40-406: Mad Dog Morgan is a 1976 Australian bushranger film directed by Philippe Mora and starring Dennis Hopper , Jack Thompson and David Gulpilil . It is based upon the life of Dan Morgan . Dan Morgan witnesses a bloody massacre of Chinese on the goldfields and turns into a robber. He is arrested and sent to prison for six years where he is tormented and raped. He is let out on parole and becomes
80-476: A Mad Dog: The Making of Mad Dog Morgan , a 23-minute documentary – That's Our Mad Dog: Dennis Hopper interviewed by Philippe Mora - a new 30-minute documentary Further extras included an audio commentary by director Philippe Mora; film excerpts; a radio interview; a stills gallery, a reprint of the film's original release theatre programme; and a .pdf file of the original shooting script. The critic John Simon wrote about Mad Dog Morgan : "Whoever can find me
120-526: A bushranger, befriending an Aboriginal man, Billy. Morgan fights against the vicious Superintendent Cobham and is eventually killed. Mad Dog Morgan is based on the book Morgan: The Bold Bushranger , by Margaret Frances Carnegie . Mora wrote the script on a ship voyage from London to Melbourne in 1974. This was submitted to the Australian Film Development Corporation in early 1975 who agreed to support it. The budget
160-435: A film as might have been made. One of the models for it was the film, Yanks , which was a moment in history in particular culture perfectly captured. It had a lot more than the politics in it but, partly because of the budget and partly because of the length, it was pruned back to the politics. Now, the politics was all there in the original but it was surrounding other things, such as the way people spent their Christmases. That
200-426: A film festival as usual came to my rescue. So I moved back to Europe having had the hands-on experience of making a film. The budget was made on a piece of paper, just page after page, and that is how the budget was constructed, never having made a film before, and a lot of the people who worked on the film were complete amateurs. I don’t know how it was completed or done because we were very irresponsible, but I think it
240-563: A film more arrhythmic and incoherent – indeed inept – gets a reward in the shape of the ears of a wombat". The film's title screen copyright notice had an error with the Roman numerals , showing it as Copyright "MCMDXXVI" The "D" (500) should have been an "L" (50). Under American law this would have invalidated the Copyright entirely and placed the film in the public domain. However, as an Australian film, Australian copyright law does not require
280-725: A film planned to be made in Australia by James Komack , but apparently never made). Howson compares the term to the "Spaghetti Western". Historian Troy Lennon (2018) says that meat pie Westerns have been around for more than a century. Cooke (2014) posits that the Australian Western genre never developed a "classic" or mature phase. He lists the following as broad categories: "the early bushranger and bush adventure films; Westerns shot in Australia by foreign production studios; contemporary re-makes of bushranger films; and contemporary revisionist Westerns, noting that most fall into
320-403: A magazine publisher who had made a number of successful surf movies . Elfick, along with Mike Molloy and Philippe Mora had been discussing making a film about newsreel cameramen of the 1940s and 1950s who worked for such companies as Movietone and Cinesound Productions . Elfick hired Bob Ellis to write the screenplay because he had admired The Legend of King O'Malley . Ellis says he wrote
360-450: A radio interview, deleted scenes, locations featurette, stills gallery and the original theatrical program. Two graphic trailers were released for the DVD launch. Umbrella Entertainment (Australia) released a Director's Cut of the film on DVD in early 2009. The DVD featured a fully restored print of the film, presented in an aspect ratio of 2:35:1. The single disc included: – They Shoot
400-584: A significantly deleterious effect on the Australian film industry. Films in the Western genre continued to be made through the rest of the 20th century, many with Hollywood collaboration (such as Rangle River based on a Zane Grey novel in 1936), and some British (such as the Ealing Studios ' The Overlanders in 1946). Ned Kelly (1970) and The Man from Snowy River (1982) were
440-425: A skilful improviser and gave a performance which was "really extraordinary. I think he identified with the role." Mora recalled Hopper at the finish of the shoot: Rode off in costume, poured a bottle of O.P. rum into the real Morgan's grave in front of my mother Mirka Mora, drank one himself, got arrested and deported the next day, with a blood-alcohol reading that said he should have been clinically dead, according to
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#1732775957043480-500: A specific production date be specified on the film, but rather, that information be available regarding the year of initial public screening. Billabong Valley (Song) by King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard off of the album ‘Flying Microtonal Banana’. Ambrose Kenny Smith sings the line “Mad Dog Morgan. He never gave no warning”. Bushranger film Australian Western , also known as meat pie Western or kangaroo Western ,
520-509: A thriller aspect to it. It's not a Western, it's a Northern". The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) could be said to be the first in the genre (and possibly the world's first feature film ), with "good guys, bad guys, gunfights [and] horseback chases". In 1911 and 1912, the state governments of South Australia , New South Wales and Victoria all banned depictions of bushrangers in films, which lasted for about 30 years and at first had
560-482: Is a genre of Western -style films or TV series set in the Australian outback or " the bush ". Films about bushrangers (sometimes called bushranger films ) are included in this genre. Some films categorised as meat-pie or Australian Westerns also fulfil the criteria for other genres, such as drama , revisionist Western , crime or thriller . A sub-genre of the Australian Western, the Northern , has been coined by
600-435: Is a very good way to start with a colleague or friend. Mora later wrote that he was "setting grotesque 19th-century human behaviour against an extraordinary landscape. I created Francis Bacon figures in a Sidney Nolan landscape, with stunts inspired by Jean Cocteau." The director says that Hopper was a handful during the making of the film, constantly imbibing drink and drugs. However he says the actor could be very professional,
640-461: Is explored in a DVD commentary featuring cast and crew. DVD extras include "The Last Newsreel", Australian Newsreel No. 2032 directed by Karen Borger in 1990. Other extensive DVD-ROM study materials include an in-depth production history, an archive of reviews, and a detailed account of Newsfront's DVD restoration. Newsfront grossed $ 1,576,000 at the box office in Australia, which is equivalent to $ 6,713,760 in 2009 dollars. David Elfick estimated
680-473: Is used in an article about The Man from Snowy River (1982) in that year, and Stuart Cunningham refers to Charles Chauvel ’s Greenhide (1926) as a “kangaroo Western” in 1989. Grayson Cooke attributes the first use of the term "meat-pie Western" to Eric Reade in his History and Heartburn (1979), referring to Russell Hagg 's Raw Deal (1977). This term is again used in 1981 in an Australian Women's Weekly column by John-Michael Howson (about
720-548: The Northern Territory , a "Northern". Johnson said "We really feel it's a film that immerses the audience in a time and place and that perhaps hasn't happened in this way before", and producer Witiyana Marika called it a "northern action thriller". The feature fiction film is based on many stories of the First Nations people of Arnhem Land that are not told in the history books. Johnson also said "There's
760-482: The Kelly Gang (2019). Also notable were The Legend of Ben Hall (2017) and The Tracker (2002). The Proposition (2005) was a " revisionist Western " or "anti-Western" film influenced by Robert Altman and Sam Peckinpah 's work. The 2008 film, Australia , was an epic Western which included other genres such as adventure, action, drama, war and romance. Sweet Country , about European settlers' incursions into Aboriginal Australians ' traditional lands,
800-608: The US, the Native Americans . Cattle ranches and vast tracts of land are both similar themes, being borrowed from US Westerns and used in Australia, in particular the movie The Overlanders (1946). The definition of what is an Australian Western (i.e. taking its influence from US cinema) and what is simply an Australian historical film set in the era that covers similar themes, is fluid. Cinema about bushrangers , which some regard as Australian Westerns, goes back to some of
840-480: The box office, returning to the producers an estimated $ 100,000. Mora later wrote: The finished film immediately polarised audiences in Australia. The nascent film bureaucrats of the day were shocked, even horrified, when they saw the film. It was mentioned to me that Max Fairchild raping Hopper in prison, with Bill Hunter leering, was not their idea of promoting tourism in Australia. My wisecracks that I thought this, in fact, would encourage tourism didn’t help. However
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#1732775957043880-468: The bushranger category (with only The Tracker and The Proposition falling into the latter category at that time). Other recent films, such as Ivan Sen 's Mystery Road (2013), a crime film , also uses some of the Western themes. Emma Hamilton, of the University of Newcastle , refers to the Australian Western, kangaroo Western and meat-pie Western as alternative terms, in her exploration of
920-447: The characteristics of the genre. Historically some Australian Westerns were made specifically with the influence of US Westerns in mind. The Ealing Westerns, made in Australia, are particular examples of this, though they depict Australian history . One connection has been the parallel between the two native people , and their treatment by settlers and the white colonial people. In the case of Australia, Aboriginal Australians , and in
960-822: The development of the Western genre in Australia comparing film representations of Ned Kelly. She refers to the work of Cooke and other writers, paraphrasing Peter Limbrick's view that the Western is basically "about societies making sense of imperial-colonial relationships", and considers the parallels between American and Australian histories. Hamilton lists a number of films which can be termed Australian Westerns by virtue of being set in Australia but maintaining elements of American Western conventions. The list includes, amongst many others, Robbery Under Arms (1920), Captain Fury (1939), Eureka Stockade (1949) and The Shiralee (1957). Director Stephen Johnson and his team of filmmakers dubbed their creation, High Ground , set in
1000-495: The first Australian feature films. Ned Kelly, as subject of a feature film, was first made in 1906, in The Story of the Kelly Gang . The British company Ealing Studios, made a number of Westerns in Australian in the 1940s and '50s, including The Overlanders (1946), about a cattle drive, which was marketed in Australia as a drama, but marketed overseas as an "Australian Western". It starred Australian actor Chips Rafferty and
1040-457: The first draft with Howard Rubie , who had been a cameraman for Cinesound and thought he was going to direct it. Anne Brooksbank later contributed to the script. Noyce was then hired as director and worked with Ellis. Ellis fell out with Noyce and demanded his name be taken off the credits. Ellis: There was some nonsense about how long it was; we'd set it out, one short scene per page and it finally came out about 300 pages or so but, in fact, it
1080-455: The first week but managed to be completed on schedule. Producer Jeremy Thomas later remembered his experience making the film: We got Dennis Hopper somehow to be in it and I think there were something like 120 speaking parts and only $ 400,000 to make the film, which was very much in awe of Sam Peckinpah. We made a Western in Australia. And the film got selected for a side-bar event in Cannes;
1120-477: The judge studying his alcohol tests. Mora shot a scene where a young Ned Kelly looks at a waxwork of Morgan but decided not to use it. The making of Mad Dog Morgan was featured in Mark Hartley's 2008 documentary Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! , in which Thomas, Mora and Hopper are interviewed. The film was released in Australia and the US and performed disappointingly at
1160-496: The makers of High Ground (2020), to describe a film set in the Northern Territory that accurately depicts historical events in a fictionalised form, that has aspects of a thriller . The term " meat pie Western" is a play on the term Spaghetti Western , used for Italian-made Westerns. Since Westerns are a genre associated with the United States, the food qualifiers indicate the origin of other cultures that play with
1200-606: The most notable examples of the genre in the second half of the century. Some films in the genre, such as Red Hill , The Proposition , and Sweet Country , re-examine the treatment of Aboriginal Australians and focus on racism and sexism in Australian history , with the latter two of these being successful with both critics and box-office . A variety of Westerns has been made since 1990 in Australia. Ned Kelly , Australia's most infamous bank robber, featured in two films, Ned Kelly (2003) and The True History of
1240-521: The movie is about newsreel cameramen and production staff who will do anything to get footage. Set between the years 1948 and 1956, when television was introduced to Australia, the film tracks the destinies of two brothers, their adventures and misadventures placed in the context of sweeping social and political changes in their native Australia as well as natural disasters. Len Maguire is constitutionally resistant to change, while his younger brother Frank Maguire welcomes any alterations in his own life and in
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1280-607: The movie sold well around the world – including a $ 300,000 sale to the US – and achieved good reviews. Mora tried for several years to set up other films in Australia – including the movie that became Newsfront (1978), an adaptation of For the Term of His Natural Life and a science fiction story called The Black Hole – but was unsuccessful. He moved back overseas where executives at United Artists , who had been impressed by Mad Dog Morgan , hired Mora to direct The Beast Within . Troma Entertainment's original VHS and DVD release
1320-584: The world around him. Events covered in the film include Robert Menzies ' return as Prime Minister of Australia , the 1951 referendum to ban the Communist Party , Post-war immigration to Australia , the combatting of the rabbit plague , the Redex Reliability Trial , the 1955 Hunter Valley floods and the 1956 introduction of television in Australia . Phil Noyce showed a copy of his short film Castor and Pollux to David Elfick,
1360-481: Was $ 50,000. The film used various locations where Dan Morgan had been active, in the eastern Riverina , including Billabong Creek , Culcairn and Jindera ; as well as locations in Beechworth, north-east Victoria. Morgan's cave in the film was the actual cave Dan Morgan had used. Shooting started on 27 October 1975 and went for six weeks over 36 shooting days to 6 December. The shoot was challenged by rain during
1400-565: Was a heavily edited version of the film, seeing that the unrated or uncut versions were very difficult to come by outside of Australia. With the intent of re-releasing the best films in the Troma library, The Tromasterpiece Collection released a 2-disc unrated version of the film in the US in November 2009. Special features include interviews with director Philippe Mora, cinematographer Mike Molloy and associate producer Richard Brennan, along with
1440-534: Was made in 2017. Newsfront Newsfront is a 1978 Australian drama film directed by Phillip Noyce , and starring Bill Hunter , Wendy Hughes , Chris Haywood and Bryan Brown . The screenplay is written by David Elfick , Bob Ellis , Philippe Mora , and Noyce. The original music score is composed by William Motzing . Shot on location in Sydney, Australia, the film is shot in black and white, and colour, incorporating actual newsreel footage. The plot of
1480-412: Was maybe two and a quarter hours long, which wasn't too bad then or now for something that covered 10 years. But a legend started about how huge it was. When I saw it, I was appalled. I could only see what was missing and abruptly took my name off it. Then when it won all the prizes, I sort of shamefacedly put my name back on it. It was a quite painful experience and I think a very good film, but not as good
1520-688: Was raised from the Australian Film Commission (what the AFDC turned into), Greater Union and private investment, including Mora's father Georges, Margaret Carnegie, tycoon Victor Smorgon and Lyn Williams, the wife of artist Fred Williams . Mora and producer Jeremy Thomas flew to Los Angeles to cast the lead role. Their first choice, Stacy Keach turned it down; Martin Sheen and Jason Miller expressed interest in playing Morgan but Mora decided to cast Dennis Hopper instead. Hopper's fee
1560-513: Was removed. Funding was provided by the Australian Film Commission and the New South Wales Film Corporation. The film was shown at Cannes in 1978 and proved popular. The New South Wales Film Corporation insisted seven minutes of the movie be cut out for overseas release. Newsfront was released on DVD in 2016, bringing a historically lauded Australian film to a worldwide audience. The film's production history
1600-486: Was successful at the box office. Another British film production house, Rank, made Robbery Under Arms in 1957. One of the prominent post-war productions made in Australia was the technicolour Western, Kangaroo . This was a big budget (800,000 pounds) film made by 20th Century Fox in 1952, starring imported stars Maureen O'Hara and Peter Lawford . Mad Dog Morgan , was made in the 1970s, carrying Western themes along with Ozploitation cinema The term "kangaroo Western"
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