John Gregg Movies
Directed by Craig Lahiff, Black and White is a story about bigotry, social injustice, and a real-life murder trial that made Australian headlines in the late '50s. On a December afternoon in 1958, the body of a nine-year-old white girl is discovered in a cave off the coast of Southern Australia. Detective Paul Turner (Roy Billing) quickly arrests a half-aboriginal fair-worker named Max Stuart (David Ngoombujarra), who signs a confession. However, being that Max is illiterate, the legitimacy of the confession is contested by his legal aid representatives, David O'Sullivan (Robert Carlyle) and Helen Devaney (Kerry Fox). Despite the questionable confession, Max is found guilty by the all-white, all-male jury, and sentenced to be hanged. O'Sullivan lodges a series of appeals, but no conclusive evidence of Max's guilt or innocence has been found to this day. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
- Starring:
- Robert Carlyle, Charles Dance, (more)
David L. Cunningham follows up on his acclaimed Beyond Paradise with this Bridge Over the River Kwai-like POW drama. Following Japan's surprise invasion of Singapore during the waning days of 1941, a small British battalion headed by Lieutenant Colonel McLean (James Cosmo), Major Campbell (Robert Carlyle), Captain Gordon (Ciaran McMenamin), and Lieutenant Tom Ridgen (Kiefer Sutherland) are captured and imprisoned in a camp deep in the Burmese jungle. Soon after arriving, Major Campbell starts to an uprising. Worn down by an exhausting march through the woods, brutal daily beatings, and a lack of food, the troops are in no mood for a coup and the scheme collapses. Captain Gordon copes with the camp's extreme conditions in a polar opposite manner -- by forgiving his captors and seeking spiritual salvation. Soon a split occurs within the camp between those who follow Campbell's tireless efforts for physical freedom and those who follow Gordon's more transcendent pursues. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Starring:
- Ciarán McMenamin, Robert Carlyle, (more)
- 1997
- R
Janet Meyers directed this TV movie about the search for Jack the Ripper in London of 1888. As Inspector Hansen (Patrick Bergin) searches for the murderer of East End prostitutes, his suspicions focus on Prince Albert Victor (Samuel West), eldest son of the Prince of Wales and Queen Victoria's grandson. Filmed in Melbourne, Australia, this drama premiered December 6, 1997 on the Starz! channel. ~ Bhob Stewart, Rovi
- Starring:
- Patrick Bergin, Gabrielle Anwar, (more)
- 1992
It is a simple thing that police officer Tony Bourke has to do to regain his detective status. All he has to do is go to a remote outback town and clear the local police of any wrongdoing in the shooting of an Aboriginal suspect. After all, he himself recently suffered from being demoted because of an accidental shooting he committed while on the job. Nothing could be easier, except for one irritating little fact, which his superiors have ignored: Tony actually believes in the laws of the land. He is not prepared to whitewash the white cop's misdeeds (if that's what they are) just because they have been committed against a person of color. In this painful social drama, the tensions caused by discrimination in Australia are skillfully highlighted. ~ Clarke Fountain, Rovi
- Starring:
- Jerome Ehlers, Frank Gallacher, (more)
"Paradise" is actually Australia, where this made-for-TV adventure was filmed. Raquel Welch stars as a rich, spoiled socialite who is shipwrecked on a desert island. Her only companion is boozy, unkempt Aussie Jack Thompson. Before the film has a chance to turn into Lina Wertmuller's Swept Away (or even Gilligan's Island), Welch and Thompson are up to their necks in intrigue. Trouble in Paradise originally floated to shore on May 16, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- 1987
- PG13
Director Carl Schultz and screenwriter David Williamson's character study of an aging Australian man's second marriage boasts a robust performance by Leo McKern. McKern plays Frank, a man in his seventies, who used to be something of a firecracker, but who now, his best days behind him, prefers to putter-around, play chess, and get under the skin of his new wife Frances (Julia Blake). Frances, forsaking her old family ties (which her family resents her for), marries Frank and agrees to move with him to Queensland. Frank and Frances pack their things and head north, settling into an easy life of fishing and relaxation. They immediately make friends with a lonely neighbor, Freddie (Graham Kennedy) -- and also the local doctor, Saul (Henri Szeps), who informs Frank that he has a bad heart and hasn't much longer to live. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi
- Starring:
- Leo McKern, Julia Blake, (more)
- 1982
- R
Heatwave is the mildly interesting story of a woman's attempt to stop a redevelopment plot which she thought was the cover-up for fraud and other criminal activity. Kate (Judy Davis), through her own efforts, manages to find some evidence to support her claims and also have a romance. Davis gives an energetic performance as the crusading woman, but the script lacks a convincing plot or characters. While it has some good moments, Heatwave is primarily notable because it was one of the earlier efforts of Australian director Phillip Noyce, who went on to make the very exciting Dead Calm. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi
- Starring:
- Judy Davis, Richard Moir, (more)
- 1975
In the third episode of the four-part story "The Ark in Space," the Doctor (Tom Baker) and his companions are still adrift in the derelict space station Nerva Beacon, where they have successfully revived the last surviving residents of Planet Earth, who have long been held in suspended animation. Danger rears its ugly head when the Wirrrn, a race of gigantic insects, step up their efforts to "brain-drain" the hapless humans. Adding to the crisis is the discovery that Noah (Kenton Moore), the leader of the humans, is not all he seems to be. Written by Robert Holmes, "The Ark in Space, Episode 3" originally aired on February 8, 1975. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
- Starring:
- Tom Baker, Elisabeth Sladen, (more)
