Terry Christopher Bourke (19 April 1940 – 29 June 2002) was an Australian journalist, screenwriter, producer and director. He worked as a show business journalist and production assistant in Hong Kong for a number of years before returning to Australia in 1971.John Larkin, "Blood and Guts to Ride the (Flinders) Ranges", ''The Age'', 30 July 1971
accessed 23 October 2012 He made several movies and also worked in television.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p269 Phil Avalon called him "one of Australia's first maverick filmmakers".

Early filmography

Bourke was a newspaper journalist for ''

The Australian ''The Australian'', with its Saturday edition, ''The Weekend Australian'', is a broadsheet newspaper published by News Corp Australia since 14 July 1964.Bruns, Axel. "3.1. The active audience: Transforming journalism from gatekeeping to gatew ...

'' and ''

The China Mail ''The China Mail'' ( zh, t=德臣西報, also and ) was an English-language newspaper published in Hong Kong from 1845 to 1974, making it the longest-lived of any Hong Kong newspaper. The head office was in Wellington Street. History The Ch ...

'' in the

Crown Colony of Hong Kong Hong Kong was a colony and later a dependent territory of the British Empire from 1841 to 1997, apart from a period of occupation under the Japanese Empire from 1941 to 1945 during the Pacific War. The colonial period began with the British ...

. He entered the world of feature films in 1965 by raising $320,000 for actor

Jeffrey Stone Jeffrey Stone (December 16, 1926 – August 22, 2012) was an American actor and voice-over artist. Stone was the model and inspiration for Prince Charming in the 1950 Walt Disney Animation Studios, Walt Disney animated feature film, ''Cinderella ...

's first and last East-West Motion Picture Ltd production ''

Strange Portrait ''Strange Portrait'' is a film set in Hong Kong.The Milwaukee Sentinel Fen. 15 196Page 15, Buck Herzog, Sign Has Double Meaning/ref> It was directed by Jeffrey Stone and starred Jeffrey Hunter, Barbara Yu Ling, Barbara Lee, Mai Tai Sing and Tina H ...

'' (1966) with Bourke credited as an

associate producer A film producer is a person who oversees film production. Either employed by a production company or working independently, producers plan and coordinate various aspects of film production, such as selecting the script, coordinating writing, di ...

. He continued in Hong Kong shot films being credited as a

production manager In the cinema of the United States, a unit production manager (UPM) is the Directors Guild of America–approved title for the top below-the-line staff position, responsible for the administration of a feature film or television production. Non- ...

Harry Alan Towers Harry Alan Towers (19 October 1920 – 31 July 2009) was a British radio and independent film producer and screenwriter. He wrote numerous screenplays for the films he produced, often under the pseudonym Peter Welbeck. He produced over 80 ...

' film ''

The Million Eyes of Sumuru ''The Million Eyes of Sumuru'' is a 1967 British spy film produced by Harry Alan Towers, directed by Lindsay Shonteff and filmed at the Shaw Brothers studios in Hong Kong. It stars Frankie Avalon and George Nader, with Shirley Eaton as the t ...

'' (1967) directed by

Lindsay Shonteff Lindsay Craig Shonteff (5 November 1935 – 11 March 2006) was a Canadian born film director, film producer and screenwriter who achieved fame for low-budget films produced in the United Kingdom. Biography Lindsay Shonteff was born in Toronto ...

. Bourke made his directorial debut when he wrote, produced and directed ''

Sampan A sampan is a relatively flat-bottomed Chinese and Malay wooden boat. Some sampans include a small shelter on board and may be used as a permanent habitation on inland waters. The design closely resembles Western hard chine boats like th ...

'' AKA ''San-Ban'' shot in the

New Territories The New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory, and contains around half of the population of Hong Kong. Historically, it ...

in 1968 with an eye on international distribution. The film attracted threats of censorship and large audiences in Hong Kong as it featured what was regarded as the first nude scene in

Hong Kong Cinema The cinema of Hong Kong ( zh, t=香港電影) is one of the three major threads in the history of Chinese language cinema, alongside the cinema of China and the cinema of Taiwan. As a former British colony, Hong Kong had a greater degree of pol ...

when star Dorothy Fu displayed one of her breasts in a scene of her running away from a pursuer. The film became the most successful Hong Kong film of the year. Though Hong Kong censors originally considered cutting the scene but allowed it in the film, the Australian censors excised the scene prior to the film's release. Some sources credited Bourke as being the first Occidential to direct a Hong Kong film One of the principal investors in ''Sampan'' was Guamanian businessman and future senator Gordon Mailloux. He convinced Bourke that with Japanese film crews coming to Guam and bringing in and taking out their equipment at great expense, Guamanians could purchase and be trained in the use of film equipment for the benefit of Japanese or other foreign producers. Bourke wrote, directed and produced ''

Noon Sunday ''Noon Sunday'' is a 1970 action film directed by Terry Bourke about two mercenaries. The film was the first feature produced in Guam. Production Terry Bourke and producer Gordon Mailloux had previously worked on the film ''Sampan'' together, whi ...

'' (1969), the first Guamanian feature film though scenes of ''

Son of Godzilla is a 1967 Japanese ''kaiju'' film directed by Jun Fukuda, with special effects by Sadamasa Arikawa, under the supervision of Eiji Tsuburaya. Produced and distributed by Toho Co., Ltd, it is the eighth film in the ''Godzilla'' franchise. It st ...

'' (1967) had previously been filmed there. The film was financed by the Guam Economic Development Authority with interior scenes shot in studios in Hong Kong and special effects model scenes shot in Japan. Bourke was also credited as a script supervisor on

Burgess Meredith Oliver Burgess Meredith (November 16, 1907 – September 9, 1997) was an American actor and filmmaker whose career encompassed theater, film, and television. Active for more than six decades, Meredith has been called "a virtuosic actor" and "on ...

's ''

The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go ''The Yin and the Yang of Mr. Go'' is a 1970 British thriller film directed by Burgess Meredith. It was shot in Hong Kong and Toronto, Canada. Plot summary An American army deserter, James Joyce fanatic and aspiring writer named Nero Finni ...

'' shot in Hong Kong in 1970.

Return to Australia

Bourke returned to Australia where he was a second unit director and associate director on eight episodes of ''

Spyforce ''Spyforce'' is an Australian television series that aired from 1971 to 1973 on Nine Network. The series was based upon the adventures of Australian Military Intelligence operatives in the South West Pacific during World War II. It was produced ...

''. He also wrote and directed two episodes of the series. Back home at the start of the

Australian New Wave The Australian New Wave (also known as the Australian Film Revival, Australian Film Renaissance, or New Australian Cinema) was an era of resurgence in worldwide popularity of Australian cinema, particularly in the United States. It began in the ea ...

of government sponsored feature film production, he made his Australian feature film debut with ''

Night of Fear "Night of Fear" is the debut single by British rock band the Move, written by Roy Wood. The song was first released on 9 December 1966, and reached number 2 in the UK Singles Chart on 26 January 1967, staying for ten weeks in the charts. "Night ...

'' that was originally intended to be a pilot for an

Australian Broadcasting Commission The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) is the national broadcaster of Australia. It is principally funded by direct grants from the Australian Government and is administered by a government-appointed board. The ABC is a publicly-owned ...

TV series called ''Fright''. When the series was not selected to go to air, Bourke submitted the film for cinema release, however Australian censors initially banned the film. The film was regarded as Australia's first horror film. The film's success led Bourke to be regarded as a horror director, when he followed the film with ''

Inn of the Damned ''Inn of the Damned'' is a 1975 Australian western horror film, directed by Terry Bourke. It has been called Australia's first "horror Western". Plot In 1896, a crazed woman and her husband run an inn in eastern Victoria and take revenge for t ...

''. Bourke shot the film in 1973 with finance coming from 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 ...

. The film was another screenplay planned for the ill-fated ABC ''Fright'' series. Bourke described the film as "Hitchcock on Horseback" with the film featuring an international cast including

Dame Judith Anderson Dame Frances Margaret Anderson, (10 February 18973 January 1992), known professionally as Judith Anderson, was an Australian actress who had a successful career in stage, film and television. A pre-eminent stage actress in her era, she won two ...

in her first Australian feature film,

John Meillon John Meillon, ( ; 1 May 1934 – 11 August 1989), was an Australian character actor, known for many straight as well as comedy roles, he became most widely known internationally as Walter Reilly in the films ''Crocodile Dundee'' and ''Crocodil ...

, Michael Craig and American

Alex Cord Alexander Viespi Jr. (May 3, 1933 – August 9, 2021), known professionally as Alex Cord, was an American actor, best known for his portrayal of Michael Coldsmith Briggs III, better known as Archangel, in 55 episodes of the television series ''A ...

. Bourke continued in Australian television series and made for television films as well as making the sex film '' Plugg'', the thriller '' Little Boy Lost'' (1978) and a return to the horror genre with '' Lady Stay Dead'' (1981). His final credited film was '' The Tourist'' (1987).

Appraisal

David Stratton David James Stratton (born 10 September 1939) is an English-Australian award-winning film critic, as both a journalist and interviewer, film historian and lecturer and television personality and producer. Life and career Born in Trowbridge, ...

described him as "a second-rate director".David Stratton, ''The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry'', Pan MacMillan, 1990 p137 Actor and writer

Roger Ward Roger Ward (born 1936) is an Australian actor who has had a considerable career in film and television, noted for "tough guy" roles in which he often did his own stunts. Biography Ward was born in Adelaide, South Australia in 1936. His car ...

called him:

A shifty but clever and cunning little character who did a lot of work. Some was good. However, the good was canceled out by his cavalier attitude to money (always other peoples'), his disrespect of his peers, and an almost obsessive jealousy of anyone else in the industry... To his credit, Terry had an uncanny ability to make a tiny creek in the suburbs of Sydney look like the back blocks of Vietnam. He could also carve a piece of cardboard, put lights behind it and shoot it with a title beneath, and those that saw it on the silver screen would swear it really was a Manhattan skyline. He could shoot beneath a doctored typewriter or through a disassembled camera or use a single house for the entire shoot of a film... At best he was an egotistical arsehole who was nowhere near as talented as he imagined he was... He was also a pathological liar. But that's show business.

A profile in Oz movies said "Bourke was an ineffably optimistic and enthusiastic director who lived to direct films, but he also couldn't direct traffic, let alone a feature film. Well that's not quite correct, he could direct traffic, but only if it crashed and banged and caught fire and exploded and featured excessive nudity and bonus kinky moments."

Select credits

*''

'' (1966) *''

'' (1968) *''

'' (1970) *''

'' (1971) (TV series) *''

'' (1972) *'' Plugg'' (1975) *''

'' (1975) *''

Murcheson Creek ''Murcheson Creek'' is a 1976 Australian television film which was a feature-length pilot for an unmade TV series.Ed. Scott Murray, ''Australia on the Small Screen 1970–1995'', Oxford Uni Press, 1996 p108 Premise A young Sydney doctor returns ...

'' (1976) (TV) *'' Little Boy Lost'' (1978) *''

Secret Valley ''Secret Valley'' is an Australian children's television adventure series first shown on the ABC in 1980. It was produced by the Grundy Organisation in association with Telecip, S.A. and Spain's public broadcaster Televisión Española. Seri ...

'' (1981) *'' Lady Stay Dead'' (1981) *''

Brothers A brother is a man or boy who shares one or more parents with another; a male sibling. The female counterpart is a sister. Although the term typically refers to a familial relationship, it is sometimes used endearingly to refer to non-familia ...

'' (1982) *'' The Tourist'' (1987) (TV movie)

Unmade films

*''Latrik'' (1971) – an Australian western where

Peter Finch Frederick George Peter Ingle Finch (28 September 191614 January 1977) was an English-Australian actor of theatre, film and radio. Born in London, he emigrated to Australia as a teenager and was raised in Sydney, where he worked in vaudeville ...

leads a gang that pack rapes

Rod Taylor Rodney Sturt Taylor (11 January 1930 – 7 January 2015) was an Australian actor. He appeared in more than 50 feature films, including ''The Time Machine'' (1960), ''One Hundred and One Dalmatians'' (1961), '' The Birds'' (1963), and ''In ...

's daughter *''Crocodile'' (1977) – proposed $1.6 million film about a killer crocodileDavid Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p264 *''The Janus Conspiract'' (1980) – about the disappearance of

Harold Holt Harold Edward Holt (5 August 190817 December 1967) was an Australian politician who served as the 17th prime minister of Australia from 1966 until his presumed death in 1967. He held office as leader of the Liberal Party. Holt was born in S ...

References

External links

*
Terry Bourke
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bourke, Terry 1940 births 2002 deaths Australian film directors Australian expatriates in Hong Kong