INTRODUCTION The easiest thing about the making of 'Robbery Under Arms' was getting the money. It took the South Australian Film Corporation just 15 days to raise the record $7.3 million budget. That's something unprecedented in the Australian film industry. But then 'Robbery Under Arms' has set quite a few precedents in the 96 years since Rolf Boldrewood packed his manuscript off to the printer. The fourth film ever made in this country was based on the book. And the story of Captain Starlight and his merry men has fascinated film makers since. This is the fifth version of 'Robbery Under Arms'. Bigger than any feature film attempted in this country, 'Robbery Under Arms' is a colourful, romantic adventure filled with humour. Only days after the film's prospectus was released, ITC, Robert Holmes … Court's international company, put up half the budget. It was the largest single investment ever in a local production. ITC also bought world distribution rights. The company has produced such movies as 'Sophie's Choice,' 'On Golden Pond' and 'Dark Crystal.' Film investors were quick to follow Holmes … Court's example. The producer, Jock Blair, had on his shopping list - two directors; one country town; two homesteads (both of the 1860 period); 148 actors; 120 crew members; 2,000 extras; 200 locations; 1,200 cattle; one pedigree bull; 56 horses; 12 wranglers; 2 elephants and one hot air balloon. In a word, a "Blockbuster." But then it was inevitable that, sooner or later, the S.A.F.C. and the Blockbuster, would get together. Ten years ago the Corporation presented its credentials to the cinema world with 'Sunday Too Far Away,' the first Australian film to be invited to the Cannes Film Festival. It was the antitheses of the Blockbuster. So too was 'Storm Boy' the Corporation's children's classic. But in recent years the Corporation has been moving towards bigger productions. 'Breaker Morant,' the film that established Australian cinema in the U.S., and the television mini series 'Sara Dane' and 'Under Capricorn' sold to major world markets, showed that the Corporation's sure-footedness did not desert it as the budgets got bigger. The Corporation sensed the time was ripe for a plunge into the Blockbuster. 'Robbery Under Arms' seemed the perfect place to plunge. A classic that has lasted a century. It had the romantic, dashing Captain Starlight (not to mention his horse Rainbow), the Marston Brothers, boy-men bushrangers, and the trio's love affairs, played out against a backdrop of the Colonies during the rollicking gold rush years. A recipe for box office success. All that was missing was a dash of contemporary humour. "The dialogue is witty" says Jock Blair. "Much wittier than the book and, dare I say it, than almost all Australian period films. The Australian film industry too often has presented history in a humourless way, getting precisely the right cabbage tree hat but forgetting about the warmth and wit of the man wearing the hat." To add to this ingredient, the Corporation commissioned two of Australia's top scriptwriters, Tony Morphett and Graeme Koetsveld, and asked Ken Hannam and Don Crombie to direct. "We went through four major drafts to establish the style we wanted," says Blair. "In the end I think we've come up with something of the flair that marked films like 'Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid' and 'Raiders of The Lost Ark.' The logistics of the film were formidable but casting provided its own peculiar problems. "Captain Starlight was a headache," says Blair. "Here you have this Raffles like rogue: the quintessential English aristocrat turned highwayman. Peter Finch had a go at it in the 1957 version and it wasn't his most memorable characterisation. The aristocratic cut and thrust just wasn't there. He was a marvellous actor, but frankly Sam Neill's Starlight shows up Finchie's flaws. Sam is frankly superb. The character of Starlight could have been written for him." The Corporation made a bold decision casting the supporting roles of the Marston brothers and their girlfriends. "The Marston boys were two wild colonial boys" says Blair, "not overburdened with a strong sense of morality. The sort of happy-go-lucky lads, who, fifty years later, went up the slopes of Gallipoli. It was no use casting actors in their late or mid- twenties. We felt that the parts had to be played by two young men who could act their age. It meant that we were looking for virtual unknowns. And of course, the brothers' girlfriends had to be as young, and consequently, as inexperienced. It was something of a gamble, but I'm glad we took it. Within a fortnight of the 20 week shoot we knew we had made the right decision."