Mad Dog Morgan

Jake Wilson

• Publisher: Currency Press
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781925210996
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Radio

Mad Dog Morgan was a risky project on every level: artistic, financial, psychological and physical. What made the risks worth taking? What was at stake for the film's makers—and for Australian cinema? %##CHAR13##%%##CHAR13##%Released in 1976 at the peak of the Australian film revival, Philippe Mora's dramatisation of the bloody life and death of the nation's most infamous bushranger stands at the crossroads of multiple genres and trends: a violent action movie, an excavation of a traumatic colonial past, an antipodean variant on the 'acid Western', and a radical experiment with echoes of Bertolt Brecht and Jean-Luc Godard. Morgan himself is seen as a ruthless avenger, yet also a helpless victim—a paradox brought to life in the gonzo lead performance by Dennis Hopper, backed by an extraordinary supporting cast including Jack Thompson, David Gulpilil, Bill Hunter, John Hargreaves and Frank Thring.%##CHAR13##%%##CHAR13##%Jake Wilson's thoroughly researched book takes a fresh look at the historical Dan Morgan as well as the film's colourful production history and its significance in the wayward career trajectories of its director and star. Above all, it interrogates the creative risk-taking drive that made the film, like the man himself, into the legend that it is.

Acknowledgements

Countless people helped with this book, starting with Jane Mills, who commissioned it, Claire Grady and the team at Currency Press, and Philippe Mora himself, a constant source of inspiration and encouragement. Many Mad Dog veterans generously shared their memories or assisted in other ways: Graeme Blundell, Richard Brennan, David Elfick, Satya de la Manitou, Max Fairchild, Angus Forbes, David Gulpilil, Michael Lake, Mike Molloy, Grant Page, John Scott, and Jeremy Thomas. For discussion and support, I’m especially grateful to Jeremy Boland, Lesley Chow, Robert de Graaf, Sarah Flattley, Andrew Hart, Philippa Hawker, and Jeff Smith. Bill Routt gave crucial guidance via email, and my debt to his writing goes far beyond the places where he’s quoted. The quote from Angus Forbes on page 24 appears with the kind permission of the author. Others who pointed the way through the labyrinth were Siobhan Dee, Maria-Elena Fieguth, Cathy Gallagher, Mark Hartley, Ryan Jefferies, John McQuilton, Kristy Matheson, Nathan Morris, Amanda Stuart, Lisa Sullivan, Dominique van de Klundert, and the staff of the AFI Research Library. I thank them all, as well as my family and, first and last, Nikki. All errors, misinterpretations and conscious untruths are my own. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri people, the traditional custodians of the present site of Melbourne where this book was written, and the Wiradjuri people, of the area of southern New South Wales where much of Mad Dog was shot.

THE AUSTRALIAN SCREEN CLASSICS

‘The Australian Screen Classics series is surely a must for any Australian film buff’s library.’

Phillip King, Royal Holloway, University of London

	Alvin Purple by Catharine Lumby ISBN 978 0 86819 844 6 Australia’s first R-rated feature film created a furore when it was released in 1973. Catharine Lumby revisits claims that the movie is an exercise in sexploitation and argues the film’s complexity.
	The Back of Beyond by Sylvia Lawson ISBN 978 0 86819 975 7 Representing the complex interrelations of the multicultural community and their environs, The Back of Beyond is an exemplary representation of 1950s Australian transformational culture.
	The Barry McKenzie Movies by Tony Moore ISBN 978 0 86819 748 7 An illuminating tribute to Bruce Beresford’s subversive and hilarious The Adventures of Barry McKenzie, and its riotous sequel, by cultural historian and documentary-filmmaker, Tony Moore.
	The Boys by Andrew Frost ISBN 978 0 86819 862 0 Andrew Frost’s monograph explores the achievements of this award-winning film, placing its thematic concerns into a broader context of social anxieties about violence, crime and morality.
	The Chant of Jimmie Blacksmith by Henry Reynolds ISBN 978 0 86819 824 8 Based on Thomas Keneally’s award-winning novel, Fred Schepisi’s 1978 film is a powerful and confronting story of a black man’s revenge against an injust and intolerant society...