Burke & Wills
| Burke & Wills | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Graeme Clifford |
| Produced by | Graeme Clifford John Sexton |
| Written by | Michael Thomas |
| Starring |
Jack Thompson Nigel Havers |
| Music by | Peter Sculthorpe |
| Cinematography | Russell Boyd |
| Edited by | Tim Wellburn |
|
Production
company |
Hoyts Edgley
|
| Distributed by | Hoyts Distribution |
|
Release date
|
31 October 1985 (Australia) May 1986 (Cannes Film Festival) |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | A$8,900,000 (estimated) |
| Box office | A$1,567,000 (Australia) |
Burke & Wills is a 1985 Australian adventure film directed by Graeme Clifford, starring Jack Thompson and Nigel Havers. The film is based on the ill-fated Burke and Wills expedition across Australia.
The film follows Robert O'Hara Burke and William John Wills in their crossing of Australia's interior in 1860-1. The film's account of the story changes the expedition's ending by having the explorers actually reach the northern coast. This upbeat idea was vehemently criticised by Australian reviewers. The story was also filmed the same year as a comedy, Wills & Burke.
Graeme Clifford was an Australian who had become a leading editor in Hollywood and had moved into directing. He was interested in making a film about the Burke and Wills expedition and in 1978 approached EMI Films, who had commissioned a script from Terence Rattigan based on the story. This did not work out so Clifford then hired a fellow Australian expatriate, Michael Thomas, to write a screenplay. Early financial assistance was provided by David Williams of Greater Union.
Clifford then went to make his first feature, Frances and discovered that Greater Union's enthusiasm for the movie had cooled. However, he received support from Hoyts-Edgley who agreed to finance. The budget would be particularly high because of Clifford's insistence at filming along the actual path of the expedition.
Charlton Heston was once interested in playing Burke but Clifford says he only ever envisioned Jack Thompson in that role. After seeing Chariots of Fire, he wanted Nigel Havers to play Wills, a decision opposed by Actors Equity, but this was overturned at arbitration.
Filming started in September 1984 and took 13 weeks. Many of the original locations were used, such as Coopers Creek, because Clifford thought it was important to be as authentic as possible. Additional filming was completed in England some months later.
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