The most interesting thing about the Siege of Pinchgut are the numbers of scenes of the City of Sydney and some of its suburbs in the 1950s, which is fascinating to review nearly 60 years later.
The story involves an escaped criminal (Aldo Ray), who protests his innocence, and the 3 men who have helped him escape from custody. They attempt a nighttime escape by boat through Sydney Harbour but are forced aground on Pinchgut Island - now much better known as Fort Denison - where they hold hostage the caretaker and his family.
The movie has quite an interesting plot and the acting is quite good. It does fall apart a little towards the end as the plot descends into melodrama and the key question of Ray's innocence or guilt is never resolved.
The interest for me as a child of the 50s in Sydney was seeing scenes of various Sydney locations as they were in my childhood.
Despite being made by the British studio Ealing and containing a number of British actors, the movie was evidently made with the American market in mind. Not only was the star, Aldo Ray, speaking with an American accent but American spelling was used. In one scene a newspaper headline read "Harbor", which is the American spelling. The British and Australian spelling is "Harbour".
Despite its shortcomings, most notably falling into absurdity towards the end, a weak climax and some unresolved issues, the movie held my interest throughout and I can recommend it especially to older Australians for the historical value of the geographical scenes.
The story involves an escaped criminal (Aldo Ray), who protests his innocence, and the 3 men who have helped him escape from custody. They attempt a nighttime escape by boat through Sydney Harbour but are forced aground on Pinchgut Island - now much better known as Fort Denison - where they hold hostage the caretaker and his family.
The movie has quite an interesting plot and the acting is quite good. It does fall apart a little towards the end as the plot descends into melodrama and the key question of Ray's innocence or guilt is never resolved.
The interest for me as a child of the 50s in Sydney was seeing scenes of various Sydney locations as they were in my childhood.
Despite being made by the British studio Ealing and containing a number of British actors, the movie was evidently made with the American market in mind. Not only was the star, Aldo Ray, speaking with an American accent but American spelling was used. In one scene a newspaper headline read "Harbor", which is the American spelling. The British and Australian spelling is "Harbour".
Despite its shortcomings, most notably falling into absurdity towards the end, a weak climax and some unresolved issues, the movie held my interest throughout and I can recommend it especially to older Australians for the historical value of the geographical scenes.