A Dangerous Summer

A Dangerous Summer
A Dangerous Summer
Directed by	Quentin Masters
Screenplay by	David Ambrose; Quentin Masters
Story by	Kit Denton; Jim McElroy
Produced by	Jim McElroy
Starring	Tom Skerritt; Ian Gilmour; Guy Doleman; James Mason; Giselle Morgan; Shane Porteous; Ray Barrett; Norman Kaye
Cinematography	Peter Hannan
Edited by	Ted Otton
Music by	Groove Myers
Production; company	Filmco
Distributed by	Australia:; Roadshow Entertainment; United States:; Reel Media International
Release date	21 October 1982 (Australia);
Running time	88 minutes
Country	Australia
Language	English
Budget	$2,930,000
Box office	A$150,000 (as at March 1985)

A Dangerous Summer (aka Flash Fire) is a 1982 Australian crime film drama film directed by Quentin Masters and starring Tom Skerritt, Ian Gilmour, Guy Doleman and James Mason.

Premise

Howard Anderson, a restless and discontented American, goes to Australia to team up with an old associate, Julian Fane. They plan the construction of a holiday resort.

While Anderson is a builder who takes pride in his work, Fane's only motive in building is to burn down the resort in an insurance fraud. He hires an arsonist to carry out the work.

Unfortunately, Fane's plans are triggered too soon and result in murder. Anderson, suspicious about events, forms an alliance with George Engels, an insurance investigator.^[2]

Cast

Tom Skerritt as Howard Anderson
Ian Gilmour
Guy Doleman as Julian Fane
James Mason as George Engels
Giselle Morgan
Shane Porteous as Sergeant Goodwin
Ray Barrett as F.C.O. Webster
Norman Kaye as Percy Farley
Wendy Hughes as Sophie McCann
Lyn Collingwood as Woman in Van

Production

The film was inspired by the Sydney bush fires of the 1979-80 summer. John Seale shot footage of the fire which Brian Trenchard-Smith turned into a 25-minute film, That Dangerous Summer. It was then announced this material would be used by Trenchard Smith in a feature version of the story, to be called Bushfire. In the end, Trenchard-Smith did not direct, and Quentin Masters did. Actor Ian Gilmour broke his leg during filming.^[3]

Filming was delayed due to an injury to James Mason. The film was originally budgeted at $2.3 million.^[4]

Box office

A Dangerous Summer grossed $33,000 (equivalent to $130,767 in 2022) at the box office in Australia.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b "How film investors found themselves in a foxhole". The Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend. 30 March 1985. p. 7.
^ Panorama newspaper TV guid; 19/10/1987; Page 16
^ David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p. 117
^ "No biz like film biz for Peter Fox". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 June 1981. p. 42.
^ "Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2010.

External links

A Dangerous Summer at IMDb
A Dangerous Summer at Oz Movies

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[cost-1] "How film investors found themselves in a foxhole". The Sydney Morning Herald Good Weekend. 30 March 1985. p. 7.

[2] Panorama newspaper TV guid; 19/10/1987; Page 16

[stratton2-3] David Stratton, The Avocado Plantation: Boom and Bust in the Australian Film Industry, Pan MacMillan, 1990 p. 117

[biz-4] "No biz like film biz for Peter Fox". The Sydney Morning Herald. 13 June 1981. p. 42.

[5] "Film Victoria – Australian Films at the Australian Box Office" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 18 February 2011. Retrieved 3 November 2010.

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