Botany Bay (film)


Botany Bay is a 1953 American drama film directed by John Farrow and starring Alan Ladd, James Mason and Patricia Medina. It was based on a novel of the same name by Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall.

Plot

In 1787 prisoners are shipped from Newgate Jail on to found a new penal colony in Botany Bay, New South Wales. Amongst them is Hugh Tallant an American medical student who had been wrongly imprisoned. During the journey he begins to clash with the villainous Captain Gilbert, and is soon plotting a full-scale mutiny against him.

Cast

There was film interest in the book even before its publication because of the success of Mutiny on the Bounty, also from a novel by Nordhoff and Hall. The film rights were sold in July 1940 for a reported $50,000 and was intended to be a vehicle for Joel McCrea.
In 1941 Joel McCrea expressed interest in playing the lead. The film was originally planned to be made in 1946, starring Ray Milland with location shooting in Australia. However these plans were delayed when Paramount became concerned about the cost.
The project was re-activated in 1951 as a vehicle for Alan Ladd.
Four koalas and two kangaroos were flown from Australia to appear in the film. The koalas were the first to be exported from Australia in 25 years and were later transferred to San Diego Zoo.
The only Australian-born members of the cast were Murray Matheson and Brendan Toomey. Aboriginal characters were played by African-American actors.

Historical Basis

The ship, under the command of Captain Gilbert, sailed with the First Fleet.