Double Deal (1983 Film)

''Double Deal'' is a 1981 Australian film about a bored wife of a rich man who has an affair and becomes a thief.David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p90

Plot

Peter and Christine Sterling have an uneventful marriage. When a stranger comes into their lives, Christine is intrigued, and the two begin an affair. Things escalate and the two philanderers soon plot to rob Peter of a precious gemstone.

Cast

* Angela Punch McGregor as Christine Sterling
* Louis Jourdan as Peter Sterling
* Diane Craig as Miss Stevens
* Bruce Spence as Doug Mitchell
* Kerry Walker as Sibyl Anderson
* Peter Cummins

Production

Brian Kavanagh originally wrote the script shortly after he made the film ''A City's Child'' in 1971. Its original title was ''Shazam'' and Kavanagh says the script was "originally planned as a companion piece" for ''City's Child'' which dealt " with the restrictions placed on women at that time" while ''Shazam'' would "show problems facing contemporary women and how confronting social demands affected them. Later that took a more commercial structure although the elements remained the same."

In 1980 Kanavagh and produced Lynn Barker were in Cannes with a film Kavanagh produced, ''Maybe This Time'', and they pitched a package of three films to FilmCo: ''Double Dea'', an adaptation of ''Mystery of a Hansom Cab' and a third script. FilmCo did not respond to the three films but liked ''Double Deal'' and arranged to raise finance.

Kavanagh said they wanted a "suave, world weary, sophisticate" to play the male lead. He was offered William Shatner before Kavanagh agreed to cast Louis Jourdan who the director said "perfectly fitted my concept of the character, and proved to be so. A real professional and a charming man." The star's fee was $60,000.

Angela Punch McGregor later said she was "amazed" to be offered the role of a model but accepted the part because she had not worked for a while.

I feared that if I didn't do it I would go down the plug hole The role was a mistake; the film was a mistake. But I didn't know that at the time. Brian Kavanagh turned out to be one of the most sensitive directors to actors that I have ever come across, but I don't think he should write his own scripts.

Filming began early January 1981 in Melbourne and took place over six weeks, with studio work in Port Melbourne. Country locations at Digger’s Rest and Clarkefield, while the mansion was located in Toorak and belonged to Linsay Fox.

The film was made without direct government investment and Kavanagh said the majority of the budget came from Pact Productions and for distribution via FilmCo but that there were some funds raised by 10BA tax concessions.

Kavanagh said that in November 1980, shortly before filming was to begin, Actor's Equity started objecting to Jourdan's castsing, and the situation was only resolved at Christmas Eve due to the intervention of Bobby Limb, Chair of Equity, who Kavanagh said "saved the day, by ordering they could not stop an actor of Louis’ calibre performing, and so the heat was off, but just in time." Equity insisted that Angela Punch McGregor have top billing for the Australian cinema release.

Jourdan had visited Australia the year before filming to tour in a play.

Reception

Kavanagh said "Roadshow were the distributors but were never really behind the film, and it got the obliquity two weeks at the then, Bryson Cinema. I know it had screenings in Europe and elsewhere, presumably via Goldwyn, also VHS and DVD releases."

In a 1988 review of ''Final Cut'', Jim Schembri of ''The Age'' called ''Double Deal'' the worst Australian film ever made.

References

External links

''Double Deal''
at IMDb

''Double Deal''
at Oz Movies
''Double Deal''
at Screen Australia
''Double Deal''
at Letterbox DVD
Australian crime drama films
Films scored by Bruce Smeaton
1980s English-language films
1983 films
1983 crime drama films
1980s Australian films
English-language crime drama films

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