Kangaroo Westerns!
Robbery Under Arms (1985)
A three part miniseries, so the longest one of these so far. This was my first time watching this one and now I really want to track down the book.
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Based on the 1880s novel of the same name, the story follows the exploits of an English born gentleman bushranger, known only as Captain Starlight (Sam Neill) and brothers Dick and Jim Marston, who follow their father to join Starlight's gang.
Captain Starlight is a mysterious, charismatic and sophisticated Englishman from an upper-class family, who rebelled against his unknown past to live free as a bushranger in 1850s Australia. He and his gang pull off audacious heists including train robbery and cattle theft.
Spoilers under the cut
Dick and Jim Marston follow their father, Ben, to join Starlight in moving a stolen heard of cattle a thousand miles to sell them in Adalaide.
While in Adalaide, Dick and Jim meet sisters Kate and Jeannie. Dick and Kate have a brief fling while Jim and Jeannie develop stronger feelings. Although they successfully sell the cattle in Adelaide, the gang is identified afterwards, and Starlight and Dick are arrested and jailed. Dick escapes and reunites with Jim, Ben and Starlight's right-hand man, Warrigal and rescue a physically weak and depressed Starlight from jail, using stolen guards uniforms and a hot air balloon.
Back at the Marston home, Dick reunites with his sweetheart, Gracie. Although Gracie's brother warns him off. And as Starlight recovers, he becomes close to the Marstons sister, Aileen.
Hearing of a gold strike at the town of Dusty Creek, Starlight and his men turn their hand to gold mining. In the mining town, Jim reunites with Jeannie and marries her, while Kate, though now married herself, attempts to pursue Dick. However, Dick stays with Gracie.
Kate, enraged at being rejected, tips off the police who find and arrest Jim. Starlight and his men rescue Jim soon after, shooting two policemen in the process.
Now with the highest price on their heads yet, Starlight plans their largest robbery, a coach carrying gold from the mines. The gold coach is revealed to be a trap, leading to a shootout with police, where the teenage son of one of the gang members is killed.
Dick chases Jim off to keep him safe, telling him to find Jeannie and get to safety. Finding Jeannie has left, Kate stirs some local men up to find and kill Dick. The men go to the Marston homestead, taking the Marston women hostage to set a trap for the men. Ben is shot in the side, and Dick tells his mother and sister to take him and go to Starlight's hideout, "Terrible Hollow" for safety.
Kate, still looking for revenge at being rejected, tries to turn Gracie against Dick, making her leave him. Starlight finds out the Gracie is leaving for England and tells Dick, who races to find her.
Gracie is harassed by the police, who try to intimidate her into giving up the Marstons location. She refuses and she and Dick find each other at the docks.
Starlight's gang plan their next robbery, a gold shipment. Jim returns to Dusty Creek, looking for Kate so Jeannie can say goodbye before they leave for America. He sees the wagon with the gold shipment is carrying a concealed gatling gun, and manages to sabotage the wagon, saving the gang.
Finding out that Jim and Jennie have a baby, the family reunites at Terrible Hollow to celebrate the baby's christening. Starlight and Aileen confess their feelings for each other and the gang and the Marstons make plans to leave for America together, hoping to start fresh in a new county.
Needing money for their ship tickets, they plan to rob the Dusty Creek bank and enter the town disguised as wealthy men and enter Starlight's prize horse Rainbow in the Falkland Cup race.
They send a fake telegram claiming that Starlight is staging a robbery in a town called Gunpowder Creek, which sends the police out of town and out of the way, and use the cover of a fireworks display happening in the town to blow the bank safe, making away with a large amount of money. The jockey they brought in gets drunk before the race, so Starlight rides Rainbow himself and wins the race just as the police return to town. Starlight, Dick, Jim and Warrigal outrun them and escape into the bush.
The police search the Marston farm looking for the men and the police chief tells Alieen that he will hang Starlight. Alieen asks the police chief why he hates Starlight so much, and the police chief tells her that Starlight is upper class like him and has "let down his side".
To try and evade the police search, the gang splits, planning to meet up at the border.
Dick and Jim arrive at a bar near the border where they encounter Kate who exposes their identities, causing Jim to shoot another man in self-defence.
Knowing the police are gaining, Warrigal, thinking only of ensuring Starlight's safety, wants to leave Dick and Jim to be captured so Starlight will be safe. He and Starlight fight and Starlight leaves to reach the brothers.
Starlight reaches the brothers just before they reach the police ambush and the three flee into the trees along the coast, pursued by the police. Cornered and outnumbered three to one, they decide to fight head on, charging the police line on horseback.
Although they put up a fierce fight, Jim is shot dead and Dick is badly injured. Starlight's throat is cut by the police chief's sword. Before he dies, he whispers his real name to the police chief, who is shocked at the revelation. Warrigal catches up with them, frantic, and hold Starlight's body as he grieves.
Dick recovers from his injuries in jail. and recounts through voiceover that Aileen buried Starlight and Jim at the farm. Warrigal has seemingly escaped and Dick has been sentenced to 12 years jail and tells Gracie to forget him and find a better man. Knowing she would never love anyone else like she loved Starlight, Aileen becomes a nun. Dick writes his story while in jail and when he is released, he returns home and finds Gracie, who has waited for him.
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This is definitely the saddest movie I've covered yet. but it's still a great story and well worth a watch. It left me with a lot of questions that I'm hoping the book will answer, like how Starlight and Warrigal met and what made Warrigal so fiercely loyal to him.
The story is fictional but inspired by real bushranger stories and legends. A bushranger called Frank Pearson allegedly operated under the name Captain Starlight and claimed to be the insperation for the character, although the author denied this.
I should make a post about Australian bushrangers at some point because they are a wild and assorted bunch and just fun to read about. With names like Captain Starlight, Captain Thunderbolt, Moondyne Joe, The Angel. Ned Kelly with his suit of armour, Captain Moonlight and his mask and cape. These characters are like a fairytale meets a Batman villain. They're brilliant.
And I really adore Sam Neill in this, brilliant as always and perfectly cast for such a mythic, charismatic character. Rest in peace, good sir. And know that you did make the world a brighter place.
