Stockade (film)

Cast

Production

The film was based on a musical play by Kenneth Cook which had been commissioned by the New South Wales Drama foundation and first performed in March 1971 at the Independent Theatre in Sydney. Most of the original cast returned and the play's director Ross McGregor was director of acting.

Shooting took place in May 1971 immediately after the end of the play's Sydney season. The shoot only took two weeks in at the Australiana village, Wilberforce, near Sydney. $15,000 of the budget came from the Australian Council for the Arts and $16,000 from the Australian Film Development Corporation.

Release

In December 1971 the MP for Ballarat, Dudley Erwin, criticised the use of government money to make Stockadeas it contained brothel scenes, and asked for it to be withdrawn from circulation.

The movie struggled to get distribution. Hans Pomeranz and Kenneth Cook complained that the NSW government refused to enforce the Film Quota Act but at the same time prevented public screenings in unlicensed halls, stopping Australian producers from finding alternatives to screen their films. Hans Pomeranz issued a formal demand to Eric Willis, chief secretary of the NSW government for an inquiry into the New South Wales industry. He was ultimately unsuccessful.

Pomeranz and Cook eventually distributed the film themselves. Commercial reception was poor but the film was widely screened in schools and on television.