Wake in Fright (1971)

After a bad gambling bet, a schoolteacher is marooned in a town full of crazy, drunk, violent men who threaten to make him just as crazy, drunk, and violent.

Director:

Ted Kotcheff

Writers:

Evan Jones (screenplay), Kenneth Cook (based on the novel "Wake in Fright" by)

Stars:

Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond, Chips Rafferty

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Donald Pleasence	...	Doc Tydon
Gary Bond	...	John Grant
Chips Rafferty	...	Jock Crawford
Sylvia Kay	...	Janette Hynes
Jack Thompson	...	Dick
Peter Whittle	...	Joe
Al Thomas	...	Tim Hynes
John Meillon	...	Charlie
John Armstrong	...	Atkins
Slim DeGrey	...	Jarvis (as Slim De Grey)
Maggie Dence	...	Receptionist
Norman Erskine	...	Joe the Cook
Owen Moase	...	1st Controller
John Dalleen	...	2nd Controller
Buster Fiddess	...	Charlie Jones

Storyline

John Grant, a teacher working in the remote Australian town of Tiboonda, is under a financial bond with his Government job. At the end of term before Christmas holidays, he plans to visit his girlfriend in Sydney. In order to catch a flight to Sydney, he takes a train to the nearby mining town called Bundanyabba (or "The Yabba"), and plans to stay there overnight before moving on further to the airport. But things go grossly out of script as he is engulfed by the Yabba and its disconcerting residents.

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Plot Keywords:

male full frontal nudity | male frontal nudity | male rear nudity | australia | sex | 

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Taglines:

Have a drink, mate? Have a fight, mate? Have some dust and sweat, mate? There's nothing else out here.

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Genres:

Drama | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook [Japan] Official site

Country:

Australia USA UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 October 1971 (Australia)

Also Known As:

Outback

Filming Locations:

Ajax Filmcentre, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Box Office

Budget:

AUD 800,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$6,761, 7 October 2012, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$50,394, 21 December 2012

Company Credits

Production Co:

NLT Productions,Group W

Technical Specs

Runtime:

109 min 97 min (censored)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

The movie had been out of circulation for decades because the negative went missing, sparking an international search. After a ten-year quest veteran Australian producer Anthony Buckley finally tracked it down in mid-2004 in a Pittsburgh warehouse, inside a shipping container marked "For Destruction".

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Goofs

Inside Doc Tydon's hut, there is a window near the back door seen when Grant wants to go to the toilet. However, from outside, the window is at least a meter from the door.

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Quotes

[first lines]
John Grant: [checks his watch] Alright, off you go.
[children clamour as they leave the classroom]
Young Girl: Happy Christmas, teacher!
Dave: Happy new year.
John Grant: Thank you, Dave.
Sam: Give my love to your girlfriend in Sydney, sir.
John Grant: I'll do that, Sam, thank you.
Chris: Have a happy holiday, sir.
John Grant: [shakes his hand] And you, Chris. Thank you. Enjoy yourself.
[...]

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Crazy Credits

Opening credits: All characters and events depicted in this film are fictitious. Any similarity to actual events or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

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Connections

Referenced in Casino (1995)

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Soundtracks

The Old Grey Mare
(uncredited)
Traditional
Sung by passengers on the train

User Reviews

DVD release?

I have been wanting to see this film again for many years. Now that the negative has been recovered hopefully it will get a new lease of life, similar to the many other classic Australian films that have been re-released recently on DVD here in Australia. In a year (2003-4) when Australian films have fared poorly at the box office, particularly on a local level, it is worth looking back at a film like 'Wake in Fright' and understand that some of the best Australian films are the ones that look critically at life in Australia (in all its diversity) and at the mythologies that are generally perceived as representative of Australian national culture. In the case of 'Wake in Fright' it took a foreign director with a wonderful Australian cast to do that.