True story?
I've heard this was based on true incidents that happened in Sydney back then, anyone know if this is true?
shareI've heard this was based on true incidents that happened in Sydney back then, anyone know if this is true?
shareyes it is
shareYes, as far as I heard it is based on a true story in the '60's in Australia. It is SOOO 1960's Australia though - even if it wasn't true it might as well have been :-)
shareI just watched it and thought it was excellent, but at they end of the film you still get the usual bit right at the very end that says the characters portrayed in this film are fictitious and that any similarity... blah blah vlah.
Why would they do such an error?
Yes, it is a true story. The makers stuck pretty closely to the key facts for the bulk of the story - e.g. the police commissioner did enter the house several times, he did have a gun placed in his mouth, he did arrange a marriage etc. However, the start of the story (i.e. the reason the cops were visiting him) has been slightly altered, and the end of the story has been significantly changed in terms of what actually happened to Wally Mellish - presumably to give it a happier ending that the public prefer!
shareI know this is an old thread but....
Name: Commissioner Norman Allen
Role: NSW Police Commissioner
Status: Deceased.
Notes:
One of the most colourful commissioners in the history of the New South Wales police, Norman Allen had a relatively minor role in the Bogle-Chandler case. Having returned to work from leave in mid-January 1963, he decided to take personal control of the case, a move which does not appear to have lasted long.
Allen was much more famously involved in the Glenfield siege in 1968. A man named Wally Mellish stole a car, and when police arrived at his house, Mellish fired shots at them. A siege developed, hampered by the fact that also in the house were a woman named Beryl Muddle and her baby daughter Lesley, supposedly being held hostage. Allen personally took over the negotiations, entering the house several times, and eventually being held hostage himself. At one stage Mellish pushed the barrel of a shotgun into Allen's mouth. Mellish made three demands, for Muddle and himself to be married by the Long Bay Gaol chaplain, for a new gun, and for a helicopter. Astonishingly two of these three wishes were granted, the line being drawn at a helicopter. With Mellish having married Muddle, Allen pursuaded Mellish to give himself up. Allen promised Mellish that no charges would be pressed against him, and it appears that he meant it. To compensate for the trouble he'd caused, Mellish volunteered to join the army and go to Vietnam; he was admitted to a mental hospital, then served a lengthy prison term. With the siege over, Muddle said that she'd never loved Mellish and wouldn't be seeing him again. The Reverend Clive Paton, who married them, said later that she did love Mellish, otherwise he would not have performed the service. As for Allen, he served for a couple more years as the Commissioner.
I loved this movie!