Stone (1974)

Director:

Sandy Harbutt

Writers:

Sandy Harbutt (writer)
Michael Robinson (writer)

Release Date:

28 June 1974 (Australia)

Genre:

Action | Drama | Adventure | Crime | Mystery

Tagline:

Get with Stone.

Plot:

Members of the Grave Diggers Motorcycle Club are being knocked off one by one, and someone needs to find out why! Sandy Harbutt's timeless Australian cult film about a bunch of renegades riding Kawasaki 900s.

Plot Keywords:

Motorcycle | Death | Australia | One Word Title | Satanist

Cast

Ken Shorter	...	Stone
Sandy Harbutt	...	Undertaker
Deryck Barnes	...	Dr. Townes
Hugh Keays-Byrne	...	Toad
Roger Ward	...	Hooks
Vincent Gil	...	Dr. Death
Dewey Hungerford	...	Septic
James Bowles	...	Stinkfinger (as James H. Bowles)
Bindi Williams	...	Capt. Midnight
John Ifkovitch	...	Zonk
Lex Mitchell	...	Ballini
Rhod Walker	...	Chairman
Owen Weingott	...	Adler
Slim DeGrey	...	Hannigan
Ray Bennett	...	Larsen

Runtime:

103 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

New Zealand:(Banned) (1975) | New Zealand:R18 (re-rating) | Finland:(Banned) (1985) | UK:18 | Australia:R | Norway:18

Filming Locations:

Art Gallery Of New South Wales, Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

Company:

Hedon Productions

Trivia:

Rebecca Gilling was originally cast as Euridyce. However after Amber Rodgers dropped out, she was re-cast as Vanessa, and her sister Jane Gilling replaced Rebecca.

Quotes:

[at the funeral of Go Down]
Undertaker: OK, Go Down, you got it; but believe me, whoever got you is goin' ta get got too; and that's a promise.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Not Quite Hollywood: The Wild, Untold Story of Ozploitation! (2008)

Soundtrack:

Cosmic Flash

You had to be there...

The seventies hold a special place in time for me. 1974 was all about (in no particular order) Motorcycles, beer, LSD, marijuana, underground comics (freak brothers), Hawkwind, my girlfriend Karen and of course Stone (the movie).

Outlaw Motorcycle clubs were a lot different in Sydney back then, riding motorcycles (and drinking beer) was our only purpose in life. Back then only an idiot would ride a Harley and the dream bike was the Kawasaki Z1 900 that had only just been released. So imagine a film like Stone blasting it's way onto the screen resplendent with custom painted Kawa 900's! We were mesmerized, personally I remember seeing it 6 times at the local cinema.

Watching it today opens the gates to memory lane, those that use the F3 freeway north of Sydney will appreciate the shots of the road in the funeral procession scene; the road was brand new then! And the shots of the lower North Shore and Pittwater are truly a piece of Sydney's history. Note the absence of traffic.

Forget the acting, when you're 18, off your nut on drugs and that Z1 starts up with the baffles removed at the beginning of the movie, it's mind blowing!!! Non bikers can turn off here :O) Midnight's black Kawa 900 was my favorite, come to think of it, how many indigenous Aussies had a real part in a movie before this? Not many I'd say...

I've now been riding bikes for 35 years now and Stone still holds a special place in my heart. 10 outa 10 for Sandy.

Cosmic flash, and there ya go...

Mick.