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Eliza Fraser tells the real-life story of a Scottish woman, one of eighteen people aboard the HMS Stirling Castle (captained by Fraser's husband) in 1836, when the ship struck a reef and was wrecked several hundred kilometres north of the Queensland island that now bears Fraser's name. The survivors launched a boat and eventually made it to Waddy Point on the island, but they were soon afterwards captured by the local Aboriginal tribe. Stripped of their clothing and forced to endure slave-like conditions, most of the group (including Fraser's husband) either died from starvation or were killed by the tribe. Fraser was eventually found by an escaped convict, John Graham, who had lived for six years with the local Aboriginal people. Graham is said to have won the confidence of his captors by accepting their customs (including nudity). The film's narrative sees Fraser return to 'civilisation,' where she makes a good deal of money in carnival sideshows telling a sensational version of her experiences.
Adaptations
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y
Eliza Fraser
South Melbourne
:
Sun Books
,
1976
Z185701
1976
single work
novel
historical fiction
Notes
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An amalgam of adventure melodrama and bedroom farce played out in a picaresque narrative, Eliza Fraser was negatively received by most critics upon its release, but nevertheless did good business at the Australian box office. The film's (mis)use of history is audacious: it plays up sexuality and is ahistorical in its subversion of the convention of purporting to tell it 'the way it was'. The myth of British propriety is inverted: it is the whites who engage in savagery in its different forms. Interestingly, the two people who best adapt to the forced life-in-exile are Eliza and a convict, both of whom have the least social power in white society.
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Although based on the 1969 screenplay by Tim Burtsall and Patrick Ryan (Eltham Productions), Williamson's version is nevertheless a distinctly separate work. Burstill and Ryan were unable to get their script into production at the time. When it became known that a British-made film about Eliza Fraser was being considered (possibly with Vanessa Redgrave or Julie Christie in the lead role), Burstall moved quickly to get his film underway. Williamson's screenplay was at that stage further developed.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Related Works
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y
Eliza Fraser : A Screenplay for a Full-Length Feature Film Based on the Events Following the Wreck of The Stirling Castle off the Coast of Queensland, 21st May 1836
1969
(Manuscript version)x402101
Z1652743
1969
single work
screenplay
This unproduced screenplay tells the real-life story of Scottish woman Eliza Fraser, who was one of eighteen people aboard the HMS Stirling Castle when it was shipwrecked in 1836. The ship, which was captained by Fraser's husband, struck a reef several hundred kilometres north of the Queensland island that now bears Fraser's name. The survivors launched a boat and eventually reached Waddy Point on the island, but they were soon afterwards captured by the local Aboriginal tribe. Stripped of their clothing and forced to endure slave-like conditions, most of the group (including Fraser's husband) either died from starvation or were killed by the tribe. Fraser was eventually found by an escaped convict, John Graham, who had lived for six years with the Aborigines. Graham is said to have won the confidence of his captors by accepting their customs (including nudity).
Works about this Work
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y
Not Quite Hollywood : The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!
Collingwood
:
Madman Entertainment
,
2008
Z1636275
2008
single work
criticism
(taught in 1 units)
Not Quite Hollywood is the story of Ozploitation.
More explicit, violent and energetic than anything out of Hollywood, Aussie genre movies such as Alvin Purple, The Man From Hong Kong, Patrick, Mad Max and Turkey Shoot presented a unique take on established cinematic conventions.
In England, Italy and the grindhouses and Drive-ins of North America, audiences applauded our homegrown marauding revheads with their brutish cars; our sprnky well-stacked heroines and our stunts - unparalleled in their quality and extreme danger!
Busting with outrageous anecdotes, trivia and graphic poster art - and including isights from key cast, crew and fans - including Quentin Tarantino - this is the wild, untold story of an era when Aussie cinema got its gear off and showed the world a full-frontal explosion of boobs, pubes, tubes...and even a little kung fu!
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And Now for the Movie : Popular Accounts
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: In the Wake of First Contact : The Eliza Fraser Stories 1995; (p. 203-227) -
Untitled
1977
single work
review
— Appears in: Theatre Australia , May vol. 2 no. 1 1977; (p. 78)
— Review of Eliza Fraser 1976 single work film/TV
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Untitled
1977
single work
review
— Appears in: Theatre Australia , May vol. 2 no. 1 1977; (p. 78)
— Review of Eliza Fraser 1976 single work film/TV -
y
Not Quite Hollywood : The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation!
Collingwood
:
Madman Entertainment
,
2008
Z1636275
2008
single work
criticism
(taught in 1 units)
Not Quite Hollywood is the story of Ozploitation.
More explicit, violent and energetic than anything out of Hollywood, Aussie genre movies such as Alvin Purple, The Man From Hong Kong, Patrick, Mad Max and Turkey Shoot presented a unique take on established cinematic conventions.
In England, Italy and the grindhouses and Drive-ins of North America, audiences applauded our homegrown marauding revheads with their brutish cars; our sprnky well-stacked heroines and our stunts - unparalleled in their quality and extreme danger!
Busting with outrageous anecdotes, trivia and graphic poster art - and including isights from key cast, crew and fans - including Quentin Tarantino - this is the wild, untold story of an era when Aussie cinema got its gear off and showed the world a full-frontal explosion of boobs, pubes, tubes...and even a little kung fu!
-
And Now for the Movie : Popular Accounts
1995
single work
criticism
— Appears in: In the Wake of First Contact : The Eliza Fraser Stories 1995; (p. 203-227)
- 1830s
