The Boys in the Island

Last updated

The Boys in the Island
Directed byGeoff Bennett
Written by Christopher Koch
Tony Morphett
Based onnovel by Christopher Koch
Produced byJane Scott
StarringYves Stening
Production
company
Great Scott Pictures
Release date
  • 1989 (1989)
Running time
107 minutes
CountryAustralia
Language English

Boys in the Island is a 1989 Australian film based on the 1958 novel by Chris Koch. [1]

Contents

Plot

In the 1950s teenage Frank dreams of leaving Tasmania for Melbourne.

Production

At one stage Gillian Armstrong had wanted to film the book and approached Koch to make it, but she then elected to make Mrs Soffel instead. Koch decided to make the film himself, and, bitten by his experiences on The Year of Living Dangerously , he decided to keep as much control as he could. He wrote a script with friend Tony Morphett and attached director Carl Schultz. Funds were raised through Antony I. Ginnane and his company, International Film Management Limited. They eventually pulled out but the investors elected to keep going. However, by then Schultz was tied up with post production on The Seventh Sign ; four weeks before pre production Geoff Bennett stepped in instead. [2] [3]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Franklin J. Schaffner</span> American director (1920–89)

Franklin James Schaffner was an American film, television, and stage director. He won the Academy Award for Best Director for Patton (1970), and is known for the films Planet of the Apes (1968), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), Papillon (1973), and The Boys from Brazil (1978). He served as president of the Directors Guild of America between 1987 and 1989.

<i>The Year of Living Dangerously</i> (film) 1982 Australian romantic political drama

The Year of Living Dangerously is a 1982 romantic drama film directed by Peter Weir and co-written by Weir and David Williamson. It was adapted from Christopher Koch's 1978 novel The Year of Living Dangerously. The story is about a love affair set in Indonesia during the overthrow of President Sukarno. It follows a group of foreign correspondents in Jakarta on the eve of an attempted coup by the 30 September Movement in 1965. The film is considered one of the last in the Australian New Wave genre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peter Weir</span> Australian film director (born 1944)

Peter Lindsay Weir is an Australian retired film director. He is known for directing films crossing various genres over forty years with films such as Picnic at Hanging Rock (1975), Gallipoli (1981), The Year of Living Dangerously (1982), Witness (1985), Dead Poets Society (1989), Fearless (1993), The Truman Show (1998), Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World (2003), and The Way Back (2010). He has received six Academy Award nominations, ultimately being awarded the Academy Honorary Award in 2022 for his lifetime achievement career.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ed Koch</span> Mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989

Edward Irving Koch was an American politician, lawyer, political commentator, film critic, and television personality. He served in the United States House of Representatives from 1969 to 1977 and was mayor of New York City from 1978 to 1989.

<i>The Cotton Club</i> (film) 1984 American film

The Cotton Club is a 1984 American musical crime drama film co-written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and based on James Haskins' 1977 book of the same name. The story centers on the Cotton Club, a Harlem jazz club in the 1930s. The film stars Richard Gere, Gregory Hines, Diane Lane and Lonette McKee, with Bob Hoskins, James Remar, Nicolas Cage, Allen Garfield, Gwen Verdon, Fred Gwynne and Laurence Fishburne in supporting roles.

<i>Cabaret</i> (musical) Stage musical by John Kander, Fred Ebb, and Joe Masteroff

Cabaret is an American musical with music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and a book by Joe Masteroff. It is based on the 1951 play I Am a Camera by John Van Druten, which in turn was based on the 1939 novel Goodbye to Berlin by Christopher Isherwood.

<i>The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit</i> 1956 American film directed by Nunnally Johnson

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit is a 1956 American drama film starring Gregory Peck and Jennifer Jones, with Fredric March, Lee J. Cobb, Keenan Wynn and Marisa Pavan in support. Based on the 1955 novel by Sloan Wilson, it was written and directed by Nunnally Johnson, and focuses on Tom Rath, a young World War II veteran trying to balance the pressures of his marriage to an ambitious wife and growing family with the demands of a career while dealing with ongoing after-effects of his war service and a new high-stress job.

<i>Peter Pan</i> (2003 film) 2003 American film directed by P. J. Hogan

Peter Pan is a 2003 fantasy adventure film directed by P. J. Hogan and written by Hogan and Michael Goldenberg. The screenplay is based on the 1904 play and 1911 novel Peter Pan, or The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up by J.M. Barrie. Jason Isaacs plays the dual roles of Captain Hook and George Darling, Olivia Williams plays Mary Darling, while Jeremy Sumpter plays Peter Pan, Rachel Hurd-Wood plays Wendy Darling, and Ludivine Sagnier plays Tinker Bell. Lynn Redgrave plays a supporting role as Aunt Millicent, a new character created for the film.

<i>Still Cruisin</i> 1989 studio album by The Beach Boys

Still Cruisin' is the twenty-sixth studio album by the Beach Boys, their thirty-fifth official album, and their last release of the 1980s. It is also the last album of new material released during a brief return to Capitol Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kokomo (song)</span> 1988 single by the Beach Boys

"Kokomo" is a song by the American rock band the Beach Boys from the 1988 film Cocktail and album Still Cruisin'. Written by John Phillips, Scott McKenzie, Mike Love, and Terry Melcher, the song was released as a single on July 18, 1988 by Elektra Records and became a number one hit in the US and Australia. It was the band's first original top-20 single in 20 years and their first number-one hit in 22 years as well as their final top 40 hit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chips Rafferty</span> Australian actor (1909–1971)

John William Pilbean Goffage MBE, known professionally as Chips Rafferty, was an Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the late 1930s until he died in 1971, and during this time he performed regularly in major Australian feature films as well as appearing in British and American productions, including The Overlanders and The Sundowners. He appeared in commercials in Britain during the late 1950s, encouraging British emigration to Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crawford Productions</span> Australian TV production company

Crawford Productions is an Australian media production company, focused on radio and television production. Founded in Melbourne by Hector Crawford and his sister, actress and voice artist Dorothy Crawford, the company, also known as Crawfords Australia, is now a subsidiary of the WIN Corporation.

Christopher John Koch AO was an Australian novelist, known for his 1978 novel The Year of Living Dangerously, which was adapted into an Academy award-winning film he co-wrote the screenplay of. He twice won the Miles Franklin Award. In 1995, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for his contribution to Australian literature, and was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters from his alma mater, the University of Tasmania, in 1990.

Scott Robinson (<i>Neighbours</i>) Fictional character from the soap opera Neighbours

Scott Robinson is a fictional character from the Australian television soap opera Neighbours. He was created by Reg Watson as one of the serial's twelve original characters. Originally played by Darius Perkins, he made his debut during the first episode broadcast on 18 March 1985. Perkins was 20 years old when he received the role of teenager Scott. He felt some anxiety about his audition performance and did not think anything was going to come from it, until the production company contacted him a month later to sign on as Scott. When production moved to Network Ten in 1986, producers wanted "a more upfront" Scott and the role was recast to Jason Donovan, who joined the cast following his graduation from school. He made his debut on 12 February 1986, and producers hoped Donovan's blond hair and blue eyes would increase the character's appeal. Perkins later said that he had been physically and mentally exhausted after filming for nine months, and felt unable to continue in the role of Scott.

<i>Billy Bathgate</i> (film) 1991 film by Robert Benton

Billy Bathgate is a 1991 American biographical gangster film directed by Robert Benton, starring Loren Dean as the title character and Dustin Hoffman as real-life gangster Dutch Schultz. The film co-stars Nicole Kidman, Steven Hill, Steve Buscemi and Bruce Willis. Although Billy is a fictional character, at least four of the other characters in the film were real people. The screenplay was adapted by British writer Tom Stoppard from E.L. Doctorow's 1989 novel of the same name. Doctorow distanced himself from the film for the extensive deviations from the book. It received negative reviews and was a box-office bomb, grossing a mere $15.5 million against its $48 million budget.

<i>Boys in the Sand</i> 1971 film by Wakefield Poole

Boys in the Sand is a landmark American gay pornographic film, released early in the Golden Age of Porn. The 1971 film was directed by Wakefield Poole and stars Casey Donovan. It was the first gay porn film to include credits and to be reviewed by the film industry journal Variety, and one of the earliest porn films – after Andy Warhol's 1969 film Blue Movie, but preceding 1972's Deep Throat – to gain mainstream credibility.

<i>Her Majesty</i> (2001 film) 2001 film by Mark J. Gordon

Her Majesty is a 2001 coming of age film about a young girl who realises her lifelong dream when Queen Elizabeth II comes to visit her small hometown. Directed by Mark J. Gordon, this New Zealand made, family-friendly feature film, is the winner of over 20 festival awards, including the Audience Award at Florida, Newport Beach, Stonybrook, World Cinema Naples and Marco Island.

Daffy – The Commando is a 1943 Warner Bros. Looney Tunes cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The cartoon was released on November 20, 1943, and stars Daffy Duck.

<i>The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn</i> Television series

The New Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an American live-action and animated fantasy television series that originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1968, through February 23, 1969. Produced by Hanna-Barbera and based on the classic Mark Twain characters, the program starred its three live-action heroes, Huck Finn, Becky Thatcher, and Tom Sawyer, navigating weekly adventures within an animated world as they attempted to outrun a vengeful "Injun Joe". After the show's original run, the series continued to air in reruns as part of The Banana Splits and Friends Show syndication package.

“An Old Time Raid” is a work of short fiction by William Carlos Williams first published the collection The Knife of the Times and Other Stories (1932) by New Directions Publishing

References

  1. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970–1995, Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p. 20
  2. David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 pp. 171–172
  3. Kathy Ball, "Boys in the Island", Cinema Papers, May 1989 pp. 37–38