Death of a Soldier
Death of a Soldier is a 1986 Australian film based on the life of American serial killer Eddie Leonski. The film was shot using locations around Melbourne, Victoria.
| Death of a Soldier | |
|---|---|
 VHS cover | |
| Directed by | Philippe Mora |
| Written by | William L. Nagle |
| Produced by | David Hannay William L. Nagle |
| Starring | James Coburn Bill Hunter Reb Brown Maurie Fields |
| Cinematography | Louis Irving |
| Edited by | John Scott |
| Music by | Allan Zavod |
| Distributed by | Scotti Brothers Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $4 million[1] |
The film is directed by Philippe Mora and stars James Coburn, Bill Hunter and Reb Brown.
Production
The idea of making the film came from William Nagle, who wrote a screenplay to produce himself; David Hannay came on board as co-producer. Dick Richards was originally meant to direct but then Philippe Mora became involved. Mora and the producers wanted to import Americans to play three roles: Leonski, his best friend Gallo and lawyer Danneberg; Actors Equity only agreed to two.[1]
At one stage it was announced that the movie would be called Leonski and be shot in August 1981 with Don Lane as a US Army major.[2]
The budget was originally meant to be $3 million but this was found to be inadequate during shooting and additional funds had to be raised. To save money the shooting schedule was reduced; some of the crew complained to the Australian Theatrical and Amusement Employees' Association, which put a black ban on the film. This meant it was a year before the film was released in Australia.[1]
Cast
- James Coburn as Maj. Patrick Dannenberg
- Bill Hunter as Det. Sgt. Adams
- Reb Brown as Pvt. Edward J. Leonski
- Maurie Fields as Det. Sgt. Martin
- Max Fairchild as Maj. William Fricks
- Belinda Davey as Margot Saunders
- Randall Berger as Pvt. Anthony Gallo
- Michael Pate as Maj. Gen. Sutherland
- Jon Sidney as Gen. Douglas MacArthur
- Terence Donovan as John Curtin
Reception
James Coburn later said " "It wasn’t very good. There were a lot of problems with the picture. For one thing we had an auteur producer. He was also the screenwriter. He wrote it too much like a comic strip. We also had a lot of auteurs working on the fucking thing. The director didn t have enough time to prepare it I was very disappointed by the way it turned out It was a hellava good story. It’s too bad".[3]
See also
References
- David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p45-47
- "Lane into Film", Cinema Papers, May–June 1981 p148
- Goldman, Lowell (Spring 1991). "James Coburn Seven and Seven Is". Psychotronic Video. No. 9. p. 28.
Sources
External links
- Death of a Soldier at IMDb
- Death of a Soldier at the National Film and Sound Archive
- Death of a Soldier at New York Times
- Death of a Soldier at Oz Movies