AustLit
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.
Film Details - Hexagon Productions , 1976
Producers:
Tim Burstall
Alan Finney
Production Companies:
Hexagon Productions
Finance Organisations:
Australian Film Commission
Director of Photography:
Dan Burstall
Robin Copping
Editors:
Edward McQueen-Mason
Production Designers:
Leslie Binns
Composer:
Bruce Smeaton
Cast:
Incl. Susannah York (Eliza Fraser), Trevor Howard (Captain Foster Fyans), Noel Ferrier (Captain James Fraser), John Castle (Captain Rory McBride), John Waters (David Bracefell), Abigail (Buxom Girl), Gerard Kennedy (Martin Cameron), Arna-Maria Winchester (Mrs Cameron), Charles 'Bud' Tingwell (Duncan Fraser), Gus Mercurio (Darge), Lindsey Roughsey (Euenmundi), George Mallaby (Lt. Otter), Carole Skinner (Mrs Shortland), Vicki Bray (Mrs. Annie Fraser), Martin Harris ( Graham), Leon Lissek (Sergeant Graham Mathrick (Flogger), Dennis Miller (Fyans's Cook), Bruce Spence (Bruce McIver), John Frawley (Brown), Bill Hunter (Youlden), Sean Scully (Elliott), Serge Lazareff (Doyle), Martin Phelan (Stone), John Cobley (Hodge), Ingrid Mason (Mrs Otter), Peter Hammill (Copy-Boy), Alan Finney (Sideshow Speaker), David Phillips (First Mate), Fabian Muir (Johnny), Betty Bobbit.
Release Dates:
1. Premiered on 16 December 1976 at Hoyts Theatres around Australia.
2. Released on DVD format in 2004 by Roadshow Entertainment.
Location:
- While filmed largely on location at Fraser Island (Queensland), shooting also took place at a reconstructed mining town of Soverign Hill (built near Ballarat, Victoria) and the old penal settlement of Trial Bay (near Newcastle, NSW).
Awards:
- Australian Film Industry (AFI) Awards (1976) Best Actor in a Lead Role - Noel Ferrier (nomination)
Notes:
1. Also known as Eliza Fraserin Metsästys (Finland); Flukten fra Moreton Bay (Norway); The Rollicking Adventures of Eliza Fraser (USA)
2. The original budget for the film was $750,000 but this blew out to about $1.2 million, due in most part to rain and unexpected location problems on Fraser Island. Funding was raised through Hexagon Productions, a consortium of Melbourne businessmen, and a $375,000 grant from the Australian Film Commission. Despite its popularity with audiences, the film failed to recoup its production costs. When the following Hexagon film, High Rolling, also failed, the company ceased film production altogether.
3. Further reference: Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper. Australian Film 1900-1977, A Guide to Feature Film Production (1980, q.v.), pp. 188-189.
Settings:
- 1830s
