''Bullseye'' is an Australian comedy adventure film directed by

Carl Schultz Carl Schultz (born 19 September 1939) is a Hungarian-Australian film director. Early life and works He left his native Budapest during the uprising of 1956 with his brother Otto Schultz. They fled to England, and after arriving in London th ...

.''Bullseye''
at

National Film and Sound Archive 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 ...

The movie is also known as ''The Trailblazer'', ''Trailblazer'', ''Outback'' and ''Birdsville''.Suzanne Brown, ''Australian Film 1978-1992'', Oxford University Press, 1993 p266

David Stratton David James Stratton (born 1939) is an English-Australian film critic and historian. He has also worked as a journalist, interviewer, educator, television personality, and producer. His career as a film critic, writer, and educator in Austral ...

called the film "visually handsome, beautifully directed and for the most part thoroughly entertaining... On any number of levels, including the charming lead performances, it's a thoroughly winning experience."

Plot

The film is set in the 1860s and starts at a property at Emu Plains, near Roma, Queensland run by Don McKenzie and worked on by Harry Walford. Harry is in love with Lily Boyd, the McKenzie's maid. Lily receives notice of an inheritance in Adelaide, and leaves. Harry decides to rustle some cattle with his friend Bluey McGurk; these include an expensive breeding bull. Harry and Bluey drove the cattle through to Adelaide. They discover Lily has only inherited a small amount of money and is working in a brothel run by Mrs Gootch. Harry is arrested and brought to trial. The alcoholic Samuel Merrit is hired as his defence counsel.

Cast

* Paul Goddard as Harry Walford *Kathryn Walker as Lily Boyd * John Wood as Bluey McGurk *

Paul Chubb Paul Dunford (14 January 1949 – 9 June 2002), professionally billed as Paul Chubb, was an Australians, Australian film, television and stage actor and scriptwriter primarily in genres of comedy and drama. Early life He was born in Arncliffe, N ...

as Don Mckenzie *

Lynette Curran Lynette Curran is an Australian actress known for many roles in Australian television series and films, including the soap opera '' Bellbird'', and the films '' Country Town'' (1971) and ''Bliss'' (1985). Career Theatre She started acting ...

as Dora Mckenzie *

Bruce Spence Bruce Robert Spence (born 17 September 1945) is a New Zealand-born Australian actor. Spence has amassed over 100 film and television credits and has also acted in theatre. Career Spence won an AFI Award for Best Actor for his role in the 197 ...

as Purdy *David Slingsby as Spence *

John Meillon John Meillon ( ; 1 May 1934 – 11 August 1989) was an Australian character actor known for dramatic as well as comedy roles. He portrayed Walter Reilly in the films '' Crocodile Dundee'' and '' Crocodile Dundee II''. He also voiced advertiseme ...

as Merritt *

Kerry Walker Kerry Ann Walker (born 29 February 1948) is an Australian actress. She has had a lengthy career on both stage and screen. She was nominated for the AFI Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role three times, in 1985 for ''Bliss'', 1986 for '' ...

as Mrs Gootch *

Rhys McConnochie Rhys McConnochie (born 28 December 1936) is a New Zealand-born actor, director and educator based in Australia. Career Film & television His screen appearances include the TV miniseries ''Bodyline'' as Pelham Warner and '' Darlings of the ...

as Judge * Phillip Scott as Piano Player

Production

Robert Wales' script was originally called ''Trailblazer''. It was based on the cattle drive of Harry Readford, which inspired the novel ''

Robbery Under Arms ''Robbery Under Arms'' is a bushranger novel by Thomas Alexander Browne, published under his pen name Rolf Boldrewood. It was first published in serialised form by ''The Sydney Mail'' between July 1882 and August 1883, then in three volumes in ...

''. PBL Productions, then an offshoot of the Nine Network, bought the script and at one stage

Joan Long Joan Long (born Joan Dorothy Boundy; 20 July 1925 – 2 January 1999) was an Australian producer, writer and director best known for ''Caddie (film), Caddie'' (1976). She was awarded as a Member of the Order of Australia in 1980 for her servic ...

was going to produce with

Peter Yeldham Peter Alan Yeldham (25 April 1927 – 20 September 2022) was an Australian screenwriter for motion pictures and television, playwright and novelist whose career spanned five decades. Biography Peter Yeldham was born in Gladstone, near Smitht ...

working on the script. Then

was hired as director and he wanted to turn it into a comedy, so Yeldham left the project. PBL formed a partnership with Dumbarton Films who had worldwide marketing rights to the film. Dumbarton was a subsidiary of Video Arts, a company owned by John Cleese. Carl Schultz told an American journalist "it's the equivalent of your American western but with no blood. It's lots of fun." Schultz said an Australian jury found Harry Readford not guilty because "Australian's like the underdog." He added, "I'm taking a chance with this." The two leads were inexperienced: Kathryn Walker was an architecture student doing some modelling who had only done school plays; Paul Goddard had only been in one small role. Schultz wanted these characters to play the action seriously while everyone else was larger than life. Filming took place under the title ''Birdsville''. The movie was shot on location in the Australian outback, with the town of

Bourke, New South Wales Bourke is a town in the north-west of New South Wales, Australia. The administrative centre and largest town in Bourke Shire, Bourke is approximately north-west of the state capital, Sydney, on the south bank of the Darling River. It is also si ...

standing in for Roma, and studio scenes shot at Mort Bay studios in Balmain, Sydney. Colonial era Adelaide was recreated in the Rocks, Sydney. Shooting finished on 14 November 1985."Production round-up", ''Cinema Papers'', November 1985 p48

Release

Hoyts wanted to release the film but Dumbarton held up the release hoping for a major Hollywood distributor to handle the film in the same way as ''

Crocodile Dundee ''Crocodile Dundee'' is a 1986 action comedy film set in the Australian Outback and in New York City. It stars Paul Hogan as the weathered Mick Dundee and American actress Linda Kozlowski as reporter Sue Charlton. Inspired by the true-life ex ...

''. This did not occur - every major turned town the film and eventually Dumbarton ceased training. The film was not released until two years after it was made. It was not a financial success. One critic wrote that "the film is entertaining in its contrived absurdity but lacks any substance behind the comic set ups." However

called the film "hugely entertaining". The film was given a limited release in the US in May 1987. The ''Wichita Eagle'' called it "a charming, romantic, bawdy treat that romps along with earnest high spirits. The ''Los Angeles Times'' called it "a warmhearted adventure."

Home media

''Bullseye'' was released on DVD by Umbrella Entertainment in January 2011. The DVD is compatible with all region codes.

References

External links

*
''Bullseye''
at

TCMDB Turner Classic Movies (TCM) is an American movie-oriented pay-TV network owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in 1994, Turner Classic Movies is headquartered at Turner's Techwood broadcasting campus in the Midtown business district of ...

''Bullseye''
at BFI
''Bullseye''
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''Bullseye''
at Screen Australia {{Bob Ellis 1987 films Films set in colonial Australia Films set in Queensland Films set in South Australia Films set in the 1860s Films scored by Chris Neal (songwriter) 1980s English-language films