Fortress (1985 film)

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Fortress
Fortress1985poster.png
Theatrical film poster
Directed byArch Nicholson
Screenplay byEverett De Roche
Based onFortress
by Gabrielle Lord
Produced byRaymond Menmuir
StarringRachel Ward
CinematographyDavid Connell
Edited byRalph Strasser
Music byDanny Beckerman
Production
companies
Distributed by
Release dates
  • 24 November 1985 (1985-11-24) (US, TV premiere)
  • 26 June 1986 (1986-06-26) (Australia)
Running time
91 minutes
Countries
  • Australia
  • United States[1]
LanguageEnglish
BudgetA$4.4 million[2]
Box officeA$139,000[3]

Fortress is a 1985 Australian thriller film directed by Arch Nicholson and written by Everett De Roche, and starring Rachel Ward, based on Gabrielle Lord's 1980 novel of the same name.

Plot[]

Sally Jones, a teacher, and her students at a small rural school in Australia are kidnapped and held for ransom by a band of violent shotgun-wielding masked thugs wearing Christmas character masks. Held for ransom in a cave, she and the children escape from their captors, are pursued, establish a stronghold, and fight for their lives.

Cast[]

Production[]

The novel Fortress by Gabrielle Lord was inspired by the 1972 Faraday Primary School kidnapping of an isolated rural single teacher school and was influenced by William Golding's 1954 novel Lord of the Flies. At one stage it was thought the novel would be filmed by Rupert Murdoch and Robert Stigwood's Associated R&R Films as a follow-up to Gallipoli (1981). However, this never happened.[4] The film rights were purchased by Crawford Productions, who intended to make a feature film for local release and a telemovie for HBO in the US. Half the budget was from HBO, who insisted the lead be played by an actress who was familiar to the American public.

Everett De Roche wrote the script and originally Bruce Beresford was announced as director. He dropped out and then Arch Nicholson was hired. Crawford and HBO wanted Bess Armstrong to play the lead. Actors Equity objected, so Sigrid Thornton was accepted as a compromise. However, two months prior to shooting Thornton was impregnated and HBO and Crawford insisted on Armstrong. Actors Equity would not relent and the film shut down, despite the fact $700,000 had already been spent.[5] The project was later re-activated when Rachel Ward (a British actress who had moved to Australia) was approved.[6] The film was then shot in Australia during 1985 over 12 5-day weeks at Hillside. The school they used in the film was the Rosehill primary school, near Bairnsdale, East Gippsland and in the Grampians.[6]

Release[]

The film was initially released directly to cable television by the HBO channel in the United States on 24 November 1985.[7] It contains scenes of graphic violence unusual for TV productions of the time. It was released to cinemas in Australia on June 26 1986.

It won the American Cinema Editors for direction of Photography in 1986.

References[]

  1. ^ "Fortress (1985)". BFI. Retrieved 8 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Production", Cinema Papers, March 1986 p62
  3. ^ Film Victoria - Australian Films at the Australian Box Office Archived 18 February 2011 at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ^ "Production Blues", Cinema Papers, Oct-Nov 1980 p312
  5. ^ Hector Crawford, "The Rules of the Game", Cinema Papers, September 1985 p20-22
  6. ^ a b David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p266-268
  7. ^ O'connor, John J. (27 November 1985). "Tv Review; 'fortress,' Film on Hbo". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 8 January 2018.

External links[]

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