Wills & Burke (also known as The Wacky World of Wills & Burke and Wills & Burke: The Untold Story) is a 1985 Australian black comedy film about the Burke and Wills expedition. It opened a week before Burke & Wills, a serious drama about the expedition.[3]
| Wills & Burke | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | Bob Weis |
| Written by | Philip Dalkin |
| Based on | Burke and Wills expedition |
| Produced by | Bob Weis Margot McDonald |
| Starring | Garry McDonald Kim Gyngell Nicole Kidman |
| Cinematography | Nino Gaetano Martinetti |
| Edited by | Edward McQueen-Mason |
| Music by | Red Symonds Paul Gabrowsky |
Production company | Stony Desert Productions |
| Distributed by | Greater Union Film Distributors |
Release date |
|
Running time | 101 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | A$1.75 million[1] |
| Box office | A$54,000 (Australia)[2] |
Plot
editIn 1860, Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills are chosen to explore the Australian continent from south to north and back again. Just before the expedition departs, Burke proposes to young actress Julia Matthews, who has trouble remembering who he is.
John Macadam tries to sustain public interest by staging a musical play about the expedition. Julia demands the lead role and grows a beard to prove she can play Burke. The play opens around the time Burke and Wills die in the desert. John King survives the expedition and is found by a search party in 1861.
Cast
edit- Garry McDonald as Robert O'Hara Burke
- Kym Gyngell as William John Wills
- Nicole Kidman as Julia Matthews
- Peter Collingwood as Sir William Stawell (Coincidentally, Collingwood also appeared in Burke & Wills. Collingwood portrayed Dr. William Wills, William John Wills' father.)
- Mark Little as John King
- Jonathan Hardy as John Macadam
- Colin Hay as Publican
- Wynn Roberts as William Wright
Production
editPhilip Dalkin first wrote the story as a stage play, which Bob Weis read in 1978. He enjoyed it and at one stage thought of making it as a television miniseries before deciding on turning it into a feature film. It was shot over six weeks in and around Melbourne on a budget of $1.7 million.[4]
Release
editAfter the release dates for Burke & Wills were set, Greater Union Film Distributors decided to release the film before it, opening it two weeks before in Melbourne and one week before in Sydney.[5]
The film received negative reviews and was not a success at the box office, closing after just three weeks with a gross of A$54,000 in Australia[5][6][7] on a A$1.75 million budget.[8]
Due to opening in advance of Burke & Wills, some critics believed that the film was a parody of Burke & Wills but Weis claimed that this was not his intention.[5]
References
edit- ^ Keith Connolly, "Wills & Burke", Australian Film 1978-1992, Oxford Uni Films, 1993 p180
- ^ "Australian Films at the Australian Box Office", Film Victoria accessed 24 October 2012
- ^ Nick Roddick, "History Lessons", Cinema Papers, November 1984 p22-24
- ^ "Facts and Figures", Cinema Papers, May 1985 p64-65
- ^ a b c Stratton, David (27 November 1985). "'Burke & Wills', 'Wills & Burke' Collide In Oz; Bad Biz Results". Variety. p. 39.
- ^ David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p34
- ^ "Australian Films at the Australian Box Office", Film Victoria Archived 9 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine accessed 24 October 2012
- ^ Keith Connolly, "Wills & Burke", Australian Film 1978-1992, Oxford Uni Films, 1993 p180
External links
edit- Wills and Burke at Burkeandwills.net.au
- Wills & Burke at IMDb
- Wills and Burke at Oz Movies
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