sanmigman

This is a magnificent series that was a collaboration between the BBC and an Australian Company, unfortunately this is also the reason it has not gone to video which is a great pity as it is undoubtedly one of the best works concerning Australian Bush Rangers, the Aussie equivalent of American Outlaws that has ever been made, As far as I know it only ran once but it completely hooked me and I watched all 13 parts. I have also read the biography on Ben Hall and the series is fairly true to what is known about Ben. Jon Finch plays the title role very convincingly as does Evin Crowley as his long suffering wife. The story follows Ben, a small time horse farmer, down the path he took as bushranger. The sets are excellent examples of how Australia looked at the time and all the characters develop well during the 13 hours of screen play. It is shown from both sides points of view and although most will remain feeling sorry for Ben there are many occasions when you also feel sorry for the police. It will be a great shame if this is never re-released.

The Hellions is a great film and Richard Todd is very convincing. I have seen this film only once and that was about 30 years ago on British television. I too, have searched for a video but have been unable to find any although Posters do appear on ebay from time to time. Most people say it is a High Noon and in some respects it is similar as a lone lawman, in this case a South African Constable has to face the bad guys alone out of his personal sense of duty. It is dissimilar to High Noon in that the action is more spread out as a sequence of events. It is most similar to Firecreek which was made 7 years later and stars James Stewart and Henry Fonda and I think this was a copy of the Hellions script adapted as a Western. In Firecreek James Stewart plays a honorary sheriff of a small town of losers which becomes a place for the bad guys led by Henry Fonda to hold up in. Fonda leads a gang of gunmen who take part in Range Wars. So if you can't watch the Hellions get a copy of Firecreek.

Jeff Herbert