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Burke & Wills
Burke & Wills is a 1985 Australian adventure film directed by Graeme Clifford, starring Jack Thompson and Nigel Havers. The film is based on the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition across Australia.
The film follows Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills in their crossing of Australia's interior in 1860–1. The film's account of the story changes the expedition's ending by having the explorers actually reach the northern coast. This upbeat idea was vehemently criticised by Australian reviewers. The film was released a week after the similarly themed comedy Wills & Burke.
Irish explorer Robert O'Hara Burke (Thompson) and British scientist William John Wills (Havers), have set out to make the first maps of the interior region of the Australian continent in 1860. During their journey, they and their compatriots run low on food and suffer from heat exhaustion until there is only one survivor.
Graeme Clifford was an Australian who had become a leading editor in Hollywood and had moved into directing. He was interested in making a film about the Burke and Wills expedition and in 1978 approached EMI Films, who had commissioned a script from Terence Rattigan based on the story. This did not work out so Clifford then hired a fellow Australian expatriate, Michael Thomas, to write a screenplay. Early financial assistance was provided by David Williams of Greater Union.
Clifford then went to make his first feature, Frances, and discovered that Greater Union's enthusiasm for the film had cooled. However, he received support from Hoyts-Edgley who agreed to finance. The budget would be particularly high because of Clifford's insistence at filming along the actual path of the expedition. It was the second most expensive Australian film at the time after Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Greater Union decided to back Wills & Burke instead.
Charlton Heston was once interested in playing Burke but Clifford says he only ever envisioned Jack Thompson in that role. After seeing Chariots of Fire, he wanted Nigel Havers to play Wills, a decision opposed by Actors Equity, but this was overturned at arbitration.
Filming started in September 1984 and took 13 weeks. Many of the original locations were used, such as Coopers Creek, because Clifford thought it was important to be as authentic as possible. Additional filming was completed in England some months later.
Painter Sidney Nolan came out on set and was the film's official painter.
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Burke & Wills
Burke & Wills is a 1985 Australian adventure film directed by Graeme Clifford, starring Jack Thompson and Nigel Havers. The film is based on the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition across Australia.
The film follows Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills in their crossing of Australia's interior in 1860–1. The film's account of the story changes the expedition's ending by having the explorers actually reach the northern coast. This upbeat idea was vehemently criticised by Australian reviewers. The film was released a week after the similarly themed comedy Wills & Burke.
Irish explorer Robert O'Hara Burke (Thompson) and British scientist William John Wills (Havers), have set out to make the first maps of the interior region of the Australian continent in 1860. During their journey, they and their compatriots run low on food and suffer from heat exhaustion until there is only one survivor.
Graeme Clifford was an Australian who had become a leading editor in Hollywood and had moved into directing. He was interested in making a film about the Burke and Wills expedition and in 1978 approached EMI Films, who had commissioned a script from Terence Rattigan based on the story. This did not work out so Clifford then hired a fellow Australian expatriate, Michael Thomas, to write a screenplay. Early financial assistance was provided by David Williams of Greater Union.
Clifford then went to make his first feature, Frances, and discovered that Greater Union's enthusiasm for the film had cooled. However, he received support from Hoyts-Edgley who agreed to finance. The budget would be particularly high because of Clifford's insistence at filming along the actual path of the expedition. It was the second most expensive Australian film at the time after Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome. Greater Union decided to back Wills & Burke instead.
Charlton Heston was once interested in playing Burke but Clifford says he only ever envisioned Jack Thompson in that role. After seeing Chariots of Fire, he wanted Nigel Havers to play Wills, a decision opposed by Actors Equity, but this was overturned at arbitration.
Filming started in September 1984 and took 13 weeks. Many of the original locations were used, such as Coopers Creek, because Clifford thought it was important to be as authentic as possible. Additional filming was completed in England some months later.
Painter Sidney Nolan came out on set and was the film's official painter.