THE SIEGE OF PINCHGUT
UK, 1959, 100 minutes, Black and white.
Aldo Ray, Heather Sears, Gerry Duggan, Grant Taylor.
Directed by Harry Watt.
The Siege of Pinchgut is an interesting thriller. It has all the elements of the drama of the siege as well as a quick raising of issues about social justice. It is very much a film of the late '50s.
It was the last film to be made by Ealing Studios. It was written and directed by Harry Watt, the documentary film-maker who made such films as The Overlanders, Eureka Stockade and, in Africa, Where No Vultures Fly. Novelist Jon Cleary collaborated with Watt on the screenplay.
The main characters were played by overseas stars, all British except for Aldo Ray in the central role. However, there are a few roles for local actors including Gerry Duggan and Grant Taylor. The film uses Sydney locations quite strikingly, especially the harbour and Fort Dennison itself.
1. An interesting and entertaining thriller? Australian? International?
2. 'Fifties film-making, the Australian industry, the overseas crews, writers and stars? The effective use of Sydney locations, the city, the harbour, the harbour bridge, Fort Dennison? The role of the police and their work on the harbour? The international cast?
3. Authentic atmosphere? Derivative dramatic material?
4. The basic situation, Matt Kirk and his escape from prison, the set-up of the escape, the ambulance, the police stopping the ambulance, the emergency, the hospital, Kirk leaving? The tensions between the men organising the escape and carrying it out? The indication of tensions and difficulties? The preparation for the tensions of the siege?
5. Aldo Ray as Matt Kirk? His brother, his escape, the skills in organising the escape, a calm and non-violent man, the victim of corruption, his place in society, his past? Relationship with his brother? His attitude towards the police, his control of the group? Decision-making? Pinchgut, the food? The boat, the crisis and its solution? The shootings? His final leaving? Hope for the future?
6. Fort Dennison and its nickname of Pinchgut? The background of convicts - and the relevance for the plot? In itself, the boat drifting there, the Fultons and their management of Fort Dennison, their work? The fort's role in history, guards and convicts, the Military, Crimea, the world wars, the Japanese and World War Two? A museum? The ordinary touches - the supplying of the milk. the tourist trips? Yet important for defence? A symbol of Australian law? Guilt, innocence, corruption, cruelty, death?
7. The portrait of the Fulton family - their work, being taken as hostages, hostility, devising various ruses, fear, communications, interrelationships? Ann and the information? The snipers? Helping with the sealing of the doors? Meals? Kirk and his changing attitude? Johnny and help?
8. The plans, the control, the avoiding of violence? The shots and attitudes hardening? Johnny's wound? Matt's change? Bert and the tourist tour? The blend of the ordinary and the special? The information about the explosives, the ship? Getting the shells, the threat and the firing of the blacks? Time, television, phone? Luke and his participation in the escape, in the siege? Violence? Death? Bert and his role, tensions? The siege snipers, the importance of time, the attack, Matt's death, Johnny changing?
9. The police and their work, suspicions, the attitude of Hannah and the confrontation, the sniper and the suspension of sniping?
9. The documentary-style detail of the ship, the explosives, the time given to the unloading? Accidents?
10. The spreading of the siege situation, the danger to the city? The television interviews, the details of evacuation?
11. The film's presenting characters partly as stereotype -but more? Audience sympathies, understanding? The nature of the decisions? Possibilities? A satisfying resolution, on the level of thriller? On the level of social justice? Of social drama - with implications for a city under siege?
12. An entertaining piece of Australiana? Insights from British production? Fifties entertainment?
