''Let's Get Skase'' is a 2001 Australian comedy starring
Lachy Hulme
Lachy Hulme (born 1 April 1971) is an Australian actor and screenwriter. He has written several films and has appeared in a number of successful Australian and US film and television productions.
Early life
Hulme was born in Melbourne, Victo ...
,
Alex Dimitriades
Alex Dimitriades (born 28 December 1973) is an Australian actor and DJ. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Nick Polides in the 1993 romantic comedy film '' The Heartbreak Kid'', and Nick Poulos in the 1994 television teen drama spin-off ' ...
,
Craig McLachlan
Craig Dougall McLachlan (born 1 September 1965) is an Australian actor, musician, singer and composer. He has been involved in film, television, the music industry and music theatre for over 30 years. He is best known for appearing in the soap ...
,
Alex Menglet
Alex Menglet, born ''Alexei Menglet'' in Moscow USSR in 1956, is an actor who has found success working in Australia.
Career
Menglet is best known for his roles as chef Ray "Gay Ray" Proctor in the 1984 season of ''Prisoner'' and more recently ...
, and
Bill Kerr
William Henry Kerr (10 June 1922 – 28 August 2014) was a British and Australian actor, comedian, and vaudevillian.
Born in South Africa, he started his career as a child actor in Australia, before emigrating to Britain after the Second Wor ...
. It is based on the life of failed Australian businessman
Christopher Skase, who after the collapse of his
Qintex
Qintex Limited was an Australian financial services company founded in 1975 as Takeovers, Equities & Management Securities (TEAM). It was renamed Qintex Limited and came to prominence in 1986, collapsing five years later in 1991. Its main share ...
business fled to
Majorca,
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
. Skase died at around the time of the film's release. It was filmed in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...
and
Perth
Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...
.
Plot
After the collapse of his massive Qintex business empire, Christopher Skase flees to the Spanish Island of Majorca, leaving angry creditors high and dry. Enter Peter Dellasandro, a fast-talking con man and failed entrepreneur who sees the "Chase For Skase" as a potential gold mine.
Dellasandro convinces the Creditors Board that he's the only man with the ability and recklessness to undertake the task demanded by his country: the kidnapping of Christopher Skase.
But not everyone is convinced, especially Danny D'Amato, the fiery son of the Creditors Chairman. Suspicious of Dellasandro, the two form an uneasy alliance as Dellasandro sets out to recruit the ego-centric TV host Eric Carney into his scheme, until seasoned mercenary Mitch Vendieks warns Dellasandro that Carney is planning a kidnap plot of his own.
Determined to beat Carney to the punch, Dellasandro and Danny join forces with Mitch to form their own team, recruiting the inept Sean Knight, mendacious
getaway driver
A crime scene getaway is the act of fleeing the location where one has broken the law. It is an act that the offender(s) may or may not have planned in detail, resulting in a variety of outcomes. A :crime scene is the "location of a crime; e ...
Dave Phibbs and cynical intelligence ace Rupert Wingate, who soon discovers that Skase is devising a deadly scheme to resurrect his business empire across Europe.
With time running out, Dellasandro and the boys head for Majorca and track Skase to his sprawling mansion, confronting the devious businessman.
The team is outnumbered by Skase's Security Guards and thus cannot manage to kidnap him. However, they make out with several computer discs which contain sensitive documents revealing Skase's plan to "bust out" Qintex. The information at hand is enough evidence for the Australian Government to make compensation payments to the Qintex Creditors Boardmembers.
Cast
*
Lachy Hulme
Lachy Hulme (born 1 April 1971) is an Australian actor and screenwriter. He has written several films and has appeared in a number of successful Australian and US film and television productions.
Early life
Hulme was born in Melbourne, Victo ...
as Peter Dellasandro
*
Alex Dimitriades
Alex Dimitriades (born 28 December 1973) is an Australian actor and DJ. He is perhaps best known for his roles as Nick Polides in the 1993 romantic comedy film '' The Heartbreak Kid'', and Nick Poulos in the 1994 television teen drama spin-off ' ...
as Daniel "Danny" D'Amato Jr
*
Craig McLachlan
Craig Dougall McLachlan (born 1 September 1965) is an Australian actor, musician, singer and composer. He has been involved in film, television, the music industry and music theatre for over 30 years. He is best known for appearing in the soap ...
as Eric Carney
*
Bill Kerr
William Henry Kerr (10 June 1922 – 28 August 2014) was a British and Australian actor, comedian, and vaudevillian.
Born in South Africa, he started his career as a child actor in Australia, before emigrating to Britain after the Second Wor ...
as Mitchell Vendieks
*
Torquil Neilson
Torquil Neilson is a former Australian actor.
Biography
Born in London and raised in Melbourne. He is best known for his role as Jason Cotter in ''Frontline'' which he played from 1994 to 1997. Neilson's other television roles include ''Blue Hee ...
as Sean Knight
*
Nick Sheppard
Nick Sheppard is a British guitarist. He played lead guitar for The Clash from 1983 until the band's breakup in 1986.
Life and career
Sheppard was educated at Bristol Grammar School, one of Bristol's leading public schools, and was in the same ...
as Dave Phibbs
*
Adam Haddrick as Rupert Wingate
*
William Ten Eyck
William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...
as Dick Rydell
*
Vince D'Amico
Vince is a given name, it is the anglicisation and shortened form of the name Vincent, as well as a surname.
It may refer to:
Given name People
* Vince Agnew (born 1987), American football player
* Vince Cable (born 1943), British politician ...
as Daniel D'Amato Sr.
*
Vivienne Garrett
Vivienne Garrett is an Australian-based theatre, film and television actress. She is a theatre director, acting and voice coach and also a qualified yoga instructor and therapist. She was born in Sydney, NSW and now lives in Western Australia. ...
as Ruth D'Amato
*
Nick Atkinson
Rooster were an English hard rock band from London. Formed in 2003, the group featured vocalist Nick Atkinson, guitarist Luke Potashnick, bassist Ben Smyth and drummer Dave Neale. Signed to Brightside Recordings, the band released their debut alb ...
as Anthony D'Amato
*
Sarah Borg as Maris D'Amato
*
George Shevtsov as Beneheim Bencini
*
Gordon Honeycombe
Ronald Gordon Honeycombe (27 September 1936 – 9 October 2015), known professionally as Gordon Honeycombe, was a British newscaster, author, playwright and stage actor.
Honeycombe was born in Karachi, in the British Raj. He was educated at th ...
as Murray Bishop
*
Helen Buday
Helen Buday (born 1962) is an Australian actress and singer. She is known for her role as Savannah Nix in the film ''Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome''. She was awarded Best Actress at the 48th Valladolid International Film Festival in 2003 for her r ...
as Judith Turner
*
Wayne Hassell as
Christopher Skase
*
Diane West as
Pixie Skase
*
Andrew Denton as himself (archive footage)
Production
The film was based on a real-life proposal to abduct Christopher Skase but is mostly fictional. Skase died during post-production.
"HULME, LACHY: LET'S GET SKASE", ''Urban Cinefile''
Retrieved 25 November 2012
See also
* Cinema of Australia
References
External links
*{{IMDb title, id=0264792
Let's Get Skase
at Oz Movies
Let's Get Skase at the National Film and Sound Archive
2001 films
2001 comedy films
Australian comedy films
Films shot in Melbourne
Films produced by Colin South
Films produced by John Tatoulis
2000s English-language films