''Robbery Under Arms'' is a 1985 Australian

action Action may refer to: * Action (philosophy), something which is done by a person * Action principles the heart of fundamental physics * Action (narrative), a literary mode * Action fiction, a type of genre fiction * Action game, a genre of video gam ...

adventure film The adventure film is a broad genre of film. Some early genre studies found it no different than the Western film or argued that adventure could encompass all Hollywood genres. Commonality was found among historians Brian Taves and Ian Cameron in ...

starring

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. His career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he is regarded as one of the most versatile acto ...

bushranger Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in The bush#Australia, the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia ...

Captain Starlight. There were two versions shot simultaneously – a feature film and a TV mini series. They were based on the 1888 novel of the same name by Rolf Boldrewood.

Plot

Joined by bush

larrikin Larrikin is an Australian English term meaning "a mischievous young person, an uncultivated, rowdy but good-hearted person", or "a person who acts with apparent disregard for social or political conventions". In the 19th and early 20th centurie ...

, Ben Marston (

Ed Devereaux Edward Sidney Devereaux (27 August 192517 December 2003), better known professionally as Ed Devereaux, was an Australian actor, director, and scriptwriter who lived in the United Kingdom for many years. He was best known for playing the part of ...

), and Ben's two adventure-hungry sons ( Steven Vidler and Christopher Cummins), Starlight leads his gang of wild colonial boys in search of riches, romance – and other men's cattle.

Cast

as Captain Starlight * Steven Vidler as Dick Marston * Christopher Cummins as Jim Marston * Liz Newman as Gracey * Jane Menelaus as Aileen * Andy Anderson as George * Deborah Coulls as Kate * Susie Lindeman as Jeannie * Elaine Cusick as Mum *

as Ben * Tommy Lewis as Warrigal *

Robert Grubb Robert Grubb (born 31 January 1950) is an Australian actor. He studied acting at the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA), where he graduated"Local star's flying high" by Craig Wellington, '' Sunday Tasmanian'' (21 Feb, 2010) Retrieved from ...

as Sir Frederick Morringer * David Bradshaw as Goring * John Dick as Trooper Fall * Michael Duffield as Mr. Falkland * Keith Smith as Trooper Spring * David Jobling as Rourke Bounty Hunter * Peter Cummins

Production

Jock Blair first had the idea to remake the story in 1981 when he was working at the South Australian Film Corporation. It was originally envisioned that it would be a mini series but it was budgeted at a million dollars an hour which was felt to be too expensive. So it was decided to make a film as well at the same time, based on separate scripts.Nick Roddick, "Arms and the Men", ''Cinema Papers'', May 1985 pp. 55–58 There were two writers and two directors. Writing the script took two years. The film was shot partly on location in the Flinders Rangers and at the SAFC studios in Adelaide. The two directors collaborated well together, and Ken Hannam was relieved to work with the SAFC again after the difficulties on '' Sunday Too Far Away''. Production took 20 weeks.

Box office

''Robbery Under Arms'' grossed $226,648 at the box office in Australia.

Home media

''Robbery Under Arms'' has been released twice by

Umbrella Entertainment Umbrella Entertainment is a privately-held Australian film production and distribution company that began operating in 2001. It is based in Kew, Victoria. Umbrella Entertainment manages the theatrical, physical, and digital releases of Australia ...

: as a two-part dual-layer DVD in a 16:9 transfer (DAVID 0477), also as a three-part two-disc DVD pack in the original 4:3 aspect ratio (DAVID2852) released September 2017.

Extras

Included is a 45-minute "special feature" ''On Location with Robbery Under Arms'', filmed separately by SA Telecasters (Channel 10, which later became Channel 7). It shows much of the art, techniques and social atmosphere involved in the making of the film at

Wilpena Pound Wilpena Pound ("Ikara" in the Adnyamathanha language) is a major natural amphitheatre of mountains located north of Adelaide, South Australia, Australia in the heart of the Ikara-Flinders Ranges National Park. Its fringe is accessible by a sea ...

and Hahndorf, as well as commentary by the major participants. :Producer/Director: Lou Sedivy :Technical producer: Greg Cameron :Technical directors: Mike McAuliffe and David Bates :Executive producer: Trevor Lanyon

References

External links

* *
''Robbert Under Arms''
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

Mini series version
at Oz Movies
Feature film version
at Oz Movies {{DEFAULTSORT:Robbery Under Arms (1985 Film) 1980s action adventure films Films based on Robbery Under Arms Television shows set in colonial Australia 1985 films Films shot in Flinders Ranges ITC Entertainment films 1980s Australian television miniseries Australian English-language television shows 1985 Australian television series debuts 1985 Australian television series endings Films directed by Ken Hannam Films directed by Donald Crombie 1980s English-language films English-language action adventure films