The Journalist (1979 film)

Last updated

The Journalist
The Journalist 1979.jpg
Film poster
Directed by Michael Thornhill
Written by Michael Thornhill
Edna Wilson
Produced byPom Oliver
Starring Jack Thompson
Sam Neill
Cinematography Don McAlpine
Edited byTim Welburn
Ron Williams
Production
companies
FJ Promoters
NSW Film Corporation
Distributed byRoadshow
Release date
  • 22 November 1979 (1979-11-22)
Running time
83 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
BudgetAU$400,000 [1]
Box officeAU $52,000 (Australia) [2]

The Journalist is a 1979 Australian sex comedy about the romantic adventures of a journalist (Jack Thompson). It has the reputation as one of the worst Australian films of all time. [3]

Contents

Plot

Journalist Simon Morris has trouble with his love life. He is separated from his wife Wendy and daughter Suzie and lives with his girlfriend Liz.

Cast

Production

Money came from Roadshow, who wanted Jack Thompson to play the lead, and the New South Wales Film Corporation. The shoot started January 1979 and went for four weeks. [3]

Reception

The film was very poorly received critically and commercially. Thornhill:

The Journalist was a misfire completely and I think it was my fault entirely. We should never have had Jack Thompson. He was just miscast. He's not a comedian. He's a serious, solid actor. We should have had Sam Neill in the lead role and you would have had a debonair roue - it was meant to be a debonair roue. It was meant to be a piece of fluff, a piece of effervescent fluff that came out feeling like lard. [4]

Robert Macklin wrote a novelisation of the script for $5,000. [5]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gonzo journalism</span> Style of journalism

Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story using a first-person narrative. The word "gonzo" is believed to have been first used in 1970 to describe an article about the Kentucky Derby by Hunter S. Thompson, who popularized the style. It is an energetic first-person participatory writing style in which the author is a protagonist, and it draws its power from a combination of social critique and self-satire. It has since been applied to other subjective artistic endeavors.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunter S. Thompson</span> American journalist and author (1937–2005)

Hunter Stockton Thompson was an American journalist and author. He rose to prominence with the publication of Hell's Angels (1967), a book for which he spent a year living with the Hells Angels motorcycle club to write a first-hand account of their lives and experiences. In 1970, he wrote an unconventional article titled "The Kentucky Derby Is Decadent and Depraved" for Scanlan's Monthly, which further raised his profile as a countercultural figure. It also set him on the path to establishing his own subgenre of New Journalism that he called "Gonzo", a journalistic style in which the writer becomes a central figure and participant in the events of the narrative.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joy Division</span> English rock band

Joy Division were an English rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist/keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jack Thompson (actor)</span> Australian actor (born 1940)

Jack Thompson, is an Australian award-winning actor, who is a major figure of Australian cinema, particularly Australian New Wave.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Kent</span> British music journalist

Nick Kent is a British rock critic and musician, best known for his writing for the NME in the 1970s, and his books The Dark Stuff (1994) and Apathy for the Devil (2010).

Timothy James Bottoms is an American actor and film producer. He is best known for playing the lead in Johnny Got His Gun (1971); Sonny Crawford in The Last Picture Show (1971), where he and his fellow co-stars, Cybill Shepherd and Jeff Bridges, rose to fame; and as James Hart, the first-year law student who battles with Prof. Kingsfield, in the film adaptation The Paper Chase (1973). He is also known for playing the main antagonist in the disaster film Rollercoaster (1977) and for playing President George W. Bush multiple times, including on the sitcom That's My Bush!, the comedy film The Crocodile Hunter: Collision Course and the docudrama DC 9/11: Time of Crisis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fluffer</span> One who keeps a pornographic actors penis erect on-set

A fluffer is a person employed to keep a porn performer's penis erect on the set. After setting up the desired angle, the director asks the actors to hold position and calls for the fluffer to "fluff" the actors for the shot. These duties are considered part of the makeup department. While fluffing does not necessarily involve touching the actors, it could entail sexual acts such as fellatio or non-penetrative sex.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alan Hull</span> Musical artist

James Alan Hull was an English singer-songwriter and founding member of the Tyneside folk rock band Lindisfarne.

<i>Attack Force Z</i> 1982 film

Attack Force Z is a 1982 Australian-Taiwanese World War II film directed by Tim Burstall. It is loosely based on actual events and was filmed in Taiwan in 1979. It was screened at the Cannes Film Festival on 18 May 1981.

Michael Thornhill was a film producer, screenwriter, and director.

<i>Under Fire</i> (1983 film) 1983 film by Roger Spottiswoode

Under Fire is a 1983 American political thriller film set during the last days of the Nicaraguan Revolution that ended the Somoza regime in 1979. Directed by Roger Spottiswoode, it stars Nick Nolte, Gene Hackman and Joanna Cassidy. The musical score by Jerry Goldsmith, which featured jazz guitarist Pat Metheny, was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Score. The editing by Mark Conte and John Bloom was nominated for a BAFTA Award for Best Editing. The film was shot in the Mexican states of Chiapas and Oaxaca.

Judith Ann Morris is an Australian character actress, as well as a film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 58 different television shows and films, starting her career as a child actress and appearing on screen until 1999, since then she has worked on film writing and directing, most recently for co-writing and co-directing a musical epic about the life of penguins in Antarctica which became Happy Feet, Australia's largest animated film project to date.

<i>Mad Dog Morgan</i> 1976 film

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Australian flag debate</span> Debate on changing the Australian national flag

The Australian flag debate is a question over whether the Australian flag should be changed, particularly to remove the Union Jack from the canton, but also to possibly introduce a completely new design without the Southern Cross. Acknowledgement of the significance of the issues, and corresponding changes are required to reflect Australia's multicultural society, as well as to reflect Australia's immensely rich, and intricate and complex shared history.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sam Neill</span> New Zealand actor (born 1947)

Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill is a New Zealand actor. Neill's career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one of the most versatile actors of his generation.

Libido is a 1973 Australian drama film comprising 4 segments written and directed as independent stories, but screened together as one piece, exploring a common theme of instinctive desire and contemporary sexuality.

John Curran is an American film director and screenwriter.

...Maybe This Time is a 1980 Australian feature film starring Bill Hunter, Mike Preston, Ken Shorter and Judy Morris. It was the first feature directed by Chris McGill.

<i>Sweet Country</i> (2017 film) 2017 Australian drama film

Sweet Country is a 2017 Australian drama film, directed by Warwick Thornton. Set in 1929 in the sparsely populated outback of the Northern Territory and based on a series of true events, it tells a harsh story against the backdrop of a divided society in the interwar period in Australia.

References

  1. Keith Connor, "The Journalist", Australian Film 1978-92, Oxford Uni Press 1993 p34
  2. "Australian Films at the Australian Box Office", Film Victoria Archived 9 February 2014 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved 24 October 2012
  3. 1 2 David Stratton, The Last New Wave, Angus and Robertson, 1979 p 92-95
  4. Interview with Michael Thornhill, Signist, 2 November 1998. Retrieved 14 October 2012
  5. "Damned if you win, damned if you don't". The Canberra Times . Vol. 71, no. 22, 080. Australian Capital Territory, Australia. 30 September 1995. p. 44. Retrieved 3 September 2018 via National Library of Australia.