''Avengers of the Reef'' is a 1973 Australian children's film directed by Chris McCullugh and starring Simon Drake.

Plot

Scientist Bill Stewart goes to Fiji with his son Tim to investigate the appearance of the crown-of-thorns starfish in the reefs off the island. It transpires that a mining syndicate set up by Updike is deliberately seeding the reefs with the starfish to enable them to mine the reef area. Updike hires an assassin, Kemp, to kill Stewart. He fails, but Tim thinks he has succeeded and runs away to an island village pursued by Kemp. Tim makes friends with a Fijian boy, Sai, and is eventually reunited with his father.

Cast

*Simon Drake as Tim Stewart *Biu Rarawa as Sai *Tim Elliot as Kemp *

Noel Ferrier Noel Ferrier AM (20 December 193016 October 1997) was an Australian television personality, comedian, stage and film actor, raconteur and theatrical producer. He was a regular panelist in Graham Kennedy's popular game show '' Blankety Blanks ( ...

as Updike *

Garry McDonald Garry George McDonald AO (born 30 October 1948) is an Australian actor, satirist and comedian. In a career spanning five decades he has had many theatre, television and film roles, and has been listed as a National Living Treasure. He is bes ...

as Updike's aide *Dibs Mather as Bill Stewart *Lesie as Chieftain *

Judy Morris Judith Ann Morris (born 17 February 1947) is an Australian character actress, as well as a film director and screenwriter, well known for the variety of roles she played in 58 different television shows and films, starting her career as a child ...

as airline hostess *Jenny Lee *

Richard Lupino Richard Lupino (29 October 1929 – 9 February 2005 ) was an American film, stage and television actor, of British parentage, part of the theatrical Lupino family. He was born in Hollywood to British actor Wallace Lupino and his wife Rose. He ...

*Bob Lee *Eddie Osborne

Production

The film was jointly financed by the actor-producer

and the

Australian Film Development Corporation The Australian Film Development Corporation was an organisation created and funded by the Australian Government in the 1970s, intended to allow filmmakers in the Australian film industry to create movies for everyone to see. In 1975 it was repl ...

. Shooting began in Fiji in September 1972, mainly on the island of

Taveuni Taveuni (pronounced ) is the third-largest island in Fiji, after Viti Levu and Vanua Levu, with a total land area of . The cigar-shaped island, a massive shield volcano which rises from the floor of the Pacific Ocean, is situated to the east of ...

. Filming was delayed by several weeks because of a major cyclone.

Awards

Anne Brooksbank won an Australian Writers Guild Award for her screenplay.

References

External links

*
''Avengers of the Reef''
at ''Oz Movies'' 1973 films Australian children's films Films shot in Fiji Films set in Fiji 1970s English-language films 1970s Australian films {{1970s-Australia-film-stub