Inclusive lists of Australasian feature films
My intention is to list every feature film made (or intended to be made) in Australasia with name of director/s and release date. Note that I am not able to ensure that every film listed here was actually completed or released.
A list by date is also provided.
Many telemovies are included, but not shorts nor docos.
New Zealand films include 'NZ'. There are also separate lists for NZ films by title and by date.
index A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z no.
Films S
Sabbat of the Black Cat, The (Ralph Lawrence Marsden, 1973) Ralph Lawrence Marsden; horror; based on E. A. Poe story
Safety in Numbers (David Douglas, 2005) Jessica Napier
Sally Marshall is not an Alien (Mario Andreacchio, 1999) prod. Terry Charatsis, Micheline Charest; Helen Neville
Salute of the Jugger (David Peoples, 1989) aka Blood of Heroes; Rutger Hauer, Joan Chen
Salvation (Paul Cox, 2007) Natalia Novikova, Bruce Myles, Wendy Hughes, Kim Gyngell, Alex Menglet, Richard Piper, Maggie Miles, Chris Haywood, Terry Norris, Bud Tingwell, Julia Blake, Deidre Rubenstein, Tony Llewellyn-Jones, Rodney Afif, Loene Carmen, Hamish Michael, Barry Humphries
Salvation Creek (Megan Simpson Hubermann, tba) prod. Heather Ogilvie, Galvanized Film Group, wr. Ross Grayson Bell from novel by Susan Duncan
Sample People (Clinton Smith, 2000) wr. Peter Buckmaster, prod. Emile Sherman, Barton Smith; Kylie Minogue, Ben Mendelsohn, Simon Lyndon, David Field, Paula Arundell, Joel Edgerton, Nathalie Roy, Nathan Page, Justin Rosniak, Matthew Wilkinson, Gandhi MacIntyre
Samson and Delilah (Warwick Thornton, 2009) wr. Warwick Thornton, dop Warwick Thornton; Rowan McNamara, Marissa Gibson
Sanctuary (Robin de Crespigny, 1995) wr. David Williamson; Steve Bisley, Arky Michael, John Alderstone
Sanctum (Alister Grierson, 2010) Ioan Gruffudd, Richard Roxburgh, Rhys Wakefield, Alice Parkinson, Dan Wyllie; actioner
Santa's Apprentice (Luc Vinciquerra, 2010) animation; released in both French and English
Sapphires, The (Wayne Blair, 2011) wr. Tony Briggs, Keith Thompson; Chris O'Dowd, Deborah Mailman, Jessica Mauboy, Shari Sebbens, Miranda Tapsell (original stage cast: Deborah Mailman, Rachael Maza, Lisa Flanagan, Ursula Yovich)
Sarah: The Seventh Match (Yoram Gross, 1983)
Satan In Sydney (Beaumont Smith, 1918)
Satellite (Ben Speth, 2005) tracks the orbits of three characters - an ageing security guard, a young Aboriginal man and an adolescent girl - as they move through Melbourne; 72 min.
Satellite Boy (Catriona McKenzie, 2012) wr. Catriona McKenzie, prod. David Jowsey, dp Geoffrey Simpson; Cameron Wallaby, David Gulpilil, Joseph Pedley; Pete, a 10 year old boy lives in the Kimberley with his grandfather in an old abandoned outdoor cinema; when his grandfather's home is threatened with demolition, Pete sets off for the city with his best friend to try and save his home; WA; Australian general release 20 June 2013
Saturday Night (James Balian, 1999) Alison Whyte, Aaron Pedersen
Savage Honeymoon (Mark Beesley, 1998) NZ
Savage Islands (Ferdinand Fairfax, 1983) aka Nate and Hayes; NZ
Save the Lady (Leon Thau, 1981) wr. John Palmer, Yoram Gross; Wallas Eaton, John Ewart, Bill Kerr, Desmond Tester, John Coleby, Robert Clarkson; children's; Hobart
Save Your Legs! (Boyd Hicklin, 2012) Brenton Thwaites, David Lyons, Brendan Cowell; comedy
Saved (Tony Ayres, 2009) wr. Belinda Chayko; Claudia Karvan, Andy Rodoreda, Osamah Sami, Elise McCredie; telemovie; refugee drama
Saved from the Sea (unknown, 1909) screened Spencer 's Lyceum, Sydney, 1 January 1909 (Reade 1975: 275)
Saving Grace (Costa Botes) NZ
Saw (James Wan, 2004) Leigh Whannell, Danny Glover, Cary Elwes; slasher; world premiere Sundance January; Aust release 2 Dec 2004
Say a Little Prayer (Richard Lowenstein, 1993) aka I Came Back to Show You I Could Fly, novel by Robin Klein; wr. Richard Lowenstein, dp Graeme Wood; pd Chris Kennedy, ed. Jill Bilcock; Fiona Ruttelle, Sudi de Winter; introverted kid meets addict chick and enters her fantasy world
Scalp Merchant, The (Howard Rubie, 1978) telemovie; John Waters, Elizabeth Alexander, Ron Haddrick, Cameron Mitchell, Ric Hutton, Margaret Nelson, Joan Sydney; mystery
Scare Campaign (Cameron Cairnes, Colin Cairnes, 2016) horror
Scarecrow, The (Sam Pillsbury, 1981) aka Klynham Summer (USA), wr. Michael Heath, Sam Pillsbury from novel by Ronald Hugh Morrieson, prod. Rob Whitehouse, Oasis Films, NZNFU, dp James Bartle; John Carradine, Jonathan Smith, Tracy Mann, Daniel McLaren; thriller; NZ
Scarfies (Robert Sarkies, 1999) aka Crime 101; NZ; 94 min.
Scars Of Love (Walter S. McColl, 1918) aka Should Children Suffer?
Schooner (Stuart Beattie, pre-production 2006) prod. Hugh Jackman, Seed Productions, Greg Coote; Simon Baker; apparently never made
Scobie Malone (Terry Ohlsson, 1975) aka Helga's Web from novel by Jon Cleary, wr. Casey Robinson, prod. Casey Robinson, Kingcroft Productions, dp Keith Lambert, music Peter aarke, ed. Bill Stacey; Jack Thompson, James Condon, Cul Cullen, Noel Ferrier, Ken Goodlet, Joe James, Jacqueline Kott, Max Meldrum,Judy Morris, Shane Porteous, Rod Taylor; detective story; 98 min.
Scooby-Doo (Raja Gosnell, 2002) American offshore production shot in Qld
Scottish Covenanters, The (Joseph Perry, 1909)
Scratch (Michael Ralph, 2000) comic thriller
Scratched (Travis Bain, 2005) drama shot in Qld
Screeemer (Gary Young, 1996) aka Scream; apparently never completed
Scumbus (Luke Tierney, 2012) wr. Ed Kavalee; Toby Truslove, Ed Kavalee, Samantha Tolj, Glenn Robbins; comedy telemovie
Sea Dogs of Australia (Martyn Keith, 1913)
Sealed Room, The (Arthur Shirley, 1926) Pyramid Pictures, wr. Arthur Shirley, dp Lacey Percival; Arthur Shirley, Grace Glover
Searching for Mr Right.Com (Samantha Pierce, 2002) romcom
Sebastian and the Sparrow (Scott Hicks, 1989) children's film, set in Adelaide, friendship between two boys, one Euro-Aust, other from Viet background
Second, The (Mairi Cameron, 2018) wr. Stephen Lance, dp Mark Wareham; Rachael Blake, Susie Porter, Vince Colosimo, Martin Sacks, Susan Prior, Megan Dale, Bridget Webb; thriller
Second Chance (Peter Andrikidis, Scott McAboy, 2005) telemovie; wr. Ro Hume, John Misto; Ben Mendelsohn, Jodie Dry, Alyssa McClelland, Tara Morice, Geoff Morrell, Rhys Muldoon; filmed Broome, WA; 88 min.
Second Journey (to Uluru), The (Arthur Cantrill & Corinne Cantrill, 1981) experimental
Second-Hand Wedding (Paul Murphy, 2010) wr. Nick Ward, Linda Niccol; Holly Shanahan, Geraldine Brophy; NZ
Second Coming, The (David Barker, tba) Aquarius Films, wr. David Barker; Sarah Snook, Sam Reid; dystopic future
Second Time Lucky (Michael Anderson, 1984) prod. Antony I. Ginnane, Brian W. Cook; comedy; NZ
Secret Bridesmaid's Business, telemovie; Rebecca Frith
Secret Men's Business (Ken Cameron, 1999) telemovie, wr. Nicholas Hammond, Christopher Lee; Ben Mendelsohn, Marcus Graham, Simon Baker, Jeremy Sims, Jeremy Callaghan, Maya Stange, Joel Edgerton
Secret Of The Skies (A. R. Harwood, 1934) Centenary Films, wr. Laurence Brewer, dp Stan Pentreath; John D'Arcy, Norman Shepherd, Ella Bromley; drama, 56 min.
Secret River, The (Deborra Lee-Furness??) in planning since 2007; novel Kate Grenville, script Jan Sardi, prod. John Palermo; Hugh Jackman; this will now be a play at Sydney Theatre Company, involving wr. Andrew Bovell and dir. Neil Armfield; no info about a film related to this; update 2013: this is now to be a two-part mini-series directed by Daina Reid; emancipated English convict stakes a claim on land owned by a clan of Aboriginal people
Secrets (Michael Pattinson, 1992) aka One Crazy Night, Do You Want to Know a Secret? prod. Michael Pattinson, wr. Jan Sardi, Mac Gudgeon; Beth Champion (Emily), Malcolm Kennard (Danny), Danii Minogue (Didi), Willa O'Neill (Vicki), Noah Taylor (Randolf); teenpic; five teenagers break into the hotel where the Beatles are staying but get no further than the service basement; trapped there together, they tell each other their secrets, with the Kennard character as the evil catalyst; filmed in Wellington standing in for Melbourne
See Jack Run (Stephen Amis, 1991) wr. Stephen Amis from play Who Cares by Gillian M. Wadds; Trent Mooney, Molly Brumm, Ellisa Holloway; social-realist drama
Seeing Red (Virginia Rouse, 1992) prod. Tony Llewellyn-Jones, Virginia Rouse & William Marshall, wr. Roger Pulvers, music Andrew Yencken, dp Ian Jones; Zoe Carides, Anne Louise Lambert, Peta Toppano, Tony Llewellyn-Jones, George Spartels, Henri Szeps, John Mulcock, 98 min.; writer and his son are pursued from Sydney to Canberra and back again; little-seen thriller, based on the short story "Red Herrings" by Virginia Rouse (Tony Harrison 1994: 89); broadcast on Channel 9, 0230 5 December 2002: missed it
Seekers, The (Ken Annakin, 1954) aka Land of Fury, Group Film Productions, Fanfare Films, prod. George H. Brown, wr. William Fairchild, dp Geoffrey Unsworth; Jack Hawkins, Glynis Johns, Noel Purcell, Inia Te Wiata, Kenneth Williams, Laya Raki; NZ; 8100ft, 89 min.
Selkie (Donald Crombie, 2000) Shimon Moore, Chelsea Bruland, Mariana Rego; coming-of-age
Semi-Detached (Tony Ayres, project 2003) wr. Tony Ayres, prod. Liz Watts & Michael McMahon, Porchlight Films; apparently not made
Send a Gorilla (Melanie Read [Melanie Rodriga], 1988) wr. Melanie Read, prod. Dorothee Pinfold, dp Wayne Vinten; Carmel McGlone, Katherine McRae, Perry Piercy, John Callen; 96 min.
Sentence, The (George Basha, David Field, tba) wr. George Basha; drama; Screen Australian story development funding
Sentenced For Life (E. J. Cole, 1911)
Sentimental Bloke, The (Raymond Longford, 1919) Arthur Tauchert, Lottie Lyell, Gilbert Emery, CJ Dennis
Sentimental Bloke, The (Frank W. Thring, 1932) Efftee Film Productions, wr. C. J. Dennis, dp Arthur Higgins; Cecil Scott, Ray Fisher, Tal Ordell; 92 min.
Sentimental Bloke, The (Alan Burke, 1976) (TV, musical) Graeme Blundell, Geraldine Turner; poem by C. J. Dennis
Separation City (Paul Middleditch, 2009) NZ; Joel Edgerton, Danielle Cormack, Rhona Mitra
September (Peter Carstairs, 2007) wr. Peter Carstairs, Ant Horn, Tropfest backed, prod. Jon Polson, dp Jules O'Loughlin, music Roger Mason; Xavier Samuel, Clarence John Ryan, Kieran Darcy-Smith, Kelton Pell, Alec McConnell, Lisa Flanagan, Mia Wasikowska, Sibylla Budd, Anton Tennett, Paul Gleeson, Tara Morice, Morgan Griffin, Bob Baines, Tom E. Lewis; friendship between two 15-yr-old boys - one white, one black - in wheatbelt late 1960s; shot on location Harden NSW; Australian release 25 October
Serenades (Mojgan Khadem, 2001) child result of Afghan father winning night with Aboriginal woman; cultural clash; see Collins & Davies 2004: 88-89
Set, The (Frank Brittain, 1970) novel by Roger Ward; Sean Myers, Rod Mullinar; two young men have an affair; one attempts suicide; overseas sale banned by the censor
Settlement, The (Howard Rubie, 1984) Qld; wr. Ted Roberts, prod. Robert Bruning; Tony Barry, Allen Cassell, John Jarratt, Bill Kerr, Lorna Lesley, Katy Wild, Babette Stephens, David Downer; sideshow (carnival) setting, ménage à trois; 95 min.
Seven Keys To Baldpate (Monte Luke, 1916)
Seven Little Australians (Arthur Greville Collins, 1939)
Sex is a Four Letter Word (Murray Fahey, 1994) aka Love Stories; Joy Smithers, Rhett Walton, Mark Lee, Tessa Humphries, Miranda Otto, Timothy Jones, Jonathan Sammy-Lee; comedy
Science Fiction Volume One: The Osiris Child (Shane Abbess, tba) aka SFv1, wr. Shane Abbess, Brian Cachia; Daniel MacPherson; scifi
Shadow of Lightning Ridge (Wilfred Lucas, 1920) western
Shadow of the Boomerang (Dick Ross, 1960) World Wide Pictures (Billy Graham Evangelistic Association); "Christian western"; Jimmy Little's first role
Shadow of the Cobra (Mark Joffe, 1989) Rachel Ward
Shaker Run (Bruce Morrison, 1985) NZ; car chases
Shallows (? tba) novel by Tim Winton; Impian Films proposed project
Shambhala (Summer Nicks, tba) wr. Summer Nicks, prod. Tayyab Madni, Joe Thomas, Masaaki Tanaka; Asheesh Kapur, Pallavi Sharda, Akshay Kumar; Himalayan plane crash
Shame (Steve Jodrell, 1988) Barron Films; wr. Beverley Blankenship, Michael Brindley, prod. Paul D. Barron, Damien Parer, dp Joseph Pickering; Deborra-Lee Furness, Tony Barry, Simone Buchanan, Bill McCluskey, Margaret Ford; WA; location Toodyay; social problem drama; 94 min.
Shattered Illusion, The (A. G. Harbrow, 1928)
Shepherd Of The Southern Cross, The (Alexander Butler, 1914) Australasian Pictures, prod. Stanley Twist, wr. Nell Shipman, dp Ernest Higgins; Arthur Shirley, Vera Pearce, Roland Conway, Clare Stephenson, Tien Hogue; Charles Cozen Spencer's last film
Sher Mountains Killings Mystery (Vince Martin, 1990) prod. Phillip Avalon; Phil Avalon, Abigail, ... Joe Bugner
Shifting Sands: From Sand to Celluloid Continued (1998) AFI; indigenous issues; six parts: Tears, My Colour Your Kind, Passing Through, Grace, Promise, My Bed Your Bed; details: Tears (Ivan Sen, 1998) prod. Teresa-Jayne Hanlon; Luke Carroll (Vaughn), Jamilla Frail (Lena), 14 min.; My Colour Your Kind (Daniel McClean, 1998) wr. Daniel McClean; albino Aboriginal girl is in a mission run by Catholic nuns; Passing Through (Mark Olive, 1998); Grace (Wesley Enoch, 1998) London/Cairns; Grace (Justine Saunders) comes home from London to Cairns for a funeral; Promise (Mitch Torres, 1997); Gran remembers her promised husband: they are 'thrown together' and that was 'proper hard'; he looks after her; My Bed Your Bed (Erica Glynn) promised husband is shown to a young girl at a traditional ceremony, later she takes her bed and goes to him
Shimmer (Phillip Avalon, 1993) wr. Phillip Avalon; unreleased? incomplete? Cinema Papers, 93, May 1993: 74
Shine (Scott Hicks, 1996) wr. Jan Sardi; Geoffrey Rush (AA), Noah Taylor, John Gielgud, Googie Withers, Lynn Redgrave; Academy Award; 130 min.; young David Helfgott is traumatised by martinet father; 130 min.
Shiralee, The (Leslie Norman, 1957) Ealing Films; from the novel by D'Arcy Niland, 103 min.; Peter Finch (Macauley), Dana Wilson (Buster)
Shiralee, The (George Ogilvie, 1988) Bryan Brown, Noni Hazlehurst, Rebecca Smart; made for TV as 2 x 100 min.
Shirley Thompson versus the Aliens (Jim Sharman, 1972) prod. Jim Sharman, colour, 16 mm, 104 min., Kolossal Pictures, wr. Helmut Bakaitis & Jim Sharman, dp David Sanderson; Helmut Bakaitis, June Collis, Tim Elliott, Kate Fitzpatrick, Ron Haddrick, Jane Harders, Alexander Hay, Max Hess, John Ivkovitch, Phil Kitamura, Marion Johns, John Llewellyn, Sue Moir, Marie Nicholas, Candy Raymond, Julie Rodgers, Georgina West; rock tale, 1950s, girl visiting Luna Park Sydney hears from aliens
Shooting Blanks (Davor Dirlic, 1999) Wayne Hope, Tess Masters, Mark Pegler; romcom?
Short Changed (George Ogilvie, 1986) prod. Ross Matthews for Magpie Films, wr. Robert J. Merritt, dp Peter Levy, design Kristian Fredrikson, ed. Richard Francis-Bruce; Jamie Agius, David Kennedy, Susan Leith, Mark Little, Ray Meagher; see Kathy Bail, Murray 1995: 204; custody of Aboriginal child, family melodrama; Eastman colour, super 16 mm, 104 min.
Shotgun Wedding (Paul Harmon, 1994) aka David O'Brien's Shotgun Wedding; light drama; Aden Young, Bill Hunter, Zoe Carides, John Walton, John Clayton, Paul Chubb, Sean Scully, Max Cullen, Marshall Napier
Shot of Love (J. Harkness, 2006) wr. J. Harkness; Anastasia Seis, Travis McMahon, Nathan Dean Ramsey, Mathew Wilkinson, Stephen Cummings; explores how a gunshot fired in an alley late one night affects the lives of those who saw or heard the incident
Show of Hands (Anthony McCarten, 2008) romcom; NZ
Should A Doctor Tell? (P. J. Ramster, 1923)
Should A Girl Propose? (P. J. Ramster, 1926) P J Ramster Photoplays, prod, wr P J Ramster, dp Jack Fletcher; Cecil Pawley (Ellis Swift), Thelma Newling (Esma), Rex Simpson, Joy Wood, Norma Wood; "... rescue of the heroine by rope from the surf and rocks at Bondi." (Pike & Cooper); 4000 ft
Should I Be Good? (Grahame McLean, 1985) NZ
Show Business (A. R. Harwood, 1938) New Era Film Productions, prod. A. R. Harwood, wr. Frank Chapple, dp Arthur Higgins; Bert Matthews, Joyce Hunt, Fred Tupper, Jimmy Coates and his band, the Pathe Duncan Ballet; same story as his Nightclub; 90 min.
Showgirl's Luck (Norman Dawn, 1931) aka Talkie Mad; Susan Denis, Arthur Tauchert, Arthur Clarke; comedy musical; full-length talkie; opened November (Shirley) or December (Pike) 1931
Shrimp on the Barbie, The (Michael Gottlieb, Alan Smithee, 1990) aka The Boyfriend from Hell: title used in UK because Mattel owns the word "Barbie"; Cheech Marin; comedy; NZ/USA; 86 min.
Shut Up Little Man! An Audio Misadventure (Matthew Bate, 2011) Ivan Brunetti, Daniel Clowes, Mitch Deprey; Adelaide FF 2011; American release 25 August 2011
Siam Sunset (John Polson, 1999) prod. Al Clark; AFI Nomination 1999; Linus Roache, Danielle Cormack, Ian Bliss, Roy Billing
Sibling Rivalry (Clayton Jacobson, tba) wr. Jamie Browne, Tait Brady, Julia Adams; Shane Jacobson, Clayton Jacobson; comedy
Sick Stockrider, The (W. J. Lincoln, 1913) Lincoln-Cass Films, from the poem by Adam Lindsay Gordon, dp Maurice Bertel; George Bryant (the stockrider) Godfrey Cass (his mate) Roy Redgrave, Tom Cannam; 1200 ft; earliest film to survive virtually complete - tho only some 12-14 minutes long
Sidecar Racers (Earl Bellamy, 1975) aka The Team, The Teem (on the video release); prod. Richard Irving, Universal Pictures; wr. Jon Cleary, dp Paul Onorato, music Tom Scott, ed. Robert Kimble; Ben Murphy (Jeff Rayburn), Wendy Hughes (Lynn Carson), John Clayton (Dave Ferguson), John Meillon (Ocker Harvey), John Derum (Pete McAllister), Liddy Clark, Peter Graves, Peter Gwynne, Serge Lazareff, Arna-Maria Winchester; "young American surfer visiting Australia drifts into the world of sidecar motorcycle racing" (Pike & Cooper); 100 min.
Siege (Mike Smith, 2012) aka True Crime: Siege; wr. John Banas; Joel Tobeck, Mark Mitchinson, Miriama Smith; crime; NZ; 90 min.
Siege of Firebase Gloria, The (Brian Trenchard-Smith, 1988) Vietnam 1968
Siege of Pinchgut, The (Harry Watt, 1959) Ealing Films; Aldo Ray; last of the Ealing films made in Australia; Matt Kirk takes over Fort Denison in an attempt to get a re-trial
Signal One: Bullet Down Under (Rob Stewart, 1993) prod. Phillip Avalon, wr. Karl Shiffman; unreleased; Christopher Atkins, Mark 'Jacko' Jackson
Signs of Life (Adam McInnes, 2002) psych thriller
Silence of Dean Maitland, The (Raymond Longford, 1914)
Silence of Dean Maitland, The (Ken G. Hall, 1934) Cinesound Productions, prod. Ken G. Hall, wr. Gayne Dexter, Edmund Barclay from play by Maxwell Gray, dp Frank Hurley; John Longden (Dean Maitland), Charlotte Francis (Alma Lee), Jocelyn Howarth, Bill Kerr (Cyril Maitland Jnr); clergyman murders the father of his pregnant lover and then allows his best friend to be convicted for the crime; 97 min.
Silence, The (Cate Shortland, 2006) prod. Jan Chapman; two-part telemovie, broadcast ABC May 2006
Silent City, The (Matt Soutar, 2014) prod. Nate Striker-Knight, dp Ross Metcalf; Laura Collier, Olivia Charlotte, David Partridge; noir; WA
Silent Night (Rod Hardy, 2014) wr. Robert Rabiah, prod. Frank Lotito; Antonio Sabato Jr, Carla Bonner, Clayton Watson, Steve Bastoni
Silent One, The (Yvonne Mackay, 1984) NZ, prod. Dave Gibson, wr. Ian Mune, dp Ian Paul; Telo Malese, George Henare, Pat Evison, Anzac Wallace, Rongo Tupatea Kahu; first NZ fictional feature directed by a woman (cf. Trial Run); 92 min.
Silent Partner (Alkinos Tsilimidos, 2001) David Field (Bill) and Syd Brisbane (John); two drunks get the chance of a lifetime to race their own greyhound [while] unbeknown to them they are being set up for a big sting; Lynden Barber, "Let slip the dogs", The Weekend Australian, 31 March-1 April 2001, Outtakes, Arts: R23; 116 min.
Silent Witness, A (Franklyn Barrett, 1912) Cyril Mackay, Leonard Willey, Sydney Stirling, Loris Brown; detective drama; 2400ft
Silks And Saddles (John K. Wells, 1921) aka Queen of the Turf, Commonwealth Pictures, wr. John K. Wells from story by John Cosgrove, dp Al Burne; Brownie Vernon, Robert MacKinnon, John Cosgrove, John Faulkner, Tal Ordell, Evelyn Johnson, Raymond Lawrence, Gerald Harcourt, Tommy Denman, Keeaquhair; 5500 ft
Silver Brumby, The (John Tatoulis, 1993) novel by Elyne Mitchell; Caroline Goodall, Russell Crowe (The Man); review by Jim Schembri in Murray 1995: 371; set in High Country
Silver City (Sophia Turkiewicz, 1984) prod. Joan Long for Limelight Productions, wr. Thomas Keneally, Sophie Turkiewicz, dp John Seale, music William Motzing, design Igor Nay, ed. Don Saunders; Gosia Dobrowolska, Ivar Kants, Steve Bisley, Steve Bisley, Ewa Brok, Annie Byron, Jan Hurley, Anna Jemison, Debra Lawrence, Igor Nay, Don Saunders; three AFIs; migrant drama; Eastman colour, 35 mm. 100 min.
Simone de Beauvoir's Babies (Kate Woods, 1997) TV mini-series
Sin Of A Woman, The (Alfred Rolfe, 1912) Australian Photo-Play Company
Singapore Sling (Robert Marchand, 1993) wr. John Goldsmith, Robert Marchand, Barron Entertainment, AFFC, NSW FTO, Nine, WA Film Council; John Waters, Burkhard Heyl, Deborra-Lee Furness, Jan-Michael Vincent; telemovie
Singer and the Dancer, The (Gillian Armstrong, 1977) prod. Gillian Armstrong, wr. Gillian Armstrong, John Pleffer, from Old Mrs Bilson, short story by Alan Marshall, music Robert Murphy, dp Russell Boyd, design Sue Armstrong, ed. Nicholas Beauman; Ruth Cracknell, Elizabeth Crosby, Jude Kuring, Kate Sheil, Rob Steele; Melbourne, colour, 35mm from 16mm, 52 min.
Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior, The (Michael Tuchner, 1992) wr. Martin Copland & Scott Busby; Jon Voigt, Sam Neill, Bruno Lawrence, Kerry Fox, John Callen, Stacey Pickren, Michael Mizrahi, Tony Barry; NZ, 94 min.
Sione's Wedding (Chris Graham, 2006) wr. James Griffin, Oscar Kightley; NZ comedy
Sione's 2: Unfinished Business (Simon Bennett, 2012) Oscar Kightley, Robbie Magasiva, Shimpal Lelisi; comedy; NZ
Sirens (John Duigan, 1994) Hugh Grant, Tara Fitzgerald, Sam Neill, Elle Macpherson, Portia de Rossi, Kate Fischer, Pamela Rabe, Ben Mendelsohn, John Polson, John Duigan (earnest minister); review by Adrian Martin in Murray 1995: 393; Norman Lindsay story
Six Lovers (Laurent Boulanger, 2012) wr. Laurent Boulanger; Cameron Daddo, Peter Kalos, Nadia Andary; drama; released 15 March 2012
Skin Deep (Geoffrey Steven, 1978) NZ, Phase Three Film Productions Ltd, prod. John Maynard, wr. Piers Davies, Roger Horrocks, Geoffrey Steven, idea by Geoffrey Steven, dp Leon Narbey; Ken Blackburn, Deryn Cooper, Alan Jervis, Grant Tilly; 110 min.
Skin Deep (Mark Joffe, Chris Langham, 1983) wr. Anne Lucas, prod. Stanley Walsh, dp Ray Henman; Briony Behets, Antoinette Byron, Angelo D'Angelo, Paul Dawber, Carmen Duncan, Jon Finlayson, Kate Fitzpatrick, Liz Harris, Bartholomew John, Nicole Kidman, Bobby Limb; telemovie; 100 min.
Skin of Your Eye (Arthur Cantrill & Corinne Cantrill, 1973) experimental
Sky Pirates (Colin Eggleston, 1986) prod. John D. Lamond; shot partly in Bora Bora and Easter Island; John Hargreaves (Dakota Harris), Meredith Phillips, Max Phipps, Bill Hunter, Simon Chilvers; pilot goes through time warp while looking for sacred stone
Slam (Partho Sen Gupta, 2018) wr. Partho Sen Gupta, prod. Tenille Kennedy, Michael Wrenn; Abbey Aziz, Adam Bakri, Rachel Blake; racism, terrorism; NSW
Slate, Wyn and Me (Don McLennan, 1987) Film Victoria; ed. Zbigniew Friedrich, production design Patrick Reardon, music Trevor Lucas & Ian Mason, dp David Connell, story editor Tom Burstall, exec. producers Antony I. Ginnane & William Fayman, novel Slate & Me and Blanche McBride Georgia Savage, screenplay Don McLennan, prod. Tom Burstall; Sigrid Thornton (Blanche), Simon Burke (Wyn), Martin Sacks (Slate), Tommy Lewis (Morgan), Lesley Baker (Molly), Harold Baigent (Sammy), Michelle Torres (Daphne), Murray Fahey (Martin), Taya Straton (Pippa), Julia MacDougall (Del Downer), Peter Cummins (Old Man Downer), Reg Gorman (Wilkinson), Warren Owens (Tommy), Eric McPhan, Simon Westaway (policemen), Kurt von Schneider (truck driver), 91 min.; review by Joanne Murray-Smith in Cinema Papers, 65, September 1987: 53-54; extract repr. in Murray 1995: 229
Sleep-Paralysis (Nikolaos, 2004) horror
Sleeper (Dru Brown, 2012) Scott Levy, Kym Jackson, Ty Hungerford, Bruce Hopkins; horror
Sleeping Beauty (Julia Leigh, 2011) Cannes 2011; Emily Browning, Rachael Blake, Ewen Leslie, Peter Carroll, Chris Haywood, Hugh Keays-Byrne; Browning is prostitute, inter alia, who literally sleeps with clients
Sleeping Dogs (Roger Donaldson, 1977) wr. Christian K. Stead (novel Smith's Dream - as 'Karl Stead'), Ian Mune, Arthur Baysting, prod. Roger Donaldson, Larry Parr, dp Michael Seresin, gaffer Alun Bollinger; Sam Neill, Warren Oates, Nevan Rowe, Ian Mune; NZ
Slice of Life (John D. Lamond, 1982) prod. John D. Lamond, wr. Alan Hopgood, dp Ross Berryman, composer Brian May, design Paul Jones, ed. Jill Rice; Jane Clifton, John Ewart, Juliet Jordan, Caz Lederman, Dina Mann, Amanda Muggleton, Robin Nedwell; sex comedy; Eastman colour, 35 mm, 100 min.
Slim Dusty Movie, The (Rob Stewart, 1984) Slim in concert with dramatised flashbacks to his youth, as played by Jon Blake
Slow Night at the Kuwaiti Cafe, A (Marc Gracie, 1991) prod. Frank Howson, Boulevard Films; Mike Bishop, Tiriel Mora, Fiona Corke, Tania Lacy; Vietnam vet holds cafe manager hostage
Small Claims (Cherie Nowlan, 2004) TV; Claudia Karvan
Smash (Garnet Mae, 2012) wr. Garnet Mae; Jey Osman, Tony Rahme, Liana Giurissevich, Tahlia Moffatt; 88 min.
Smash Palace (Roger Donaldson, 1981) wr. Roger Donaldson, Peter Hansard, Bruno Lawrence, prod. Roger Donaldson, Larry Parr, dp Graeme Cowley, gaffer Stuart Dryburgh; Bruno Lawrence, Anna Maria Monticelli (as Anna Jemison), Greer Robson, Keith Aberdein; NZ
Smiley (Anthony Kimmins, 1956) London Films, an Alexander Korda Production; Colin Petersen (Smiley), Bruce Archer, Ralph Richardson, John McCallum, Chips Rafferty, Reg Lye; sequel: Smiley Gets a Gun
Smiley Gets a Gun (Anthony Kimmins, 1958) Sybil Thorndike, Keith Calvert, Bruce Archer, Chips Rafferty
Smithy (Ken G. Hall, 1946) aka Pacific Adventure (in USA) The Southern Cross (UK); Columbia Pictures (US), although made by the Cinesound team; Ron Randell, Muriel Steinbeck, Charles Tingwell has one line in the opening scene, Billy Hughes appears as himself; Hall's last film; Charles Kingsford Smith docudrama
Smoke 'Em If You've Got 'Em (Ray Boseley, 1988) about an odd group of people who have come together after a nuclear attack is launched on Australia; they are in a huge bomb shelter and have a massive party as they realise they'll probably all die soon ... and that's about it
SNAK: Sensitive New Age Killer (Mark Savage, 2000) wr. Mark Savage; 84 min.
Snakeskin (Gillian Ashurst, 2001) thriller/adventure; NZ<
Snapshot (Simon Wincer, 1979) aka Day After Halloween; prod. Antony I. Ginnane for Australian International Film Corporation, wr. Chris DeRoche, Everett De Roche, dp Vincent Monton, music Brian May, design Jon Dowding, ed. Philip Reid; Chantal Contouri, Robert Bruning, Sigrid Thornton, Denise Drysdale, Vincent Gil, Jon Sidney, Jacqui Gordon, Julia Blake, Hugh Keays-Byrne, Lulu Pinkus; see Greg Kerr in Murray 1995: 47; released on DVD 2004; thriller; colour, 35mm, Panavision, 90 min.
Sniper (Luis Llosa, 1992) Tom Berenger; action; shot Qld
Snow: The Movie (Robert Gibson, 1982) David Argue, Geoff Kelso, Ian McFadyen; to do with skiing and wet T-shirt competition; shot at Falls Creek
Snowtown (Justin Kurzel, 2011) wr. Shaun Grant, dp Adam Arkapaw; Daniel Henshall, Lucas Pittaway
Soft Fruit (Christina Andreef, 1999) prod. Helen Bowden, exec. prod. Jane Campion; Genevieve Lemon, Jeanie Drynan, Sacha Horler, Linal Haft, Russell Dykstra; AFI Nomination 1999; bunch of Florence Nightingales come home to nurse their mum
Soldier's Tale, A (Larry Parr, 1988) France/NZ
Soldier Boys (John King, 1967) NZ
Soldiers of the Cross (Joseph Perry & Herbert Booth, 1900) The Salvation Army; not as a whole a feature film, but a show with lantern slides, motion pictures, hymns and a spoken commentary; included here because of obvious historical importance: the world's first drama film; premiered 13 September 1900; the film sequences are lost; only stills survive
Solo (Tony Williams, 1978) prod. David Hannay, Tony Williams, wr. Martyn Sanderson, Tony Williams, dp John Blick, music Marion Arts, Dave Fraser, Robbie Laven, design Paul Carvel, ed. Tony Williams; Lisa Peers, Vincent Gil, Perry Armstrong, Maxwell Fernie, Martyn Sanderson, Davina Whitehouse; romance drama; first Aust-NZ co-production; Eastman colour, 35mm, 96 min.
Solo (Morgan O'Neill, 2006) wr. Morgan O'Neill; Colin Friels, Bojana Novakovic, Linal Haft, Chris Haywood, Angie Milliken, Vince Colosimo, Tony Barry, Anh Do, Brian Harrison; crime; Sydney
Solo Flight (Ian Mills, 1975)
Somersault (Cate Shortland, 2004) aka More Than Scarlet (working title); prod. Anthony Anderson, Jan Chapman, dp Robert Humphreys; Abbie Cornish, Sam Worthington, Lynette Curran, Erik Thompson, Anne Louise Lambert; premiere MIFF Wed 21 July 2004; discovery of the difference between sex and love in Jindabyne, an Australian winter ski resort town; standing ovation at Cannes 2004; Toronto FF September 2004; general release 9 Sept 2004; won all 13 awards at the AFIs 29 October 2004; review: Richard Luck, Empire, 43, October 2004: 27; see also: 35; 106 min.
Something about AJ (Adam Todd, 2002) drama
Something in the Air, ABC TV soap; Eric Bana
Somewhere in the Darkness (Paul Fenech, 1998) Rowan Witt, Barry Jenkins, Sandy Gutman; drama
Son of a Gun (Julius Avery, 2014) prod. Timothy White, Janelle Landers, exec. prod. Aaron L. Gilbert, John Collee, Bryce Menzies, Aidan O'Bryan; Ewan McGregor, Alicia Vikander, Brenton Thwaites; gold heist that goes wrong: crime thriller; prison; WA; Aust release 16 Oct
Son of the Mask (Lawrence Guterman, 2005) American production filmed in Sydney
Son is Born, A (Eric Porter, 1946) prod. Eric Porter, wr. Gloria Bourner, dp Arthur Higgins; Kitty Bluett, Peter Dunstan, Peter Finch, Jane Holland, John McCallum, Ron Randell, Muriel Steinbeck, b/w, 85 min.; family melodrama
Son of a Lion (Benjamin Gilmour, 2007) set in Pakistan
Song Of Good, A (Gregory King, 2008) crime drama; NZ
Sons for the Return Home (Paul Maunder, 1979) Pacific ../films/NZ Film Commission, wr. Paul Maunder from novel by Albert Wendt (Samoa), dp Alun Bollinger, art director Vincent Ward; Uelese Petaia, Fiona Lindsay, Moira Walker, Lani Tupu, 117 min.
Sons of Matthew (Charles Chauvel, 1949) Greater Union Theatres/Universal Pictures; shot in Qld; Michael Pate, Ken Wayne, Tommy Burns, John Unicomb, John Ewart, Wendy Gibb; 107 min.; aka The Rugged O'Riordans (overseas version) family melodrama
Sons of Steel (Gary L. Keady, 1989) rock star and his girlfriend strive to turn back time in order to avert a disaster in the near future; exploitation
Sororal (Sam Barrett, 2015) Amanda Woodhams, Liam Graham, James Helm, Vito de Francesco, Nicola Bartlett; giallo thriller; Perth WA; screened 2 April 2014 Monster Fest Australia
Sorry My Love (John Hoomer, Ghassan Hariri, 1997)
Sound Of Love (John Power, 1978) John Jarratt, Celia de Burgh, George Ogilvie, Don Barker; Eileen and Dave meet when their affliction brings them together in a clinic for the deaf
Sound of One Hand Clapping, The (Richard Flanagan, 1998) wr. Richard Flanagan from his own novel, prod. Rolf de Heer, exec. prod. Steve Vizard, Andrew Knight, Jackie O'Sullivan, dp. Martin McGrath; Kerry Fox, Kristof Kaczmarek, Rosie Flanagan, Melita Jurisic, Jacek Koman, Evelyn Krape, Essie Davis; 93 min.; Slovenians in Tasmania; mostly positive review by Brian McFarlane, Cinema Papers, 124, May 1998: 36
South Solitary (Shirley Barrett, 2010) Marton Csokas, Miranda Otto, Barry Otto; romance drama
Southern Cross (Peter Maxwell, Seiji Moriyama, 1982) aka The Highest Honour, The Highest Honor (US); prod. Lee Robinson, Takeyo Otoh, wr. Lee Robinson, Takeyo Otoh, Katsuya Suzaki, dp John McLean; John Howard, Atsuo Nakamura, George Mallaby, Michael Aitkens, Stuart Wilson, Steve Bisley, Tony Bonner, Harold Hopkins; action adventure WW2 attack on Singapore
Southern Cross (Mark DeFriest, 2001) wr. Ron Elliott, story Paul Barron, prod. Paul D. Barron, remake of A Waltz Through the Hills (Frank Arnold, 1988) from the novel by Gerry Glaskin; Heath Bergersen, Bill Kerr, Michael Loney, Geoff Kelso; two Vietnamese children escape from an institution for refugees, and make their way to Perth
Spagnola, La (Steve Jacobs, 2001) wr. prod. Anna-Maria Monticelli; Lola Marcelli, Alice Ansara, Lourdes Bartolome, Alex Dimitriades; AFI 2001: Best Original Music Score: Cezary Skubiszewski
Spank! (Ernie Clark, 1999) prod. David Lightfoot
Spear (Stephen Page, 2015) dance film based on Bangarra Dance's Skin, 2000
Spider and Rose (Bill Bennett, 1994) Ruth Cracknell, Simon Bossell; review by Jim Schembri in Murray 1995: 394; comedy based on age difference
Spirit Of Gallipoli, The (Keith Gategood, William Green, 1928)
Spirits of the Air, Gremlins of the Clouds (Alex Proyas, 1989) scifi fantasy
Splendid Fellows (Beaumont Smith, 1934) Frank Leighton (as Hon. Hubert Montmorency Ralston); also promoted in NZ with the subtitle The Hayseeds at the Melbourne Centenary; Beaumont Smith's last film; buddy movie; cameo by Charles Kingsford Smith
Spontaneous Combustion (David Caesar, 2016) prod. Antony I. Ginnane, wr. Terence Hammond; conspiracy thriller; pandemic involving government and Big Pharma
Spook (David Anthony Hall, 1986) Tim Elston, Joanne Samuel, Daniel Hill; horror
Spooked (Geoff Murphy, 2004) wr. Ian Wishart (book), Geoff Murphy, prod. Geoff Dixon, Mark Hotchin, Merata Mita, Geoff Murphy, Don Reynolds, Eric Watson, dp Rewa Harre; Cliff Curtis, Christopher Hobbs, Andrea Kelland, Ian Mune, John Leigh, Mark Ferguson, Greg Johnson, Kevin J. Wilson, Alison Bruce, Vincent Ward; thriller; NZ
Spotswood (Mark Joffe, 1992) aka The Efficiency Expert; wr. Max Dann, Andrew Knight, prod. Richard Brennan, Timothy White, dp Ellery Ryan, pd Chris Kennedy; Anthony Hopkins, Ben Mendelsohn, Alwyn Kurts, Bruno Lawrence, John Walton, Rebecca Rigg, Toni Collette, Russell Crowe; mocassin factory shaken by arrival of time-and-motion expert
Spudmonkey (Stuart McBratney, 2001)
Spur Of The Moment (A. R. Harwood, 1931) dp Leslie McCallum, Ed Wintle; James Alexander, William Green, Guy Hastings talkie, static indoors melodrama; opened 26 September 1931, together with Isle Of Intrigue; 50 min. (?)
Square, The (Nash Edgerton, 2008) David Robert, Clair van der Boom, Joel Edgerton, Anthony Hayes; man's life begins to unravel when his mistress brings him a bag of cash; thriller; released 31 July 2008
Squatter And The Clown, The (People's Picture Company, 1911)
The Squatter's Daughter (Bert Bailey, 1910) aka The Land of the Wattle, prod. William Anderson, from the play by Bert Bailey & Edmund Duggan, dp Orrie Perry; Olive Wilton, Bert Bailey, Edmund Duggan; 6000 ft
Squatter's Daughter, The (Ken G. Hall, 1933) prod. Ken G. Hall, Cinesound Productions, wr. Gayne Dexter, E. V. Timms, play by 'Albert Edmunds' (Bert Bailey & Edmund Duggan), photography: Frank Hurley, George Malcolm; Owen Ainley, W. Lane Bayliff, Dorothy Dunkley, Jocelyn Howarth, George Lloyd, Grant Lyndsay, Fred Macdonald, Claude Turton, Katie Towers, Les Warton, John Warwick; 35 mm, 104 min. Romeo and Juliet story
Squatter's Son, The (E. J. Cole, 1911) "In a climactic horseback escape, the hero is helped by an obedient 'Black Boy' who destroys a bridge to delay the pursuers" Pike & Sons for the Return Home (Paul Maunder, 1979) 1998: 23; quotations in Malone 1987: 2
Squeeze (Richard Turner, 1980) Trilogic Film Productions, wr. Richard Turner, dp Ian Paul; Robert Shannon, Paul Eady, Donna Akersten; gay relationship; 79 min.
Squeeze A Flower (Marc Daniels, 1970) Walter Chiari; liqueur recipe; comedy
Squizzy Taylor (Kevin Dobson, 1982) David Atkins, Allen Cassell, Cul Cullen, Robert Hughes, Michael Long, Kim Lewis, Jacki Weaver; 97 min.
StalkHer (John Jarratt, 2015) wr. Kris Maric, dp Jody Muston; John Jarratt, Kaarin Fairfax, Alan Finney; black comedy
Stalking Julia (Emma Freeman, 2016) wr. Alison Nisselle, prod. Richard Keddie; Rachel Griffiths; biopic about Julia Gillard's prime ministership
Stan and George's New Life (Brian McKenzie, 1992) dp Ray Argall; Paul Chubb, John Bluthal, Julie Forsyth, Margaret Ford; review by Jan Epstein in Murray 1995: 348; from her review in Cinema Papers, 90, October 1992: 55; review by Barrett Hodsdon, Filmnews, August 1992: 13; old-fashioned comedy
Stanley: Every Home Should Have One (Esben Storm, 1984) prod. Andrew Gaty for Seven Keys; wr. Esben Storm, from story by Andrew Gaty, Esben Storm, dp Russell Boyd, design Owen Paterson, ed. Bill Anderson; Peter Bensley, Nell Campbell, Graham Kennedy, David Argue, Jonathan Coleman, Michael Craig, Max Cullen, Lorna Lesley; Eastman colour, 35mm, 93 min.
Star Struck (Gillian Armstrong, 1982) aka Starstruck; prod. David Elfick, Richard Brennan for Palm Beach Pictures, ed. Stephen Maclean, dp Russell Boyd, design Brian Thomson, ed. Nicholas Beauman; Jo Kennedy, Ross O'Donovan, Margo Lee, Pat Evison, Geoffrey Rush, Max Cullen, Melissa Jaffer, Ned Lander; musical; Eastman colour, 35mm, 105 min.
Starlight Hotel (Sam Pillsbury, 1987) wr. Grant Hinden-Miller, prod. Larry Parr, Finola Dwyer, Mirage Films, Challenge Film Corp, dp Warrick Attewell; Peter Phelps, Greer Robson, Marshall Napier, Bruce Phillips, The Wizard; Depression era NZ school-kid Kate missing her father badly; temptation to seek him out leads her into diverse and intense encounters with fate; NZ
Starship (Roger Christian, 1985) scifi crap
Starview (Patrick Flannigan, 1988)
State of Siege, A (Vincent Ward, 1978) NZ, prod. Timothy White, School of Fine Art, U Canterbury, dp Alun Bollinger, Michael Rathbone; Anne Flannery, Peggy Walker, John Bullock; thriller/drama; not feature length; 52 min.
Stealth (Rob Cohen, 2005) dp Dean Semler; Josh Lucas; action; shot partly in NSW
Stickmen (Hamish Rothwell, 2001) drama; NZ
Stiff (John Clarke, 2004) telemovie, wr. John Clarke, novel by Shane Maloney; prod. Huntaway Films (Sam Neill, John Clarke, Jay Cassells) in assoc. with Ruby Entertainment (Mark Ruse and Stephen Luby); first in "Murray Whelan" series; David Wenham (Murray Whelan), Mick Molloy, Sam Neill; broadcast Seven June 2004
Still Point, The (Barbara Boyd-Anderson, 1985) prod. Rosa Colosimo for Colosimo Film Productions, wr. Barbara Boyd Anderson, Rosa Colosimo, dp Kevin Anderson, music Pierre Pierre, design Patrick Reardon, ed. Zbigniew Friedrich; Nadine Garner, Lyn Semmler, Robin Cuming, Steve Bastoni, Alex Menglet; teen movie (for girls); Adrian Martin calls it "teen literature", Murray 1995: 176; Eastman colour, 16 mm, 81 min.
Still Waters (Tana Smith, 2011) David Clark, Dominique Donovan, Whitney Duff; thriller; Australian release 12 Dec 2011
Sting in the Tale, A (Eugene Schlusser, 1989) aka Scorpio; prod. Rosa Colosimo, Reg McLean; Diane Craig; female MP to become first female PM; political comedy set Adelaide
Stingray (Anthony Hayes, tba) wr. Anthony Hayes; crime action; Screen Australian story development funding
Stir (Stephen Wallace, 1980) aka The Promoting of Mr Smith; wr. Bob Jewson, prod. Richard Brennan for Smiley Films, dp Geoff Burton, music Cameron Allen, design Lee Whitmore, ed. Henry Dangar; Bryan Brown, Max Phipps, Dennis Miller, Michael Gow, Phil Motherwell, Gary Waddell, Ray Marshall; prison drama; filmed Gladstone Jail, SA; Eastman colour, 35mm, 100 min.
Stock Squad (Howard Rubie, 1985) prod. Tom Jeffrey; Martin Sacks, Gerard Kennedy, Kris McQuade; telemovie: Channel 9
Stockade (Hans Pomeranz, Ross McGregor, 1971) prod. Hans Pomeranz for Spectrum Films, wr. Kenneth Cook, dp Jack Bellamy; Graham Corry, Michelle Fawdon (Elizabeth Green), Rod Mullinar (Peter Lalor), Michael Caton; began as a musical play (directed by McGregor) detailing, with reasonable historical accuracy, the events at the Eureka Stockade when rebellious miners fought against government regulation of the goldfields in Ballarat in 1854; 90 min.
Stone (Sandy Harbutt, 1974) prod. Sandy Harbutt, Hedon Productions, wr. Sandy Harbutt, Michael Robinson, dp Graham Lind, design Tim Storrier, music Billy Green, ed. Ian Barry; Ken Shorter (Stone), Sandy Harbutt (Undertaker), Deryck Barnes (Doctor Townes), Hugh Keays-Byrne (Toad), Roger Ward (Hooks), Vincent Gil (Dr Death), Slim de Grey, Rebecca Gilling, Bill Hunter, Harry Lawrence, Sue Lloyd, Garry McDonald, Helen Morse, Ros Spiers, Owen Weingott; Stone is an undercover cop who infiltrates a bikie gang when several of its members are murdered; Sydney, colour, 35mm, 103 min.
Stone Bros. (Richard Frankland, 2009) aka Stone Bros; comedy; Luke Carroll, Leon Burchill, Valentio Del Toro, David Page, Peter Phelps
Stoner (Feng Huang, 1974) Aust/Hong Kong/USA; George Lazenby, Angela Mao, Betty Ting Pei; action
Stork (Tim Burstall, 1971) prod. Tim Burstall, Bilcock and Copping Film Productions, wr. David Williamson from play The Coming of Stork, dp Robin Copping; Helmut Bakaitis, Graeme Blundell Peter Cummins, Sean McEuan Max Gillies, Dennis Miller, Bruce Spence, Jacki Weaver; Spence won an AFI for this; Melbourne; colour, 35 mm, 90 min.; brief review of DVD release: Michael Adams, Empire, 45, December 2004: 112; three AFI awards
Storm Boy (Henri Safran, 1976) prod. Matt Carroll for South Australian Film Corporation, wr. Sonia Borg, from novel by Colin Thiele, dp Geoff Burton, music Michael Carlos, design David Copping, ed. G. Turney-Smith; Greg Rowe, David Gulpilil, Peter Cummins, Judy Dick, Grant Page; white boy befriends pelican and outcast Aborigine, Fingerbone Bill, banished by his Kunai people, Adelaide, colour, 93 min.
Storm Boy (Shawn Seet, 2018) wr. Justin Monjo, prod. Michael Boughen, Matthew Street; Geoffrey Rush, Jai Courtney; SA
Storm Warning (Jamie Blanks, 2007) wr. Everett De Roche; Nadia Farès, Robert Taylor, David Lyons, Mathew Wilkinson, John Brumpton; horror
Story of the Kelly Gang, The (Charles Tait, 1906) J. & N. Tait, Johnson & Gibson, wr. Charles Tait, dp Millard Johnson, Orrie Perry, Reg Perry, c. 4000 ft; Frank Mills, Elizabeth Tait, John Tait, Norman Campbell, Will Coyne; world's first feature film, in the sense that it ran for more than an hour; seventeen minutes of the film have been restored and released by the National Film and Sound Archive
Stowaway (Lee Robinson & Ralph Habib, 1958) aka Le passager clandestin; novel by Georges Simenon; Southern International; dp Desmond Dickinson, assistant editor Anthony Buckley (his first feature); Martine Carol, Karlheinz Böhm, Serge Reggiani, Arletty, Roger Livesey, Reg Lye, Maea Flohr; aventure drama
Straight to You (Michael Egan, 2004) comedy
Strange Bedfellows (Dean Murphy, 2003) Paul Hogan, Michael Caton pretend to be gay to exploit tax laws; brief review of DVD release: Matt Coyte, Empire, 43, October 2004: 9; see also Metro 141
Strange Colours (Alena Lodkina, 2017) wr. Alena Lodkina, Isaac Wall, dp Michael Latham; Kate Cheel, Justin Courtin, Daniel P. Jones; shot Lightning Ridge
Strange Fits of Passion (Elise McCredie, 1999) prod. Lucy MacLaren, dp James Grant; Michela Noonan, Mitchel Butel; coming-of-age black comedy drama; "bittersweet fable about a young woman's series of hilarious sexual and social misadventures as she struggles to discover the meaning of love, sex and desire in a post-everything world"
Strange Holiday (Mende Brown, 1970) aka Boys of Lost Island; children's
Strange Planet (Emma-Kate Croghan, 1999) prod. Stavros Kazantzidis; Naomi Watts, Claudia Karvan, Felix Williamson, Tom Long; 96 min.; romantic comedy
Strangerland (Kim Farrant, 2015) wr. Fiona Seres, Michael Kiniron, prod. Naomi Wenck, Macdara Kelleher; Nicole Kidman, Joseph Fiennes, Hugo Weaving, Maddison Brown; drama: missing children; Sundance
Strangers (Craig Lahiff, 1989) wr. John Emery, dp Steve Arnold; James Healy, Anne Looby, Melissa Docker, Jim Holt, Tim Robertson; drama
Strangler's Grip, The (West's Pictures, 1912) dp Franklyn Barrett; Sydney Stirling, Cyril Mackay, Leonard Willey
Strata (Geoffrey Steven, 1983) NZ, Phase Three Films Ltd, Prod. John Maynard, wr. Ester Krumbachova, Geoff Steven, Michael Havas, dp Leon Narbey; Nigel Davenport, John Banas, Judy Morris, Tom Brennan, Roy Billing; art film; 110 min.
Street Hero (Michael Pattinson, 1984) wr. Jan Sardi, prod. Julie Monton for Paul Dainty Films, dp Vincent Monton; Vince Colosimo, Sandy Gore, Bill Hunter, Ray Marshall, Amanda Muggleton, Peter Sardi, Sigrid Thornton; he wants a career as a rock singer; 100 min.
Street to Die, A (Bill Bennett, 1985) Chris Haywood, Jennifer Cluff, Robin Ramsay, Pat Evison, Arianthe Galani, Peter Hehir; Colin (Chris Haywood) dies of the effects of Agent Orange, to which he wasexposed in Vietnam
Streetfighter (Stephen E. de Souza, 1995)
Streets Of London, The (Frank W. Thring, 1934) Efftee Film Productions, wr. Frank Harvey, dp Arthur Higgins; Frank Harvey, Ethel Newman, Leonard Stephens; 85 min.
Strength of Water, The (Armagan Ballantyne, 2009) drama; NZ
Strictly Ballroom (Baz Luhrmann, 1992) wr. Baz Luhrmann, Craig Pearce; earlier screenplay: Baz Luhrmann, Andrew Bovell; dp Steve Mason; Paul Mercurio, Tara Morice, Bill Hunter, Pat Thomson, Gia Carides, Peter Whitford, Barry Otto, Antonio Vargas; 91 min.
Strike (George Young, 1912)
Strike Me Lucky (Ken G. Hall, 1934) dp Frank Hurley, George Heath; vehicle for Roy Rene (Harry Van der Sluice aka Henry van der Sluys) as Mo McMackie; Roy Rene's father was a Dutch Jew and and his mother Anglo-Jewish
Strikebound (Richard Lowenstein, 1984) wr. Richard Lowenstein, book by Wendy Lowenstein [his mother], prod. Miranda Bain and Timothy White for TRM Productions, ed. Jill Billcock; Carol Burns, Reg Evans, Nik Forster, Chris Haywood, Hugh Keays-Byrne, David Kendall (mine manager), Rob Steele; 100 min.; miners strike in 1936: they locked themselves in the main shaft
Stroker (John Laurie, 1988) John Flaus; experimental; unreleased
Strong is the Seed (Arthur Greville Collins, 1949) story of William Farrer
Struck by Lightning (Jerzy Domaradzki, 1990) aka Riders on a Storm; wr. Trevor Farrant, prod. Terry Charatsis & Trevor Farrant; Garry McDonald, Brian Vriends; article by Hunter Cordaiy, Cinema Papers, 79, May 1990: 24-29; interview with Jerzy Domaradzki by Hunter Cordaiy, Cinema Papers, 79, May 1990: 30-32; Domaradzki filmography: 32; 105 min.
Struck Oil (Franklyn Barrett, 1919) Australian Art Productions, prod. Humbert Pugliese, from play by Sam Smith and Clay Greene, dp Ernest Higgins; vehicle for Maggie Moore, the ex-wife of J.C. Williamson, despite her age; 7 reels
Stunt Rock (Brian Trenchard-Smith, 1980) Grant Page, Monique van de Ven, Margarget Gerard
Stygian (James Wan, Shannon Young, 2000) horror action fantasy
Subdivision (Sue Brooks, 2009) wr. Ashley Bradnam, Janice Bradnam, Terry McCann, prod. Owen Johnston, Trish Lake, dp John Stokes; Bruce Spence, Gary Sweet, Steve Bisley, Brooke Satchwell, Kris McQuade; comedy
Submerge (Sophie O'Connor, 2013) wr. Kat Holmes, Sophie O'Connor; Lily Hall, Christina Hallett, Kevin Dee; romdram; may not have got a general release
Subterano (Mort S. Seben [Esben Storm], 2001) wr. Esben Storm, Becker Entertainment, prod. Richard Becker, Barbi Taylor, dp Graeme Wood; Alex Dimitriades, Tasma Walton, Alison Whyte, Chris Haywood
Suburban Mayhem (Paul Goldman, 2006) wr. Alice Bell, prod. LeahChurchill-Brown; Emily Barclay, Michael Dorman (Rusty); Genevieve Lemon, Steve Bastoni; she plans to kill her father; comedy; shooting Newcastle Aug/Sept 2005; Cannes, Toronto 2006
Such Great Heights (Brendan Fletcher, tba) wr Brendan Fletcher, prod. Robert Connolly, Liz Kearney; Sudanese refugee basketball drama; true story; Australian story development funding
Sucker (Ben Chessell, 2015) wr. Ben Chessell, Lawrence Leung from his play; prod. Robyn Kershaw, Jason Byrne; Screen Aust funded; John Luc, Timothy Spall, Lily Sullivan; Chinese-Australian man on the cusp of adulthood learns about life and lies from an aging conman and about love from his daughter
Sugar Cane (Laurie McInnes, 2003 project) mother-daughter situation; not made
Sugar Factory, The (Robert Carter, 1998) wr. Robert Carter; Rhondda Findleton, Michaela Noonan, John Waters, Tony Hayes; Best Film Hollywood Film Festival 1998; Matt Day as a mentally disturbed teenager, Harris, tormented by guilt over the death of a child; his half-sister, Christine, was taken away by her mother: he "fretted" and went crazy; also, he shut Rhondda Findleton's daughter in the fridge, playing hide-and-seek, and she died; but he ends up with RF; he tries to make things better, sitting under the house, making bags of "sugar" out of crushed stone
Sugar Mountain (Richard Gray, 2016) wr. Abe Pogos, dp John Garrett; Jason Momoa, Cary Elwes, Drew Roy, Anna Hutchison; thriller; not Australasian
Suicide Theory, The (Dru Brown, 2014) Steve Mouzakis, Leon Cain, Joss McWilliam; suicide by hitman; Brisbane Qld
Sum of Existence (Jon Cohen, 2004) psychological thriller
Sum of Us, The (Geoff Burton & Kevin Dowling, 1994) Jack Thompson, Russell Crowe, John Polson, Deborah Kennedy; review by Jan Epstein in Murray 1995: 395; 96 min.
Summer City (Christopher Fraser, 1977) prod. wr. Phillip Avalon, Avalon ../films/Summer City Productions, dp Jerry Marek, design Jann Harris, music Phil Birkis, ed. David Stiven; John Jarratt (Sandy), Phillip Avalon (Robbie), Steve Bisley (Boo), Mel Gibson (Scollop), Debbie Forman (Caroline), James Elliot, Abigail, Ward Austin, Sydney, colour, 35mm.
Summer Coda (Richard Gray, 2010) wr. Michele Davis, Richard Gray, dp Greg de Marigny; Rachael Taylor, Alex Dimitriades; Australian release 21 Oct 2010
Summer of Love (Wayne Groom, 2000) wr. Wayne Groom; Natalie Lang, Scott Corfield, Ryan Someone, Bree Maddox; after her father dies, a woman retreats to the coast with her boyfriend, only to lust after another man
Summer Of Secrets (Jim Sharman, 1976) prod. Michael Thornhill, wr. John Aitken, dp Russell Boyd, design Jane Norris, music Cameron Allan, ed. Sara Bennett; Nell Campbell, Rufus Collins, Arthur Dignam, Kate Fitzpatrick, Jude Kuring, Andrew Sharp; horror, scifi; colour, 35mm, 102 min.
Summer of the Seventeenth Doll (Leslie Norman, 1959) Ernest Borgnine, Anne Baxter, John Mills, Angela Lansbury
Summer We Ruled the World, The (tba, tba) wr. Samantha Strauss, prod. Joanna Werner, Louise Smith; family, music; Screen Australia story development funding
Summerfield (Ken Hannam, 1977) prod. Patricia Lovell, wr. Cliff Green, dp Mike Molloy, design Graham Walker, music Bruce Smeaton, ed. Sara Bennett; Nick Tate, John Waters, Elizabeth Alexander, Max Cullen, Barry Donnelly, Sheila Florance, Michelle Jarman, Charles Tingwell, Geraldine Turner; psychological drama, mystery thriller; incest; Sydney, colour, 35mm, 91 min.
Sunday (Michelle Joy Lloyd, 2014) wr. Dustin Clare, Camille Keenan, Michelle Joy Lloyd; Dustin Clare, Camille Keenan, Jacob Tomuri; Aust/NZ copro; romcom drama; set in Melbourne and Christchurch; NZ release 7 December; Australian multi-platform release 2 May 2015
Sunday Too Far Away (Ken Hannam, 1975) prod. Gil Brealey, Matt Carroll, South Australian Film Corporation, wr. John Dingwall, dp Geoff Burton, music Patrick Flynn; Jack Thompson, Max Cullen, Robert Bruning, Jerry Thomas, Peter Cummins, John Ewart, Sean Scully, Reg Lye, Graham Smith, Ken Shorter, Lisa Peers, Ken Shorter; 90 min.
Sundowner, The (E. J. Cole, 1911)
Sundowners, The (Fred Zinnemann, 1960) wr. Isobel Lennart, novel Jon Cleary, dp Jack Hildyard, 133 min., Warner Bros; Deborah Kerr, Robert Mitchum, Peter Ustinov, Glynis Johns, Dina Merrill, Chips Rafferty, Michael Anderson, Lola Brooks, Wylie Watson, John Meillon, Ronald Fraser, Mervyn Johns, Molly Urquhart, Ewen Solon, Ray Barrett (two-up player), Leonard Teale (shearer), John Fegan; Pike & Cooper: 230-231
Sunny and the Dark Horse (David McDougall, Judith McDougall, 1986)
Sunny South, The (Alfred Rolfe, 1915) aka The Whirlwind Of Fate, Fraser Film Release and Photographic Company
Sunrise (F. Stuart-Whyte, Raymond Longford, 1926)
Sunshine City (Albie Thoms, 1973) experimental doco
Sunshine Sally (Lawson Harris, 1922) aka Winnie of Woolloomooloo; Austral Super Films, prod. Lawson Harris, Yvonne Pavis, wr. John Cosgrove, dp Arthur Higgins; Yvonne Pavis (Sal), Joy Revelle (Tottie Faye), John Cosgrove (Spud Murphy), Dinks Patterson (Skinny Smith), Mrs Hutton (Katie Smith), J. P. O'Neill (Bill Smith), Sheila Moore (Mrs Constance Stanton), Lionel Lunn (Basil Stanton), Mervyn Barrington (James Stanton), Maude Ranier (Salvation Army woman); "Sal is rescued from the surf at Coogee by a bronzed lifesaver, Basil Stanton, and is taken to his wealthy Potts Point home to recuperate." (Pike & Cooper); 5000 ft
Sunstruck (James Gilbert, 1972) aka The Education of Stanley Evans, wr. Stan Mars, ed. Anthony Buckley; Harry Secombe, Maggie Fitzgibbon, John Meillon, Dawn Lake, Peter Whittle, Bobby Limb, Norman Erskine, Jack Allen, Derek Nimmo; Secombe arrives Kookaburra Springs to run the local school; comedy
Super Awesome (Guy Edmonds, Matt Zeremes, 2015) wr. Guy Edmonds, Matt Zeremes; Guy Edmonds, Matt Zeremes, Simon Burke, Rob Carlton, Patrick Brammall, Annie Maynard, Vinnie Vella; comedy musical; released 29 May, Toronto and VOD
Surfer, The (Frank Shields, 1988) Gary Day, Gosia Dobrowolska, Rod Mullinar, Tony Barry, Kris McQuade; low-budget action-thriller
Surrender in Paradise (Peter Cox, 1976) prod. Peter Cox for Paradise Pictures, wr. Peter Cox, dp Don McAlpine, music Ralph Tyrell, ed. Bob Blasdall, Peter Cox; Ross Gilbert, Carolyn Howard, Erroll O'Neill, Rod Wissler; time travel yarn; Brisbane, colour, 16 mm, 92 min.
Survive or Die (Daniel Okoduwa, Mike Kang, 2018) wr. Mike Kang, Daniel Okoduwa; Felino Kolloso, Hawa Barnes, Emmanuella Samuel; refugee
Survive the Savage Sea (Kevin Dobson, 1991)
Surviving Georgia (Sandra Sciberras & Kate Whitbread, 2011) Pia Miranda, Holly Valance, Shane Jacobson, Toby Wallace
Survivor, The (David Hemmings, 1981) prod. Antony I. Ginnane for Riaci Investments, Tuesday Film Productions, wr. David Ambrose, novel James Herbert, dp John Seale, music Brian May, design Bernard Hides, ed. Tony Paterson; David Powell, Jenny Agutter, Peter Sumner, Robert Cotterill, Joseph Cotten, Angela Punch-McGregor, Lorna Lesley; supernatural thriller; Eastman colour, 35mm, 94 min.
Swagman's Story, The (Raymond Longford, 1914)
Sweet Country (Warwick Thornton, 2017) prod. David Jowsey, Greer Simpkin, wr. Steven McGregor, David Tranter, dp Dylan River, Warwick Thornton; Bryan Brown, Matt Day, Tremayne and Trevon Doolan, Anni Finsterer, Natassia Gorey-Furber, John Gibson, Ewen Leslie, Lachlan J. Modrzynski, Hamilton Morris, Sam Neill, Sotiris Tzelios, Thomas M. Wright; western
Sweet Dreamers (Tom Cowan, 1982) prod. Lesley Tucker for TC Productions, ed. Tom Cowan, Lesley Tucker, dp Brian Probyn, music Brett Cabot, design Lesley Tucker, ed. Tom Cowan; Richard Moir, Sue Smithers, Adam Bowen, Frankie Raymond, Richard Tipping, Maisie Turner; about film-making in the 1970s; Eastman colour, 16 mm, 96 min.
Sweet Nell Of Old Drury (Raymond Longford, 1911) Spencer's Pictures, wr. Raymond Longford from the play by Paul Kester; dp Ernest Higgins; Nellie Stewart, Augustus Neville, Charles Lawrence; 4800 ft
Sweet Talker (Michael Jenkins, 1991) aka Confidence; wr. Tony Morphett, story Bryan Brown & Tony Morphett, dp Russell Boyd, prod. Ben Gannon; romantic comedy; Bryan Brown (Harry Reynolds), Karen Allen (Julie McGuire); Chris Haywood, Bill Kerr, Bruce Spence, Bruce Myles, Paul Chubb, Peter Hehir, Justin Rosniak; 86 min.; con man falls in love with Beachport, SA
Sweethearts (Colin Talbot, 1990) wr. Colin Talbot from his novel; Christabel Wigley, John F. Howard
Streetsweeper (Neil Mansfield, 2007) wr. Neil Mansfield, Marin Mimica; loner who finds poetry in the ordinary; 75 min.
Sweet Country (Warwick Thornton, 2017) western
Sweetie (Jane Campion, 1989) wr. Jane Campion, Gerard Lee, dp Sally Bongers; Genevieve Lemon, Karen Colston, Tom Lycos, Jon Darling, Dorothy Barry, Michael Lake, Paul Livingston
Swerve (Craig Lahiff, 2011) Jason Clarke, Emma Booth, David Lyons, Travis McMahon, Vince Colosimo, Roy Billing; crime drama neo-noir thriller
Swimming Upstream (Russell Mulcahy, 2002) wr. Anthony Fingleton, dp Martin McGrath; Geoffrey Rush, Judy Davis, Jesse Spencer, Tim Draxl, Mitchell Dellevergin, 115 min., first screened 31 October 2002; national release in Australia 27 February 2003; written by Anthony Fingleton, it is his own story of growing up in Brisbane in the 1950s; it is Mulcahy's first Australian film since Razorback (1984); Metro, 136: 26-29; US release 3 February 2005
Swinging Safari (Stephan Elliott, 2018) aka Flammable Children; wr. Stephan Elliott, prod. Jamie Hilton, pd Colin Gibson, costume Lizzy Gardiner, music Guy Gross, ed. Sue Blainey; Guy Pearce, Kylie Minogue, Radha Mitchell, Jeremy Sims, Julian MacMahon, Asher Keddie; coming-of-age, Dee Why, set in 1975, comedy; general release 18 January
Sword of Bushido (Adrian Carr, 1989)
Sydney: A Story of a City (Bruce Beresford & Geoff Burton, 1999) wr. John Izzard, Stephen Sewell; Lucy Bell, Phil Gerlach, Paul Mercurio, Sue Milliken; IMAX promo for Sydney Olympics
Sydney Unplugged (Toni Collette, Russell Crowe, John Curran, Kieran Darcy-Smith, Anthony LaPaglia, Ray Lawrence, Alex Proyas, Liev Schreiber, Ivan Sen, tba) prod. Gary Hamilton, John Polson; series of short films sending love letters to Australia's largest city
Sydney on the Spree (Globe Pictures, 1909) aka Motor Boat Pirates on Sydney Harbour, screened Queen's Hall, 31 July 1909
Sydney's Darlings (Thomas Marinato, 1926)
Sylvia (Michael Firth, 1985) NZ; biopic of educationist Sylvia Ashton-Warner
Sympathy In Summer (Antony I. Ginnane, 1971) wr. prod. Antony I. Ginnane; Connie Simmons, Vincent Grifith, Tony Horler, Robin Wells, Pam McAlister, John Caust, Marlene Schulenberg, Leon Boyle
Syrenia (Fraser Grut, 2014) fantasy; NZ
System, The (Eddie Arya, 2015) wr. Eddie Arya; Jamie Vergan, Yasemin Plows, Nikki Waterhouse, Biman Wimalaratne; drama
Garry Gillard | New: 15 December, 2016 | Now: 16 August, 2018