- 3 months ago
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00:00:00.
00:00:05.
00:00:19.
00:00:21.
00:00:26Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha.
00:00:56Love is made of many magical memories.
00:01:06For 46 years, I made magical memories with John, the love of my life, on this beautiful land.
00:01:17When we lose a loved one, we're left with a heart full of memories.
00:01:27We pack those memories into boxes.
00:01:34But sometimes, we choose to reopen them, because you never know what you might find.
00:01:41It was just an infectiously good time.
00:01:55We cared for each other, and we had each other's backs.
00:02:01The chemistry was palpable.
00:02:02There was so much love on set.
00:02:11For nearly 60 years, John and Paul were business partners, creative collaborators, and the very best of mates.
00:02:22Two great Aussie blokes.
00:02:24And at their peak, they made an iconic movie.
00:02:29Michael J. Crocodile Dundee.
00:02:43Two beers, all right?
00:02:45One for me.
00:02:46One for me, mate.
00:02:47Crocodile Dundee helped define Australia's friendly identity on a global scale, and it's still loved by millions.
00:02:56I'm sorry if that frightens you, miss.
00:02:58You see, it's stuffed.
00:03:02Him and me both, well.
00:03:03But recently, we nearly lost it forever.
00:03:16The original negative was badly damaged.
00:03:21To save the film, we had to restore it.
00:03:27Victoria and I had to find all the elements for the restoration process.
00:03:33And in doing that, opening John's Boxes took on a much bigger purpose.
00:03:41More than 200,000 individual frames and millions of tiny flickers were delicately restored.
00:03:49The result is stunning.
00:03:59In John's Boxes was a treasure trove.
00:04:02Not only were there memories of our two successful hotels, and some very funny television shows,
00:04:08but there was the business side of the film that someone had to attend to, and that someone became me.
00:04:14Do you want to see what's in this with me?
00:04:19Together with Victoria, we found all sorts of incredible things.
00:04:23Rusty old reels.
00:04:30Storyboards.
00:04:32Scribbled on scripts.
00:04:35Transparencies.
00:04:36It's gold.
00:04:37And so many photographs.
00:04:41Oh, mates.
00:04:43This legacy was worth preserving.
00:04:46Not only for my husband, John, but it's my legacy, too.
00:04:51Oh, my God.
00:04:52To show our grandchildren what their grandmom got up to.
00:04:56And their granddad.
00:05:00Damn it!
00:05:01John's precious archive reminded me of all the magical moments making Crocodile Dundee.
00:05:09The fun on set.
00:05:15Yeah.
00:05:16Yeah, no, no, maybe so, yeah.
00:05:17Working with an excellent crew.
00:05:19The best in the business.
00:05:21I wondered why Crocodile Dundee was so successful.
00:05:25Why it became such an iconic film.
00:05:29And why do so many people still love it so much?
00:05:34I wanted to go back to see where it all began with John and Paul.
00:05:38To see where those first sparks of magic happened.
00:05:42I couldn't wait to see my old mate, Paul.
00:05:45I just...
00:05:46I'm using the old mother's spits.
00:05:49Oh, you're spitting leg, isn't it?
00:05:50And I've just had a vanilla slice.
00:05:53Oh, good.
00:05:54That's really sticky.
00:05:55I've got ants crawling around my head, huh?
00:05:57Jesus, deli.
00:05:58You won't have any stickin' up, though.
00:06:01Doesn't matter.
00:06:10I was a rigger on the Harbour Bridge,
00:06:12and fortunately John Cornell came along at the right moment.
00:06:15He was like the London editor of WA newspapers at, like, 22 or something.
00:06:20And so he was far more worldly than I could imagine.
00:06:26But we just hit it off.
00:06:28He was a bit of a larry, too.
00:06:30It changed my life.
00:06:31I was producing a current affairs programme, the top current affairs programme down there.
00:06:37And I, in fact, had an idea that we needed a sort of a verbal cartoonist in this current affairs programme,
00:06:45the equivalent of a newspaper cartoonist, just to lighten it up a bit, because news is usually bad news.
00:06:51And, uh, one of our reporters saw him on this, uh, talent quest.
00:06:57It's Australia's New Faces.
00:06:59I went on, um, New Faces.
00:07:02I went on a dare as a tap-dancing knife thrower to take the mickey out of it.
00:07:09And the switchboard lit up, you know, and that sort of burst into flames.
00:07:14And so we tried him out as this verbal cartoonist, and he just, that was it, you know.
00:07:19He just became an instant overnight success.
00:07:21Hey, love, what do you think of daylight saving?
00:07:23Daylight saving? Oh, I think it's marvellous.
00:07:25I have three kiddies, and my family use it all the time.
00:07:28So I still worked on the bridge, swing by Channel 9, walk into the backyard in front of the camera, do two minutes, give me some money, off I'd go.
00:07:38Here's a caper for getting into the races. Now, watch this. Here's the gateman guarding the gate where you get out, see.
00:07:43Now, always walk backwards, and they're never too sure which way you're going, then, sidling along like this, mate.
00:07:49Oh, excuse me, mate, just coming out. There. Done all me dough in the first race, you know.
00:07:55Might as well go home. Hello.
00:07:57Another quid here. Oh, I might as well go back inside and see if I can invest that.
00:08:03That's the way Oaks beats inflation.
00:08:05John was smart enough to realise there seemed to be a lot more people watching on a Friday when Paul did his piece on a weekly basis
00:08:12than we were watching at the start of the show.
00:08:14So it was clear to him that Australians were liking and loving him.
00:08:18And that was a very big show back at the Nine News and the Current Affairs.
00:08:21It would have been getting a couple of million viewers.
00:08:24Hello, Mrs Universe. Hello, Paul.
00:08:26I was doing one of my two-minute spots on Current Affairs and I said,
00:08:30I know what I want to talk about. I need a mate that's a bit dopier than me, though.
00:08:34And John, who used to do a bad impression of Marlon Brando in The Godfather,
00:08:39and it really sort of made me laugh. Thus, Strot was born. He became my dopey off-sider.
00:08:45My love is taller than the tallest tree. Deeper than the deepest sea.
00:08:55It's funny because he played the... That's what's so unusual about him. He's a good-looking guy and very smart.
00:08:59But he was quite happy to play this dopey, distorted-faced virgin on television.
00:09:05So there was no vanity involved whatsoever.
00:09:08In here, Cobber. It's my old mate, Strot.
00:09:10G'day, mate. Singers, eh? Eh?
00:09:12Our viewers. Me and Oags abroad overseas.
00:09:15Good stuff, eh? This is the happiest moment of my life.
00:09:18He was the brains of the outfit.
00:09:20Right from the start, John said, you know, we're going into show business.
00:09:26You do the show, I'll do the business.
00:09:28All those crazy thoughts you have, put them down on paper.
00:09:32And he was right.
00:09:34They didn't know what else to do with me.
00:09:36They were mumbling about, oh, maybe we'll quiz show and have him as the compere or something.
00:09:40But then John said, nah. You've got to have your own show.
00:09:443025, the Paul Hogan special. Replay to be advised.
00:09:50Good day.
00:10:06If you want them doled up like a sore toe tonight, instead of wearing me usual gear,
00:10:11it's because the control board has banned me usual gear from the show.
00:10:15You see, they come to rehearsal and they found out that when I sit on a stool like this,
00:10:18the people in the first three rows of the studio audience
00:10:20and anyone at home laying down on the floor can see straight up the leg of me shorts.
00:10:23I'd been working in television for about 20 years before I met them.
00:10:28You know, right from moving scenery around
00:10:32to doing a lot of very major specials and tonight shows, et cetera.
00:10:36Well, one day when I was at work at Channel 9 in Melbourne, I got a telephone call from Kerry Packer.
00:10:44He said, do you know John Cornell?
00:10:46I said, no, I don't.
00:10:47He said, well, they want to work with you.
00:10:50As a result of that, that was when they moved from Channel 7 to Channel 9.
00:10:54So, you know, it was on for anything really.
00:10:59Good evening, viewers.
00:11:00Good evening, viewers.
00:11:01Good evening, viewers.
00:11:02And that one day people will say, there goes Leo, the greatest Wanker of all.
00:11:32No one drove it mainstream and blew it up like Paul blew it up and The Paul Hogan Show
00:11:40blew it up.
00:11:41You want a bit of a toaster?
00:11:43Thanks mate.
00:11:48The Paul Hogan Show was such must-watch television and the data tells you it's must-watch, there's
00:12:05probably never been anything so large across the spectrum that ticked every box of humour,
00:12:13fun, larrikinism, Australia.
00:12:16Welcome to the show that tells it like it isn't, but it ought to be.
00:12:22I loved Paul's stand-ups.
00:12:24He always did an intro to the show, about three or four minutes, and he really wrapped up complex
00:12:32ideas that were topical at the time into very simple language.
00:12:38Evening viewers.
00:12:40We are on the threshold of a new era in television.
00:12:43Violence, sex and dirty stuff is under censorship attack in America.
00:12:49He had an ability to really distill current issues into something that was very, very funny.
00:12:57Television will be so sterile, you'll be able to heal wounds just standing in front of it.
00:13:03He and I used to have a lot of fun with him staying in character, so once he was dressed
00:13:08and came dressed I couldn't refer to him as anything else and that was part of the fun
00:13:12that he and I had.
00:13:23I absolutely loved Strop, I thought he was, was and is absolutely fabulous.
00:13:28Breaker, breaker, breaker.
00:13:30This is the old honeysuckle kisser.
00:13:35Hoag's was doing 90% of the funny stuff, John would roll in with 10% of the funny stuff,
00:13:42but John was driving it all the way.
00:13:44And a dash of tomato sauce, raw egg, and a, and a oyster mate, then hold it, me secret ingredient.
00:14:07I get it, go on.
00:14:08Mm.
00:14:09Stir, with a spoon, dipped in Vegemite.
00:14:13I know this mate, the old gag right, you stir it up, you tip it down the sink, and you
00:14:20won't have a blocked drain for six months.
00:14:22No mate, no, you drink it.
00:14:26You're awful.
00:14:27We'd get to the end of a roll through a, through a sketch and Hoag's would go, yeah,
00:14:41that'll do.
00:14:42And John would say, nah, that won't do.
00:14:44We're, we're doing more.
00:14:45We've got to keep going.
00:14:46We've got to build it.
00:14:47We've got to improve it.
00:14:48We've really got to take it somewhere else.
00:14:50Oh, excuse me, I've just been out there, um, shelling the peas and fabuloling the frilly
00:14:55things what we Sheilas wear.
00:15:00This is your wife?
00:15:03Yeah.
00:15:04I, I discovered Delveen.
00:15:08I met Delveen at a television function.
00:15:12She was just, you know, she's beautiful, but she was also funny and sort of not up herself
00:15:17or anything, and I said to John, I found you a girl mate, perfect for you.
00:15:23I wasn't thinking of it as a long term permanent relationship.
00:15:26I was thinking she'd be good in the shows and she had a great sense of humour.
00:15:30He came over and said, you don't know me, I'm John Cornell.
00:15:34I produce the Paul Hogan shows.
00:15:36Would you like to be on it?
00:15:37To be asked to be on the Paul Hogan show was huge.
00:15:40So yes, please.
00:15:41Yeah.
00:15:42And then at the first rehearsal, you know, can you play a nun?
00:15:47Yep.
00:15:48Can play a nun.
00:15:49Don't come any closer, Mother.
00:15:50I'm desperate.
00:15:52Can you play a prostitute?
00:15:53Yeah, I can play a prostitute.
00:15:55Anyone ever tell you you've got a very cruel mouth.
00:15:58Like, the way it curls up at the corner like that.
00:16:01Can you play a schoolgirl?
00:16:03Yep.
00:16:04Do a good schoolgirl.
00:16:06See, Ceci, I told you it was this house with the aerial sticking out the window.
00:16:10No?
00:16:11I just said yes.
00:16:12Yes to everything, even though I'd never done any of them before.
00:16:15It's like, I don't want to miss my chance.
00:16:19Great party, Hugs.
00:16:25I didn't know him at all.
00:16:27I thought he was strong.
00:16:30And then after the first two shows, we started to see each other.
00:16:38And I remember saying to my mum, I'm coming up to Brisbane next weekend, Mum.
00:16:42I'm going to bring my boyfriend to meet you.
00:16:46Oh, who's that?
00:16:47And I said, Strop.
00:16:49She thought I was dating Strop.
00:17:04Rosie?
00:17:06She's under.
00:17:09Delphine was usually the desirable target that Strop could never get.
00:17:14You'll just want to smother me with hugs and kisses and stuff like that.
00:17:18And when I say, Stop.
00:17:21That's enough.
00:17:22You'll say, I haven't started yet.
00:17:25Loverboy.
00:17:27Oh, I can't take this.
00:17:32See you, Hugs.
00:17:34And, uh, see you, loverboy.
00:17:37Delphine's characters on all of those shows were absolutely outrageous.
00:17:42I think every time that we went out on location and shot something or in the studio, between John and Paul, it's a great thing.
00:18:09And Delphine, we had the most hysterical times.
00:18:14Spread your butter on.
00:18:16Nice and lumpy.
00:18:17There's an important bit.
00:18:19Leave a big dob of butter on the knife.
00:18:20See, like that.
00:18:21Why?
00:18:22To wipe off.
00:18:23Why?
00:18:24To wipe off.
00:18:25Why?
00:18:26To wipe off.
00:18:28Paul was the ultimate Aussie.
00:18:29I mean, he was, uh, he spoke, he spoke Australian.
00:18:33He was the Aussie that everybody wanted to be.
00:18:34Hogan's a 1975 Australian.
00:18:35He doesn't talk about the Aussie.
00:18:36I mean, he was, uh, he spoke Australian.
00:18:37He was the Aussie that everybody wanted to be.
00:18:38Hogan's a 1975 Australian.
00:18:39He doesn't talk in rhyme and slang.
00:18:40He doesn't say, you know, down the, down the, down the horse and float.
00:18:44He doesn't talk in Al Galea, down the horse and float.
00:18:46And he doesn't talk, which sort of died 20 years ago.
00:18:48And he's not, he's not the Bushman.
00:18:53He hasn't got kangaroos and cork hats and all that stuff.
00:19:01And he's got people like, you know, like, go.
00:19:03And he's not a boy.
00:19:04And he's not a boy.
00:19:05And he's not a boy.
00:19:06And he's a boy.
00:19:07And I'm a boy.
00:19:08I'm a boy.
00:19:09I'm a boy.
00:19:10And he's not the bushman.
00:19:12He hasn't got kangaroos and cork hats and all that sort of thing around him.
00:19:15He's 1975 billed as Labour Australian and a bit of a character.
00:19:19I'm not saying that every Australian's like that
00:19:21or even that every Australian's got a bit of Hogan in them,
00:19:23but there's plenty of Hogan's out there in the pubs.
00:19:26And I tell you what, they're all right.
00:19:27All right, mate, explain yourself.
00:19:40What's this about? You're resigning from the show.
00:19:42Yes, mate, well, this can explain better than I could, mate.
00:19:47It's me scrapbook.
00:19:49Open it at any page.
00:19:52This boring, talentless, moronic throwback
00:19:57That's a bit tough on you, mate.
00:20:03That's not about me, mate. That's you.
00:20:07Playing Strop allowed John to hide behind a character as a writer
00:20:13and he was always observant.
00:20:17He wasn't recognised in the street when he wasn't Strop.
00:20:23He never wanted to be in the spotlight
00:20:25because it robbed him of that opportunity to observe.
00:20:30And so, you know, for people to find out
00:20:32that it was actually a very astute businessman
00:20:36behind that character,
00:20:38it was a shock for some people.
00:20:42John was an extraordinary businessman
00:20:43and he had great ideas and he was very ambitious
00:20:45and once he got the, you know,
00:20:49Paul settled with the shows, et cetera,
00:20:54he was continually moving on to what the next thing could be
00:20:58and was able to crack the nuts of these things.
00:21:01Then, and he was such an optimist,
00:21:04then we all assumed that one day it would happen.
00:21:06From the day I met him,
00:21:07he was talking about the potential of World Series cricket.
00:21:09He was very astute in his negotiations
00:21:12with Kerry Packer on The Paul Hogan Show.
00:21:15Packer, he was number one in Australia
00:21:17by a significant margin
00:21:18insofar as wealth, influence and profile
00:21:22in the entertainment and media industries.
00:21:26John knew that Kerry would be up for supporting his idea
00:21:31of a renegade breakaway cricket revolution
00:21:37that would pay the players properly.
00:21:40Lily's pounding down like a machine
00:21:43Class goes making divots in the green
00:21:46Marsh is taking wickets
00:21:49Hooks, he's clearing pickets
00:21:51And the chapel's eyes have got that killer gleam
00:21:55And so, between them, they pulled that off brilliantly.
00:22:00World Series cricket had a massive global impact.
00:22:02Come on, Aussie, come on
00:22:03Australia was being noticed.
00:22:05Come on, Aussie, come on
00:22:07Come on
00:22:08Come on, Aussie, come on
00:22:11Come on
00:22:12Come on, Aussie, come on
00:22:15So once again, it was that resourcefulness of John
00:22:18that led him to go, what do we need?
00:22:20I know what we need.
00:22:22We need patriotism back.
00:22:25The Australian way was what was reflected in the tourist campaign.
00:22:29To the rest of the world, that was Australia.
00:22:31And he personified Australia.
00:22:34America, you look like you need a holiday.
00:22:37A fair dinkum holiday.
00:22:39In the land of wonder.
00:22:41The land down under.
00:22:43America, you look like you need a holiday.
00:22:45What a great opening line.
00:22:47There's a few things I've got to warn you about.
00:22:50Firstly, you're going to get wet.
00:22:52Because the place is surrounded by water.
00:22:54Oh, and you're going to have to learn to say g'day.
00:22:57Of course, every day is a good day in Australia.
00:23:01G'day, Paul.
00:23:02G'day, love.
00:23:03Where did this idea come from?
00:23:04Because this whole idea for the campaign was yours originally, wasn't it?
00:23:08Well, not mine.
00:23:09But it was myself, John Cornell and Alan Morris and Alan Johnson, which is Mojo.
00:23:15It was a thing we'd talked about for about the last two years after travelling a lot and
00:23:20finding out how nobody knew anything about Australia really.
00:23:23And we were all in marketing and thought, you know, this would be the ideal product to market.
00:23:29And then when John Brown got into office with the Labor government, we'd heard about him.
00:23:35He was a goer.
00:23:36So I went and talked to him and he jumped in, threw a hand in too and went from there.
00:23:42He was such a proud Australian.
00:23:43He was annoyed that people knew nothing about us.
00:23:47You know, it was that we were the mystery of the world.
00:23:50No one was coming here.
00:23:52G'day, America.
00:23:54Now, pay attention because this is important stuff.
00:23:57Before you come down under for your Aussie holiday, you've got to get in shape.
00:24:00Tone up those relaxing muscles because they'll get a workout.
00:24:03Practice smiling.
00:24:06He dispelled all that bullshit about Australia.
00:24:10And he opened the eyes of the world to what we've got here.
00:24:14Freedom, clean air, the environment.
00:24:18Hello.
00:24:19Looks like a boatload of your countrymen coming in there now.
00:24:22Right.
00:24:23We went from 57th in America, preference for an overseas holiday, to fifth.
00:24:31And Paul is so proud of that, you know.
00:24:34He refused to take any money, he and Cornell.
00:24:37He was such a proud Australian.
00:24:39He did it for nothing.
00:24:39All that work, all those ads.
00:24:43And it's believed that that was a deliberate act by John to get exposure in the United States
00:24:50for Paul with an intention of making a movie.
00:24:54They hadn't thought of making a movie then.
00:24:56They certainly hadn't written it.
00:24:58Come and say g'day.
00:24:59I'll slip an extra shrimp on the barbie for you.
00:25:02Come and say g'day.
00:25:04You recognise this guy?
00:25:06You're talking about the shrimp on the barbecue.
00:25:08Haven't you ever seen that end?
00:25:09Ain't that the dude on that commercial over there?
00:25:12They'll be saying, hey, mate.
00:25:13Yes, that's the Australian guy, Hogan.
00:25:16Aussie holiday.
00:25:17Check it out.
00:25:18I became a proud badge-wearer for Australians around the world.
00:25:24Paul Hogan is here this evening, Bob.
00:25:26G'day, mate.
00:25:27G'day, brother.
00:25:29Good.
00:25:30Can I say to you, Hogan, seriously, thanks for what you're doing for Australia with those ads.
00:25:36It means more jobs for Australians, and it means more people going back to America and talking about us.
00:25:41You've done a great job, Hogan, really.
00:25:44Right.
00:25:48And when someone says, where are you going for your holidays, say Australia.
00:25:54Oh, and if they say, where's that, tell them, tell them it's where the America's Cup is.
00:26:05Australia has done it.
00:26:06Australia has won.
00:26:08The America's Cup.
00:26:09That whole transition had started to occur in Australia, and it might have been on the
00:26:30back of relishing being Aussies after the win of the America's Cup.
00:26:33We had just started to receive recognition, but we didn't really understand who we were.
00:26:39And why not have someone as approachable and likeable as Paul Hogan represent our country?
00:26:45And so, that kind of bred McDundee.
00:26:55I was doing a tourism promotion in New York, and I had to walk back from where we were back to my hotel,
00:27:03and it was five o'clock or something in New York, and it was just so horrendously crowded and busy and bustling.
00:27:12It made me feel like a hillbilly, and I virtually wrote it walking down the street and then back at the hotel.
00:27:21Handwritten and block capitals.
00:27:24Hogue's brought it to John, and then I kind of read it over John's shoulder, really.
00:27:31I wrote it out like it was almost like a book, and then John principally and Ken helped me turn it into a screenplay.
00:27:40John was always extracting, extracting the absolute best from Hogue's, writing and performing.
00:27:49He's there saying, mate, you can do better than that in that line, and cut the end off that and make it a bit shorter.
00:27:54He was a brilliant sub-editor, you know.
00:27:57Oh, I love the idea. I love the idea of, first of all, using a Bushman from Australia as the central character,
00:28:03because we didn't have many homegrown heroes.
00:28:06We always talked about it, even in the script stage, as being a double-barrel shotgun, in that we thought we wanted to make a movie that appealed to people from 7 to 70.
00:28:17John wanted to make a movie. I think he had in mind right at the start, when he first met Paul,
00:28:21and one day we'll make a movie with him. And that was John's mind.
00:28:24I was running Hoyt's Edgley Productions as the general manager of the business.
00:28:28And John said, you know, is this, in terms of the raising of the budget and the executive production role,
00:28:35is this something that Hoyt's Edgley can do? And I said, absolutely. Yeah, this is.
00:28:39I love the script, and others around us love the script. A couple threw some doubts in about it.
00:28:45There was one significant naysayer, and it was his view, as a person of the film industry and a director who had done a few things,
00:28:58where the script was a load of bollocks. It was hopeless.
00:29:06He put in a six-page memo to Hoyt's, and he was advising at the time, saying,
00:29:10don't touch Crocodile Dundee with a 40-foot barge pole. It won't succeed.
00:29:13Hogan is a television star. He won't ever be a movie star.
00:29:22We lost the film. We didn't get it. It marched on.
00:29:26If I had money back then, which I didn't, it would have been a no-brainer knowing John Cornell to invest in that.
00:29:32Like a no-brainer. Strangely enough, some people missed that no-brainer.
00:29:37Some people got into it, well-regarded, successful people, and then decided it wasn't that good.
00:29:43I get a phone call from Packer.
00:29:45He said, oh, your mate rang me. He wants eight million to make a film.
00:29:50He had put in some money, like a million dollars or 10% or 15% of it, and then pulled it out.
00:29:55Because he was advised to pull it out, that it wasn't going to work and those sorts of things.
00:29:59And he did it, which is quite unusual for Kerry, because he's another one with amazing instincts.
00:30:03So he'd be scrubbed it. He laughed in the long run, Kerry. At least he laughed later.
00:30:09Left us with a shortfall. So, you know, mortgaged the house, scrambled around to get investors.
00:30:17We hung in there. John hung in there and got into all sorts of people.
00:30:20And an old mate of mine from Granville, the stockbroker, rang up and said,
00:30:25oh, yeah, trying to make a movie hoax here.
00:30:27We'd never made a movie. Cornel and Hogan had never made a movie.
00:30:31Peter Feynman had never directed a movie.
00:30:35But we grew up in Granville, and in Granville you learnt to have a go.
00:30:38So, we were having a go.
00:30:40Sat down, read the script, laughed my frock off,
00:30:45called my partners at Morgan Stockbroking and said,
00:30:48have you ever heard of anybody being able to invest in Cornel and Hogan?
00:30:51I said, well, now there's an opportunity and I think we should grab it.
00:30:55We probably had about 2,000 investors overall, right?
00:30:57There were a lot of mum and dads. Delveen's mum and dad, they came in, you know,
00:31:01and they were just regular working class people.
00:31:04John was actually thrilled about the fact that we were able to go
00:31:07to mum and dad investors and his friends and family.
00:31:11We're going out to the public's good fun because you know that there's pensioners and battlers
00:31:15who've got a share of Crocodile Dundee and that makes you feel good.
00:31:18I took a punt, I took a gamble.
00:31:20But one reason was that I thought Paul Hogan was a born comic.
00:31:26He has this wonderful way of looking and one look can give you the message.
00:31:33There we had the budget. Off we went.
00:31:36John realised that Hogan had never made a film, he'd never made a film, Peter Feynman,
00:32:03the director had never made a film. There was a vital component that had never done a film before
00:32:10and so John's attitude was, I want the best. I want Russell Boyd and Ray Brown and all of these people
00:32:18who were hugely experienced and excellent in their fields to help carry this project
00:32:24because, first of all, we're going to learn from them.
00:32:27But secondly, they're going to pick up any shortfalls that might be there
00:32:31because we're first timers.
00:32:33Well, the central cast was obviously Paul and we're all very, very keen on working with John Malian.
00:32:41So there was an Australian cast that we gathered but then the American girl was something else.
00:32:48An associate producer and I were left in L.A. for a while to find somebody to play this part of Sue.
00:32:57We interviewed a lot of well-known actresses but nobody really in L.A. was interested
00:33:03in taking the risk of coming to Australia, going through some plight in the outback,
00:33:09staying in motels instead of hotels and not having a limo.
00:33:15Linda Kozlowski came in to me and she said,
00:33:20Yeah, I'm up for it. I'll give it a go. Sounds terrific.
00:33:25You know, what's he like? Meaning Paul, right?
00:33:30One of the things that struck me about the script was that it had all the elements of what I would want to see
00:33:37when I go see a movie, it was funny, it was romantic, it had adventure, you know,
00:33:42it had sort of a little bit of everything in it and I loved his character.
00:33:45I mean, I thought if I ever met that man in life, I would want his children.
00:33:51Such a great character.
00:33:53The only problem is actors' equity have said, no, you can't do that.
00:33:57If you want to bring someone in for an Australian film, none of them need to be a known celebrity.
00:34:01You'll want a superstar.
00:34:03I had just done Death of a Salesman on Broadway with Dustin Hoffman and John Malkovich and Stephen Lang
00:34:10and I wasn't a well-known actress. I wasn't famous.
00:34:14And they felt like if you're not going to get a famous actress, then it should be an Australian actress.
00:34:19John believed in authenticity.
00:34:22An American actress had to play the American role.
00:34:26To solve the visa issue, John wrote to John Brown.
00:34:31He says, I'm stuck.
00:34:34Well, I had multiple portfolios.
00:34:38I was the Minister for the Arts, if that would affect me.
00:34:41I was also the Minister for Immigration.
00:34:43Acting at that stage, someone was away.
00:34:45So, as the Minister of Arts, I wrote to myself as the Minister for Immigration.
00:34:50And wrote back, give me permission to bring her in.
00:34:54Acting as equity, they haven't forgiven me yet.
00:35:00You'd never know that John was stressed.
00:35:02He loved to solve problems.
00:35:05He was good at it.
00:35:06Didn't mind a challenge at all.
00:35:08You know, I had confidence that you guys would get me in.
00:35:13I really... I did.
00:35:15I don't know why, I just really believed that.
00:35:19I'll never forget, we met those guys, Paul and Corny.
00:35:24On set, we got off to a great start.
00:35:28Hoag and Corny come towards us.
00:35:31And he used the old good day thing.
00:35:34And he just said,
00:35:37Hey guys, we think you're the most experienced crew we could get in Australia.
00:35:45And we don't know a lot about feature filming.
00:35:50And then he said,
00:35:51But by the way, we know a hell of a lot about television.
00:35:56And more importantly, we know a hell of a lot about comedy.
00:36:00At the end of that little chit-chat,
00:36:04Hoag said,
00:36:05Let's go make a movie together.
00:36:07Get in.
00:36:08Go over!
00:36:09Action!
00:36:10Action!
00:36:11Hey!
00:36:12Gordon Riley,
00:36:13Action! Action!
00:36:34Hi! I'm Gordon Riley.
00:36:36You never know the safaris.
00:36:38I'm Mr Dungey's business partner.
00:36:40Nice to meet you, Mr Riley.
00:36:42Please, call me Walder.
00:36:44We're pretty informal up here in the woods.
00:36:47Linda had yet to have the adventure
00:36:50of actually shooting in the outback.
00:36:54I really didn't know that much about it.
00:36:56I felt like, you know, it'll be some foresty place
00:36:58just outside Sydney somewhere,
00:37:00and I wasn't prepared for what it really was.
00:37:12So the first stop was in the middle of nowhere, right?
00:37:22It was dead silent.
00:37:25There was nothing around.
00:37:27She's a New York girl and freaked.
00:37:29Absolutely freaked out.
00:37:31I said, I can't do this. I can't do this.
00:37:33Market.
00:37:36Action!
00:37:45Welcome to Waterbad Creek.
00:37:51So all her security had gone, right?
00:37:54Right.
00:37:55So that's a New York girl stepping into the outback.
00:38:02It was actually a little town called McKinlay
00:38:04that we changed it to Walkabout Creek for the film.
00:38:08And the actual town had a population of 17.
00:38:16We knew them all.
00:38:17We knew the whole town by the time we left.
00:38:23This is the pub.
00:38:24This is where I first meet Mr. Dundee.
00:38:32Linda was a Gilliard-trained actress.
00:38:36Hoag's is not the slightest bit interested in actresses for a start,
00:38:44meaning the profession of it,
00:38:47and certainly didn't want to rehearse.
00:38:50Pete was great.
00:38:51We would just go page by page through the script,
00:38:54and he was my sounding board.
00:38:56I could really talk to him about the character
00:39:00and my feelings and what I felt good about,
00:39:03what I didn't feel so good about.
00:39:05When Linda met Hoag's,
00:39:09and he didn't want to rehearse,
00:39:11she suddenly recognised,
00:39:13well, hang on, I'm working with an amateur here.
00:39:15Who is this person?
00:39:16I don't get it.
00:39:18Nothing like a double bourbon to start the day off right.
00:39:20I spent hours at night talking her down because she wanted to go back to America.
00:39:34Because she was working with this unprofessional,
00:39:36and I had to say, he's a very big star.
00:39:40People in Australia love him.
00:39:42He's terribly smart.
00:39:44It will work.
00:39:46I promise you it will work.
00:39:48He's got the camera off.
00:39:50He's got to spit this shit out.
00:39:52At that point in time, I realised that what we really had to do was film as much as we could in sequence,
00:40:06so that they could really get together and work together properly.
00:40:10And the story was, of course, her as a journalist meeting Paul as this Outback guy.
00:40:16So I thought, well, if we start there, then perhaps the chemistry will build, right?
00:40:24Because it was the only way I could get her around to accepting Paul's style of work,
00:40:31and frankly, Paul around to understanding what she required from him.
00:40:37Hang on to Cyril for me, what?
00:40:39While I dance with this charming young lady.
00:40:48Honestly, being on the set of Crocodile Dundee, you felt that innocence in a way.
00:40:53It was like, I've got a barn, let's put on a show.
00:40:56Come on, everybody.
00:41:01I had that, like, yeah kind of feeling, and you don't get that very often.
00:41:07And...
00:41:13Hello.
00:41:14Hello.
00:41:16From what I witnessed, it was just a great shoot.
00:41:19Just a happy time for everybody.
00:41:21You'll find us a nice, friendly bunch up here in this town.
00:41:26And I smile and walk in.
00:41:28Perfect.
00:41:29Yeah, we don't need to do that then, do we?
00:41:30That's easy.
00:41:31In fact, you should have brought your own crew.
00:41:32That's easy.
00:41:33And I know how to do the con scene, so I can go home now.
00:41:37They're marvellous people to work with, and it's their first film,
00:41:40and it doesn't make any difference, because the way they're going about it,
00:41:43it could have been their 25th film.
00:41:45Rehearsal and action!
00:41:47I think I can speak on behalf of everybody.
00:41:50Nobody has ever been treated on a picture the way that Mr. Cornell has treated us as a producer,
00:42:00and everybody is...
00:42:03It's a very big, happy unit, and that's a tremendous thing for a film.
00:42:07Tremendous thing.
00:42:08Hello, Charlie.
00:42:09Hi.
00:42:10French.
00:42:11John Cornell is a doll.
00:42:13He's wonderful.
00:42:14He's just been so kind to everyone, really taking great care of us.
00:42:19He's great at keeping the spirit together between everyone, and just really looking after us all.
00:42:25He's been terrific.
00:42:26Brownie?
00:42:27Right.
00:42:28Just behind you, near the way that...
00:42:29Next one.
00:42:30More to me, Brownie.
00:42:31All right.
00:42:32I think Australian crews are wonderful.
00:42:35I've had a great time.
00:42:36They're really a real family.
00:42:39And I think sometimes when I'm off the set, I'll just sit back and watch them,
00:42:45and really admire them.
00:42:46I mean, they work really, really hard.
00:42:48I was going to say bloody.
00:42:49I'm really turning Australian now.
00:42:51Well, I'm going to only assume that somewhere up there, you know, sort of ten feet in the air,
00:42:58we'll get a good opening composition.
00:43:00As a director of photography, you're DOP, as we call it out here.
00:43:03Come on.
00:43:04Sixteen in line.
00:43:05Sixteen in line.
00:43:06OK.
00:43:07No, I don't.
00:43:08No, I don't actually.
00:43:09My prime role is lighting the set with the help of the gaffer and his assistants and the rest of the crew.
00:43:16But the script determines everything, and the production team, particularly from the director,
00:43:23they determine how it's going to go together, obviously,
00:43:27and what their thoughts are about how to make it work and keep bubbling along.
00:43:31We get the sense that we're too close.
00:43:32Well, it will be.
00:43:33I know when we're down here.
00:43:34Yeah, exactly.
00:43:35Yeah, right-o.
00:43:36You understand what I'm saying?
00:43:37Sure, sure.
00:43:38It's your job to keep everybody happy, really.
00:43:41It's part of the job to keep everybody happy.
00:43:43Yeah, can somebody grab us a cushion, PJ?
00:43:49Film crews have got to get our house on fire, and we all did on that film,
00:43:54because we were all like-minded, I guess.
00:43:57So it was a very enjoyable shoot.
00:44:02Grace Walker was our production designer, and he found a rubber crocodile somewhere.
00:44:13We used that for a lot of scenes in the attack scene, obviously.
00:44:22Didn't have sharp teeth or anything, so.
00:44:25How'd they get dropped in at the moment?
00:44:27Just three foot.
00:44:29Right?
00:44:30Sure I will.
00:44:31We've just lifted it over, I think.
00:44:32Yep, yep.
00:44:33Everything comes in here and grabs it.
00:44:35Yep, yep.
00:44:36You know, we probably have to be drifting back as it goes or something.
00:44:38Yeah.
00:44:39We've still got a face.
00:44:40Film crews are the same the world over, I've found.
00:44:42Our aspirations are the same, and we get on with the job at hand.
00:44:47It's just a whole conglomeration of people working together, which is what I loved.
00:44:51Standby, and action!
00:44:54Action!
00:44:59Russell had, at that time, you know, such a history in movies, and to have this sort of
00:45:04television director working with him, you know, it was not what he was accustomed to,
00:45:08really.
00:45:09So if we should have anything that way, in sort of...
00:45:11There's no reason, by the way, that she shouldn't appear behind the rocks, and we revert,
00:45:14like, that she doesn't appear there behind the rocks there.
00:45:17Oh, no, we have to have rocks in the foreground, don't we?
00:45:19We first met up, obviously, as the storyboard was being created, and we talked about how
00:45:25simple I wanted it to be, and then he brought magic to the screen with this simplicity of
00:45:30shots that I wanted, but were absolutely magical on the screen, because he's the best.
00:45:37Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
00:46:03Russell Boyd, such an artist when it comes to cinematography, that even though it was
00:46:10only a comedy film, it had this huge cinematic magnificence.
00:46:24The first time I saw The Rushes was when Mick's talking about being attacked by the crocodile
00:46:29when he finds his dinghy.
00:46:30I can see where he sunk his teeth in.
00:46:32And it was a sight of Paul I hadn't seen before, really, when he was low-key and understated
00:46:38and slightly menacing.
00:46:40Yeah, see, a crock will grab you, take you down to the bottom of the water, and roll you
00:46:45over and over and over until you stop kicking.
00:46:48Then you take your weight off his meat-safe somewhere.
00:46:51Rock ledge, bog, down under the water, jam you under it.
00:46:57And John said, what do you think, Deli?
00:46:59And I said, I think it's incredible.
00:47:00This is the sight of Paul that we haven't seen.
00:47:03So he now becomes Mick Dundee.
00:47:05Yeah, anyway, he wasn't happy with the grip he had on me, so he let go to get a better one.
00:47:10I talked him out of him.
00:47:14Mick was wise, he was solitary, self-reliant, smart, not egotistical, honorable, and appealing to men and women.
00:47:34And so I think we found our hero.
00:47:36Poor tucker here and you can poke a stick at.
00:47:38Tucker?
00:47:39Food.
00:47:40You hungry?
00:47:41And hugely funny.
00:47:43Did I forget to say funny?
00:47:45How do you like your goanna?
00:47:49Medium?
00:47:50Well done?
00:47:51You don't really expect me to eat that.
00:47:53Yeah, it's great.
00:47:54Yeah, try some of those yams.
00:47:55What about you?
00:47:56Aren't you having any?
00:47:57You can live on it.
00:47:59But it tastes like shit.
00:48:05Paul Hogan is just great to work with.
00:48:10Knocking around with a flying nun, mate.
00:48:15He's a really generous actor.
00:48:18He's a really good actor.
00:48:20And I didn't know anything about him when I came over here.
00:48:23I knew him from the commercial, vaguely, you know.
00:48:26That's all I knew.
00:48:27So I was just pleasantly surprised or, you know, I just thought it was terrific.
00:48:32He was terrific.
00:48:33Break him, break him, break him.
00:48:35There's a runaway shagger here.
00:48:39She saw now that he was funny and fell in love eventually.
00:48:45So really the story of the movie is really the story of their lives.
00:48:51It was a romantic story, I think.
00:48:58That when we shot chronologically, when they kissed at the billabong, that was their first kiss.
00:49:08I thought that was beautiful, the way he hesitated before he went in and kissed her.
00:49:13I think there was great truth in that.
00:49:28And Linda was concerned because Paul was married, but what can you do?
00:49:32And I just tried to be her confidante, obviously, but also make her feel like you have to follow your heart.
00:49:42And you do.
00:49:43You have to follow your heart.
00:49:45And they did.
00:49:46It was quite beautiful to see him find that kind of love.
00:49:59We went out at sunset and we had the day off, so it was so incredible.
00:50:04It was like a dream.
00:50:05I mean, you just didn't know this place could exist.
00:50:08So beautiful.
00:50:10We were able to film on Aboriginal land.
00:50:23It was such a special, amazing place.
00:50:26It was such a privilege to be able to be there and to film there.
00:50:32We shoot in Krabri tonight.
00:50:42And these boys here from, you know, like local people and especially all in there, here on the Kakadu National Park.
00:50:52And this is his songs.
00:50:55So I join in and dance with them.
00:51:02Well, yes, this is part of where Paul and I and the girl, you know, Mick and Sue, where I meet Tim and talk to them.
00:51:18And I say, I'm on my way to Krabri over at the Java.
00:51:24So what you were doing?
00:51:26That's what I was doing all the time.
00:51:28Well, Neville, he's tribal and father, father was a tribal and, but he's a city boy.
00:51:37He there, you know, yeah.
00:51:42Not like you.
00:51:43Well, something like me, yeah.
00:51:46Well, I like dancing, Krabri and, you know, when I come back home, go to Bush, make Krabri and dance, have a big campfire, enjoy it.
00:51:56It's different from the city in Bisco, eh?
00:51:59What do you reckon?
00:52:00John Travolta.
00:52:01Yeah, right.
00:52:03I've seen him in a white suit.
00:52:06Yeah, right.
00:52:07Well, that's, that's my uniform there.
00:52:09Oh, yeah.
00:52:10Studio 54.
00:52:11Oh, thank you, Dad.
00:52:13Yeah.
00:52:14Paul Hogan is, is really character.
00:52:18He's really sort of into it, black fellas.
00:52:22He came to see and meet black fellas there, my mob, and he talked to them.
00:52:30Can we make this film?
00:52:31And we dance.
00:52:32And now everyone agreed.
00:52:34David Kultwil got up here and said, yes, come up, I reckon.
00:52:40Yes, good.
00:52:41And, uh, fit it to me and to other Aboriginal people, where we was dancing and singing.
00:52:49Yeah, that was real, that was real stuff.
00:52:53Yeah, that was real stuff.
00:53:09That's true.
00:53:10I guess that's true.
00:53:11I write my own name, not just kidding.
00:53:13You're my father.
00:53:14I'm just actually a Finn.
00:53:16You're my father.
00:53:17I'll see him.
00:53:18That's true.
00:53:19You're my father.
00:53:20I'm the father.
00:53:21And it's been a08.
00:53:22I know.
00:53:23You're my father.
00:53:24And he's the father.
00:53:25You're my father.
00:53:26You're her father.
00:53:27And I'm very scared.
00:53:28Yeah.
00:53:29He'll never ask him.
00:53:31I'm sorry.
00:53:32That's true.
00:53:32You're my father.
00:53:35But I'm a father.
00:53:36You're our father.
00:53:37I never figured him.
00:53:38I would go with my full initiated painting, dancing.
00:53:58Cloreal Dundee is a good film, but it's too short for me.
00:54:03Mark it!
00:54:05161, take two, cameras A and B. Very good, thank you. Terrific.
00:54:11It's the candid camera creepos.
00:54:15Can I see what's inside my mouth?
00:54:20Just 32, perfect teeth.
00:54:23It was a tight schedule. We went from the Outback to New York
00:54:27and we were filming basically the next day after we got off the flight in New York.
00:54:35New York was much more challenging to shoot than the Outback.
00:54:49The Outback was perfect. It was quiet and isolated.
00:54:52And suddenly there were, you know, peoples everywhere and extras.
00:54:57And after work everybody would go off and do their own thing.
00:55:00And it was New York City, what the heck?
00:55:02And so it was great to be back, but it was also a little more challenging.
00:55:08Action, Paul.
00:55:09You had to really, like, double down to focus more because there were so many distractions going on around us.
00:55:17The sound guys who were working in the silence of the Outback were suddenly on Fifth Avenue
00:55:23with this extraordinary cacophony of noise.
00:55:28All the directions were shouted.
00:55:30So everybody had to talk louder.
00:55:33471, take three.
00:55:35Got to be walking as I set you up in the back.
00:55:38If you're not with the film, please do not stop and hang out.
00:55:41We're throwing the beans.
00:55:43Action.
00:55:44A lot of what I did with him when I invented him was made him what I found with Americans thought about Australians.
00:56:00This is the image they have that's colourful about Australians.
00:56:03So that was, they sort of were responsible for making him like he was.
00:56:08Yeah.
00:56:09With Dundee's rug, please.
00:56:12I really, really want to give Norma, the late, beautiful, wonderful Norma Morisot, a big shout-out.
00:56:19Because, first of all, I think that she gave that movie a touch of cool.
00:56:26I mean, I can't imagine Mick Dundee without that hat that's iconic.
00:56:33And the lizard skin jacket.
00:56:36I mean, that was a superhero costume.
00:56:39The red dress also is iconic.
00:56:43I was freaked out about the red dress because I was like, you know, my character would not wear this dress.
00:56:49I'm so sorry.
00:56:50She's supposed to be wealthy and raised in New York City.
00:56:54And Norma and I went shopping and we picked out a black, I can remember it was a black Norma Kamali dress.
00:57:01It was warm fitting, but it was very elegant.
00:57:04And we came and showed it to John and Paul and they were like...
00:57:08We were like, you don't like it?
00:57:13And then Norma said, they told me it has to be much sexier.
00:57:17And she's like, okay, I'll give you sexy.
00:57:19She used to say, over the top is the only place to be.
00:57:25Incidentally, Miss, if you're looking for Crocodile Mick, he's gone walkabout.
00:57:30I don't suppose you know where?
00:57:32Yeah, he's headed for the subway two blocks down.
00:57:35You better hurry.
00:57:36Mind this for me.
00:57:38The composer tends to be somebody who sees a film more often than just about anybody else.
00:57:49I start off by, I suppose, thinking, what does this film need?
00:57:55I came up with that...
00:58:05There's no music, there's just rhythm.
00:58:08And it all developed from there.
00:58:16The subway, you kind of get swept through as she's running, taking her shoes off.
00:58:24And just that contrast between the urgency that she's showing and Mick's laconic kind of,
00:58:39I'm going off to see America.
00:58:41It's that kind of juxtaposition that makes that work.
00:58:46Tell him I love him.
00:58:49I love you!
00:58:51I thought if I could crack that, then I could confidently launch into the rest of the film.
00:59:06It felt to me in Crocodile Dundee as if I had to tell the story as well as they'd told it.
00:59:14And I didn't stuff it up.
00:59:17You got a light, buddy?
00:59:19Yeah, sure, kid.
00:59:21There you go.
00:59:23And your wallet.
00:59:25Mick, give him your wallet.
00:59:28What for?
00:59:30He's got a knife.
00:59:31That's not a knife.
00:59:32That's not a knife.
00:59:45That's a great story, actually.
00:59:47We edited Crocodile Dundee.
00:59:50And John was watching the rushes with the editor, trying to piece that together.
00:59:56And they had three or four takes.
00:59:59It was like, no, no, no.
01:00:01There's another take.
01:00:02There's another take.
01:00:03There's a better take.
01:00:05And we couldn't find it.
01:00:07And he knew that it was the take that Paul had done after Peter Feynman had said, cut.
01:00:12And Paul kept playing around with this young kid who was the mugger.
01:00:17And he had this glint in his eye.
01:00:19And John had recognised that.
01:00:21And it was like that because it was after the pressure was off of filming, like, cut.
01:00:26You know, okay, I don't want to have a bit of a play.
01:00:29And it was in the editing room bin.
01:00:32And John fished it out.
01:00:34And put that scene in the film.
01:00:36And that is the scene of the film.
01:00:38So I love that story that was that John knew what Hoges had delivered as Mick Dundee in that moment.
01:00:45And knew it, you know, knew that it was there somewhere.
01:00:48And was intent on putting it in because that was the take.
01:00:56Hogan and John Cornell set out to make a popular, entertaining movie.
01:01:00And at the crowded premiere in Sydney this week, there was an irresistible feeling of confidence in the air.
01:01:08Cornell believes he's back to winning.
01:01:11And were you so confident that Crocodile thought that he was going to work?
01:01:17Well, they say films are a gamble.
01:01:19But in this case, I knew the horse and the horse talks to me.
01:01:22And I've got great faith in Hogan.
01:01:25Always have had and probably always will have.
01:01:28Yeah.
01:01:29The guy's not a hero.
01:01:30He's a human.
01:01:31Well, he's just a larriker.
01:01:32You know, it's a good, fun film.
01:01:34Where did he come from?
01:01:36Out of there.
01:01:37And out of the Northern Territory.
01:01:39As soon as it got released in Australia, it was just through the roof.
01:01:50Hoyts were exhibiting.
01:01:52So we were getting the numbers and the numbers were unprecedented.
01:01:56Once we got through the first three weeks, I didn't worry anymore.
01:02:06We knew the mums and dads were safe.
01:02:08The people who invested in Crocodile Dundee will get four or five or six times their money back.
01:02:12I really did care about those people who put their five and ten thousand dollars in.
01:02:16That was a serious investment for them.
01:02:22Here's to Crocodile Dundee.
01:02:24We released the film and it was just blockbuster.
01:02:29Biggest Australian movie, but by a long stretch.
01:02:33We had a dynamite movie.
01:02:36Now what do we do with it?
01:02:38The ultimate test is to sell it in America.
01:02:41US was the biggest market.
01:02:44In our case, I said they can't take, no one takes the movie anywhere until Australia releases.
01:02:50Because I know it's going to be a big hit and then the Americans will come chase us.
01:02:56So John didn't want to do any pre-sales because he had so much faith in that film and self-belief that he took it to America under his arm.
01:03:09First studio, 20th Century Fox, knocked it back.
01:03:13The guy barely watched it.
01:03:14And finally, he got to Paramount.
01:03:19And he went there because he loved their gates.
01:03:24In through the big fancy gates.
01:03:26And into Barry London's office.
01:03:31The first meeting I had with John was at the studio right after I'd seen Crocodile Dundee.
01:03:36And the first words that I remember speaking to him was, I love your movie.
01:03:41Which is the line that you want to hear from a distributor.
01:03:45And, but they weren't quite sure how it was going to go.
01:03:48And so John said, well, I've had an audience tested.
01:03:51If you test a film and the audience says it's good, the film's a failure.
01:03:56The audience, when you test a film, have to say, it is absolutely fantastic.
01:04:00The best thing I've ever seen.
01:04:01Then you've got success.
01:04:03We had it researched in America.
01:04:06Most producers don't do this, but I thought it might be a plus for the selling of it.
01:04:10So instead of having them research it, I paid for the research myself this week.
01:04:15And I won't bore you with the details about what happens, but we got a 59 on this complicated input of showing it to a couple of thousand people in audience.
01:04:26The average is a 43.
01:04:30That 59 has meant people like, well, Frank Mancuso, the president of Paramount Pictures, got on the phone to the guy who'd done the research and said, is this correct that this movie cracked the 59?
01:04:40He knew that, you know, we eat the same food as Americans.
01:04:45We watch the same movies.
01:04:46We drive the same cars, listen to the same music, watch the same TV shows.
01:04:50They're our brothers.
01:04:52So they're going to get it.
01:04:53All of a sudden, Paramount, you know, like all bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.
01:04:56We've done this testing.
01:04:57This looks pretty good.
01:04:58And it was right up there.
01:05:00It was like Top Gun.
01:05:01And they were surprised by that.
01:05:03Where did you get it tested?
01:05:04Well, I went to the same company that you use.
01:05:08And we all kind of looked at each other and said, wow, this is really good stuff, really good stuff.
01:05:15And from that moment on, our enthusiasm, that kind of enthusiasm, was apparent.
01:05:21And we never lost it.
01:05:25Paul picked up on it.
01:05:26John picked up on it.
01:05:27And off we went.
01:05:28The US press went mad.
01:05:38Paramount had Linda and Paul on talk shows all over the country.
01:05:42We opened in 500 theaters, and this word of mouth got around.
01:05:53Like a comic book superhero.
01:05:54I love it.
01:05:55I love it.
01:05:56He's cute and he's charming.
01:05:58And yet, I don't know.
01:06:00When he's about to get mugged, right, and he says, no, that's a knife.
01:06:04He's got his big machete and he starts waving it around.
01:06:07Of course, I think he's sexy.
01:06:09That's why he came tonight.
01:06:11Well, the money just came in in a wave.
01:06:168.8 million the first week.
01:06:2019 the second week.
01:06:2328 the third week.
01:06:25And then look out.
01:06:28It was a runaway train.
01:06:30And I went, yes.
01:06:33We had a movie that was sensational.
01:06:34Didn't matter that we never heard of Paul Hogan at that point.
01:06:38And it didn't matter that it was an Australian film.
01:06:41What it was, was a terrific Australian film with some guy called Paul Hogan.
01:06:47Crocodile Dundee in the States ran for six months.
01:06:51It's only in USA, Canada and Australia.
01:06:55We've got the rest of the world to go yet.
01:06:57I'd have been happy if it was a hit in Australia and the UK.
01:07:01I didn't know it was going to be hit in Israel and Switzerland and Mexico.
01:07:09And it was.
01:07:11Crocodile Dundee released all around the world.
01:07:15It was a global sensation.
01:07:17For 8.8 million dollars Australian, we made 328 million dollars.
01:07:31You take it over 40 years.
01:07:34Well it's gone up about 10 times.
01:07:36Let's say seven times.
01:07:38So what did I say?
01:07:40Seven, three.
01:07:41So that's 2.8 billion.
01:07:42Crocodile Dundee is the biggest foreign movie in the history of movies.
01:07:49It's the biggest movie in the world ever made outside of a major studio.
01:07:56It was just report after report after report saying highest revenue ever, biggest box opening ever, ever, ever, ever.
01:08:05So there's a lot of biggest evers in there.
01:08:07In fact Paul Hogan used to say to me, don't tell me about how much money it took last weekend, tell me about the evers.
01:08:12You just don't know until you do it.
01:08:15Dundee sort of did that, opened the floodgates.
01:08:18I think we all knew it was going to be successful, but how successful was sort of the question area.
01:08:25And it's very successful, which is great.
01:08:27And it just sort of crept up and then we went a couple times, groups of us would go and sit in the back row, I think in New York and some other places just to watch the audience reaction and seeing how into it they were and cheering, you know, at the end and just really calling out and just feeling very so engaged with it.
01:08:49We were going, oh, this is much bigger than we thought it was going to be. Wow.
01:08:57The film was nominated for an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay.
01:09:03I enjoyed the Oscar nomination because that's made by our writers.
01:09:08To be nominated for an Oscar, if you're talking about pinnacles of acting, directing, writing, making films, that's what you want.
01:09:17That's a recognition.
01:09:20Both Linda and Paul received Golden Globe nominations.
01:09:24And it is a dream when you're an actor to be recognised.
01:09:28You can't imagine that that would ever happen to you.
01:09:32It was so funny, I got a Golden Globe as the best actor and I think the foreign press were embarrassed when they got to meet me and they said,
01:09:41he's just, it's just him with a hat on, was the only difference between me and Dundee.
01:09:50And I thought, I'm not a very good actor.
01:09:53Me, I just put on different hats.
01:09:55I mean, if you look at sort of Mick Dundee and me, I'm convincing as that character, but that's it.
01:10:04You're not going to find another Paul Hogan around the world.
01:10:06I mean, Paul Hogan now, according to all the executives in Hollywood, is the top two or three box office stars in the world.
01:10:16So, luckily he doesn't have any ego problems because the last thing we want is for him to be walking around thinking that he's Paul Hogan.
01:10:25Paul Hogan made Crocodile Dundee. If Paul Hogan hadn't been born, would we have had somebody else play the role and do just as well? I don't think so.
01:10:42Hugs will tell you himself that Mick Dundee is just Hugs in the bush.
01:10:49You'd be looking back at this spot.
01:10:51Yeah, you'd be walking back at this spot.
01:10:52I'd be loving the girl.
01:10:53Yeah.
01:10:54I'd do it every day.
01:10:55Yeah.
01:10:57There was a quality about Mick Dundee that every man and woman related to.
01:11:03And there was something amazing about this superhero that he was relatable.
01:11:12You could see yourself in him.
01:11:14Like, yeah, that's what I would have done if I could, you know?
01:11:18He wasn't like half man and half bug or, you know what I mean?
01:11:23Or some like super metal super guy flying through the sky.
01:11:28He was a guy, like a normal guy.
01:11:32But he was like a superhero at the same time.
01:11:35And he came from a completely different place.
01:11:38So, Mick Dundee was so believable that people thought he was a real person.
01:11:45Who?
01:11:47The movie wouldn't have worked as well if they'd had a big movie star in it.
01:11:51because in most of the world I was unknown and therefore the character became real.
01:11:58When I did international press junkets for promotion, it was Mr Dundee who said,
01:12:04can you sign over there Mick? He was real.
01:12:09The last survey that tourism people were doing about what people knew about Australia
01:12:14and knew famous Australians, they had Chris Hemsworth and probably Nicole
01:12:20and Margot and names on it. And on the list, I was fifth most famous Australian.
01:12:26I think I was 11th on one of the others and I didn't even make the top ten or something.
01:12:31But who was number one? Mick Dundee.
01:12:34He was the most famous Australian in every survey that he did.
01:12:38But he's not real. I made him up.
01:12:41So I didn't make the list but he did.
01:12:44Paul, it's great to see you in New York. I love your show.
01:12:48You've got good taste. Thank you. You have a good show.
01:12:51Very professional.
01:12:53I think it's acknowledged that Paul put Australia on the map.
01:12:56It started of course with the shrimp on the barbecue stuff
01:13:00and then it was compounded by Crocodile Nundee.
01:13:05In America, the Australian accent suddenly, I really believe this, suddenly became acceptable.
01:13:16No worries, mate.
01:13:18He made it very, very clear that we're a nice lot of people.
01:13:22We're fun. We're ordinary. We're not strangers.
01:13:25Well, I'll get something on the top. You want that? I'll fix it.
01:13:30The relationship that exists between John and Paul,
01:13:33and it comes out as something special and unique as we talked about earlier.
01:13:36And I think from that standpoint, they offer a freshness
01:13:40and something that is really special in this business, a loyalty.
01:13:44I have one more thing to add to that.
01:13:47Both of those guys are really nice guys.
01:13:52In addition to being terrific filmmakers, they're really nice people.
01:13:59I think for all of us in Australia, this idea of what you can and can't do
01:14:03was well and truly kicked down the street
01:14:05because what they took on and what they achieved was so impossible.
01:14:10Crocodile Dundee has been described as lightning in a bottle.
01:14:17So, how does that come about?
01:14:20That's the magical collaboration of all of those incredible people on the crew,
01:14:26as well as John and Paul, is that something happens.
01:14:30It's like a cauldron brewing.
01:14:34All the ingredients go in and then magic happens.
01:14:40And then you have to contain it.
01:14:44And I think there was just so much potential with that film
01:14:48that it was like lightning in a bottle just needed to get out, you know?
01:14:53And then it got out.
01:14:57For sure, the energy of the film, the newness of the film.
01:15:00It was a comedy, it was a romantic comedy,
01:15:03but it was also like one of the big adventure movies.
01:15:06You had incredible scenery.
01:15:09It's like one of those films that they keep showing to say,
01:15:12why is this an outstanding success?
01:15:15And kind of everyone gets it.
01:15:17Warmth and the normal traditional beats of a hero, fish out of water.
01:15:23For me, I felt very much a fish in water.
01:15:27The crew was incredible.
01:15:29Everybody's attitude was just so great.
01:15:32And we had this common goal of just getting it right
01:15:35and making it right and making it work.
01:15:37And, you know, saying, what about this?
01:15:39What about that?
01:15:40Oh, that's kind of strange.
01:15:41And so I was in my element, in a way.
01:15:43And everybody's enthusiasm, as well, was very inspiring.
01:15:48I think it was a combination of all those things
01:15:53that John, again, making the working place such a great place.
01:15:59It made people want to do better.
01:16:03They felt those good vibes, you know?
01:16:06And it permeated the set.
01:16:09And I think in the end, it permeated the screen.
01:16:12It came right out into the audience.
01:16:14John always thought right from the scene one,
01:16:21this is going to work, this is going to be a hit.
01:16:24I don't think anyone else did, not to the extent he believed.
01:16:27Belief in himself and belief in me, more than I had, sort of.
01:16:32He's got the magic ingredient that stars have in them.
01:16:35And he doesn't only have it for this country,
01:16:40but for overseas as well.
01:16:42It's very hard to define, mate.
01:16:44I think he's got a few ingredients
01:16:46that we're not even sure about ourselves.
01:16:49Rehearsal it in!
01:16:51Right.
01:16:52Right.
01:16:53They were so attuned, John and Paul.
01:16:56They never finished each other's sentences or stuff,
01:16:59but their thoughts were like in the ether at the same time.
01:17:02Not quite telepathic, but so on the same wavelength.
01:17:09Is it the line that's worrying you?
01:17:11The dialogue?
01:17:12It's the dialogue.
01:17:13The...
01:17:14That's the one.
01:17:15I guess I could say they were blood brothers.
01:17:19They were so comfortable with each other.
01:17:21They were so in sync.
01:17:22What should I be thinking?
01:17:24It's time.
01:17:25All up the building.
01:17:26Hanging on the lake.
01:17:27It just won't come to me.
01:17:29Think about the coat hanger, right?
01:17:31Oh, the old coat hanger.
01:17:32The old coat hanger.
01:17:33I'm sorry.
01:17:34They just could look at each other and know,
01:17:38and they really had the same ideas
01:17:41and the same feelings about so many things.
01:17:45We've got sort of a bit of a mental umbilical cord
01:17:48between us creatively anyway,
01:17:49so that's the easiest part.
01:17:52With Paul, you don't have to direct him anyway
01:17:54and just sort of say,
01:17:55oh, you've got a fly on your face, mate.
01:17:56That's about all you need to say to him.
01:17:59They were so both coupled with their values
01:18:03and principles and philosophies and attitude to life.
01:18:06But whatever they did together,
01:18:09they did symbiotically to the point where
01:18:13they were like soul brothers for eternity.
01:18:17Just this incredible connection
01:18:19from two opposing backgrounds really,
01:18:23but so like-minded despite that,
01:18:26that to me that was rare.
01:18:30Sometimes you're embarrassed to try and do this candid stuff.
01:18:35Relax.
01:18:36Well, at least we can cut out whatever we don't like.
01:18:40We edit this.
01:18:43You need to take a bullet for me, John.
01:18:45Your financial advisor and business manager and entrepreneur
01:18:49is also your best friend.
01:18:51It's fabulous.
01:18:52I have come to send you to the Boilermakers Mixed Prawn Night.
01:18:56Really?
01:18:57A little wave at the magic 4B2
01:18:59and you'll look like a million dollars.
01:19:00Get on with this.
01:19:07It's that leap of going from being small screen to large screen
01:19:11to local to international.
01:19:13I can't off the top of my head.
01:19:15Unless you want to remind me,
01:19:17you can think of anyone else who's done that.
01:19:21Gravitas.
01:19:22Aura.
01:19:23Swagger.
01:19:24Those guys had it in spades.
01:19:28These guys didn't have lane ways.
01:19:30They just took whole landscapes
01:19:32and went across it in their way.
01:19:38They want to do good.
01:19:39They want to make people laugh.
01:19:40It kind of comes from a really simple, nice space
01:19:45that all of us can attach to
01:19:48and go along with the ride with.
01:19:49But, you know, if you've got the ability
01:19:51to make people laugh
01:19:53and forget their woes for a bit,
01:19:55what a job.
01:20:00You miss me, mate.
01:20:02Now I'll stop.
01:20:10He was diagnosed the day before he turned 60
01:20:22with Parkinson's disease.
01:20:27We would talk all through our 46 years of marriage
01:20:31till the cows came home.
01:20:34You know, great conversationalists, great conversations.
01:20:37And to see him lose his voice
01:20:41was a real loss.
01:20:44But through it all,
01:20:46I've never seen anyone be more brave.
01:20:50He had a great depth of courage.
01:20:53He never whinged.
01:20:54He was stoic.
01:20:56And he was accepting
01:20:59and was never sorry for himself.
01:21:02A couple of times I'd see him go,
01:21:05and you could see he was just really tired of it.
01:21:11And for me, as his long, long life love,
01:21:15that was a really difficult thing to watch.
01:21:21He always wanted to get to 80.
01:21:23And he did.
01:21:25His wife, for 46 years, was by his side last year.
01:21:31As Paul Hogan's Dobie sidekick struck.
01:21:34In a statement, his family remembered him as a true egalitarian
01:21:39who sought equity and equality and fought for a fair go.
01:21:44I had said to John before he passed,
01:21:47what bird do you want to be remembered as?
01:21:49Because we've got a tradition in our family.
01:21:51And he said, I want a kookaburra.
01:21:57I said, why?
01:21:58He said, because they make people laugh.
01:22:05They land in the tree where we've tied all the ribbons
01:22:08that we had people send in who couldn't come to the funeral
01:22:10because it was COVID and that's John's tree
01:22:13and all these ribbons are ephemerally ageing
01:22:18and it's kind of like life itself.
01:22:26A few years before he passed away,
01:22:27and he wasn't in a good way,
01:22:29we went round to his house to pick him up.
01:22:31We went to get his shoes and he put his foot into his shoe
01:22:34and he went, hang on, and he pulled his foot out of his shoe
01:22:37and then he put his hand into his shoe
01:22:39and there was a rigor mortis mouse,
01:22:41a tiny little mouse in his shoe.
01:22:43And he just looked at,
01:22:45he just looked up and said,
01:22:47I've got to get out more.
01:22:49Because he clearly hadn't put his shoes on enough lately.
01:22:52Or he hadn't chosen those shoes.
01:22:53But there's just a classic beautiful line
01:22:55that he just straight on the top of his head,
01:22:57I've got to get out more.
01:22:59You know?
01:23:00And that's just, that's corny.
01:23:03As a friend, as a mentor to me,
01:23:05as someone I love dearly,
01:23:06it's never been better for me.
01:23:14Everything I've had to do with Hogan and Cornell
01:23:16in the making of the movie
01:23:17and all the other things that we've done through our lives
01:23:20has been a privilege.
01:23:21One of the saddest things was I could never get to John's funeral.
01:23:41Anyway, thanks John.
01:23:42I'm sorry.
01:23:55I'm sorry.
01:23:57I'm sorry.
01:23:58I'm sorry.
01:24:04My wish initially when I fell in love with John
01:24:06was that we would grow old together.
01:24:09And we, we did.
01:24:11How lucky am I?
01:24:12I searched for my love.
01:24:13He's missing one thought.
01:24:14And wearing a lightsaber's cap.
01:24:15Pretend, is it yours?
01:24:16Yes.
01:24:17How do you know?
01:24:18By the chewing gum under the strap.
01:24:19This documentary, this is an act of love.
01:24:20For John primarily, cause he's not here to be honored.
01:24:21But also for the film and for Paul.
01:24:22And all my old friends, everyone who added their spark to Crocodile Dundee.
01:24:24How do you know what I mean?
01:24:25When anything is made with courage, everyone will see much fun.
01:24:26Who cares?
01:24:27But I'm sorry.
01:24:28I'm sorry, I'm sorry.
01:24:30We're not sad.
01:24:31But guys, they're all speaking.
01:24:32We'll see you in the next one.
01:24:34I'm sorry.
01:24:36You're right?
01:24:37That's what I mean.
01:24:38but also for the film
01:24:40and for Paul
01:24:42and all my old friends
01:24:44everyone who added their spark
01:24:47to Crocodile Dundee
01:24:48when anything is made
01:24:52with courage, conviction
01:24:54chemistry and humour
01:24:56you can feel
01:25:01this magic and
01:25:02everything becomes possible
01:25:04I love you Billy
01:25:06it's all been a pleasure
01:25:09have a well
01:25:11I may never know
01:25:14what makes magic happen
01:25:16but I do know
01:25:21that to me
01:25:23the most magical ingredient of all
01:25:26is love
01:25:36I want it from the horse's mouth
01:25:55we're starting
01:25:56yeah
01:25:57okay hold it
01:25:58I'll put this out
01:25:59I tickle you
01:26:03so what do we used to say?
01:26:11not losing up
01:26:12no losing
01:26:12minutes of a good time
01:26:19you
01:26:20no
01:26:24I
01:26:25I
01:26:27I
01:26:28I
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