The Survivor

Preparing the plane crash scene at the start of the film for shooting took several weeks. The film was shot on an empty plot of land at Panorama, south of Adelaide in South Australia. More than 2,000 spectators came to watch the spectacular scene, which was filmed in only thirty minutes so that the plane would be completely destroyed by fire.

BEHIND THE SCENES · SOURCED

This was the first Australian film to cost more than 1 million Australian dollars to make. The budget was reportedly actually 1.1 million Australian dollars.

PRODUCTION STORY · SOURCED

In an interview about this adaptation of his source novel and Deadly Eyes (1982), an adaptation of another of his novels, source novelist James Herbert said: "I had nothing to do with either of those two films. After the event I heard that 'The Rats' had been sold to Golden Harvest, who made all the Bruce Lee kung fu films. When I heard David Hemmings was going to direct 'The Survivor' I sent him a note saying he could get in touch with me if he wanted help. I never got a reply. I've seen them. They're terrible… absolute rubbish. All I can say is; don't blame me."

DEEPER MEANING · SOURCED

This was the last feature film of Joseph Cotten, the actor who played the priest. He retired from acting after this project.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

It was the first film adaptation of a James Herbert novel.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

After learning of the project, source novelist James Herbert sent David Hemmings a note offering his help. He never received a reply, and in 1988 he dismissed this film and the later Deadly Eyes (1982) as "terrible… absolute rubbish."

DEEPER MEANING · SOURCED

Most of the scenes featuring Australian actors Angela Punch McGregor and Peter Sumner were cut from this film.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Australian actors Peter Sumner and Angela Punch McGregor went public when most of their performances in this film were left in the editing room.

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The film posters featuring the skull and the plane were based on the dust jacket artwork of the UK paperback edition of James Herbert's source novel.

DEEPER MEANING · SOURCED

This film was made and released about five years after the first publication of James Herbert's source novel 'The Survivor' in 1976.

DEEPER MEANING · SOURCED

Director Brian Trenchard-Smith prepared an eighteen-minute promotional film for this movie to show to potential buyers at film markets. He also edited the film's theatrical trailer.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

An Adelaide newsreader appears as the Flight Engineer.

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In October 1980, before the film's original theatrical release in July 1981, its total running time was about 99 minutes, which was later reduced to about 87 minutes in June 1981, the month before its world premiere. The longer uncut version was made available for the 2017 DVD and Blu-ray releases, distributed by Glass Dolls Films in Australia and Severin Films in the UK and US.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

About seven cameras were used for the plane crash scene, which featured real emergency service vehicles and personnel.

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A songwriter appears as a television newsreader. It appears to be his first, last and only appearance in a major cinema film.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

In 1981 the film was nominated for 4 AFI (Australian Film Institute) Awards, including Best Actress in a Lead Role for Jenny Agutter, and earned craft/technical category nominations for cinematographer John Seale for Best Achievement in Sound, Best Achievement in Production Design and Best Achievement in Cinematography - but the film failed to win a gong in any of these categories.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

It was the second consecutive feature film production for the key creative team of producer Antony I. Ginnane, actor-director David Hemmings, star Robert Powell and executive producer William Fayman; their previous film, 'Harlequin' (1980), was released in 1980, the year 'The Survivor' (1980) was shot, and opened just before shooting began. About thirty cast and crew members worked on both films, including composer Brian May, associate producer Jane Scott, script editor Russell Hagg and costume designer Terry Ryan.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

For her role in this film, Jenny Agutter was nominated for Best Film Actress at Australia's Sammy Awards in 1981.

CAREER & AWARDS · SOURCED

Three foreign actors, Robert Powell, Jenny Agutter and Joseph Cotten, were imported to Australia for the lead roles of this Australian film.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

The 'Fragments from Hell' website states that 'Actor's Equity frowned on the largely foreign cast and refused to allow Susan George and Samantha Eggar to perform.'.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

The name of the crashed 747 jetliner was 'Spirit of Elizabeth'.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

Producer Tony Ginnane said of the film: 'In the pre-production period, [director] David [Hemmings] and I had a long argument about whether we should go bloody or cerebral. We mistakenly thought the market had turned and that a film in the style of Jack Clayton's The Innocents (1961) would be more appropriate than an exploitation horror film. So we went cerebral and the film was a mess. It's quite hard to follow and a bit disappointing…'.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The film won two awards at the 1981 Sitges Catalonian International Fantastic Film Festival: the International Critics' Jury Award given to director David Hemming and the Medalla Sitges en Plata de Ley for Best Screenplay given to the film's screenwriter David Ambrose.

CAREER & AWARDS · SOURCED

Producer Tony Ginnane once said that the night shoot of the plane crash was 'the biggest event in Adelaide since the Queen's last visit'.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The Survivor is one of two feature films that used an aircraft interior set built in Adelaide, South Australia, around 1980. The films, in shooting order, are Pacific Banana (1980) and The Survivor (1981).

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An article published in The Canberra Times on Monday, 19 July 1982 reported that the film 'won the Golden Asteroid Award yesterday [Sunday, 18 July 1982] at the International Science Fiction Film Festival held in Trieste (Italy)'.

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According to the front cover of the film's French soundtrack LP album, it won the 'Prix de la Meilleure Musique' (Best Music Award) at the '11. Festival International de Paris du Film Fantastique et de Science-Fiction' (11th Paris International Festival of Fantastic and Science-Fiction Film), 'décerné par L'Association Miklós Rózsa France' (awarded by the Miklós Rózsa France Association).

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The previous film by the film's main creative team, Harlequin (1980), was released in Australian cinemas on 28 March 1980, only three days before principal photography began on The Survivor (1980) on 31 March 1980.

EASTER EGGS & REFERENCES · SOURCED

The Survivor is one of two 1981 films directed by David Hemmings that were first released that year. The other was Treasure of the Yankee Zephyr (1981). Both films were made with producer Antony I. Ginnane and both featured an aircraft as a central story element.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

According to producer Antony Ginnane, the film won two awards at the Paris Film Festival. These awards were for Best Director, David Hemmings, and the Grand Prize for Best Actor, Robert Powell.

CAREER & AWARDS · SOURCED

According to Antony I. Ginnane in a DVD special feature, The Survivor was one of the first, if not the first, Australian films to be pre-sold to an overseas territory at the script stage.

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According to Antony I. Ginnane in a DVD special feature, The Survivor was the first Australian feature film to have a completion bond and a completion guarantor to ensure the picture was finished.

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The church used as the morgue was St. John's Anglican Church in Salisbury, SA; it burned down in 1989.

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The Survivor is the second of two Australian feature films starring English actress Jenny Agutter. The first was Walkabout (1971), about ten years earlier.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

According to Umbrella Entertainment's website for its 2004 Australian DVD release, the film "contains an incredible crash scene followed by the largest and most complex pyrotechnic display ever staged in Australia."

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

According to the DVD promotion for Glass Doll Films' Australian Blu-ray release, "The Survivor was the most expensive Australian film of its time."

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

According to director Brian Trenchard-Smith, who prepared the film's trailer and investment presentation, on the website 'Trailers from Hell', the plane crash scene was "the biggest pyrotechnic explosion the Australian film industry had attempted at that time."

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

In an article published in Sydney's 'Sun-Herald' on 9 August 1981, actress Angela Punch-McGregor, who played Beth, commented on her role in the film and her subsequent Best Actress AFI (Australian Film Institute) Award nomination: "I'm not even sure who I'm supposed to be. All I know is that I started out as the wife or mistress of a dead man and everyone thinks I'm someone else… The whole nomination thing was so silly. If they didn't have enough roles to nominate, they could have given the award to someone."

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

According to an article published in Sydney's 'Sun-Herald' on 9 August 1981, Angela Punch-McGregor was astonished to discover she had been nominated for Best Lead Actress for a role that was cut to ribbons in the editing room. It did not please her at all. The role, in her words, was "a bum". It lasted twenty seconds and, after the cuts were made, she did not speak a single word of dialogue… "One phone call… and the nomination caused an uproar." The nomination was withdrawn/cancelled by the AFI (Australian Film Institute). In the end, the only person nominated in that category was English actress Jenny Agutter, who played the most prominent role in the film. The film also earned AFI (Australian Film Institute) nominations in three other categories in 1981, giving it a total of 4 AFI Award nominations, but it won none of them.

CAREER & AWARDS · SOURCED

Interestingly, this Australian feature film was not reviewed in the well-known Australian film magazine 'Cinema Papers', which was routine for Australian feature films.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The airline's name is never revealed in the film. The logo on the tail represents "TLA", and part of the broken fuselage bears the name "Trans".

DEEPER MEANING · SOURCED

The Survivor is the second of two Australian feature films starring English actor Robert Powell. The first was Harlequin (1980). Both films had supernatural themes.

CHARACTERS & CAST · SOURCED

The Survivor is considered an Ozploitation film, an Australian exploitation film.

INTERESTING FACTS · SOURCED

The Survivor is the first of two Australian feature films directed by David Hemmings in the early 1980s. The second was Treasure of the Yankee Zephyr (1981).

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The Survivor is notable for its film poster, in which the figure of a pilot (actor Robert Powell) has a hollow face, with his face positioned beside his body.

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The film's end title sequence states that the production was "filmed in South Australia and at the studios of the South Australian Film Corporation, Norwood, South Australia".

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The Survivor was the third film shot by Academy Award-winning cinematographer John Seale. Seale's first two feature films as D.O.P. were Deathcheaters (1976) and Fatty Finn (1980).

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