Issue Details: First known date: 2017... 2017 Fishing the Waters of Life : Zane Grey’s White Death, Exploitation Film and the Great Barrier Reef
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'Edwin G. Bowen’s White Death (1936) is an Australian–American film about shark fishing that stars the American novelist and fisherman Zane Grey as himself. Set mainly at the Great Barrier Reef, it has a semi-fictional plot about Grey’s quest to kill a shark in the face of opposition from an anti-fishing activist, Newton Smith (Alfred Frith). Although White Death was financially unsuccessful and has received little attention in histories of Australian film or Grey’s life, it is significant in several ways. The film is unusual among early Australian productions for combining elements of the genres of travelogue documentary, fictional adventure film and exotic exploitation film. It reflects an American perspective of Australia as an exotic location. White Death is also linked to the interwar development of tourism at the Great Barrier Reef and foreshadows the growth of the environmental conservation movement.' (Publication abstract)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

  • Appears in:
    y separately published work icon Studies in Australasian Cinema Australian Horror and Ozploitation Subtheme vol. 11 no. 1 2017 11061442 2017 periodical issue

    'Welcome to the first issue of Studies in Australasian Cinema for 2017.

    'This issue comprises three articles that form a special section on horror themed films, edited by Mark Ryan and Ben Goldsmith, which have developed from their editorial work last year on papers from the conference of the Screen Studies Association of Australia and New Zealand. Taken together, both Buerger’s and Balenzatugui’s varied readings of The Babadook, and Speed’s timely revisiting of White Death, constitute the Australasian screen’s role in marking an unsettled period in contemporary culture.

    'As always, please enjoy this issue of Studies in Australasian Cinema.' (Anthony Lambert Journal editor’s note)

    2017
    pg. 5-17
Last amended 21 Apr 2017 12:32:47
5-17 Fishing the Waters of Life : Zane Grey’s White Death, Exploitation Film and the Great Barrier Reefsmall AustLit logo Studies in Australasian Cinema
Subjects:
  • Great Barrier Reef, Australian seas,
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