Titles tagged with ‘crime’
67 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 next
1920s
The Cheaters (silent) feature film – 1929
Paula Marsh decides to end her career as a thief after falling in love with Lee Travers, son of a wealthy businessman.
1930s
The Cheaters (sound version) feature film – 1931
Paula Marsh decides to end her career as a thief after falling in love with Lee Travers, son of a wealthy businessman.
Victorian Police Radio Patrol sponsored film – c1931
This short dramatised scenario from 1931 demonstrates how wireless technology and morse radio clearly improve the ability of Victorian police to do their jobs.
Australia Today – Customs Officers Fight Against Drugs newsreel – 1938
Stories in this Australia Today newsreel cover topics like illegal drug importation and crime syndicates; and SP bookmaking and gambling.
The Broken Melody feature film – 1938
A film with music rather than a musical, The Broken Melody is one of the few films of the 1930s that tries to depict the Depression’s effect on real people.
Australia Today – The ‘Pyjama Girl’ Murder Case newsreel – 1939
This newsreel reconstructs the coronial inquest into the Pyjama Girl mystery, one of the most baffling unsolved murder cases in Australian criminal history.
1960s
Homicide – The Decimal Point television program – 1965
When Homicide first aired, Australian television drama, complete with Australian cops and accents, was a novelty on screen.
1970s
Homicide – The Superintendent television program – 1970
This extraordinary episode breaks away from many of the usual Homicide conventions and dispenses with the customary police investigation in record time.
Division 4 – The Return of John Kelso television program – 1971
This superb hour of drama was Division 4’s most awarded individual episode. It sustains a mood of simmering tension and the supporting cast deliver deliciously malicious performances.
Matlock Police – Episode 1, Twenty-six Hours television program – 1971
From an opening sequence strongly reminiscent of Easy Rider (1969) to a rollicking country car chase at its climax, this is a bumper first episode.
Homicide – The Friendly Fellow television program – 1973
This was star Charles 'Bud’ Tingwell’s favourite Homicide episode.
Number 96 – Episode 910 television program – 1975
The 1975 finale of Number 96 has multiple cliffhangers and is the last episode ever aired in a half-hour format.
Pure S feature film – 1975
Pure S was originally banned from release and remains one of the most unusual and frank films about drug use ever made in Australia.
Backroads short feature – 1977
Backroads (1977) is the first feature (albeit, a short one) by Phillip Noyce, who would go on to make Newsfront (1978) and Rabbit-Proof Fence.
Beyond Reasonable Doubt – Alexander McLeod Lindsey television program – 1977
Criminologist Hawkins presents the case of Alexander McLeod Lindsey, jailed for the brutal bashing of his wife. A series on possible miscarriages of justice.
Beyond Reasonable Doubt – The Case of Ronald Ryan television program – 1977
In 1967 Ronald Ryan was the last man to be hanged in Australia. With the public outrage about his execution, Australia ended capital punishment.
Cop Shop – Episode 109 television program – 1978
This episode of Cop Shop is notable for bringing together Mel Gibson, Steve Bisley and Joanne Samuel a short time before they all starred in George Miller’s landmark Mad Max (1979).
The Night the Prowler feature film – 1978
This savage satire on the neuroses of the privileged of Sydney’s eastern suburbs was written by the great novelist Patrick White.
Money Movers feature film – 1979
Money Movers was ahead of its time, and may have suffered because of that. It’s a 'crime procedural’, a genre that is now much more popular.
Palm Beach feature film – 1979
The underrated Palm Beach, set on Sydney’s northern beaches, is very daring in its use of sound.
1980s
The Chain Reaction feature film – 1980
The lives of car mechanic Larry and his wife Carmel are placed in danger following an accident at a nuclear waste facility in central Australia.
Stir feature film – 1980
This revealing film about prison life has a violent tone and very bad language, but this helps give it credibility.
Cop Shop – Episode 485 television program – 1983
This episode is a good example of the relatively adventurous single-episode stories featured in Cop Shop at this point in its run. These appeared alongside the more usual crime and soap-oriented plotlines.
Scales of Justice television program – 1983
The quasi-documentary style of this series adds a gritty reality to the typical car patrol of a police crew on any evening shift around Sydney streets.
Backlash feature film – 1986
Much of the dialogue in Bill Bennett’s film, about two police officers and a young indigenous woman, was improvised on location.
Malcolm feature film – 1986
Malcolm is one of the most charming modern Australian comedies, and probably the closest we’ve come to matching the joyful silliness of Britain’s 1950s Ealing comedies.
Grievous Bodily Harm feature film – 1988
Movie critic David Stratton described Grievous Bodily Harm as 'one of the most satisfying thrillers made in Australia’.
Australia Post – Security sponsored film – 1989
While mail security may be a far greater problem today than in the past, here is evidence that mail security has always presented a substantial challenge.
1990s
Phoenix – Top Quality Crims television program – 1991
Seminal procedural police drama, loosely based on the bombing of Victoria’s Russell Street Police Station in 1986.
Deadly Hurt documentary – 1994
A filmmaker questions whether the National Committee on Violence Against Women’s 1992 national strategy was appropriate.
Everynight… Everynight feature film – 1994
A new prisoner refuses to submit to frequent bashings by prison officers in the notorious H Division of Pentridge prison in Melbourne.
Hayride to Hell short film – 1995
This short film featuring Kylie Minogue is part rock’n'roll moment, part homage to the mysteries and mood of film noir.
From Sand to Celluloid – Payback short film – 1996
Payback, a black-and-white short about the Western and Indigenous legal systems, is one of Warwick Thornton’s earliest dramatic works.
Water Rats – Dead in the Water television program – 1996
This feature-length pilot packs in more action, location shoots and story strands than a standard episode of Water Rats.
Exile in Sarajevo documentary – 1997
The children’s stories are the most poignant in this very moving account, from civilians, of the last six months of the Bosnian War.
Halifax f.p. – Afraid of the Dark television program – 1997
A forensic psychiatrist finds she has to solve a petrol station shooting without getting too personally involved.
Murder Call – Black Friday television program – 1997
Murder Call’s take on the crime genre combines a slick look and feel with offbeat story-lines that hark back to the clue-puzzle tradition of fictional sleuths.
The Boys feature film – 1998
David Wenham’s performance as the absolutely terrifying Brett Sprague, launched his career as an actor of serious power and presence.
Pentuphouse short film – 1998
This short film by Cate Shortland is a snapshot of a relationship in its last days.
Stingers – Ratcatcher television program – 1998
The first episode of Stingers wastes no time setting up its premise, diving straight into the action, allowing us to get to know the characters as the crime story unfolds.
Facing the Demons documentary – 1999
This is absolutely compelling: two of the four men convicted of the murder of a teenager after a robbery, face his family and friends.
Rush documentary – 1999
This is an observational documentary about three young Melbourne men and their obsession with fast cars and lifestyles.
Two Hands feature film – 1999
Desperate for a swim, Jimmy (Heath Ledger) buries an envelope containing $10,000 in the sand at Bondi beach…
2000s
Chopper feature film – 2000
The killer who feels no remorse is a movie cliché, but Chopper is about a killer whose remorse is as strong as his desire to wound.
Kimberley Cops documentary – 2001
Stories of rogue crocodiles, tipped cattle trucks and search-and-rescue operations for lost tourists emphasise the dangers and harsh realities of life in the outback.
Lantana feature film – 2001
Lantana is distinctly different to most contemporary Australian films: sparser, darker and more emotionally mysterious.
Dirty Deeds feature film – 2002
A photograph from the 1960s of a prominent Sydney criminal pig-shooting with two American mafiosi helped inspire this drama.
The Hard Word feature film – 2002
The Hard Word is both a comical crime fable and a story of brotherly love, an unusual mix of elements.
White Collar Blue – Series 1 Episode 21 television program – 2002
White Collar Blue follows the lives and criminal cases of the police at a Sydney beachside police station.
