The Removalists (film)

The Removalists
The Removalists
Directed by	Tom Jeffrey
Written by	David Williamson
Produced by	Richard Brennan (associate) ; Margaret Fink
Starring	Peter Cummins ; John Hargreaves ; Kate Fitzpatrick ; Jacki Weaver ; Chris Haywood
Edited by	Anthony Buckley
Music by	Galapagos Duck
Production; company	Margaret Fink Productions
Distributed by	Seven Keys
Release date	16 October 1975;
Running time	93 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	A$250,000

Last updated February 16, 2024

The Removalists is a 1975 Australian film based on the play of the same name.

Cast

Peter Cummins as Sergeant Simmonds
John Hargreaves as Constable Neville Ross
Jacki Weaver as Fiona Carter
Kate Fitzpatrick as Kate Mason
Martin Harris as Kenny Carter
Chris Haywood as the removalist

Production

Film rights to the play were bought by Margaret Fink. She originally wanted Roman Polanski to direct and Robert Mitchum to star but this proved impossible.^[2] She offered the film to Ted Kotcheff, who turned it down.^[3] She then considered Tim Burstall, who worked well with Williamson, but decided he was unsuitable after watching Alvin Purple (1973) and did not want to work with Fred Schepisi despite that director's interest. She called Tom Jeffrey for names of directors in his capacity as head of the Producers and Directors Guild of Australia and he expressed his own interest in directing. Fink saw Pastures of the Blue Crane and hired him.^[4]

The Australian Film Development Corporation put up half the budget in the form of a two-year loan. The rest of the money came from Ross Woods Productions, Clearing House, TVW7 and Leon Fink Holdings.^[2]

Kate Fitzpatrick and Jacki Weaver repeated their stage performances however Don Crosby and Max Phipps, who played the police, were replaced by Peter Cummins and John Hargreaves. The setting of the story was changed from Melbourne to Sydney.^[4]

The film was shot at Ajax Studios at Bondi. It was the last movie shot at the studio before it closed.^[1] It is now used as a haberdashery store.^{[ citation needed ]} The studio hosted Michael Powell's Age of Consent and Ted Kotcheff's Wake in Fright among several others.^{[ citation needed ]}

Filming was tense, with the relationship between Fink and Jeffrey disintegrating. Fink ended up firing Jeffrey's wife, Sue Milliken, from her position as production manager.^[4]

The music director was Nathan Waks.^{[ citation needed ]}

Release

The film was not a success at the box office but was critically well received.^[1]

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References

1 2 3 Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p 293
1 2 Pike, Andrew; Cooper, Ross (1998). Australian Film, 1900-1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production. Oxford University Press. pp. 201–203. ISBN 978-0-19-550784-3.
↑ "MARGARET FINK IS ALIVE AND FILMING". The Australian Women's Weekly . National Library of Australia. 14 May 1975. p. 48. Retrieved 7 August 2013.
1 2 3 Stratton, David (1980). The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival. Angus & Robertson. pp. 118–119. ISBN 978-0-207-14146-1.