''Death of a Soldier'' is a 1986 Australian film based on the life of American

serial killer A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A * * * * with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...

Eddie Leonski Edward Joseph Leonski (December 12, 1917 – November 9, 1942) was a United States Army soldier and serial killer responsible for the strangling murders of three women in Melbourne, Australia in 1942. Leonski was dubbed The Brownout Strangler ...

. The film was shot using locations around

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Victoria. The film is directed by

Philippe Mora Philippe Mora (born 1949) is a French Australian film director. Early life and career Philippe Mora was born in Paris, France in 1949, and grew up at the centre of the Australian arts scene of the 1950s and began making films with an 8mm camera ...

and stars James Coburn, Bill Hunter and

Reb Brown Common meanings * Johnny Reb, personification of a Confederate soldier in the American Civil War * Reb (Yiddish), an honorific title for a teacher People * Reb Anderson (born 1943), American Zen Buddhist teacher and writer * Reb Beach (born 1963), ...

Production

The idea of making the film came from William Nagle, who wrote a screenplay to produce himself; David Hannay came on board as co-producer. Dick Richards was originally meant to direct but then

became involved. Mora and the producers wanted to import Americans to play three roles: Leonski, his best friend Gallo and lawyer Danneberg; Actors Equity only agreed to two.David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p45-47 At one stage it was announced that the movie would be called ''Leonski'' and be shot in August 1981 with

Don Lane Don Lane (born Morton Donald Isaacson, 13 November 1933 – 22 October 2009) was an American-born talk show host and singer, best known for his television career in Australia, especially for hosting ''Tonight with Don Lane'' and '' The Don Lane ...

as a US Army major. The budget was originally meant to be $3 million but this was found to be inadequate during shooting and additional funds had to be raised. To save money the shooting schedule was reduced; some of the crew complained to the

Australian Theatrical and Amusement Employees' Association The Australian Theatrical and Amusement Employees' Association was an Australian trade union which existed between 1910 and 1993. It represented a wide range of workers employed in the entertainment industry in Australia. Coverage The ATAEA ...

, which put a black ban on the film. This meant it was a year before the film was released in Australia.

Cast

* James Coburn as Maj. Patrick Dannenberg * Bill Hunter as Det. Sgt. Adams *

as Pvt. Edward J. Leonski * Maurie Fields as Det. Sgt. Martin * Max Fairchild as Maj. William Fricks * Belinda Davey as Margot Saunders * Randall Berger as Pvt. Anthony Gallo * Michael Pate as Maj. Gen. Sutherland * Jon Sidney as Gen. Douglas MacArthur * Terence Donovan as

John Curtin John Curtin (8 January 1885 – 5 July 1945) was an Australian politician who served as the 14th prime minister of Australia from 1941 until his death in 1945. He led the country for the majority of World War II, including all but the last few ...

Reception

James Coburn later said, "It wasn't very good. There were a lot of problems with the picture. For one thing we had an

auteur An auteur (; , 'author') is an artist with a distinctive approach, usually a film director whose filmmaking control is so unbounded but personal that the director is likened to the "author" of the film, which thus manifests the director's unique ...

producer. He was also the screenwriter. He wrote it too much like a comic strip. We also had a lot of auteurs working on the fucking thing. The director didn't have enough time to prepare it. I was very disappointed by the way it turned out. It was a hellava good story. It's too bad."

References

Sources

Mathews, Jack, "When the Whole Truth is Not Enough", ''The Age'', (Tuesday, 15 October 1985), p.14.

External links