Dirty Deeds

Clip 1: ‘Nothing to lose’

Taken from the feature Dirty Deeds (2002)

Original title classification MA – this clip chosen to be PG

Curator’s clip description

At Sydney airport, Barry Ryan (Bryan Brown) collects his nephew Darcy (Sam Worthington), who’s returning from his service in Vietnam. Barry introduces his crew – ‘Hollywood’ Riley (William McInnes) and Norm (Andrew S. Gilbert) – and offers Darcy a job. Darcy tells Barry’s girlfriend Margaret (Kestie Morassi) why the Americans won’t win in Vietnam. Mafia emissaries Tony (John Goodman) and Sal (Felix Williamson) arrive from the US and check into the Gazebo Hotel in Kings Cross. Sal is disappointed that Australia has no colour television.

Curator’s notes

The film revels in its highly designed, retro-chic style, from Qantas V-Jets, to pork pie hats, and hotel rooms with bright late 60s colours. The stylised Sydney airport set is particularly unrealistic, suggesting a television studio set. Director David Caesar shoots some scenes to evoke old Australian cop shows, such as Homicide and Division 4, but he uses odd camera angles and elaborate swooping moves to suggest the times are changing in this newly bright world.

Paul Byrnes, curator

Teachers’ notes

provided by The Le@rning Federation

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This clip shows Barry Ryan (Bryan Brown) at Sydney airport, welcoming home his nephew Darcy (Sam Worthington), who has just returned from service in Vietnam. Barry introduces his crew, ‘Hollywood’ Riley (William McInnes) and Norm (Andrew S Gilbert), and says that he might have a job for Darcy. They drive away to the soundtrack of The Seekers’ version of ‘Oh sinner man’. Darcy tells Barry’s girlfriend, Margaret (Kestie Morassi), that the Americans cannot win the war in Vietnam. Meanwhile Mafia members Tony (John Goodman) and Sal (Felix Williamson) check into the Gazebo Motel in Kings Cross and are annoyed that there is no colour television.

Educational value points

The clip shows scenes from Dirty Deeds, a film inspired by events that occurred in the Sydney crime scene in the late 1960s. Lenny McPherson (1921–96), also known as ‘Mr Big’, was the most powerful crime figure in Sydney. He attempted to facilitate the forming of close ties between himself, other leading Australian criminals and the US Mafia. In 1969 McPherson held a meeting with Mafia hit man Joseph Dan Testa in Australia. The final scenes in this clip show Mafia boss Tony soon after his arrival in Australia.

The clip raises the issue of contact between the US and Australian cultures. Allies in war, including the Second World War and the Vietnam War, Australian and US soldiers mixed both at home and in theatres of war. In this clip, newly arrived Americans are annoyed by what they see as some backward aspects of Australian culture and one of the locals is equally puzzled by some US customs, such as tipping. Australian vernacular language and the version of ‘Oh sinner man’ released by popular Australian band The Seekers are both featured.

The young man returning from Vietnam portrayed in this clip could have been conscripted into active service. Conscription for military service was reintroduced in Australia in 1964 and was based on a lottery draw of birth dates for 20-year-old males. This followed the passing in the same year of the National Service Act, which introduced compulsory military service, mandating that 20-year-old males carry out full-time service for two years followed by three years in the Army Reserve. The Act was amended in May 1965 to oblige national servicemen to serve overseas and 19,450 national servicemen were sent to Vietnam.

The clip suggests a strong opposition to the war in Vietnam. Many Australians believed that Australia should not have become involved in the War, and by 1968 there was strong opposition being expressed in protests and moratorium marches. People protesting against the War often made no distinction between the War itself and the young soldiers, many of whom had been unwillingly conscripted and forced to fight in it. Young Australian conscripts returning from service in Vietnam were not welcomed back as heroes returning from war, but were shunned and sometimes attacked by some Australians. Many Vietnam veterans were made to feel ashamed of their military service and became alienated and embittered.

The film is set in the 1960s and its highly stylised look evokes the music, dress, architecture and decor of the period. Director David Caesar, production designer Chris Kennedy, costume designer Tess Schofield, and cinematographer Geoff Hall created the look of the film. The Australian men wear thin-lapelled suits and pork-pie hats, reminiscent of the Australian television series Homicide (1964–75) and Division 4 (1969–75). The contemporary music, the lighting, which has a sharp, cartoonish look, the 1960s cars and the bright colours of the motel room’s decor all create a bright 1960s mood.

Bryan Brown (1947–) coproduced Dirty Deeds and was the lead actor. His first film was The Love Letters from Teralba Road (1977) and other films in which he has appeared include Newsfront (1978), Breaker Morant (1980), F/X (1985), Gorillas in the Mist (1988), Cocktail (1988) and Two Hands (1999). He has appeared in the television series A Town Like Alice (1981), The Shiralee (1987), Twisted Tales (1996) and Two Twisted (2006), and was also producer of the last two.

Dirty Deeds (2002) was written and directed by David Caesar, who graduated from the Australian Film Television and Radio School in 1987. He started his film career with documentaries such as Body Work (1988), which explored the funeral industry. He has also written and directed the feature films Greenkeeping (1992), Idiot Box (1996) and Mullet (2000). He has also directed Australian television programs such as Twisted Tales (1996), Stingers (1998) and RAN: Remote Area Nurse (2006).