| Captain Thunderbolt | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Cecil Holmes |
| Produced by | John Wiltshire |
| Written by | Creswick Jenkinson |
| Starring | Grant Taylor Charles Tingwell |
| Music by | Sydney John Kay |
| Cinematography | Ross Wood |
| Editing by | Margaret Cardin |
| Studio | Associated TV |
| Distributed by | Ray Films |
| Release date(s) | 1955 |
| Running time | 69 mins (TV version 53 mins) |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | ₤15,000[1] |
| Box office | ₤30,000[2] |
Captain Thunderbolt is a 1953 Australian action film from director Cecil Holmes about the bushranger Captain Thunderbolt.
Contents |
Fred Ward (Grant Taylor) is imprisoned for horse stealing. He escapes from Cockatoo Island and becomes a bushranger under the name of Captain Thunderbolt, working with his friend Alan Blake (Charles Tingwell). Thunderbolt is tracked by the evil Sergeant Mannix (Harp McGuire) who has a gunfight with the bushranger at a dance, only to discover that he has killed Alan Blake instead. Mannix passes off Blake's body as Thunderbolt, enabling the bushranger to escape.
The budget was provided entirely by theatrical entrepreneur Sir Benjamin Fuller.[3][4]
The movie was shot in early 1951 on location in New England, New South Wales, and at the Royal National Park in Sydney, with studio work done in Supreme Sound System in north Sydney. The woolshed dance sequence was shot at a Pyrmont woolstore. One of Thunderbolt's robbery victims was played by Kathleen Drummond, daughter of the then-local MP David Drummond.
British censorship requirements meant that the real-life romantic relationship between Thunderbolt and his aboriginal girlfriend Mary, who helped him escape from Cockatoo Island, was not featured in the film.[5]
The film did not receive a wide release in Australia - it did not play in Melbourne cinemas until late 1955, and Sydney until 1956. However it sold well overseas, including to American television.[6]
There were apparently plans to spin off the movie into a TV series but this did not eventuate.[7]
The only copy of the film in possession of the Australian National Film and Sound Archive is a 53 minute TV edition. The archive is looking for a copy of the full 69 minute version.[8]