''Raw Silk'' is a 1989 Australian film directed by Greg Dee. The plot concerns two
barrister
A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdiction (area), jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include arguing cases in courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, jurisprud ...
s. It was a pilot for a TV series that did not eventuate and featured an early performance from Sophie Lee.
[Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970-1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p128]
Premise
A brilliant barrister, William Perry, defends himself against the charge of murdering a model. He is prosecuted by Kate Bradshaw, whose father, a judge, had his reputation tarnished by Perry and is looking for revenge.
Cast
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David Argue
David J. Argue (born 1959) is an Australian actor. He is best known for his role as Snowy in ''Gallipoli'' as well as the lead role in the 1993 film '' Hercules Returns'' and Dicko in the 1983 film ''Razorback
A feral pig is a pig, domes ...
as William Perry
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Nicki Paull
Nicola Paull (born 1962 in Queensland, Australia), is an Australian actress and a registered counsellor. Though predominantly known for her work on television, she has also appeared in films and on stage, as well as performing as a voice-over ...
as Kate Bradshaw
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Colin Hay
Colin James Hay (born 29 June 1953) is a Scottish-Australian musician. He came to prominence as the lead vocalist and the sole continuous member of the band Men at Work, and later as a solo artist. Hay is a member of the band Ringo Starr & His ...
as Parker
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Frank Gallacher
Frank Gallacher (7 April 1943 – 23 February 2009) was a Scottish-Australian actor.
Early life
Gallacher was born in Glasgow in 1943. In 1962, aged 19, he was working in London when his parents and younger sister decided to emigrate to Austra ...
as Johnson
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Sophie Lee
Sophie Lee (born 7 August 1968)TV Hits Sophie Lee Collect-a-Card is an Australian film, stage and television actress and author.
Career
Lee worked as a model early in her career, both in Australia and Japan''Lunch of Blood'' by Antonella Gambo ...
as Josie
Production
It was made by
Johnny Young
Johnny Young (born Johnny Benjamin de Jong, 12 March 1947, Rotterdam, Netherlands) is an Australian singer, composer, record producer, disc jockey, television producer and host. He had a number-one hit with the double-A-sided single, "Step Bac ...
's production company, Television House (which had previously made the drama ''Matthew and Son''. Young showed the rough cut of the pilot to Channel Nine. It was originally called ''Perry'' after the main character, barrister William Perry (David Argue). In 1988 Nine's programme director, Vicky Young, said the original cut of the film "was really off the wall. A lot of people were quite shocked by it because it was so radical; the character, the music, the script, the treatment were so different." However everyone liked the character of Perry, played by David Argue. Nine and Young worked on a new version of the story, added a female character and new scenes.
Colin Hay later recalled, "“What a funny little film that was. I loved working with David Argue, he made me laugh so much that boy.”
The budget was $400,000. Tina Burstill was originally cast in the female lead.
The pilot was meant to screen in June 1988 but did not air until February 1989.
Reception
The ''Sydney Morning Herald'' caled it "a laidback if somewhat self conscious attempt at a black comedy that works more by default than design... a quirky and sporadically gray comedy which, for all its faults, almost overcomes trietness to limp home on vitality."
References
External links
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''Raw Silk''at Screen Australia
Australian crime drama films
1989 films
1980s English-language films
1980s Australian films
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