Colonial Australia in Film and TV
Blackfellas, Whitefellas, Convicts, Traps, Bushrangers, etc. This is what makes Australian History unique. I haven't seen all of these (Although I would like to), some are very rare to find but would be great to get out.
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- StarsMary LarkinKerry McGuireJon EnglishEighteen-year-old Mary Mulvane gets convicted for trying to get back her father's cow. She has to endure the travel in a prison ship from Ireland and living the life of a convict in Australia.
- DirectorNorman DawnStarsGeorge FisherEva NovakDunstan WebbA convict, wrongfully accused and sent a harsh prison colony, attempts to escape.
- StarsAnthony PerkinsPatrick MacneeSamantha EggarIn 1830's England, a young man from a good but troubled family is unjustly convicted of stealing a watch. He's transported to Van Dieman's Land (Tasmania) where he suffers under the enmity of Lt. Frere while falling in love with Sylvia, the Warden's daughter. Meanwhile, back in England, an imposter lays claim to the young man's inheritance.
- StarsAngela Punch McGregorRobin StewartBrian HinzlewoodA miniseries about European settlement and exploration of Australia produced and broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
- StarsRomola GaraiJack DavenportAlex O'LoughlinA young woman is transported to the New South Wales penal colony in 1788.
- DirectorDavid WaddingtonStarsSean KramerBrett MaxworthyLionel LongA twelve year old boy and a common criminal are being transported in the same ship from England to Australia in the last century. When the ship wrecked they happen to be the only survivors of the catastrophe. Now they have to get along with each other and finally become friends.
- DirectorCarl SchultzStarsPaul GoddardKathryn WalkerJohn WoodIn the 1860s, two friends, Harry and Bluey, steal a thousand head of cattle and trek it across country from Queensland to Adelaide.
- DirectorTim BurstallStarsSusannah YorkJohn WatersJohn CastleAn old captain & his young wife share a lot of adventures after they're shipwrecked and captured by Aborigines on an island near Australia.
- DirectorKen G. HallStarsBert BaileyFred MacDonaldAlfreda BevanA tale of the ups and downs of the Rudd family who live on a ranch in Southwest Queensland.
- DirectorGeorge WhaleyStarsLeo McKernJoan SutherlandGeoffrey RushTired of local corruption and the harshness of his life a bushman demonstrates the true Aussie spirit and decides to run for parliament.
- DirectorGeorge MillerStarsKirk DouglasTom BurlinsonTerence DonovanIn 1880s Australia, after young Jim Craig's father dies, he takes a job at the Harrison cattle ranch, where he is forced to become a man.
- StarsOliver TobiasJames CondonElizabeth CrosbyLuke Firbeck is determined that his settlement in the outback is going to be his kingdom. He is ruthless. He has a deep attraction for his sister, Jassy.
- StarsBarbara LlewellynMark ClarkeAnna HrubyBased on Ethel Turner's classic children's novel, this award-winning miniseries is about a family of seven children set in 1890s Australia.
- StarsJuliet JordanHarold HopkinsBrenton WhittleThe lavish, passionate story of a beautiful convict girl, Sara Dane who is transported from England to Australia for a crime she did not commit. She struggle for freedom and independence against almost impossible odds.
- DirectorJulian PringleStarsChris HaywoodJacqueline KottSandra McGregorEuropean settlers have difficulty adapting to life in an 1850s Australian township.
- DirectorTim BurstallStarsJohn StantonSigrid ThorntonRobert ColebyA humble orphan suddenly becomes a gentleman with the help of an unknown benefactor.
- DirectorHelen GaynorAlan RosenthalStarsAlison AlexanderBrian AndrewsJohn AndrewsWhen Charles Dickens created the character of Fagin in Oliver Twist, he gave birth to one of the most infamous personas in English literature. Few people know that Dickens' portrait of Fagin was possibly based on the Jewish receiver and fencer of stolen goods, Ikey Solomon. Much as been written about Ikey's exploits, his amazing and daring prison escapes capturing people's imaginations through the generations. The First Fagin recreates the fantastical life of Ikey Solomon, the most famous criminal of his age. From London's dens of vice, to Newgate jail to Australia's prison shores, Ikey takes us on a journey into crime, punishment, adventure and love whilst struggling against the transportation system of 19th century England.
- CreatorAndrew KnightDoug MacLeodStarsMichael VeitchMagda SzubanskiWilliam McInnesIn 1807 the Governor of the colony of New South Wales, William Bligh, struggles in both his professional and personal life.
- DirectorPhilip LeacockStarsBeau BridgesJohn MillsJane MerrowAdam (Beau Bridges) is a young American wrongly accused of being an accomplice to murder while on shore leave in Liverpool. He is sentenced to death by hanging, but the sentence is commuted to twenty years in a convict settlement in Australia. The Governor of the colony, Sir Philip MacDonald (Sir John Mills), has a scheme in mind to settle Australia by allowing convicts to marry and by giving them land, and Adam is the perfect choice to prove his scheme is viable. He is partnered with Bess (Jane Merrow), a young Irish lass, and together they endure the hardships of the Australian outback.
- StarsBen CrossLisa McCuneSonia ToddThis four-hour miniseries tells the story of Ikey Solomon, his wife Hannah and his mistress Mary, who get caught in the criminal world of early 19th-century London and the convict settlement of Van Diemen's Land in Australia.
- StarsJack ThompsonJohn MaynardMichael McKernanTwo 21st Century families from Britain and Ireland are sent to see how they would cope had they been transported to New South Wales 200 years ago when it was a penal colony. Together with an Australian family and Aborginals they learn just how tough you needed to be to survive back then.
- StarsEssie DavisFionnula FlanaganStephen DillaneThe life of an Irish immigrant family in Australia in the second half of the 19th century.
- StarsSigrid ThorntonJohn WatersDarius PerkinsOrphaned after a shipwreck off the Victorian coast of Australia, the beautiful and spirited Philadelphia Gordon finds both love and adventure aboard a paddle-steamer on the Murray River.
- StarsOliver Jackson-CohenSarah SnookLachy HulmeIn 1806, William Thornhill is sentenced to New South Wales for life where he is drawn into a terrifying conflict that will leave a bloody and indelible stain.
- StarsMichael CathcartTony Llewellyn-JonesGeoff MorrellHistorian Michael Cathcart tells the epic story of how the colourful characters of early colonial Australia transformed a penal settlement into a land with rights and opportunity in a mere 40 years. This sweeping two-part dramatised documentary covers formative events in Australia's history, including the Rum Rebellion and early court cases, which established independence and civil rights for all settlers. Rogue Nation explores how a fledgling colony on the wrong side of the globe was rapidly transformed from a place of punishment to a place of opportunity; a confident and prosperous community. It examines the fight for power and control between two powerful interest groups--the wealthy and entrepreneurial landowners and the offspring of convict settlers who took on the governors appointed by the Colonial Office in London. Rogue Nation introduces well known figures including pastoralist John Macarthur, barrister and newspaper proprietor William Wentworth, and Governors William Bligh, Lachlan Macquarie and Ralph Darling. And it shows how a handful of driven, anti-authoritarian and fiercely independent men saw off several British governors, encouraged upheaval and learnt the art of politics - discovering that debates, pressure groups and propaganda could change governments and shape policy. In doing so, they helped to lay the foundations of the prosperous liberal democracy of Australia.
- DirectorJonathan auf der HeideStarsOscar ReddingArthur AngelPaul AshcroftThe true story of Alexander Pearce, Australia's most notorious convict. In 1822, Pearce and seven fellow convicts escaped from Macquarie Harbour, a place of ultra banishment and punishment, only to find a world less forgiving.. the Australian wilderness. Abandon all hope you who enter.
- StarsSusie PorterRebecca MasseyAlexandra SchepisiThe story of one house in South Sydney, told by the children who live there over 260 years.
- CreatorJimmy McGovernStarsOrla BradyEwen BremnerMyAnna BuringBritish convicts have been sent to Australia as punishment for their crimes. As they try to live their new lives, they have to live with the new rules. The soldiers also have to adjust.
- StarsPaul AllcornOutback house follows the incredible journey of a small group of intrepid Australians. who, travel back in time almost 150 years to live on a remote, 10,000 acre sheep station.
- DirectorJennifer KentStarsAisling FranciosiMaya ChristieBaykali GanambarrSet in 1825, Clare, a young Irish convict woman, chases a British officer through the rugged Tasmanian wilderness, bent on revenge for a terrible act of violence he committed against her family. On the way she enlists the services of an Aboriginal tracker named Billy, who is also marked by trauma from his own violence-filled past.
- CreatorMichael O'NeillStarsRupert DegasRichard RoxburghTim FlanneryThe series looks back at some of the people, places and events that have shaped the country over the last 40,000 years.
- StarsJohn WatersMax MeldrumAlain DouteyStories of the lives of people living in and around the goldfields in the Australian bush during the 1850's.
- StarsLouise Caire ClarkLiz BurchJay KerrThe series follows the adventures of a group of Americans who travel to Australia. Teaming up with a native halfway house owner, they introduce a stagecoach service to the local economy.
- StarsCarol DrinkwaterBryan MarshallMichaela AbayThe adventures of a struggling family and their friends in a gold rush mining area.
- DirectorHarry WattStarsChips RaffertyJane BarrettJack LambertIn 1854, Australian gold rush miners struggle for their rights against an oppressive government.
- DirectorRoss McGregorHans PomeranzStarsMichele FawdonRod MullinarGraham CorryThis musical tells the story of the 1854 Eureka Stockade rebellion by the gold miners in Ballarat. It was adapted from a play by novelist Kenneth Cooke.
- StarsBryan BrownBill HunterCarol BurnsA miniseries on the Eureka Rebellion in Australia back in 1854
- StarsMichael CathcartRichard CawthorneXavier GouaultDocumentary and reenactment series looking at three trials in pre-Federation Australia that effected the development of the nation and it's society.
- DirectorPaul WilliamsStarsDebby CummingBrian HannanFrank ThringRiverboat Bill, a young boy named Dave, and a fire-breathing Bunyip have adventures up and down the Murray River aboard their salvaged steamboat in early 20th century Australia, facing outlaws and unsympathetic lawmen along the way.
- DirectorAbe ForsytheStarsFelix WilliamsonAbe ForsytheDamon HerrimanA comedy based on the rise and fall of Ned Kelly and his gang of Outlaws.
- DirectorRichard FranklinStarsMax GilliesSerge LazareffPaul VachonThe film's unlikely protagonist is a mild-mannered window peeper named Dead-Eye Dick (Max Gillies), who spies on a Mexican couple.
- DirectorTerry BourkeStarsJudith AndersonAlex CordMichael CraigA sheriff investigates why the guests at a local hostelry check in but never check out.
- DirectorTom CowanStarsJeune PritchardMartin PhelanNell CampbellIn colonial Australia, daughter of a judge helps a group of female convicts living in inhuman conditions escape. Aboriginal girl teaches them how to survive in the forest. One of them gets raped and killed. The group seeks revenge.
- DirectorCharles TaitStarsElizabeth TaitJohn TaitNicholas BrierleyOriginally 70 minutes in running time, only 17 minutes of the world's first full-length narrative feature film survived in stills and other fragments and tell the story of Ned Kelly, an infamous 19th-century Australian outlaw.
- DirectorHarry SouthwellStarsJack AppletonGeorge DoranDesmond HayThe story of Ned Kelly and his gang. A policeman comes to arrest Dan Kelly, which results in him being shot and Ned Kelly going on the run with his gang. They rob several banks but are captured and killed at the Glenrowan Hotel.
- DirectorTony RichardsonStarsMick JaggerClarissa Kaye-MasonMark McManusThe impoverished son of Irish immigrants is pushed by wrongful police persecution into becoming Australia's most notorious bushranger.
- StarsJohn JarrattSteve BisleyElaine KussackAustralia's most famous bushranger, Ned Kelly.
- DirectorGregor JordanStarsHeath LedgerOrlando BloomGeoffrey RushAn innocent man becomes one of the most wanted criminals the world has ever known.
- DirectorBen HeadStarsTim HeadNeil PigotChiara Farrell4 Mounted Police Officers are tasked with the arrest of two very dangerous and feared bush rangers in colonial Victoria, Australia.
- DirectorJustin KurzelStarsGeorge MacKayEssie DavisNicholas HoultAustralian bushranger Ned Kelly and his gang flee from authorities during the 1870s.
- CreatorJulie McGauranSarah SmithStarsDaniel MacPhersonMichael DormanAlexander EnglandAustralia 1860s, Wild Boys follows a gang of bushrangers as they stage hold-ups determined to keep ahead of the troopers or wind up at the end of a noose.
- DirectorPhilippe MoraStarsDennis HopperJack ThompsonDavid GulpililThe true story of Irish outlaw Daniel Morgan, who is wanted, dead or alive, in Australia during the 1850s.
- DirectorJohn HillcoatStarsRay WinstoneGuy PearceEmily WatsonA lawman apprehends a notorious outlaw and gives him nine days to kill his older brother, or else they'll execute his younger brother.
- DirectorBrendan CowellStarsDamon HerrimanMirrah FoulkesRarriwuy HickIn 1815 a young convict leads a wretched guerrilla army of outlaws, deserters and bushmen in open rebellion against the morally corrupt government on the notorious prison settlement of Van Diemen's Land. As their numbers grow by the day, Michael Howe's gang threaten to overrun the colony. An epic story of love and betrayal, The Outlaw Michael Howe will chronicle the astonishing true story of the man who pushed Australia to the brink of civil war.
- DirectorDonald CrombieKen HannamStarsSam NeillSteven VidlerChristopher CumminsFourth adaptation and first made for television of the classic Australian bushranger novel "Robbery Under Arms" by Rolf Boldrewood. Made by the South Australian Film Corporation during the mini-series boom of the 1980s and lensed in the Flinders Ranges, it stars Sam Neill as the infamous Captain Starlight.
- DirectorJack LeeStarsPeter FinchRonald LewisDavid McCallumTwo brothers join their father in Captain Starlight's bush ranger gang in 19th Century Australia.
- DirectorFred SchepisiStarsTommy LewisFreddy ReynoldsAngela Punch McGregorAfter suffering racist abuse throughout his life - which intensifies following his marriage to a white woman - a half-Aboriginal farmhand finds himself driven to murder.
- StarsJon FinchEvin CrowleyVincent BallFollows the life of the Australian bushranger Ben Hall.
- StarsSerge LazareffPenne Hackforth-JonesGus MercurioWanted by the law, likeable bushrangers Sam Cash and cigar smoking accomplice Joe Brady are men with purpose and the know how to stay one sneaky step ahead of the authorities.
- StarsGerard KennedyPenne Hackforth-JonesGus MercurioFollowing the next exciting chapter in the lives of Aussie bushrangers, Tandarra is the lively spin-off of the classic 1850s era television series, Cash & Company.
- DirectorRussell HaggStarsGerard KennedyGus MercurioRod MullinarIn the 1870s, the colonial administrator hires bounty hunter Palmer and gun salesman Ben to wipe out an army of Irish Catholic revolutionaries in their stronghold. Palmer and Ben recruit three gun men to help them and their mission is successful but when they go to get their payment they are trapped by treacherous officials. Ben and Palmer must fight their way to safety.
- DirectorMatthew HolmesStarsJack MartinJamie CoffaWilliam LeeBen Hall is drawn back into bushranging by the reappearance of his old friend John Gilbert. Reforming the gang, they soon become the most wanted men in Australian history.
- StarsWilliam LeeJulian Lee AustinDamon HunterUnearthing the truth behind Australia's most infamous lawless legends.
- DirectorHal RoachStarsBrian AherneVictor McLaglenPaul LukasAn Irish convict sentenced to hard labor in Australia escapes into the outback, and organizes a band of fellow escapees to fight a corrupt landowner.
- DirectorJames W. HorneStarsTrue BoardmanMarin SaisPaul HurstIn the Australian outback, a young woman falls for a dashing bandit known as Stingaree, who is actually a wealthy Englishman cheated out of his fortune by his greedy brother.
- DirectorWilliam A. WellmanStarsIrene DunneRichard DixMary BolandA young woman is seduced by a charismatic highwayman who offers her promises of fame as a singer in exchange for romance.
- DirectorJack GavinStarsMerle RidgewayGordon CollingridgeJack GavinTrooper O'Brien is a 1928 Australian silent film. It was a melodrama set during the "Ned Kelly era" about an orphaned girl raised by a policeman in the bush. It is one of the rare Australian films that still exist in its entirety.
- DirectorAlfred RolfeStarsAlfred RolfeLily DampierRaymond LongfordEdgar Dalmore, an impulsive youth, quarrels with his father, and in the heat of anger is disowned. Edgar's cousin, Vincent Lennox, is hard pressed for money, owing to his gambling proclivities. With aid of his friend, John Sterling, he beats Edgar's father into insensibility, robs the safe and accuses Edgar of having committed the crime. The father dies, and Edgar is sentenced to prison for life. At the end of six months, Edgar escapes from prison. As an escaped convict, he is welcomed into the Hellville band of bushrangers, made their captain, and called "Captain Midnight." He leads his band on several daring adventures, including an attack on and robbery of the government gold coach. After a thrilling chase by the bandits, the escort of the coach are overpowered and the chest of gold stolen. The mounted police chase Edgar and his band, and Edgar is separated from the bushrangers. Edgar meets his sweetheart, Thelma, who prevails upon him to renounce his bushranger connections. Elsa Harling, who is in love with Edgar, but whose love is not returned, sees Edgar with his sweetheart. She decides to turn Edgar over to the police and lays a plan for his capture. Edgar visits her at her father's cabin in the forest. The police surround the cabin. Elsa relents at the last moment, and helps Edgar to escape by cutting a hole in the back of the hut, thus eluding the police. Another exciting chase follows, during which Edgar has to swim across a river. Elsa overhears Vincent Lennox and his friend Sterling quarreling about the division of the money they have stolen after murdering Edgar's father. Her presence is discovered. She is seized by Lennox and Sterling, and tied to a tree. Lennox bargains with one of the bushrangers to do away with Elsa. Edgar, in his flight from the police, discovers Elsa tied to the tree, rescues her and in a thrilling scene he and Elsa overcome the two bushrangers and escape. Elsa notifies the police of the guilt of Lennox and Sterling, and the police start on the trail of the criminals. Edgar decides to cross the border and to live an honest life. He marries Thelma, and as they are coming out of the church they are seized by Lennox and Sterling and their followers, but Elsa arrives with the police in time to save Edgar and his wife. The stolen notes are found on Lennox, and he and Sterling are arrested for the murder. Through Elsa's noble sacrifice, Edgar is free to join his bride.
- DirectorCecil HolmesStarsGrant TaylorCharles 'Bud' TingwellRosemary MillerAdventurer Fred Ward is sentenced to hard labour for horse theft, escapes, and becomes a bushranger under the name of Captain Thunderbolt. Stealing mainly from squatters, he quickly becomes notorious. Trooper Mannix is assigned to capture him dead or alive, eventually trapping him. After a long gun-fight, Mannix finds he has killed Thunderbolt's friend Alan Blake, and that Thunderbolt has escaped. Mannix passes off Blake's body as Thunderbolt's but the legend persists that Thunderbolt still roams free.
- DirectorChester WitheyStarsTim McCoyEna GregoryRussell Simpson
- DirectorJack GavinStarsJack GavinRuby ButlerH.A. ForsythFrederick Ward is accused of cattle theft and sent to Cockatoo island for seven years. After he escapes he finds that his fiancée has died of grief. For revenge he undertakes a life of crime.
- DirectorJack GavinStarsJack GavinH.A. ForsythRuby Butler
- DirectorW.J. LincolnStarsGeorge BryantGodfrey CassRoy Redgrave
- DirectorRaymond LongfordStarsLottie Lyell
- DirectorW.J. LincolnStarsGeorge BryantGodfrey CassRoy RedgraveThe 1913 movie, 'Moondyne', one of the very first made using a sound stage in Melbourne, Australia, was adapted from the novel of the same name authored by John Boyle O'Reilly and published in 1880 by George Robertson in Sydney.. The novel was in turn was a reprint of the serialized, semi-autobiographical, story published in 'The Pilot' in Boston Mass. in 1878 entitled 'Moondyne Joe'. The plot centers around one Moondyne Joe, a character based on the real life Joseph Bolitho Jones who was a master escape artist from the jail at Fremantle, Western Australia when O'Reilly was himself held prisoner there. Moondyne was assisted in his final escape by local indigenous people with whom he then lived with for several years and who gave him the name Moondyne. During that time he was shown a gold deposit so huge that it made him extremely wealthy and he was able to return to England under a newly assumed identity as a Mr Wyville. Back in the land of his birth he builds a new life for himself and becomes well known for his humanitarian acts. The novel tackles many of the social justice issues of the time as they were discussed in Britain, Australia and America. The character Moondyne makes a brief appearance in the 2010 award winning screenplay, 'Cry of the Dreamer' which revolves around O'Reillys own arrest, imprisonment, transportation to Australia and his eventual escape on an American Whaler to the USA.
- DirectorCharles MacMahonStarsJim GeraldGeorge MerrimanLance Vane
- DirectorKenneth BramptonStarsJackie AndersonVera ArcherKenneth BramptonTwo brothers, Dick and Jim Marsden, become involved with the bushranger, Captain Starlight. They romance two girls, work on the goldfields, and are captured by the police after Starlight is shot dead
- DirectorAlfred RolfeStarsLily DampierLottie LyellAugustus Neville
- DirectorAlfred RolfeStarsCharles Villiers
- DirectorAlfred Rolfe
- DirectorJack GavinStarsAgnes GavinJack Gavin
- DirectorE.J. ColeStarsE.J. Cole's Bohemian Dramatic Company
- DirectorJack GavinStarsJack Gavin
- DirectorWilfred LucasStarsRex 'Snowy' BakerWilfred LucasAgnes VernonVowing vengeance on Edward Marriott, whom he believes to have dishonored his mother, The Shadow is a highwayman who robs only Marriott. The Shadow attracts the interest of Dorothy Harden, Marriott's fiancee, and finally he captures her. The action includes the kidnapping, by The Shadow's rival, Ben, of Dorothy; The Shadow's capture and escape; and his rescue of Dorothy. All is happily resolved when Dorothy declares her love for The Shadow and Marriott proves to be innocent of injuring The Shadow's mother.
- StarsLeonard TealeFay KeltonEdward HeppleHistorical drama about husband and wife convicts, Will and Mary trying to go straight.
- StarsJames CondonAllan TrevorNigel LovellWilliam Charles Wentworth gets into trouble with the governor who believes Sydney is still British when he starts a newspaper called "The Australian".
- StarsHilary BambergerNeil FitzpatrickBrian James"Jonah" is a historical drama series about Jonah Locke, a merchant trader in the early Australian colony.
- StarsBrian JamesDelia WilliamsAlistair DuncanThe story of Mutiny On The Bounty's William Bligh.
- StarsAmber Mae CecilJohn UnicombRon HaddrickThe Outcasts was a 1961 Australian television serial. A period drama, it was broadcast live, though with some film inserts. All 12 episodes of the serial survive as kinescope recordings. It was a sequel to Stormy Petrel.
- StarsLisa HarrowJohn HallamPeter CousensIn 1831, young Irishman Charles Adare (Peter Cousens) arrives in New South Wales, Australia, eager to make his fortune and make it fast. But what he finds are secrets that won't stay buried.
- DirectorGraeme CliffordStarsJack ThompsonNigel HaversGreta ScacchiA story based on true events about two explorers on a doomed journey trying to cross Australia on foot in the 19 century.
- DirectorPaul CoxStarsAden YoungBeth ChampionClaudia KarvanWhen Peter Costello is exiled to a deserted island for stealing sheep, Mary, a maid, decides to join him there.
- DirectorCharles MacMahonStarsMartyn KeithRosie Knight PhillipsMrs. Barry Lane(England) The tragedy of Hampstead Heath. (The High Seas) The convict ship- Meeting on the "Malabar," The burning of the "Hydaspes." (Tasmania) The convict days at Port Arthur- Sylvia and "Good Mr. Dawes."- The Quarries- Ri-tooral-i-lay. (Norfolk Island) The government skin boat- Rescue of the castaways, Etc., Etc.