Flight Plan | AustLit: Discover Australian Stories

Script cover page (from the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection)

form y Flight Plan single work film/TV crime

Author:agent Charles E. Stamp

Issue Details: First known date: 1972... 1972 Flight Plan

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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

The script held in the Crawford Collection in the AFI Research Collection contains the following character notes (excluding regular characters):

'IAN TAYLOR: 35 years. Tall, slim athletic build. A determined handsome face. Well spoken. Good education. Businesslike manner. A senior shipping clerk who steals a vast sum of money belonging to his employer. He has an air of industrious respectability; is supposedly happily married, but is deeply involved with a young female employee. He is completely ruthless and selfish. Able to drive.
'FRAN TAYLOR: 30/33. An attractive woman with poise and dignity. She loves her husband ... trusts him ... and although she has had doubts about his past behaviour ... overlooks it and tries to deny to herself and others his essential weakness. Well spoken ... good carriage and grooming.
'"FRENCHY" RENAUD: 32/35. Detective Sergeant in Sydney N.S.W. Police. A good friend of Banner's .... a real mate able to see eye to eye with him. He assists Banner in Sydney. He knows Sydney ... its characters ... its criminals. It's his town. He was born and raised there. Physically tough ... mentally sharp ... and a happy Australian nature. Not taller than Banner. Able to drive (N.S.W. Licence).
'JIM FLOYD : 27/29. Detective in Sydney, N.S.W. The same physical build as Taylor. (He must wear Taylor's suit) Renaud's offsider. Friendly. Tough. Willing Australian.
'LILY "REID": A dear old darling duck of a twister. Late middle aged. A shrewd faggot who deals in pornography and forgery from her Sydney studio home. She is "awfully far-out English" ... could be the bishop's wife ... is eccentric ... the oldest flower girl in Sydney. Like Elsa Lanchester doing her "thing".
'MR. CLAYBURN: 50/60. Small .... fat ... pompous ... useless and dithering shipping office departmental manager.
'KAREN BAXTER: 26/28. Very attractive female in shipping office. Sexy flirt. Good full figure. Speech good. Intelligent. Good leg appeal. An affinity with Taylor which causes her to be suspect.
'SARAH ROBERTS: 17/19. A young typist in the shipping office. She looks like a sweetly innocent girl not long out of school; not yet fully developed physically. She seems shy ... gauche ... but she possesses the cunning to fool everybody; to conceal the fact she is heavily involved with Taylor. Unscrupulous. Stupid.
'NEIL BRYANT: 19/20. Assistant cashier in shipping office. Not physically large. Quiet ... well spoken. Nervous. He handles the cash; is escorted and robbed and assaulted by Taylor.
'CHIEF PURSER: 45/50. He waits to receive the money on his ship ... the "Madrigal". No dialogue. Hefty appearance.
'KITTY: 25/30. A photographic model with a stunning figure. Able to strip and pose convincingly. She poses for Lily's porno art.
'BERT: 25/35. A stud bull type. Photographic model with a good physique. He poses for Lily's porno art.
'TWO RED DE LUXE TAXI DRIVERS: ... Actual Sydney cabbies. Try for one female to make a change. (Red de luxe is the Sydney tie-in company). No dialogue.
'ALEC PERRY: 40/45. Friend of Detective Sergeant Renaud. Owns small boat. Finds attache case stolen by Taylor. Australian. Cheerful type. Healthy extrovert.
'MRS. FINNEY: 50/60. Owns boarding house where Taylor stays. A rugged individualist ... cheerful ... Australian. Must have been a doll.
'TWO OR THREE ACTUAL UNIFORMED N.S.W. POLICE: ... If available and co-operative. No dialogue.'

Notes

This entry has been compiled from archival research in the Crawford Collection (AFI Research Collection), undertaken by Dr Catriona Mills under the auspices of the 2012 AFI Research Collection (AFIRC) Research Fellowship.

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

1972 .

Script cover page (from the Crawford Collection at the AFI Research Collection)

Div4Ep160CoverScan_FXhH.jpg

Extent: 62p.
(Manuscript) assertion

Note/s:

The script is labelled 'Episode LL1' on the cover page. There is no indication on the cover page of to whom this copy of the script is designated.

There are no signs of annotation on this copy of the script.

Stage directions indicate the extent to which they are attempting to push the boundaries of what’s allowed on television. For example, on page 52: 'SHE IS NAKED. THE BED SHEET IS DOWN AS FAR AS WE DARE ALLOW IT.'

A note at the end of the script (under the suggested promos) reads, 'A strong promo scene would be those parts of Scene SS live which show pornography model Kitty doing her strip up to and including the arrival of Banner and Renaud. A LIVE scene but valuable promotion'.

The Crawford Collection holds two copies of this script, one in this file and one filed separately.

The file also contains the following ancillary material, access to which is restricted:
1. Cast list.
2. Videotape artists' roll.

Holdings

Held at: AFI Research Collection

Local Id: SC DIV : 160

Note:
AFI Research Collection record

Director: John Jacob ; Igor Auzins

Note: Storey suggests that Jacob was credited as director and Auzins as film director.

VIEW FILM DETAILS

work

Publisher: Crawford Productions ; Nine Network

Melbourne, Victoria,: Crawford Productions ; Nine Network , 1973 .

Extent: 51 min., 42 secs (according to the script)p.

Series: form y Division 4 Howard Griffiths , Charles E. Stamp , Douglas Tainsh , Luis Bayonas , Everett de Roche , Gwenda Marsh , Ted Roberts , Roger Simpson , Sonia Borg , Colin Eggleston , Michael Harvey , Phil Freedman , John Dingwall , Jonathan Dawson , Ray Chamula , David William Boutland , Tom Mclennan , Ian Jones , Keith Hetherington , Tom Hegarty , David Stevens , Terry Stapleton , Mark Randall , John Orcsik , Don Battye , Melbourne : Crawford Productions , 1969 Z1814717 1969 series - publisher film/TV detective crime Abstract
Division 4, which Don Storey notes in Classic Australian Television was 'the only drama series on Australian television to rival the popularity of Homicide', was created as a vehicle for Gerard Kennedy, who had risen to popularity playing the complicated enemy agent Kragg in spy-show Hunter, after Tony Ward's departure left Hunter's future in doubt.
According to Moran, in his Guide to Australian Television Series:
The series differed from Homicide in being more oriented to the situation and milieu of a suburban police station staffed by a mixture of plainclothes detectives and uniformed policemen. This kind of situation allowed Division 4 to concentrate on a range of crimes, from major ones such as murder to minor ones such as larceny.
Though set in the fictional Melbourne suburb of Yarra Central, 'Sets were constructed that were replicas of the actual St Kilda police station charge counter and CIB room, with an attention to detail that extended to having the same picture hanging on the wall', according to Storey.
Division 4 ended in 1976. Storey adds:
Division 4's axing was a dark day for Australian television, as within months the other two Crawford cop shows on rival networks, Matlock Police and Homicide, were also axed. It was widely believed, and still is, that the cancellation of the three programs was an attempt by the three commercial networks--acting in collusion--to wipe out Crawford Productions, and consequently cripple the local production industry.
Number in series: 160