Mad Dog Morgan

Last updated

Mad Dog Morgan
Mad Dog Morgan 1976 film poster.jpg
Theatrical film poster
Directed by Philippe Mora
Screenplay byPhilippe Mora
Based onMorgan: The Bold Bushranger
by Margaret Carnegie
Produced by Jeremy Thomas
Starring
CinematographyMike Molloy
Edited byJohn Scott
Music by Patrick Flynn
Production
company
Motion Picture Productions
Distributed by British Empire Films
Release dates
  • 9 July 1976 (1976-07-09)(Australia)
  • 22 September 1976 (1976-09-22)(United States)
Running time
99 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetA$450,000 [1] [2]

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. [3]

Contents

Plot

Dan Morgan witnesses the (fictitious) 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 a bushranger, befriending an Aboriginal man, Billy. Morgan fights against the vicious Superintendent Cobham and is eventually killed.

Cast

Production

Mad Dog Morgan is based on the book Morgan: The Bold Bushranger, by Margaret Frances Carnegie. [4] 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. [5]

The budget 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. [6]

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. [7] Hopper's fee was $50,000. [5]

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 the first week but managed to be completed on schedule. [8]

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; 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 is a very good way to start with a colleague or friend. [9]

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." [6] The director says that Hopper was a handful during the making of the film, constantly imbibing drink and drugs. [10] However he says the actor could be very professional, a skilful improviser and gave a performance which was "really extraordinary. I think he identified with the role." [6] 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 the judge studying his alcohol tests. [6]

Mora shot a scene where a young Ned Kelly looks at a waxwork of Morgan but decided not to use it. [6]

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.

Release

The film was released in Australia and the US and performed disappointingly at the box office, returning to the producers an estimated $100,000. [5] 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. [11]

However the movie sold well around the world – including a $300,000 sale to the US – and achieved good reviews. [1]

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. [5] He moved back overseas where executives at United Artists, who had been impressed by Mad Dog Morgan, hired Mora to direct The Beast Within . [6]

Tromasterpiece Collection

Troma Entertainment's original VHS and DVD release 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 a radio interview, deleted scenes, locations featurette, stills gallery and the original theatrical program.

Two graphic trailers were released for the DVD launch.

Director's Cut

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 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.

Accolades

AwardCategorySubjectResult
AACTA Awards
(1976 AFI Awards)		 Best Direction Philippe Mora Nominated
Best Supporting Actor Bill Hunter Nominated

Reception

The critic John Simon wrote about Mad Dog Morgan: "Whoever can find me a film more arrhythmic and incoherent – indeed inept – gets a reward in the shape of the ears of a wombat". [12]

The film's title screen copyright notice had an error with the Roman numerals, showing it as Copyright "MCMDXXVI" [13] 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. [13] However, as an Australian film, Australian law is unclear how the film is considered. [13]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dennis Hopper</span> American actor and director (1936–2010)

Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor and film director. He is known for his roles as mentally disturbed outsiders and rebels. He earned prizes from the Cannes Film Festival and Venice International Film Festival as well as nominations for two Academy Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award and two Golden Globe Awards. Hopper studied acting at the Old Globe Theatre in San Diego and the Actors Studio in New York. Hopper also began a prolific and acclaimed photography career in the 1960s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bushranger</span> Australian outlaws active during the 19th century

Bushrangers were originally escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who used the bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities. By the 1820s, the term had evolved to refer to those who took up "robbery under arms" as a way of life, using the bush as their base.

<i>The Toxic Avenger</i> (1984 film) 1984 American superhero black comedy splatter film by Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman

The Toxic Avenger is a 1984 American superhero black comedy splatter film directed by Michael Herz and Lloyd Kaufman from a screenplay by Joe Ritter, based on a story by Kaufman. The film was produced and released by Troma Entertainment. It is the first installment in The Toxic Avenger film series and generated a media franchise.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Troma Entertainment</span> American film production and distribution company

Troma Entertainment is an American independent film production and distribution company founded by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz in 1974. The company produces low-budget independent films, or "B movies", primarily of the horror comedy genre, all geared exclusively to mature audiences. Many of them play on 1950s horror with elements of farce, parody, gore, and splatter.

<i>True Romance</i> 1993 film by Tony Scott

True Romance is a 1993 American romantic crime film directed by Tony Scott and written by Quentin Tarantino. It features an ensemble cast led by Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette, with Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman, Brad Pitt, and Christopher Walken in supporting roles. Slater and Arquette portray newlyweds on the run from the Mafia after stealing a shipment of drugs.

<i>Land of the Dead</i> 2005 post-apocalyptic horror film by George A. Romero

Land of the Dead is a 2005 post-apocalyptic horror film written and directed by George A. Romero; the fourth of Romero's six Living Dead movies, it is preceded by Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Day of the Dead, and succeeded by Diary of the Dead and Survival of the Dead. It was released in 2005, with a budget of $15–19 million, the highest in Romero's Dead series, and has grossed $46 million.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gerogery</span> Town in New South Wales, Australia

Gerogery is a town established on Wiradjuri land in the Murray region of the Australian state of New South Wales. The town is in the Greater Hume Shire local government area and on the Main South railway line between Sydney and Melbourne, where it intersects with the Olympic Highway. Gerogery serves a rural farming community. Gerogery has a temperate climate. It lies close to the Great Yambla Range, with its striking Tabletop and Sugar Loaf ridge at the southern end.

Philippe Mora is a French Australian film director.

<i>The Proposition</i> (2005 film) 2005 Australian Western

The Proposition is a 2005 Australian Western film directed by John Hillcoat and written by screenwriter and musician Nick Cave. It stars Guy Pearce, Ray Winstone, Emily Watson, John Hurt, Danny Huston and David Wenham. The film's production completed in 2004 and was followed by a wide 2005 release in Australia and a 2006 cinematic run in the U.S. through First Look Pictures. The film was shot on location in Winton, Queensland.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Morgan (bushranger)</span> Australian bushranger (1830–1865)

Daniel Morgan was an Australian bushranger. Morgan has been described as "the most bloodthirsty ruffian that ever took to the bush in Australia" and “one of the most determined and bloodthirsty of colonial freebooters”. Many accounts of his activities, particularly in the years after his death, emphasise his brutality and erratic behaviour but Morgan had many sympathisers and informants in the districts where he carried out his activities. He was an expert bushman with superb horse-riding skills, a combination of abilities which enabled him to evade capture by the authorities for a significant period of time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeremy Thomas</span> British film producer (born 1949)

Jeremy Jack Thomas, CBE is a British film producer, founder and chairman of Recorded Picture Company. He produced Bernardo Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, which won the 1988 Academy Award for Best Picture. In 2006 he received a European Film Award for Outstanding European Achievement in World Cinema. His father was director Ralph Thomas, while his uncle Gerald Thomas directed all of the films in the Carry On franchise.

Mad dog is a phrase commonly attributed to rabid dogs.

<i>The Toxic Avenger Part II</i> 1989 American superhero black comedy film by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz

The Toxic Avenger Part II is a 1989 American superhero splatter- comedy film released by Troma Entertainment. It is the second installment of The Toxic Avenger franchise. It was directed by Lloyd Kaufman and Michael Herz and features The Toxic Avenger in an adventure to Japan to meet his father. Devilman and Cutie Honey creator Go Nagai makes a cameo appearance. The film is also the debut of actor/martial artist Michael Jai White and musician/composer/performance artist Phoebe Legere.

<i>The Shout</i> 1978 British film

The Shout is a 1978 British horror film directed by Jerzy Skolimowski. It was based on a short story by Robert Graves and adapted for the screen by Skolimowski and Michael Austin. The film was the first to be produced by Jeremy Thomas under his Recorded Picture Company banner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morven, New South Wales</span> Town in New South Wales, Australia

Morven is a small village about 7 kilometres east of Culcairn in the eastern Riverina district of New South Wales, Australia. At the 2021 census, Morven has a population of 125 people.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cookardinia</span> Town in New South Wales, Australia

Cookardinia is a rural locality in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. The locality is 57 kilometres (35 mi) south of the regional city of Wagga Wagga and 24 kilometres (15 mi) east of the town of Henty. Its surrounding area has an approximate population of 283 persons.

<i>Cannes Man</i> 1996 American film

Cannes Man is a 1996 independent comedy film directed by Richard Martini, and Susan Hillary Shapiro. The film stars Seymour Cassel and Francesco Quinn. The film also features more than 15 famous Hollywood actors including Johnny Depp, Jon Cryer, Benicio del Toro, John Malkovich, Dennis Hopper, Kevin Pollak, Jim Jarmusch and Chris Penn. The film was released as Direct-to-DVD in many countries.

<i>Dan Morgan</i> (film) 1911 film

Dan Morgan is a 1911 Australian film from Charles Cozens Spencer about the bushranger Daniel Morgan. It was said to be starring "Alfred Rolfe and company". Rolfe directed three movies for Spencer, all starring himself and his wife Lily Dampier so there is a chance he may have directed this one and that it starred his wife. A prospectus for the Australian Photo Play Company said he directed it. It is considered a lost film.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian Western</span> Sub-genre

Australian Western, also known as meat pie Western or kangaroo Western, is a genre of Western-style films or TV series set in the Australian outback or "the bush". Films about bushrangers 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 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 bushranger ban was a ban on films about bushrangers that came in effect in Australia in 1911–12. Films about bushrangers had been the most popular genre of local films ever since The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906). Governments were worried about the influence this would have on the population and bans against films depicting bushrangers were introduced in South Australia (1911), New South Wales and Victoria (1912).

References

  1. 1 2 Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p 300
  2. ↑ "Production Survey", Cinema Papers, June–July 1976 p62
  3. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (24 July 2019). "50 Meat Pie Westerns". Filmink.
  4. ↑ Jones, Philip. Great collector of art and teller of our tales. Obituary of Margaret Frances Carnegie, Sydney Morning Herald , 9 August 2002. Accessed 20 July 2015
  5. 1 2 3 4 David Stratton, The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival, Angus & Robertson, 1980 p227-230
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Philippe Mora, 'The shooting of Mad Dog Morgan', The Sydney Morning Herald, 31 January 2010 accessed 4 October 2012
  7. ↑ Alex Simon, 'PHILIPPE MORA: BALLAD OF A MAD DOG', Hollywood Interview 24 December 2009 accessed 4 October 2012
  8. ↑ "Production Preview: The Filming of Mad Dog", Cinema Papers, June–July 1976 p66
  9. ↑ Thomas, Jeremy; Lieberson, Sanford (11 April 2006). ""At the Cutting Edge" – Producer Jeremy Thomas, interviewed by producer Sandy Lieberson". Berlinale Talent Campus. Archived from the original on 24 May 2010. Retrieved 3 April 2010.
  10. ↑ Drew Warne-Smith, 'Hopper embraced his Mad Dog role', The Australian 31 May 2010 accessed 4 October 2012
  11. ↑ Philippe Mora, 'Creator comments on Mad Dog Morgan', Australian Screen Online accessed 4 October 2012
  12. ↑ Simon, John (1983). John Simon: Something to Declare Twelve Years Of Films From Abroad. Clarkson N. Potter Inc. p. 312.
  13. 1 2 3 "Copyright Registration and Renewal Information Chart and Web Site" . Retrieved 7 June 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.