Phar Lap (film)


Phar Lap is a 1983 film about the racehorse Phar Lap. The film stars Tom Burlinson and was written by David Williamson.

Plot

Phar Lap, known affectionately as "Bobby" by his strapper Tommy Woodcock, collapses and dies in Woodcock's arms, at Menlo Park in California, in 1932. The news is greeted with great sadness and anger in Australia. The remainder of the film is done as flashback.
Five years earlier, Phar Lap arrives in Australia, purchased for £168 sight unseen from New Zealand. His trainer Harry Telford, his wife Vi and young son Cappy watch as he's lowered onto the wharf by sling. Mrs Telford comments that she "wonders what his American friend will think?". Davis is not impressed with the underweight, wart-ridden colt, calling him a cross between a sheep dog and a kangaroo, and orders Telford to sell him immediately. Telford protests, saying that the horse's pedigree is exceptional, with Carbine "The greatest horse of them all" on both sides of his bloodlines. Davis agrees to lease him to Telford for three years, keeping only one third of the winnings, though Telford must pay for his upkeep and keep his name out of it.
As Phar Lap is brought into the stables, he and Woodcock form a strong bond. After Telford works Phar Lap hard in the sand dunes, the young strapper finds him exhausted in his stable and immediately goes to Telford's home and complains about how hard he works the horse saying that "he looked half dead", causing Telford to sack him. However, Telford is soon forced to reinstate Woodcock when Phar Lap stops eating and won't let anyone near him without ripping the shirt from their back.
Phar Lap fails badly in his first few races, but Woodcock educates the horse by holding him back in trackwork, sensing that he likes to come from behind, though Telford takes the credit telling Davis that he has "knocked that lazy streak out of him at last". After convincing Davis to pay the £30 entry fee, this pays off at the 1929 AJC Derby run at the Randwick Racecourse in Sydney. The film shows this as Phar Lap's first win although his first was actually six months earlier in the RRC Maiden Juvenile Handicap at Sydney's other main racecourse Rosehill. The win saves Phar Lap from being sold and the winnings, £7,135 saves Telford from bankruptcy.
As the Great Depression bites, Phar Lap wins every race he enters. Davis attempts to capitalise on his success through shady betting schemes with known gambling identity Eric Connolly, something Telford wants no part of. In preparation for the Melbourne Cup, the premier race in Australia, Davis pressures Telford to scratch Phar Lap from the Caulfield Cup, to maximise Davis's betting returns. Under great financial pressure, Telford reluctantly agrees. As Woodcock walks the horse back from track work, someone tries to shoot the horse in the street. Woodcock and Phar Lap go into hiding at a stud farm outside Melbourne, arriving at Flemington Racecourse at the very last minute for the 1930 Melbourne Cup. Phar Lap wins, ridden by champion jockey Jim Pike. The horse is now back under Davis's control after the three-year agreement runs out. Davis then offers half of Phar Lap's ownership to Telford for £20,000, for which Telford refuses. Telford then has a hoof injury faked on the horse and hoodwinks Davis into thinking that the Red Terror is lame and agreeing to sell the half share for only £4,000. Davis realises he's been had when Phar lap easily wins his next race. In the 1931 Cup, the VRC, led by its Chairman Lachlan McKinnon, imposes an unprecedented weight of 10 st 10 lb, "to better horse racing" and refuses to allow Davis to scratch his horse. Phar Lap surges to the lead but fades and finishes eighth, and the racing authorities face jeering crowds.
After the 1931 Melbourne Cup, Davis is approached by Jim Crofton about racing Phar Lap in the Agua Caliente Handicap at the Agua Caliente Racetrack in Tijuana, Mexico. Davis, knowing that the horse would never be allowed to race fairly in Australia while being so heavily weighted and also knowing that Weight for Age races offered less prize money, agrees but has to convince Telford it's worthwhile. Telford initially disagrees citing Australia's Quarantine Laws, but reluctantly agrees after Davis convinces him of the financial windfall if Phar Lap wins. Telford, saying that Phar Lap has brought him "nothing but trouble" refuses to go himself, preferring to concentrate on his new stud and stables at Braeside, south of Melbourne and promotes Woodcock to be Phar Lap's trainer knowing the horse wouldn't do anything without Woodcock there with him. Also traveling with Phar Lap are 'Cashy' Martin as his new strapper, veterinarian Bill Nielsen and jockey Billy Elliot.
After arriving in the United States, Davis is forced to confront Crofton after finding that the race's purse has been halved from US$100,000 to $50,000. Woodcock soon clashes with Davis over the new trainers softer methods and sometimes non-cooperative ways, including taking Phar Lap away from a press conference and back to his stable before the conference was finished. When questioned by Crofton about sacking Woodcock, Davis explains that "If I did, the goddamn horse would sit in his stall for the next month and cry". Woodcock also doesn't listen to advice about different horse shoes to suit the different track surface and Phar Lap badly cracks his front right hoof further hampering his preparation for the big race. Before the race, word gets out that some jockeys may have been bribed to keep Phar Lap boxed into the rails during the race, not allowing him to win and keep gamblers from losing large amounts of money so Davis instructs Billy Elliot to lead from the start. Behind Davis's back, Woodcock immediately counters this by telling Elliot to run Phar Lap's normal race of starting slow and finishing fast. Using Woodcock's advice, Phar Lap wins the Agua Caliente Handicap in Mexico, blood streaming from a split hoof. He dies soon after, in suspicious circumstances.

Cast

In order of appearance
Producer John Sexton bought the rights to Phar Lap, a 1980 book by Michael Wilkinson. Extensive research was undertaken by David Williamson and Sexton, then Simon Wincer became involved.
The Thoroughbred gelding who played Phar Lap was Towering Inferno. He was bred by Shirley Pye-Macmillan at Walcha, New South Wales and later owned by Heath Harris. Towering Inferno was killed by lightning on 15 April 1999. The real Tommy Woodcock played a trainer in the movie.

Differences from country to country

The United States' version of the film plays out differently. 20th Century Fox, who bought the rights to release the film in the US, edited the movie to play out in a more traditional way. Instead of starting with his death as seen in the Australian version, the film opens with Phar Lap getting off the boat in Australia. The film continues like the original version and ends with his death. This was done to make the ending more dramatic, since residents of the United States were unfamiliar with the story of Phar Lap.

Box office

Phar Lap grossed $9,258,884 at the box office in Australia, which is equivalent to $24,443,454 in 2009 dollars.
Wincer later admitted he was disappointed the film did not attract the 14- to 22-year-old audience, and thought it might have been due to the movie's relative lack of romance. However it remains one of the most popular Australian films.
Disney Studios wanted to release the film in the US but John Sexton and Wincer decided to go with 20th Century-Fox because they had done The Man from Snowy River. Fox spent $300,000 on changes to the film, and released it in summer. "We got killed in the rush," says Wincer. "It got nice reviews, but didn't go much business."

DVD release

The "2 Disc Collector's Edition" released in Australia as Phar Lap: Hero to a Nation by Roadshow Entertainment includes among the "extras" on the second disc a long audio recording of a conversation between Aaron Treve "Tommy" Woodcock and director Simon Wincer on 4 July 1984, and a short newsreel documentary The Mighty Conqueror, which would have been first screened c. December 1931.