| Les Patterson Saves the World | |
|---|---|
 DVD cover | |
| Directed by | George T. Miller |
| Written by | Barry Humphries Diane Millstead |
| Produced by | Sue Milliken |
| Starring | Barry Humphries Pamela Stephenson Joy Westmore Thaao Penghlis |
| Cinematography | David Connell |
| Edited by | Tim Wellburn |
| Music by | Tim Finn |
Production company | Humpstead Productions |
| Distributed by | Hoyts Distribution |
Release date |
|
Running time | 98 minutes |
| Country | Australia |
| Language | English |
| Budget | A$7.3 million[1][2] |
| Box office | A$626,000 (Australia) |
Les Patterson Saves the World is a 1987 Australiancomedy film starringBarry Humphries as his stage creations SirLes Patterson andDame Edna Everage.[3]
The uncouth SirLes Patterson teams up withDame Edna Everage (both played byBarry Humphries) to save the world from a virulent bioterror attack ordered by Colonel Richard Godowni (Thaao Penghlis) of the Gulf State of Abu Niveah.
The film was co-written by Humphries with his third wifeDiane Millstead, and directed byGeorge Miller ofThe Man from Snowy River fame.
The film was originally meant to be made byThorn EMI in Britain but was eventually established in Australia with entirely Australian money.[5]
Filming began 18 August 1986.
Les Patterson Saves the World grossed $626,000 at the box office in Australia.[6] "It was a disaster of major proportions", said Jonathan Chissick of Hoyts, who distributed the film in Australia.[5]David Stratton wrote in 1990, "The gala opening was an embarrassing occasion, and it is still rumoured in the industry today that the Federal TreasurerPaul Keating, who attended, was so angry that he decide to end rorts in the film industry."[5]
The movie was released to British cinemas in 1988 but was not successful there either.[citation needed]
Australian film critic Michael Adams later includedLes Patterson Saves the World on his list of the worst ever Australian films, along withPhantom Gold,The Glenrowan Affair,Houseboat Horror,Welcome to Woop Woop,The Pirate Movie andPandemonium.[7]
Filmink argued the film "would have been successful – had it been grounded in some kind of reality" but it "add a pure movie-movie plot... a riff on spy movies, complete with fictitious Arabian countries recreated on the backlot a la some racist British comedy of the 1950s. Edna had left the land of verisimilitude to morph into more of a showbiz in-joke – which was admittedly still funny and worked a treat on stage and television, but not on film, as she didn’t haveBarry McKenzie as an anchor. Instead, the film was driven by Sir Les Patterson, who was an even broader figure than Edna."[8]