John Hargreaves Movies
At his career's peak during the late '80s and early '90s, John Hargreaves was among his native Australia's most popular actors. He was the only actor to receive the Byron Kennedy Award, one of Australia's highest civilian awards that is given to people who exemplify the pursuit of excellence. A graduate of Australia's National Institute of Dramatic Art, class of 1970, Hargreaves launched his film career with The Removalists (1974), an adaptation of David Williamson's play. He made his sophomore appearance in another film version of a Williamson play, Don's Party, this time under director Bruce Beresford. Hargreaves has not only gone on to star in numerous Australian films, he has also appeared in many international productions, notably, Richard Attenborough's Cry Freedom (1987) and Hotel Sorrento (1995). Other awards won by Hargreaves include Best Actor for My First Wife (1984), and two Best Supporting Actor awards from the Australian Film Institute for Careful, He Might Hear You (1984) and Malcolm (1986). His last appearance was a cameo in Paul Cox's Lust and Revenge (1996). ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide- 1957
One of several feature film versions of the late 19th century novel by Rolf Boldrewood, this frontier adventure is set not in the Wild West of the U.S., but in the equally untamed Australian Outback of the same era. Two brothers, Jim (David McCallum) and Dick Marsten (Ronald Lewis) follow in their father's footsteps by leaving home to seek adventure as gunfighters. They become outlaws in the roving band led by stylish Captain Starlight (Peter Finch), who leads them on a series of escapades robbing banks and rustling cattle. Though they find the excitement and romance they craved, the Marstens soon become disillusioned with a life on the run and begin to wish that they could resume the mantle of honest, hard-working citizens. Unfortunately, events transpire to put the entire Starlight gang out of operation before the brothers can recommence their formerly law-abiding ways. Produced by Britain's Rank Organization, Robbery Under Arms (1957) was followed by a television series remake in 1985 and a handful of other films set against the colorful backdrop of the Australian frontier, including The Man from Snowy River (1982) and Quigley Down Under (1990). ~ Karl Williams, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Peter Finch, Ronald Lewis, (more)
This 1973 adaptation of the oft-filmed Miguel de Cervantes novel about an aging Spanish gentlemen attempting to relive the age of chivalry is actually a filmed record of the ballet version, created in 1869 by choreographer Marius Petipa and composer Ludwig Minkus. The ballet concentrates on a barber named Basilio, who wins the hand of his lady love with the help of knight-errant Don Quixote. The film was co-directed by Rudolf Nureyev and Robert Helpmann, who dance the leading roles of Basilio and Quixote. Others in the company are Ray Powell as Sancho Panza and Lucette Aldous as Kitty. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1975
In this adaptation of an Australian play, a police officer swears that never in 23 years on the force has he had to use his gun. A rookie is assigned to him, and soon they are both bored to death with watching television and working crosswords. They get a little excitement when a woman and her sister come into to complain that her husband has been beating her. The woman desperately wants to leave him, but cannot because he will not allow her to have the furniture. This inspires the lead cop to go to the apartment and tie up the abuser while the woman takes the furniture. They then proceed to beat the stuffing out of the man until he is near death. To ensure that he keeps silent about the beating, the cops agree to take the man out for a few drinks. During their night, battered wife beater keels over and dies. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hargreaves, Peter Cummins, (more)
Dennis Hopper plays the title character in this true story of a 19th-century Australian gold-digger who is pressed into a life of crime. A six-year stint in jail doesn't provide reform, but does introduce him to an Aboriginal partner-in-crime (David Gulpilil). The duo then proceed to terrorize the province of New South Wales with no lack of violence. The TV version was retitled Mad Dog. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Dennis Hopper, Jack Thompson, (more)
- 1976
Two veterans of Vietnam special-forces (John Hargreaves, Grant Page) have retired to the relatively painless field of stuntwork. They return to active duty, however, when the Australian government hires them to retrieve documents and destroy the fortress of a Filipino overlord. ~ John Bush, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hargreaves, Grant Page, (more)
Early in his career, Australian director Bruce Beresford helmed Don's Party, which closely mirrors Shampoo in its basic premise and its edgy correlations between sex and politics. One pivotal election night, Don, played by John Hargreaves, throws a party for a group of friends, ostensibly so that everyone can watch the ballots roll in on television. But when booze is consumed in quantity, inhibitions are kicked downstairs. Particularly boorish under the influence of alcohol are Don's male friends, who indulge in a barrage of insulting verbal attacks on each other when they aren't trying to get each other's wives into bed. Unapologetically adult in its content and themes, Don's Party was adapted from a play by David Williamson; it marks one of the earliest classics of Australian New Wave cinema. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ray Barrett, Clare Binney, (more)
An Australian couple sets off on a weekend to the coast in this psychological thriller. Peter (John Hargreaves) and Marcia (Briony Behets) are at each other's throats from the moment they pull out of the driveway, as Peter sneaks his dog along for the weekend and Marcia is harboring anger about a recent tragedy the couple faced. As day turns into night and they have yet to reach their destination, Peter hits a kangaroo while falling asleep at the wheel. This sets in motion a chain of mysterious events, which starts with them leaving the beaten path and appearing to go in circles through the darkened thickets of trees -- even though they've driven straight ahead for hours. Upon eventually reaching their destination, the strange happenings continue, with animals behaving in unusual ways, and a persistent cry of anguish floating over the water, which sounds almost human. Peter and Marcia are determined to prove they can rough it, even as they start to wonder if they've gotten in over their head. They doggedly remain camped, despite mounting evidence that they don't understand the feral Australian woods as well as they think. ~ Derek Armstrong, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hargreaves, Briony Behets, (more)
- 1978
In this fact-based drama, when Stephen Walls (Nathan Dawes), a four-year old, goes missing in the outback near his home in rural Australia, the population of the entire town (and several nearby towns) turns out to search for him. Unfortunately, they raise such a ruckus that they scare the little tyke, and he hides himself even more thoroughly. For four days, the townsfolk search for him, and during that time, the lad not only avoids capture, but begins to thoroughly enjoy his dangerous game of hide-and-seek. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- 1979
In The Odd Angry Shot director Tom Jeffrey provides a cathartic Australian answer to Michael Cimino's The Deer Hunter. Australia's participation in the Vietnam War was as much of an alienating and soul-searching experience for Australians as for Americans, and Jeffrey's frank portrayal of a group of Australian volunteers casts the war in a different light from the perspective of a Cimino or Oliver Stone. The story concerns a corp of Australian elite soldiers -- the Special Air Service troops (the equivalent of the United States' Special Forces group) -- and the elite group's more pragmatic and hopeful attitudes -- whiling away the time in mindless diversions and cracking jokes. Then one of their own is killed and their feelings about the war suddenly change. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Graham Kennedy, John Hargreaves, (more)
- 1980
Beyond Reasonable Doubt is a true story of New Zealand justice gone awry. A married couple named Crewe is murdered, and Arthur Allen Thomas (John Hargreaves) is charged with the crime. Given a scrupulously fair trial, the innocent Thomas is found guilty on circumstantial evidence. Later on, it is discovered that zealous police inspector Hutton (David Hemmings), anxious for a conviction, planted false evidence to put the noose around Thomas' neck. Beyond Reasonable Doubt was scripted by David Yallop, whose book on the Crewe case was instrumental in gaining Thomas' release. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- David Hemmings, John Hargreaves, (more)
- 1981
Hoodwink is based on the true story of an Australian con artist who briefly won the hearts of the media (if not the authorities). John Hargreaves stars as a criminal serving time in a New South Wales prison. He's not partial to the physical labor required of the convicts, so he hits upon a labor-saving plan. Hargreaves pretends to be totally blind, thus lightening his work load....and carries off the hoax for years. Hoodwink is likely to get some cable-TV play in the near future thanks to the presence in the cast of the young Judy Davis. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hargreaves, Judy Davis, (more)
- 1981
- PG
Director Donald Crombie's fourth feature tackles the problem of out-of-control redevelopment by unscrupulous corporate developers. Angel Street is a row of charming and quaint homes on the shore of Australia's Sydney Harbor. A development company wants to buy the homes, raze the street, and build high-rise apartments in their wake. When B.C. Simmonds (Alexander Archdale), the leader of the residents' group, dies under mysterious circumstances, his daughter Jessica (Liz Alexander) takes up the residents' cause against the developers, assisted by Elliot (John Hargreaves), the Communist union official with whom Jessica had a brief affair. It turns out that the developers are not just businessmen, but have a malevolent connection with the government. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liz Alexander, John Hargreaves, (more)
Set in Australia in the 1930s, this drama stars Nicholas Gledhill as P.S., a six-year-old boy who lives with his Aunt Lila (Robyn Nevin) and Uncle George (Peter Whitford). P.S.'s mother died in childbirth, so her sister Lila took him in, and while George and Lila don't have a lot of money, they've always done the best they can to give the boy a good home. One day, Lila's other sister Vanessa (Wendy Hughes) arrives after spending several years touring the world; Vanessa is quite wealthy, and upon her return to Australia, she expresses an interest in taking custody of the child. Lila is willing to let Vanessa visit with P.S., and his rich aunt is able to turn his head with limousine rides and lavish gifts. But when Vanessa decides she wants the boy full time, Lila decides to fight her in court. The case is complicated by the arrival of P.S.'s long-absent father, Logan (John Hargreaves), an alcoholic who loves his son but is incapable of caring for him. Careful He Might Hear You won eight Australian Film Institute Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actress (Hughes), and Best Supporting Actor (Hargreaves). ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wendy Hughes, Robyn Nevin, (more)
- 1984
1982 saw the taking of $650,000 in gold from the Perth Mint in Australia as dramatized in this film. ~ All Movie Guide
- 1984
Classical music DJ John Hargreaves neglects his wife Wendy Hughes, who responds by entering into an illicit romance. Upon finding out, Hargreaves leaves Hughes, but doesn't want to tell his parents; they'd never liked Hughes, and he isn't in the mood for a chorus of "I told you so"s. What is already painful for Hargreaves is amplified when his dying father, suspecting that something's wrong, lectures his son on the sanctity of marriage--even a bad one. Director Paul Cox used the Australian My First Wife as a kind of catharsis, to purge himself of ill-will concerning the bust-up of his own marriage. The film won three Australian academy awards, including one for the reluctantly revelatory Cox. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hargreaves, Wendy Hughes, (more)
- 1986
Teenager Ellie (Tushka Bergen) is the only child of the widowed physician Neil McAdam (John Hargreaves) in this finely crafted drama, and the two spend their summers at the family cottage on the Australian coast. Ellie is bored and lonely until Margot Ryan (Heather Mitchell) comes to visit her parents who live next door. Ellie develops a close friendship with the 25-year-old woman and soon looks up to Margot, but she feels left out when her father and Margot fall in love. She becomes more upset when a proposed land development is slated to be built on the coastline and threatens the wildlife she has grown to love. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hargreaves, Heather Mitchell, (more)
- 1986
Set in the 1830s, this historical drama stars Robin Soans as George Loveless, a Methodist minister whose flock is a group of working families in Tolpuddle, a small town in the British Southwest. Most of the workers in the community are under the thumb of Frampton (Robert Stephens), a ruthless land owner, and his overseer Clerk (Murray Melvin); Frampton and Clerk demand long hours from their workers and pay meager wages. Convinced that the workers deserve a better shake, Loveless, encouraged by organizer Mr. Pitt (Michael Hordern), forms the Society of Friends, an early labor union, and organizes the men to negotiate with Frampton for better pay. When their salaries are instead cut, Loveless and his men go on strike, which could cripple Frampton financially. However, Frampton is well-connected, and soon both the government and private militias are sent in to break the strike and punish the rebellious laborers. The supporting cast includes James Fox, Freddie Jones, and Vanessa Redgrave. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robin Soans, William Gaminara, (more)
In this hilarious, award-winning comedy, Malcolm (Colin Friels) is an innocent, naive mechanical genius with a distinct gap where sexual and social awareness normally reside. He first gets into trouble when he builds his version of a streetcar and then takes it on a joyride through Melbourne -- a definite no-no. That exploit costs him his job as a maintenance man for the streetcar company. Out of work, Malcolm is forced to take in two boarders who are actually a con man and his female companion. The con artist is intrigued by all of Malcolm's mechanical inventions, and cash registers are clicking at the back of his mind. It does not take him long to convince Malcolm to join them in robbing a bank -- which turns out to be even more adventurous than the streetcar ride through Melbourne. Director Nadia Tass and her husband, co-producer, scripter and cinematographer David Parker followed up with an enjoyable and funny Rikky and Pete. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Colin Friels, John Hargreaves, (more)
- 1986
- PG13
A limp storyline refuses to go taut throughout this sci-fi adventure that patches together bits and pieces from its famous, multi-genre predecessors (the Indiana Jones series, The Deer Hunter, The Philadelphia Experiment, and others). The premise has John Hargreaves as Harris fly his plane through a time warp and land on Easter Island. Harris soon encounters the evil "Savage" (Max Phipps) who is looking for a magic stone -- left by spacemen -- that was used to erect the Aku-Aku giant heads and the enormous boulders of Stonehenge. "Savage" does not want to build a monument, the stone also gives its owner the power to destroy. Heroine Melanie Mitchell (Meredith Phillips) more or less stands around, as Harris and "Savage" duke it out. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hargreaves, Meredith Phillips, (more)
Richard Attenborough directed this dramatic story, based on actual events, about the friendship between two men struggling against apartheid in South Africa in the 1970s. Donald Woods (Kevin Kline) is a white liberal journalist in South Africa who begins to follow the activities of Stephen Biko (Denzel Washington), a courageous and outspoken black anti-apartheid activist. Woods and his wife Wendy (Penelope Wilton) get to know Biko, and they become friends, until Biko is brutally murdered at the hands of government troops in 1977 for his activities against the country's repression of the black majority population. Donald is shocked and appalled by Biko's murder and determined that the truth about Biko will become known to the world; eventually, Donald and Wendy Woods and their children must leave South Africa (and nearly everything they have) as they spread the word about Biko's life and death to ensure that he did not die in vain. Washington received an Academy Award nomination for his performance as Biko. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Kline, Penelope Wilton, (more)
- 1988
This Australian-British co-production was based on the historical novel by Ronald McKie. In the last months of WWII, a group of 14 intrepid British and Aussie soldiers combined forces for a daring and dangerous mission. "Operation Jaywick" was designed to cripple the Japanese naval fleet in Singapore harbor. With only a few rickety wooden boats, a handful of weapons, and a surplus of guts at their disposal, the title characters set about to complete their mission and return home in one piece. A collaboration between TVS and Ten Network, the four 60-minute episodes of The Heroes aired in England in 1989. Three years later, many of the same cast and crew members were reassembled for a sequel, the redundantly titled Heroes II: The Return. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 1989
- R
A small desert town in western Australia is the scene of several love affairs in this romantic drama. Forty-year-old Stella (Wendy Hughes) works at her father's hotel and bar. She receives annual New Year's marriage proposals from rodeo rider Andy Ford (John Hargreaves), who talks himself into asking her one more time. Stella's father Billy (Norman Kaye) is a former cricket star whose career ended early when he was involved in a sex scandal. She spends the night with vacationing Arthur (Michael Siberry) when his car breaks down. Andy elects not to pop the question to Stella in lieu of her one-night stand with the stranger. When Billy elects to marry June Thompson (Julie Nihill), the local gossipmongers have a field day recalling the woman's promiscuous past. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wendy Hughes, John Hargreaves, (more)
- 1989
Australian author David Williamson adapted Emerald Cities from his own stage play. The title may conjure up images of the Wonderful Land of Oz, but the plot is set in the Munchkin-free Australian film industry. John Hargreaves stars as a prosperous screenwriter who is perfectly willing to accept the obscene gobs of money thrown at him. One day, however, he decides that he's a sellout, and attempts to turn out something of meaning and value--and uniquely Australian. But he runs up against an industry with both eyes on the valuable American market. There are laughs in Emerald Cities, but they have a hollow ring; this hit too close to home with many Australian filmmakers to be considered a comedy. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hargreaves, Nicole Kidman, (more)
- 1990
Sweet Revenge is a made-for-television comedy about a female lawyer (Carrie Fisher) who is ordered to pay alimony to her ex-husband. She hires an actress (Rosanna Arquette) to marry him, in hopes that she will be able to stop paying alimony. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Rosanna Arquette, Carrie Fisher, (more)
