''The Box'' is a 1975 Australian film, based on the Australian
soap opera
A soap opera, or ''soap'' for short, is a typically long-running radio or television serial, frequently characterized by melodrama, ensemble casts, and sentimentality. The term "soap opera" originated from radio dramas originally being sponsored ...
''
The Box'' and featuring much of the same cast. The film also features
Graham Kennedy
Graham Cyril Kennedy AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, as well as a personality and star of radio, theatre, television and film. He often performed in the style of vaudevilli ...
playing himself, and
Cornelia Frances
Cornelia Frances Zulver, OAM (7 April 1941 – 28 May 2018), credited professionally as Cornelia Frances, was an English-Australian actress. After starting her career in small cameos in films in her native England, she became best known for her ...
in the key role of Dr. S. M. Winter, an efficiency expert brought in to improve operations at UCV-12.
Robin Ramsay played Winter's assistant Bruce.
Marilyn Vernon
Marilyn may refer to:
* Marilyn (given name)
* Marilyn (singer) (born 1962), English singer
* Marilyn (hill), a type of mountain or hill in the British Isles with a prominence above 150 m
* 1486 Marilyn, a Main-belt asteroid
* ''Marilyn'' (1953 f ...
as starlet Ingrid O'Toole, and
Leonie Bradley
Leonie or Léonie is a Latin language, Latin-origin Grammatical gender#Personal names, feminine given name meaning "lioness", from the masculine personal name ''Leon (given name), Leon'' (meaning "lion"). Leonie evolved to Léonie in France. It is ...
, credited as "Nature Girl", provide nude glimpses, as does the returning Belinda Giblin.
Keith Lee played Price, and
Robert Forza
Robert Forza is an Australian actor. He has had guest roles in '' Homicide'' (in 1974 and 1975) and ''Prisoner'' (playing Spud Murphy, between 1980–83). He later had a recurring role as Rocco Cammeniti in '' Neighbours''. Film appearances incl ...
appeared as Channel 12's
clapper loader
A clapper loader or second assistant camera (2nd AC) is part of a film crew whose main functions are that of loading the raw film stock into camera magazines, operating the clapperboard (slate) at the beginning of each take, marking the actors a ...
.
Plot
Channel 12 is in financial difficulties. The company board calls the bluff of managing director Sir Henry Usher (Fred Betts), forcing him to call in a systems expert to improve station operations. Station staff are initially surprised to learn that the expert, Dr Winter, is a woman, named Sheila (
Cornelia Frances
Cornelia Frances Zulver, OAM (7 April 1941 – 28 May 2018), credited professionally as Cornelia Frances, was an English-Australian actress. After starting her career in small cameos in films in her native England, she became best known for her ...
). Various attempts to first impress, and then to hinder Dr Winter end disastrously. A feature film, ''Manhunt'', directed by Lee Whiteman and starring Tony Wild, is produced with hopes to increasing station income. Thanks to Wild's ineptitude the resultant footage is a disaster but the film finds unexpected success when reworked as a comedy.
Production
The film was shot on
35 mm on new sets at Crawford Productions' Abbotsford studios over four weeks in early 1975.
[David Stratton, ''The Last New Wave: The Australian Film Revival'', Angus & Robertson, 1980 p301] Part of the budget was contributed by 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 repla ...
. Marilyn Vernon appeared in several full frontal scenes that were probably deemed unsuitable for TV while Belinda Giblin was seen topless again just as she had been in the TV series.
See also
*
List of films based on television programs
This a list of television programs that were later adapted into feature films.
Programs with films which are prequels, sequels or based upon the series
Pilot episodes released as feature films
Television pilots that were soon or later adapted ...
References
External links
''The Box''at
IMDb
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...
''The Box''at Oz Movies
{{DEFAULTSORT:Box, The
1975 films
Australian drama films
1975 drama films
Films based on television series
Films set in Victoria (Australia)
1970s English-language films