''The Night the Prowler'' (also known as ''Patrick White's The Night the Prowler'') is a 1978 Australian film written by

Patrick White Patrick Victor Martindale White (28 May 1912 – 30 September 1990) was a British-born Australian writer who published 12 novels, three short-story collections, and eight plays, from 1935 to 1987. White's fiction employs humour, florid prose, ...

, produced by Anthony Buckley and directed by

Jim Sharman James David Sharman (born 12 March 1945) is an Australian director and writer for film and stage with more than 70 productions to his credit. He is renowned in Australia for his work as a theatre director from the 1960s to the present, and is b ...

Ruth Cracknell Ruth Winifred Cracknell AM (6 July 1925 – 13 May 2002) was an Australian character and comic actress, comedienne and author, her career encompassing all genres including radio, theatre, television and film. She appeared in many dramatic as we ...

was nominated in 1979 for an AFI Award for Best Actress in a Lead Role for her part.

Cast

as Doris Bannister * John Frawley as Humphrey Bannister *

Kerry Walker Kerry Ann Walker is an Australian actress. She has had a lengthy career on both stage and screen. She was nominated for the AFI Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role three times, in 1985 for ''Bliss'', 1986 for ''Twelfth Night'' and in 1 ...

as Felicity Bannister *

John Derum John Bernard Derum (born 9 January 1946) is an Australian stage, film and television actor. He has also directed and produced for theatre companies throughout Australia and for television. Career Theatre Derum walked in on Wal Cherry's ...

as John *

Maggie Kirkpatrick Margaret Anne Kirkpatrick (née Downs; born 29 January 1941) is an Australian stage and screen actress who starred in the cult TV series ''Prisoner'' (otherwise known as ''Prisoner: Cell Block H'' in the UK and North America), where she was bes ...

as Madge Hopkirk *

Terry Camilleri Terrance Camilleri (born 7 November 1949) is a Maltese-born Australian actor who has performed actively in both the United Kingdom and United States. He is best recognized for portraying Emperor Napoleon I in the blockbuster comedy film ''Bill ...

as The Prowler * Harry Neilson as Old man

Production

Sharman had worked successfully with White directing the latter's play ''

The Season at Sarsaparilla ''The Season at Sarsaparilla: a charade of suburbia in 2 acts'' is a 1962 play by Australian writer Patrick White. It concerns three households, the Pogsons, the Boyles, and the Knotts, in the fictional suburb of Sarsaparilla. This play was wr ...

''. White suggested that his book ''The Night the Prowler'' might make a film; Sharman agreed and White wrote a screenplay. The film was shot in November and December 1977.

Release

The film was selected to open the 1978

Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...

and was harshly received.

Reception

Paul Byrnes of ''

Australian Screen Online 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 ...

'' wrote the following in his review:

''The film is a savage satire on the neuroses of the privileged of Sydney’s eastern suburbs, where White lived, and the director Jim Sharman grew up. Much of the satire verges on invective, and the film was criticised for being ponderous, pretentious and condescending. Parts of it are like that—especially some of the dialogue—but the film also has some moments where everything works.''Byrnes, Paul.
The Night the Prowler
'.
Australian Screen Online 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 ...

References

External links

*
''The Night the Prowler''
at Oz Movies 1978 films Australian comedy-drama films 1970s English-language films 1978 comedy-drama films Films directed by Jim Sharman Works by Patrick White 1978 comedy films 1978 drama films 1970s Australian films {{comedy-drama-film-stub