''Prisoners'' is a 1982 American-New Zealand

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Peter Werner Peter H. Werner (born January 17, 1947, in New York City, New York) is an American film and television director. Biography Werner was born to a Jewish family, in New York City, New York, one of three children born to Elizabeth (née Grumbach) ...

and starring

Tatum O'Neal Tatum Beatrice O'Neal (born November 5, 1963) is an American actress. She is the youngest person ever to win an Academy Award, winning at age 10 for her performance as Addie Loggins in '' Paper Moon'' (1973) opposite her father, Ryan O'Neal. S ...

Colin Friels Colin Friels (born 25 September 1952) is a Scottish-born Australian actor of theatre, TV and film and presenter Early life Friels was born in Kilwinning, Ayrshire, Scotland.Interview with Colin Friels, ''George Negus Tonight'' (ABC Television) ...

and David Hemmings. For unclear reasons, the film has never been released. The New Zealand Archive of Film, Television and Sound states that a financial dispute was allegedly the reason for the shelving of the completed film. According to New Zealand film historians Helen Martin and Sam Edwards, "One rumour has it that a relative of one of the actors bought the film to prevent its release."

Plot

An American moves his family to

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

where he takes charge of a

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, corre ...

Wellington Wellington ( mi, Te Whanganui-a-Tara or ) is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the second-largest city in New Zealand by metr ...

. His young daughter begins to have a love affair with one of the prisoners in his charge.

Cast

as Christie *

as Nick *

Shirley Knight Shirley Knight Hopkins (July 5, 1936 – April 22, 2020) was an American actress who appeared in more than 50 feature films, television films, television series, and Broadway and Off-Broadway productions in her career, playing leading and charac ...

as Virginia * David Hemmings as Wilkens * Bruno Lawrence as Peeky * Ralph Cotterill as Holmby *

John Bach John Bach (born 5 June 1946) is a British-born New Zealand actor who has acted on stage, television and film over a period of more than four decades. Though born in the United Kingdom, he has spent most of his career living and working in New Z ...

as Bodell *

Michael Hurst Michael Eric Hurst ONZM (born 20 September 1957) is a British-born New Zealand actor, director and writer. He is known internationally for acting in the television programs '' Hercules: The Legendary Journeys'' and companion series '' Xena: ...

as Sciano * Reg Ruka as Monkey * Rob Jayne as Maslow * Norman Fairley as Lewitt *

Peter Rowley Peter Rowley (sometimes credited as Harrison Rowley during his early career) (born April 29, 1952) is a New Zealand comic actor and writer. He is best known for his television roles, where he has played in numerous popular television series as ...

as Hapstood * Karl Bradley as Steel * Richard Moss as Dunham * Timothy Lee as Watts

Production

The film was shot in Auckland from 29 June to 14 August 1982.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford University Press, 1996 p125 Its budget was approximately $4.2 million.

References

External links

* {{Peter Werner Unreleased films Unreleased American films 1982 films New Zealand drama films American drama films 1982 drama films Films directed by Peter Werner 1980s English-language films