First ever Australian Film Institute (AFI) Award acting nomination for actor John Hargreaves. Hargreaves did not win Best Actor for this film but through his career he was nominated six times and won three.
Fourth theatrical feature film for director Claude Whatham who mostly worked in television. Whatham's first three were That'll Be the Day (1973), Swallows and Amazons (1974) and Sweet William (1980). This was also British director Whatham's first and only ever Australian movie.
The prison sequences seen in the film were shot at the Bathurst Gaol in Bathurst, New South Wales, Australia. The jail at the time had recently been damaged by inmates who set a fire during a rebellion in the 1970s. These riots had been the inspiration for another Australian film, Stir (1980). That film had been theatrically released about a year earlier but was not filmed at the Bathurst Gaol like this film was.
This movie was based on the criminal exploits of con-man and bank robber Carl Synnerdahl. The character name of Martin Stang (played by John Hargreaves) was based on Synnerdahl but was a fictional character. Synnerdahl was famous for the ruse of pretending to go blind to get off lightly from his prison sentence and get an earlier release. Synnerdahl then continued with this deception whilst serving his gaol term. This deceit forms the basis of this film's high-concept and story.
Geoffrey Rush: As a corrupt cop billed as Detective 1. This film is notable for being an early screen appearance for Rush who about fifteen years later went on to win a Best Actor Academy Award for Shine (1996).
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