Ebbtide

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Ebbtide
Directed by Craig Lahiff
Written by Bob Ellis
Peter Goldsworthy
Warwick Hind
Produced byCraig Lahiff
Paul Davies
Helen Leake
Starring Harry Hamlin
John Waters
Production
company
Genesis Films
Release date
  • 1994 (1994)
Running time
94 minutes
CountryAustralia
Language English
Budget$2.6 million [1]

Ebbtide is a 1994 Australian direct-to-video film.

Cast

Plot

Lawyer Jeff Warren takes over a compensation case after the sudden death of one of his partners.

Contents

Production

Screenwriter Bob Ellis later claimed the original script "was a really terrific Chandleresque film noir that bears no resemblance to the eventual film." [2] He asked to be credited as "Robert Ellis".

Author Peter Goldsworthy co-wrote the script. [3]

Director Craig Lahiff:

Bob did a script and it was very difficult to raise money for it. It was more of a personal film. It had a particular style to it which might have been better if Bob had shot and directed. But in the end, because I'd spent a lot of money and time on it, we tried to give it a different approach and got another writer, Peter Goldsworthy. [4]

The film was co-financed by the American Broadcasting Company. Lahiff:

They had a fair bit of script involvement and also casting, so I ended up with Harry Hamlin as lead. He wasn't my choice of actor, and while he was very good to get on with, it changed the feel of the film, whereas I would probably have done it in quite a different style and cast other people differently as well. It was just a matter of completing the film and doing the best I could and trying a few stylistic things. [4]

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References

  1. Ed. Scott Murray, Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995, Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p49
  2. Interview with Bob Ellis, 13 August 1996 Archived 24 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 14 October 2012
  3. Ebbtide (1994) at IMDb OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  4. 1 2 Interview with Craig Lahiff, 4 August 1997 Archived 24 August 2013 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 19 October 2012