Wake in Fright

26 Sept

Article by Paul Morris-Tuxworth

Heck of a back story behind this film. Could pretty much make a movie out of the story alone.

Directed by American Ted Kotcheff (First Blood, Weekend at Bernie’s). Filmed around Broken Hill and Bondi. Wake in Fright was released overseas to great reviews under the title Outback, however in Australia the truth was too confronting for many movie going punters and did poorly at the box office.

Starring British singer and stage performer Garry Bond and Donald Pleasance (giving one of his many bizarre acting performances) along with a parade of Australian actors including Jack Thompson, John Mellion, Maggie Dence, Dawn Lake, and in his final performance Chips Rafferty who passed away before the films release.

During a preview screening at Melbourne's Bercy Cinema in 1972 an angry audience member stood up pointing to the screen yelling "that's not us" to which Jack Thompson yelled back "yes it is mate. Sit the F down”. The film bombed in Australia and was considered lost for many years. In 1994 the search was on. A well preserved 35mm print was found in Washington but only had a running time 0f 96 minutes suggesting it was heavily cut. Later the negatives were found in Pittsburgh USA in a dump bin marked for destruction. After restoration in 2009 Wake In Fright was rereleased to Australian cinemas and this time received great acclaim.

Although not a traditional "horror film" it is said by many in the industry to be one of the most harrowing films to sit through. In my opinion second only to Pasolini's Salo. Beautifully photographed acted and directed it is certainly worthy of a watch by any film buff.

Interesting facts... Micheal York was to play the lead but turned it down as he was offended by the Kangaroo hunt scene. A disclaimer now appears at the end of the film regarding this harrowing scene. Sir Robert Helpmann was to play the role of Doc, but was later replaced with Donald Pleasance. Sir Robert Helpmann fulfilled his desire to play a creepy Doc in the original film version of Patrick from the 70’s. He even got to chow down on a live frog or two, but that's another story...

In 2018 a copywrite dispute was lodged by Debbie Limb. Daughter of Bobby Limb who it was claimed owned the rights to Wake in Fright. Bobby Limbs wife, Dawn Lake played a role in the film, “you tell'em luv" her catchcry for those of us with long memories. No contract was found so the proceeds from Wake in Fright goes to the Australian film archives to help preserve film history.

If you have not seen Wake in Fright on the big screen this is a must for any cinema lover.

Join us at Rewind Sunday 22nd Oct 7.30pm for an eye opening piece of Aussie film making history.

Tickets available at the bar or here

Paul Morris-Tuxworth

A country kid from a little hamlet called Cudgee near Warrnambool on Victorias west coast , i started my career in cinema and theatre in the big city of Melbourne back in 1974 with Village Cinemas East End triple complex in Bourke St as an usher/ doorman. The Exorcist, Earthquake, Battle of Midway, Rollerball and a rerelease of A ClockWork Orange were some of the films i endured. I then moved down the road to the Hoyt's cinemas. Hoyt's had two complexes in Bourke St. The Cinema Centre ( cinemas 1,2 and 3) and then a little further down the Rd The Hoyt's Midcity ( cinemas 4 and 5 and later a cinema 6 was added. There i stayed till 1989 working up from doorman to Cinema Manager. I conveniently married one of our box office ladies in 1975. We have identical twin boys who now live in London. With the advent of VHS and the dropping of the 4 sessions a day schedule and the ceasing of intermissions many staff left or were made redundant. My wife and i took that opportunity to turn our attention to live theatre and hospitality. I was offered the daunting task of managing the 3000 seat Palais Theatre in St Kilda while Myrto my wife later took on managing the 820 seat Comedy Theatre in Exhibition St Melb. Myrto has now left us but she often commented she "never wanted to see another production of The Rocky Horror show ever again" Needless to say i have a never ending stream of stories about cinema and the live acts we hosted at the Palais. I am now retired and living in Hobart and delighted that some one like Graziano has the balls to bring true independent cinema in a stylish and friendly manner. I will from time to time, with permission give my thoughts and reviews of films coming to Rewind . I look forward to meeting you at Rewind.

Wake in Fright

Suspiria