousy at making films with female protagonists.
13) The Kangaroo Kid (1950)
The McCreadie brothers made two minor films after the war, Always Another Dawn and Into the Straight, whose only real mark of distinction was they gave early leading roles to Charles Tingwell. They tried to crack the American market with this one, which had an American writer and director, and American stars, although it was shot in Australia.
This is very much a "meat pie" Western - an essentially American story transplanted to Australia. It's okay, especially if you're not in a particularly nationalistic mood and don't mind films directed by Lesley Selander. At least it has local scenery and Alec Kellaway and Guy Doleman in the support cast. Sally Field's molesting step father, Jock Mahoney, stars.
14) Kangaroo (1952)
A much publicised flop of its day. 20th Century Fox wanted to make a film in Australia to use frozen currency and our exotic locations. They originally announced they'd make something called The Bushranger, which sounds exciting, but instead came up with this wayward melodrama about a conman (Peter Lawford) pretending to be the long lost son of a land baron (Finlay Currie) and falling for his "sister" (Maureen O'Hara).
This film isn't as bad as it's reputation (Richard Boone is excellent as Lawford's friend and there's some great visuals), it's just frustrating because it should have been better - it's flabby and goes all over the place, Lawford is a wet fish of a leading man, and it needs more action. Like many films on this list, it would have been more entertaining if it had embraced being a Western more.
It's in the public domain so check it out. (https://free-classic-movies.com/movies-05/05-1952-Kangaroo-The-Australian-Story/index.php)
15) The Phantom Stockman (1953)
Chips Rafferty and Lee Robinson devised a pretty good formula for Australian cinema going in the challenging environment of the 1950s - take a simple well tried formula and give it a jazzy location with Rafferty in the lead. So they deliberately aped American Western formulas by concocting a tale about a mysterious gunman, but made the sidkick aboriginal and set it in Australia. The pacing and writing are lethargic but Rafferty has charisma and the locations are fantastic. Albert Namatjira is in it too! (https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/the-phantom-stockman/)
16) Captain Thunderbolt (1953)
An attempt to revive the bushranger film, this meant with limited success, though in fairness the filmmakers struggled to find distribution. Director Cecil Holmes was a bit of a lefty in real life, and he fashions the story so poor old Thunderbolt is a victim of the upper classes. Holmes was conservative enough however to remove Thunderbolt's aboriginal wife from the story entirely. Thunderbolt is allowed to live at the end of the film - Holmes was hoping to spin off the movie into a Robin Hood type TV series, but it never eventuated. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkdFUO7lTfc)
17) Robbery Under Arms (1957)
Once upon a time Rolfe Bolderwood's novel was hugely popular, leading to countless stage and film adaptations - Ken G Hall badly wanted to make a movie version for over two decades. So too did J Arthur Rank, who ponied up the cash for this underwhelming version. Director Jack Lee and star Peter Finch had just made the excellent A Town Like Alice (1956) but did not bring their A game to this movie which is lethargic and repetitive.
The basic story is about two brothers, here played by the brylcreamed Roland Lewis and David McCallum, who fall under the influence of the bushranger Captain Starlight (Finch). There's no real theme or story uniting it all - the boys are tempted to crime pretty easily and keep falling back into it (not that they commit much - a cattle drive and a robbery is about all). There's no interesting mystery or enigma to Starlight - he just sort of pops up and doesn't seem too sympathetic even if he doesn't kill anyone. All the cool things he does in the book (dance with a girl at a wedding despite being surrounded by enemies, play cards coolly under pressure, honouring an agreement with the Knightleys) are cut out except for the bit where he impersonates a gent from England. There's no real relationship between Starlight and the boys - indeed the only real character flair is their dad who bitterly whinges about him being transported to Australia for pinching a rabbit. There are some striking visual images (all those long shots), and having the final shoot out in long shot (again!) is at least different, even if it just serves to make us more emotionally distant from the characters. A real dull mess.
18) Dust in the Sun (1958)
Having made three successful movies with their Phantom Stockman formula, Chips Rafferty and Lee Robinson tried to alter it for their next three films, starting with this one, and soon went broke. This actually isn't a bad film, based on a decent novel by Jon Cleary - it's a modern day Western about an outback copper (Ken Wayne in a part Rafferty or Charles Tingwell should have played) escorting an aboriginal prisoner (Tudawali) to justice only to stumble into a homestead full of secrets. Things get a bit Tennessee Williams when there should have been more bang bang and locations - a kind-of Western that should have been more of a Western.
It has a whiff of the white man's burden movie about it like Where No Vultures Fly - Wayne is a solid no nonsense public servant dealing with troublesome natives and snarly whites. It's a little bit progressive but not exactly PC - Tudawli's character has a chain around his neck for a lot of the film and is talked about as if he's a dog. Still, the location filming helps and Tudawali has charisma to burn. (https://www.ozmovies.com.au/movie/dust-in-the-sun)
19) Shadow of the Boomerang (1960)
And now for something completely different - a Christian Western, of all things, inspired by the visit Billy Graham made to Australia. It's about an American who learns to overcome his prejudice against aborigines. Truth be told this is a melodrama set in the outback rather than a Western, but I wanted to include it on this list because it's so random. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjR-788EA6I)
20) The Sundowners (1960)
Not really a Western either, although there have been American films like it set in the west - plotless peaceful character studies about drifters (eg JW Coop). This is an extremely good example of that subgenre, based on Jon Cleary's classic novel with superb handling and performances. Robert Mitchum shines as a drifter who can't change despite the wishes of his wife and son. He loves them, and they love him - which is the strength of this because they can't leave, and don't want to, but he can't change, so it's sad and happy and human. Fred Zinnemann was one of the few American directors who made a real effort to come to grips with Australian culture and it shows. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZD5N4oWbQM4)
21) Journey Out of Darkness (1967)
This falls into the surprisingly large sub-genre, the aboriginal fugitive movie, which includes such classics as Jedda, The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith and Rabbit Proof Fence... and this camp effort. It has its heart in the right place, albeit in a 50s Hollywood liberal way (American screenwriter Howard Koch was blacklisted during the McCarthy era) but is fatally compromised by the casting of Sri Lankan Kamahl and white Ed Devereaux in blackface as aboriginals, not to mention Konrad Matthaei being simply dull in the lead. The film’s main problem is structural – there is no urgency in the trip and not much interesting happens on the way. Once you stop laughing at Devereaux it's just boring. There are some pretty shots of the outback. (https://aso.gov.au/titles/features/journey-out-of-darkness/)
22)The Drifting Avenger (1968)
Japan occasionally made its own Westerns and this one was shot in Australia. Its about a Japanese in the California gold rush who seeks revenge against some outlaws. It stars Ken Takakura who popped up in Hollywood films like Black Rain and Mr Baseball.
23) Adam's Woman (1970)
A convict Western, financed by an American studio (Warners), with American writers and stars. It's about a convict (Beau Bridges!) unjustly convicted of a crime and sent to Australia, where he deals with bushrangers and a forced marriage to a girl who he comes to love.
24) Ned Kelly (1970)
After The Story of the Kelly Gang, there were a string of terrible movies about the famous bushranger including When the Kellys Rode (1934) and The Glenrowan Affair (1951). In the 1960s Karel Reisz was going to make a film about Ned Kelly with Albert Finney which would have been better (one assumes - you never really know) than this version. Tony Richardson was a very good director but Mick Jagger wasn't up to the demands of the title role. There's a lot of dodgy acting, flimsy drama and too much Waylon Jennings on the soundtrack. Still the making of this was cool, with Australian press going nuts, Marianne Faithful trying to kill herself, Richardson hating Australia, etc etc. It's a more interesting story than what wound up on screen. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y-AJwogMrAU)
25) Stone (1974)
The biker movie was the modern day Western of choice in the 1960s. Australian cinema has been bewilderingly slow to embrace it as a story option, particularly considering the popularity of this movie which is about a lawman who joins a gang of outlaws who are being killed off one by one. You could imagine James Stewart playing this in the 50s on horseback - here it's Ken Shorter on a bike. A hit with a massive cult... yet it would be decades before Australian filmmakers put bikers front and center again. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utz7CImMXdQ)
26) The True Story of Eskimo Nell (1975)
An early work from Richard Franklin who went on to become one of Australia’s leading directors (Road Games, Psycho II), this was an adaptation of a bawdy ballad and stars Max Gillies and Serge Lazareff as two drifters in nineteenth century Australia who go looking for the legendary Eskimo Nell. Franklin's first draft was set in the American west but then he relocated it to Australia.
It's based on a poem that was apparently famous but no one seems to know anymore (maybe it was bigger in 1975). The adventures aren't very interesting - hooking up with some prostitutes, Lazareff bangs Abigail (cue nude sequences), they run into Graham Bond (random cameo), then some nasty people who make fun of Nell (like those who made fun of Lily Langtry in The Westerner), there are flashbacks to how Gillies lost his eye, they run into Nell who is (gasp shock horror) not as hot as we've been led to believe.
It's weird to think why this film was made or how it got funded. It's not really a Western or even a meat pie Western; there's some nudity (full frontal from Abigail) but not much (certainly not as much as say Alvin Purple); it's not very sexy or raunchy; it's not that funny; it's not that poignant; there's not a lot of action. We don't really care about Gillies or Lazareff - why should we? They're not particularly funny or engaging or exciting or attractive; they don't even seem to like each other that much, which is crucial since this is a male love story. Lazareff's role was originally meant for Jack Thompson, who would have been much better, but I don't think he would have saved it. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iaKFbgnL3LA)
(An aside: the Brits made their own version of the Eskimo Nell poem the same year!)
27) Inn of the Damned (1975)
Weird sort of colonial Western horror movie from auteur Terry Bourke. It's about an old couple, traumatised by the loss of their children, who kill of visitors to a deserted inn - a perfectly acceptable concept for a horror movie, with one main location, opportunities for decent shocks etc. Though as developed here, really there's 30 to 60 minutes of plot - like Bourke's earlier featurette, Night of Fear.
The filmmakers pad out the running time with subplots - bounty hunter Alex Cord is looking for a killer, a woman guest is having a lesbian relationship with her step daughter. This pushes the film towards the two hour mark and was a mistake. The Cord subplot lacks tension and the lesbian subplot, which could have been good 70s exploitation erotica, isn't fun or hot because the step daughter isn't into it - she's forced into it, which isn't very sexy. The cast is strong - Alex Cord, Michael Craig, Judith Anderson - and it has oddity appeal. Perhaps Australia's first "horror western". (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uezwVt1FVE)
28) Mad Dog Morgan (1976)
Dan Morgan had a reputation as one of our worst bushrangers (he is heavily criticised in a 1911 biopic ) - but his treatment here is quite sympathetic: in the first 15 minutes Morgan witnesses the massacre of some Chinese, takes to petty crime, is given a very harsh sentence, is raped and tortured in prison. So you hardly blame him for turning bushranger. Having a nutty central figure does serve to distance Morgan slightly from the viewer (from me, at any rate) - he kind of goes loopy communing with the aboriginals in the bush.
But it's an interesting, exciting movie full of bold images and interesting set pieces, such as the massacre and Frank Thring's evil policeman. There is some decent action and period detail, and an excellent support casting including Jack Thompson, John Hargreaves and Bill Hunter. This was one of the first Australian Westerns to show the impact that Sam Peckinpah had on the genre. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uezwVt1FVEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uezwVt1FVEhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uezwVt1FVE)
29) Barney (1976)
Little remembered, sweet kids film about a kid who is shipwrecked with a convict. This is an Australian version of the "young kid hero worshipping older man" template, quite common in Westerns. Normally he also has a mother hot for the guy (eg Hondo, Shane) and maybe this film would have done better with that element. It was financed by an American studio, Columbia, and you can feel the Hollywood influence in its storytelling though much of the talent was local.
30) Raw Deal (1977)
TV in 1970s Australia loved to explore the bushranging era - there was Rush, Cash and Company, Tandarra, Seven Little Australians, Against the Wind, Ben Hall, Luke's Kingdom. This movie was from the team that made Cash and Company and Tandarra, and is an attempt to do a Magnificent Seven style action flick. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jst9c6kpnEE)
The film uses Western tropes but it makes some attempt to adapt to Australia - the plot revolves around the sectarianism of the time, which was a much bigger issue here than in the USA. There's references to Guy Fawkes, and cricket. The handling is TV rather than cinema, although production values are decent. And the TV stars in it - Gerard Kennedy, Gus Mecurio and Rod Mullinar - are craggy types we don't have any more, and are missed.
31) The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith (1978)
Reportedly Hollywood regarded this film as a western, and it led to Fred Schepisci being offered a job directing a western (Barbarosa). You can see why because this is basically about someone in the rural past being pushed to the point where they turn outlaw and go on a rampage. Of course there's more to it than that - this is an excellent movie, commercially suicidal, and Tom Lewis should have been one of our major stars.
32) Last of the Knucklemen (1978)
The final film from Hexagon Productions, the company set up by Tim Burstall and co. following the success of Stork. This movie, about tough miners out in Aussie desert, may have been better received by the public if it hadn’t followed after Sunday Too Far Away (1975) which seems to resemble at times (though John Power’s original play debuted in 1973) and with which it suffers in comparison. A top notch cast of Aussie actors, including Steve Bisley and Gerard Kennedy, do some really good work. I never would have thought of it as a Western but the superb Ozmovies website classifies it as such and I guess there are Western elements which weren't in Sunday - it's about tough blokes in the outback punching each other out, a mysterious stranger comes to town, there's a climactic fight. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDeJ7JKNucA)
33) Mad Max (1979)
A lawman takes on a group of outlaws, who retaliate by killing the lawman's wife and kid... so the law man puts aside his badge and goes looking for revenge. George Miller and company raided many genres for their classic film - sci fi, horror - but most of all this was a "car Western", perhaps the most brilliant Australian reimagining of the Western - rivalled only by its sequel Mad Max 2 (1982) (homesteaders under siege from outlaws, mysterious stranger helps them to safety). A masterpiece - jt's hard to think of what else to say other than "the rest of the world ripped this off endlessly? Why didn't more Australian filmmakers?"
34) We of the Never Never (1982)
An Australian version of the "female homesteader" Western, like Cimarron - the tale of a pioneer who overcomes obstacles, is nice to the natives, walks around some impressive scenery, etc, etc. It's based on a true story like the most successful movies in this genre (Out of Africa is a Kenyan example). We should make more of them - for instance, why hasn't Sarah Henderson's book From Strength to Strength been filmed? The boomers would lap it up.
35) The Man from Snowy River (1982)
Geoff Burrowes once told me (#namedrop) the big challenge he had with Snowy was keeping guns out of it - he succeeded magnificently, in what remains a highly entertaining film. Truth be told this is influenced by colonial melodramas like The Squatter's Daughter as much as Westerns - Banjo Patterson's poem had already been filmed in 1920 - but it has the action, romance and sense of adventure of the best family-orientated Westerns, as well as imported star Kirk Douglas. The film never got much critical love but these sort of movies are damned hard to do - even Burrowes could never repeat his success, despite trying again at the genre with Cool Change (1985) (a modern day take), The Man from Snowy River 2 (1988) and Outback (1989).
36) Bullseye (1986)
Highly obscure comic take on the famous stolen cattle drive by Harry Redford, which inspired a sequence in Robbery Under Arms. This was originally meant to be a serious story but director Carl Schultz decided to send it up. Maybe that was a mistake - Australia's are fond of cattle drive stories if played straight, as The Overlanders and Australia would prove - but no one turned up for this. The film had a budget of $4.5 million and has been barely seen since - that's the 10BA era for you.
37) Shame (1987)
A modern day Western with many of the tropes - a mysterious stranger rides into an isolated town, kicks a lot of arse, stops several rapes and uncovers a secret. Rapes aren't new for Westerns (70s Westerns are rape crazy) but the female hero was (and remains) new. The script was published in full in Cinema Papers - I think it was the first script I ever read - and deservedly so because it's a very good piece of work, depressingly still relevant. It was remade by the Americans in 1992 and could be remade today. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD_7zU4vRSo)
38) Quigley Down Under (1991)
The script for this film was kicking around Hollywood since the 1970s - a white American gunslinger comes to Australia, discovered he's been hired to kill aboriginals, and takes down his former employer. Various stars such as Clint Eastwood and Steve McQueen were mooted as stars, as Kirk Douglas had a run at making it after The Man from Snowy River, before it was eventually financed with Tom Selleck and an Australian director, Simon Wincer. It's a gorgeously looking movie which tries, but doesn't quite work. It's hard to make a broad appeal entertainment with a backdrop of genocide. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Lj3LydT1uk)
39) Lightning Jack (1994)
Simon Wincer directed one of the all time great TV westerns in Lonesome Dove (1987) then did one of the all time comedy shockers with this Paul Hogan vehicle. It's not easy to make bank robbers sympathetic but it can be done - it's been done a lot - but this film sucks at it. Hogan is a great star - he's still one of our best - who is hopelessly at sea. There's a terrible love plot too. I remember vividly what a painful experience this was to see in the cinema. Crocodile Dundee had a good heart - this one doesn't.
40) The Tracker (2002)
This film led the revival of Australian westerns in the 2000s, an aboriginal fugitive film which proved very popular on the art house circuit. It's got Western tropes - the outlaw, the posse, the tracker - though it is still very Australian. It is set in 1922.
41) Ned Kelly (2003)
A fair few punters turned up to see this reunion of Heath Ledger and Gregor Jordan following Two Hands (1999) but the general sense is that it was a disappointment, despite some solid moments. For some reason when this movie came out every second critic turned into a Ned Kelly scholar. The problem with this film wasn't creating a fictitious love interest (Naomi Watts). It was a climax where Ned goes to his gang at Glenrowan "we've got to save the hostages". Um... Ned, you took the hostages in the first place. Such contradictions are I think why so many films about Ned Kelly fail: it's hard to make a broad popular entertainment about a terrorist unless you do some major fudging.
42) Ned (2003)
Very much the effort of a very young filmmaker, this comic take on the famous outlaw was nonetheless pretty funny. It has a genuine sense of anarchy, several laugh out loud moments, and is far better than Reckless Kelly (1993), a film where far too much time is spend having characters comment on how hot Yahoo Serious is. Mind you I haven't seen either for over a decade, maybe time has been less (or more) kind.
43) The Proposition (2005)
This involves bushrangers but I'd argue it's more a meat pie Western than bushranger film because it wasn't based on history or a beloved novel but rather feels as though the filmmakers watched a tonne of ultra-violent, nihilistic, rape-happy late 60s and 70s Westerns. It's a bold, uncompromising movie which established Nick Cave as a first rate screenwriting talent. Not a massive hit on release - it's hard to imagine this ever being a big crowd pleaser - it has, deservedly, an ever growing cult and is one of the best Australian films of this century.
44) Australia (2008)
Baz Lurhmann's redo of The Overlanders has its problems - subplots mysteriously come and go, they would have been better off focusing it on the cattle drive, characters use the word "creamy" to an irritating degree - but it is a sprawling, highly entertaining modern-ish era Western which embraces its tropes with gusto. Its historical accuracy was criticised by Peter Costello of all people (https://www.smh.com.au/national/an-aussie-love-story-that-strays-far-from-fact-20081210-gdt5yx.html) presumably touchy about the whole "apology to stolen generations" things. However Sky news watchers curious on checking it out will be relieved to know that Costello thinks "a love story, the film Australia is pretty good."
45) Dark Frontier (2009) aka Lucky Country
Kind of a western with an unusual time period - 1902 - that probably would have been better off as a movie had it embraced being a Western more. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K9qZC0KHkVo)
46) Red Hill (2010)
Famously the best performing Australian film financially out of a cross section of 94 films (https://www.screenaustralia.gov.au/sa/screen-news/2017/02-28-94-films-a-commercial-analysis/part-3-best-financial-performers)... It's a solid modern day Western full of reliable tropes (the incoming railway line, a corrupt cop, a break out from prison, shoot outs at high noon) where the ostensible hero is Ryan Kwanten as a local sheriff but the real protagonist is Tommy Lewis, a great bad ass anti-hero looking for revenge.
47) Mystery Road (2013)
A neo-Western? A neo-noir? This is really its own genre but it does have Western tropes - the outback setting, the hero torn between two cultures. Not a big hit on release it's spawned it's own franchise including a sequel and a TV series.
48) Bullets for the Dead (2015)
Something a bit way-out - shot in Australia with local talent, this is set in America and is a Western-zombie-action flick. Very few westerns shot in Australia pretend to be set in America - this is one. And it has zombies. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkuRj_huleI)
49) Sweet Country (2018)
An example of the neo Westerns that are popular in the 21st century - it uses familiar Western tropes (brave loner hero, harsh environment, shoot outs, gallows, pursuing posse) but is in a less familiar time and place (in this case 1929 Northern Territory). It's based on a true story and is very grounded in Australian time and place. Extremely well done and depressing which is presumably why not many people went to see it despite superb reviews.
50) True Story of the Kelly Gang (2019)
There have been countless films about Ned Kelly since 1906... but not many of them have actually been that popular. Will this effort break the curse? Certainly you couldn't find a better actor to play a bushranger than Russell Crowe, so we'll see.
What conclusions can be drawn from this list, if any? I would put forward the following propositions:
a) Filmmakers looking to make a splash could do worse than try a modern-day neo-Western - look at Red Hill, Mystery Road. They don't need a lot of characters, they usually look good, and they can say Something About Australia which still appeals internationally.
b) Filmmakers looking for a big fat commercial hit set in the past would probably be better off looking towards colonial melodrama models (Australia, Man from Snowy River, The Overlanders) than bushranger films (Ned Kelly stories, Robbery Under Arms). Audiences haven't gotten that excited by bushrangers since the 1910s... but Australia showed there's still a hunger for stories set in our past involving romance, cattle, horses and women. I'm surprised no one's tried to remake The Man from Snowy River or The Overlanders. Anyone looking for texts to adapt, the plays Breaking the Drought and The Squatter's Daughter would be in public domain by now.
c) If you're going to make something that's a little bit of a Western, you're better off committing and going full throttle rather than pussy footing around eg like Lucky Country.
d) We don't make enough modern day Westerns that fetishize cars and bikes (eg Stone, Mad Max).
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