Cinema
Squizzy Taylor
Kevin Dobson · 1982
Synopsis
Melbourne, 1919, during a flu epidemic. Squizzy Taylor, a pickpocket and small-time thug whom the others humiliate, uses a bookmaker, Harry Slater, to trigger a war between rival gangs. In the twenties, he plays two ambitious policemen, Detective Brophy and Inspector Piggot, against each other by feeding them information, and uses a young reporter from the Herald to polish his image with a fascinated public. The money rolls in; he parades in nightclubs with his partner, Dolly Grey, while chasing other women.
Context
The screenplay is by Roger Simpson, who had been studying the period since a 1976 television adaptation and whom Dennis Schwartz credits as co-director. Produced by Roger Le Mesurier and shot in Melbourne for 1.7 million dollars, with David Atkins in the title role and Jacki Weaver as Dolly, the film had a limited critical and public reception. According to the national film archive, it makes Taylor a popular hero and the founder of the Melbourne underworld, as the criminal himself, who had acted in a 1922 film, liked to present himself.
Who it is for
A gangster film in Australian English, set in the Melbourne of 1919 and the twenties.
Prizes and reception
A limited reception; the national film archive sees in it an underworld figure turned into a popular hero.
Sources for this page 4
The pages consulted to check this page.