Quigley Down Under
Encyclopedia
Quigley Down Under is a 1990
western
film set in Australia's outback. Starring Tom Selleck
, Alan Rickman
and Laura San Giacomo
, it was directed by Simon Wincer
.
plays Matthew Quigley, a cowboy
and sharpshooter from America with a keen eye and a specially modified rifle with which he can shoot accurately at extraordinary distances. Quigley's weapon of choice is an 1874 Sharps Buffalo Rifle
. He answers a newspaper advertisement that asks for men with a special talent in long distance shooting with four words: "Matthew Quigley 900 yards" written on a copy of the advertisement, punctuated by several closely spaced bullet holes. When he arrives in Australia
, he is met by employees of the man who hired him, Elliot Marston (Alan Rickman
). Quigley tries to prevent the men from forcing "Crazy Cora" (Laura San Giacomo
) onto their wagon and beats the men until they learn that Quigley is the individual they were sent to pick up. Quigley is eventually taken to Marston's station
in the Western Australia
n outback
.
Marston is infatuated with stories of quick-draw gunslingers from the American Old West
, believing himself to have been born on the wrong continent
, and amazed that Quigley has actually been to Dodge City
. He informs Quigley his sharpshooting
skills will be used to eradicate the increasingly elusive native Aborigines
. Marston's killing of aborigines is technically illegal, but he implies that it is tolerated by the local military police with whom Marston has "an arrangement." Quigley, who believed he was hired to shoot dingos, finds the idea abhorrent and the two men are quickly headed for a showdown.
Laura San Giacomo
provides comic relief and a love interest as "Crazy Cora." Having suffered a terrifying personal tragedy some years before the film's story begins, Cora appears to think that Quigley is her estranged husband, Roy.
After Quigley turns Marston down, he throws Marston out of his house. Marston's Aborigine manservant knocks Quigley over the head. and Marston's men beat Quigley and Cora into unconsciousness and dump them in the Australian Outback two days away with no water and little chance of survival. However, Quigley manages to kill the two men, after which he and Cora are rescued by Aborigines. Recovering, they witness an attack by Marston's men on the Aborigines who helped them. Quigley kills three of Marston's men; a fourth escapes.
Cora reveals that she was from Texas. When her home was attacked by Comanche
s, she hid in the root cellar. To prevent her infant son from revealing their hiding place, she covered the baby's mouth and unintentionally suffocated him. When her husband, Roy, arrived home and learned of the child's death, he took Cora to Galveston, Texas
and put her alone on the first ship leaving, which happened to be bound for Australia.
Escaping on a single horse, they encounter Marston's men driving Aborigines over a cliff. Quigley kills two more of the men and Cora finds an orphaned baby among the dead Aborigines. Caring for the baby helps Cora overcome her tragic past and she slowly begins to recognize Quigley as his real self and stops calling him Roy. Quigley rides alone to a nearby town leaving Cora and the infant Aborigine in the desert with food and water. In town, he obtains new ammunition from a town member who is eager to help when he learns Quigley plans to kill Marston. He also learns that he has become a legendary hero among the Aborigines. Marston's men recognize Quigley's horse and attack him, cornering him in a burning building. Escaping through a skylight, Quigley kills all but one of Marston's men, whom he sends back to Marston to tell him that Quigley is coming for him.
Cora gives the baby to Aborigines in the town. Quigley leaves Cora with the townspeople and rides to Marston's ranch where he first shoots Marston's men from a distance. Marston gradually loses more and more men to Quigley, until Quigley is eventually captured by Marston's last two men. Marston, who notices Quigley only ever carries a rifle, decides to give him a lesson in the "quick-draw" style of gunfighting. As the two face off, Marston makes the first move, but is beaten to the draw by Quigley, who shoots Marston and his two remaining men. As Marston lays dying, referring to an early conversation concerning Colt revolvers, Quigley tells him, "I said I never had much use for one. Never said I didn't know how to use it."
Marston's servant comes out of the house and gives Quigley his rifle then walks away from the ranch, stripping off his western-style clothing as he goes. As Quigley binds his wounds, a troop led by a hostile British
Major, the official with whom Marston had "an arrangement," arrives. The Major informs Quigley that he is under arrest for murder and that he will be hanged. Quigley says that he "won't swing from no gallows," and the Major replies that in that case, Quigley will be shot "while bearing arms against the forces of Her Majesty, the Queen." As the troopers raise their rifles, a strong wind sweeps over the plain and suddenly the surrounding hills are lined with Aborigines, including Marston's servant. Though they take no direct hostile action, the troopers seem convinced that the Aborigines will attack if Quigley is killed, so they leave. After the troopers are gone, Quigley looks up to the hills to see that the Aborigines have vanished, except for Marston's servant, who turns and walks away.
The next scene shows Quigley seeking to buy passage back to America. The ticket clerk has a wanted poster beneath his desk identifying Quigley. He holds a pistol beneath the desk and asks for the passenger's name. Before Quigley can answer, Cora comes into the ticket office and stands by his side. They exchange a long glance, and Quigley tells the clerk that he is "Roy Cobb" and asks for two tickets. The clerk then puts the pistol down.
As Quigley and Cora walk along the wharf to the ship, she reminds him that he once told her she had to say two words before he would make love to her. Quigley stops, looking confused, and asks her what the words were. As she walks past, she says, smiling broadly, "Matthew Quigley." Quigley turns Cora around, she removes his hat and runs her fingers through his hair, and they embrace in a passionate kiss.
first began writing Quigley Down Under in 1974, and both Steve McQueen
and Clint Eastwood
were considered for the lead, but by the time production began in 1980, McQueen was too ill and the project was scrapped until a decade later.
The firearm used by Quigley (Selleck) is a custom 13.5 pound (6 kg), single-shot, 1874 Sharps Rifle
, with a 34-inch (860mm) barrel. The rifle used for filming was a replica manufactured for the film by the Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company
of Big Timber, Montana
. In 2002 Selleck donated the rifle, along with six other firearms from his other films, to the National Rifle Association
, as part of the NRA's exhibit "Real Guns of Reel Heroes" at the National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia
.
The movie was filmed entirely in Australia. Scenes were filmed in and around Warrnambool and Apollo Bay, Victoria
.
Although several scenes of the story depict violence and cruelty toward and involving animals, a film spokesperson explained that no animal was harmed, and special effects were used. For example, Quigley and Cora are reduced to consuming "grub worms" (actually blobs of dough) for survival. A pack of dingos attacks Cora, and she finally saves herself by shooting the animals. Those animals were specially trained, and were actually "playing" for that scene, which was later enhanced by visual and sound effects. Several scenes involve falling horses; they were performed by specially-trained animals and were not hurt. When a horse falls off a cliff, the "horse" was a mechanical creation. The film's producer stated that a veterinarian was on the set whenever animals were being used in filming.
gave the film two-and-a-half out of four stars, arguing that it was a flawed but respectable neo-western, and particularly praising San Giacomo's performance: "[T]his may be the movie that proves her staying power. [...] She has an authority, a depth of presence, that is attractive, and her voice is deep and musical."
The film, however, was not a financial success in theaters, roughly recouping its budget.
The film, specifically the protagonist's skill with his rifle, has led sniper
s to refer to the act of killing two targets with a single bullet as 'a Quigley'.
Three fully functional .45-110 rifles matching the above description were built for the film in 1989 by the Shiloh Rifle Co.
of Big Timber, Montana
, United States
. They also had a inch length of pull to fit Selleck's tall frame, a full octagon heavy barrel with a blue finish, and weighed pounds. Due to the weight, one of the rifles was sent back to Shiloh to be refitted with an aluminum barrel so it could be swung faster (as a club) in fight scenes. After the filming concluded, Selleck kept all three rifles, and had two of them reconditioned by Shiloh Rifle Co.
In 2006 Selleck donated one of the rifles used in filming to the NRA for a fundraising raffle. In March 2008 that rifle was sold for $69,000 through the James D. Julia auction house. The company which created the rifle for the movie (Shiloh Rifle Co.) also offers production models (1874 Sharps Buffalo – "Quigley") for sale to the public, with an approximate $3,300 price. An Italian company (Davide Pedersoli & C.) sells a copy of the Shiloh rifle under the name S.789 1874 Sharps Quigley Sporting.
An annual Matthew Quigley Buffalo Rifle Match is held in Forsyth, Montana
(180 miles from Big Timber) on Father's Day
weekend. The shoot is the largest of its kind in America, attended by around 600 shooters, with targets out to 800 yards.
1990 in film
The year 1990 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* CGI technique is expanded with motion capture for CGI characters, used in Total Recall .* The first digitally-manipulated matte painting is used, in Die Hard 2....
western
Western (genre)
The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
film set in Australia's outback. Starring Tom Selleck
Tom Selleck
Thomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, and film producer. He is best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum on the 1980s television show Magnum, P.I.. He also plays Police Chief Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on the Robert B....
, Alan Rickman
Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman is an English actor and theatre director. He is a renowned stage actor in modern and classical productions and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company...
and Laura San Giacomo
Laura San Giacomo
Laura San Giacomo is an American actress known for playing the role of Maya Gallo on the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! and Kit De Luca in the film Pretty Woman, and Cynthia in sex, lies, and videotape as well as other work on television and in films...
, it was directed by Simon Wincer
Simon Wincer
Simon Wincer is an Australian film director and film producer. He attended Cranbrook School, Bellevue Hill, Sydney from 1950 to 1961. On leaving school he worked as a stage hand at TV Station Channel 7. By the 1980s he directed over 200 hours of television. In 1986 he directed the made for TV...
.
Plot
Tom SelleckTom Selleck
Thomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, and film producer. He is best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum on the 1980s television show Magnum, P.I.. He also plays Police Chief Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on the Robert B....
plays Matthew Quigley, a cowboy
Cowboy
A cowboy is an animal herder who tends cattle on ranches in North America, traditionally on horseback, and often performs a multitude of other ranch-related tasks. The historic American cowboy of the late 19th century arose from the vaquero traditions of northern Mexico and became a figure of...
and sharpshooter from America with a keen eye and a specially modified rifle with which he can shoot accurately at extraordinary distances. Quigley's weapon of choice is an 1874 Sharps Buffalo Rifle
Sharps Rifle
Sharps rifles were those of a series begun with a design by Christian Sharps. Sharps rifles were renowned for long range and high accuracy in their day.-History:Sharps's initial rifle was patented September 17, 1848 and manufactured by A. S...
. He answers a newspaper advertisement that asks for men with a special talent in long distance shooting with four words: "Matthew Quigley 900 yards" written on a copy of the advertisement, punctuated by several closely spaced bullet holes. When he arrives in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
, he is met by employees of the man who hired him, Elliot Marston (Alan Rickman
Alan Rickman
Alan Sidney Patrick Rickman is an English actor and theatre director. He is a renowned stage actor in modern and classical productions and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company...
). Quigley tries to prevent the men from forcing "Crazy Cora" (Laura San Giacomo
Laura San Giacomo
Laura San Giacomo is an American actress known for playing the role of Maya Gallo on the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! and Kit De Luca in the film Pretty Woman, and Cynthia in sex, lies, and videotape as well as other work on television and in films...
) onto their wagon and beats the men until they learn that Quigley is the individual they were sent to pick up. Quigley is eventually taken to Marston's station
Station (Australian agriculture)
Station is the term for a large Australian landholding used for livestock production. It corresponds to the North American term ranch or South American estancia...
in the Western Australia
Western Australia
Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...
n outback
Outback
The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush".-Overview:The outback is home to a...
.
Marston is infatuated with stories of quick-draw gunslingers from the American Old West
American Old West
The American Old West, or the Wild West, comprises the history, geography, people, lore, and cultural expression of life in the Western United States, most often referring to the latter half of the 19th century, between the American Civil War and the end of the century...
, believing himself to have been born on the wrong continent
Continent
A continent is one of several very large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents—they are : Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.Plate tectonics is...
, and amazed that Quigley has actually been to Dodge City
Dodge City, Kansas
Dodge City is a city in, and the county seat of, Ford County, Kansas, United States. Named after nearby Fort Dodge, the city is famous in American culture for its history as a wild frontier town of the Old West. As of the 2010 census, the city population was 27,340.-History:The first settlement of...
. He informs Quigley his sharpshooting
Marksman
A marksman is a person who is skilled in precision, or a sharpshooter shooting, using projectile weapons, such as with a rifle but most commonly with a sniper rifle, to shoot at long range targets...
skills will be used to eradicate the increasingly elusive native Aborigines
Indigenous Australians
Indigenous Australians are the original inhabitants of the Australian continent and nearby islands. The Aboriginal Indigenous Australians migrated from the Indian continent around 75,000 to 100,000 years ago....
. Marston's killing of aborigines is technically illegal, but he implies that it is tolerated by the local military police with whom Marston has "an arrangement." Quigley, who believed he was hired to shoot dingos, finds the idea abhorrent and the two men are quickly headed for a showdown.
Laura San Giacomo
Laura San Giacomo
Laura San Giacomo is an American actress known for playing the role of Maya Gallo on the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! and Kit De Luca in the film Pretty Woman, and Cynthia in sex, lies, and videotape as well as other work on television and in films...
provides comic relief and a love interest as "Crazy Cora." Having suffered a terrifying personal tragedy some years before the film's story begins, Cora appears to think that Quigley is her estranged husband, Roy.
After Quigley turns Marston down, he throws Marston out of his house. Marston's Aborigine manservant knocks Quigley over the head. and Marston's men beat Quigley and Cora into unconsciousness and dump them in the Australian Outback two days away with no water and little chance of survival. However, Quigley manages to kill the two men, after which he and Cora are rescued by Aborigines. Recovering, they witness an attack by Marston's men on the Aborigines who helped them. Quigley kills three of Marston's men; a fourth escapes.
Cora reveals that she was from Texas. When her home was attacked by Comanche
Comanche
The Comanche are a Native American ethnic group whose historic range consisted of present-day eastern New Mexico, southern Colorado, northeastern Arizona, southern Kansas, all of Oklahoma, and most of northwest Texas. Historically, the Comanches were hunter-gatherers, with a typical Plains Indian...
s, she hid in the root cellar. To prevent her infant son from revealing their hiding place, she covered the baby's mouth and unintentionally suffocated him. When her husband, Roy, arrived home and learned of the child's death, he took Cora to Galveston, Texas
Galveston, Texas
Galveston is a coastal city located on Galveston Island in the U.S. state of Texas. , the city had a total population of 47,743 within an area of...
and put her alone on the first ship leaving, which happened to be bound for Australia.
Escaping on a single horse, they encounter Marston's men driving Aborigines over a cliff. Quigley kills two more of the men and Cora finds an orphaned baby among the dead Aborigines. Caring for the baby helps Cora overcome her tragic past and she slowly begins to recognize Quigley as his real self and stops calling him Roy. Quigley rides alone to a nearby town leaving Cora and the infant Aborigine in the desert with food and water. In town, he obtains new ammunition from a town member who is eager to help when he learns Quigley plans to kill Marston. He also learns that he has become a legendary hero among the Aborigines. Marston's men recognize Quigley's horse and attack him, cornering him in a burning building. Escaping through a skylight, Quigley kills all but one of Marston's men, whom he sends back to Marston to tell him that Quigley is coming for him.
Cora gives the baby to Aborigines in the town. Quigley leaves Cora with the townspeople and rides to Marston's ranch where he first shoots Marston's men from a distance. Marston gradually loses more and more men to Quigley, until Quigley is eventually captured by Marston's last two men. Marston, who notices Quigley only ever carries a rifle, decides to give him a lesson in the "quick-draw" style of gunfighting. As the two face off, Marston makes the first move, but is beaten to the draw by Quigley, who shoots Marston and his two remaining men. As Marston lays dying, referring to an early conversation concerning Colt revolvers, Quigley tells him, "I said I never had much use for one. Never said I didn't know how to use it."
Marston's servant comes out of the house and gives Quigley his rifle then walks away from the ranch, stripping off his western-style clothing as he goes. As Quigley binds his wounds, a troop led by a hostile British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
Major, the official with whom Marston had "an arrangement," arrives. The Major informs Quigley that he is under arrest for murder and that he will be hanged. Quigley says that he "won't swing from no gallows," and the Major replies that in that case, Quigley will be shot "while bearing arms against the forces of Her Majesty, the Queen." As the troopers raise their rifles, a strong wind sweeps over the plain and suddenly the surrounding hills are lined with Aborigines, including Marston's servant. Though they take no direct hostile action, the troopers seem convinced that the Aborigines will attack if Quigley is killed, so they leave. After the troopers are gone, Quigley looks up to the hills to see that the Aborigines have vanished, except for Marston's servant, who turns and walks away.
The next scene shows Quigley seeking to buy passage back to America. The ticket clerk has a wanted poster beneath his desk identifying Quigley. He holds a pistol beneath the desk and asks for the passenger's name. Before Quigley can answer, Cora comes into the ticket office and stands by his side. They exchange a long glance, and Quigley tells the clerk that he is "Roy Cobb" and asks for two tickets. The clerk then puts the pistol down.
As Quigley and Cora walk along the wharf to the ship, she reminds him that he once told her she had to say two words before he would make love to her. Quigley stops, looking confused, and asks her what the words were. As she walks past, she says, smiling broadly, "Matthew Quigley." Quigley turns Cora around, she removes his hat and runs her fingers through his hair, and they embrace in a passionate kiss.
Cast
- Tom SelleckTom SelleckThomas William "Tom" Selleck is an American actor, and film producer. He is best known for his starring role as Hawaii-based private investigator Thomas Magnum on the 1980s television show Magnum, P.I.. He also plays Police Chief Jesse Stone in a series of made-for-TV movies based on the Robert B....
- Matthew Quigley - Laura San GiacomoLaura San GiacomoLaura San Giacomo is an American actress known for playing the role of Maya Gallo on the NBC sitcom Just Shoot Me! and Kit De Luca in the film Pretty Woman, and Cynthia in sex, lies, and videotape as well as other work on television and in films...
- Crazy Cora - Alan RickmanAlan RickmanAlan Sidney Patrick Rickman is an English actor and theatre director. He is a renowned stage actor in modern and classical productions and a former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company...
- Elliott Marston - Chris HaywoodChris HaywoodChris Haywood is an English-born, Australian-based film and television actor/producer.-Early life:Haywood was born in Billericay, Essex, England. He spent his early childhood in Chelmsford before moving to High Wycombe in Buckinghamshire where he attended High Wycombe Royal Grammar School from...
- Major Ashley-Pitt - Ron HaddrickRon HaddrickRonald Norman Haddrick MBE is an Australian theatre, film and voice actor.-Early life:Haddrick was born in Adelaide, Australia, the only son of Olive May and Alexander Norman Haddrick.-Cricket:...
- Grimmelman - Tony BonnerTony BonnerTony Bonner is an Australian television, film and stage actor and singer. Bonner became famous in the 1960s children's television series Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, later moving on to lead roles in the dramas Cop Shop and Skyways.-Early life:Bonner was born in Manly, a northern beach suburb of Sydney...
- Dobkin - Jerome EhlersJerome EhlersJerome Ehlers is an Australian actor and writer.- Selected filmography :*1989 Bangkok Hilton *1990 Quigley Down Under *1991 Deadly *1992 Fatal Bond...
- Coogan - Conor McDermottroe - Hobb
- Roger Ward - Brophy
- Ben MendelsohnBen MendelsohnPaul Benjamin "Ben" Mendelsohn is an Australian actor.-Early life:Mendelsohn was born in Melbourne, Australia, the son of Carole Ann and Frederick Mendelsohn. He attended Heidelberg Primary School and Banyule High School. His father is a prominent medical researcher who heads the Howard Florey...
- O'Flynn - Steve DoddSteve DoddSteve Dodd , is an Indigenous Australian actor, notable for playing indigenous characters across seven decades of Australian film. After beginning his working life as a stockman and rodeo rider, Dodd was given his first film roles by prominent Australian actor Chips Rafferty...
- Kunkurra - Karen DavittKaren DavittKaren Davitt is an Australian actress, best known for her performance as Zoe Hamilton in Blue Heelers from 1995–1998.She was born 1 January 1963 in London.-Filmography:Filmography*MDA as Dr. Gerry Mitchell *Ned Kelly as Anne Jones...
- Slattern - Kylie FosterKylie FosterKylie Foster is an Australian actress, who remains best known for her role in Prisoner as "bad seed" inmate Angela "Angel" Adams. She also appeared in Home and Away as Leanne Dunn in 1989....
- Slattern - William Zappa - Reilly
- Jonathan SweetJonathan SweetJonathan Sweet is an Australian actor best known as a character actor and for his supporting roles.- Career :Sweet's early career break was in a 1969 episode of the Australian cult TV classic Skippy the Bush Kangaroo....
- Sergeant Thomas - Ollie Hall - Carver
Production
John HillJohn Hill (screenwriter)
John Hill is an award-winning American screenwriter and television producer.He got his start in Hollywood when he penned the 1976 TV movie Griffin and Phoenix, starring Peter Falk and Jill Clayburgh. In 1980 his film Heartbeeps was released, starring Andy Kaufman and Bernadette Peters.He wrote the...
first began writing Quigley Down Under in 1974, and both Steve McQueen
Steve McQueen
Terrence Steven "Steve" McQueen was an American movie actor. He was nicknamed "The King of Cool." His "anti-hero" persona, which he developed at the height of the Vietnam counterculture, made him one of the top box-office draws of the 1960s and 1970s. McQueen received an Academy Award nomination...
and Clint Eastwood
Clint Eastwood
Clinton "Clint" Eastwood, Jr. is an American film actor, director, producer, composer and politician. Eastwood first came to prominence as a supporting cast member in the TV series Rawhide...
were considered for the lead, but by the time production began in 1980, McQueen was too ill and the project was scrapped until a decade later.
The firearm used by Quigley (Selleck) is a custom 13.5 pound (6 kg), single-shot, 1874 Sharps Rifle
Sharps Rifle
Sharps rifles were those of a series begun with a design by Christian Sharps. Sharps rifles were renowned for long range and high accuracy in their day.-History:Sharps's initial rifle was patented September 17, 1848 and manufactured by A. S...
, with a 34-inch (860mm) barrel. The rifle used for filming was a replica manufactured for the film by the Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company
Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company
Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company is a firearms manufacturer located in Big Timber, Montana, United States.The company produces a line of reproductions of various historical black powder rifles, including the legendary 1874 Sharps Rifle, featured in the 1990 Western film Quigley Down Under,...
of Big Timber, Montana
Big Timber, Montana
Big Timber is a city in and the county seat of Sweet Grass County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,650 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Big Timber is located at ....
. In 2002 Selleck donated the rifle, along with six other firearms from his other films, to the National Rifle Association
National Rifle Association
The National Rifle Association of America is an American non-profit 501 civil rights organization which advocates for the protection of the Second Amendment of the United States Bill of Rights and the promotion of firearm ownership rights as well as marksmanship, firearm safety, and the protection...
, as part of the NRA's exhibit "Real Guns of Reel Heroes" at the National Firearms Museum in Fairfax, Virginia
Fairfax, Virginia
The City of Fairfax is an independent city forming an enclave within the confines of Fairfax County, in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Although politically independent of the surrounding county, the City is nevertheless the county seat....
.
The movie was filmed entirely in Australia. Scenes were filmed in and around Warrnambool and Apollo Bay, Victoria
Apollo Bay, Victoria
Apollo Bay is a coastal town in southwestern Victoria, Australia. It is situated on the eastern side of Cape Otway, along the edge of the Barham River and on the Great Ocean Road, in the Colac Otway Shire. The town has a population of 1380....
.
Although several scenes of the story depict violence and cruelty toward and involving animals, a film spokesperson explained that no animal was harmed, and special effects were used. For example, Quigley and Cora are reduced to consuming "grub worms" (actually blobs of dough) for survival. A pack of dingos attacks Cora, and she finally saves herself by shooting the animals. Those animals were specially trained, and were actually "playing" for that scene, which was later enhanced by visual and sound effects. Several scenes involve falling horses; they were performed by specially-trained animals and were not hurt. When a horse falls off a cliff, the "horse" was a mechanical creation. The film's producer stated that a veterinarian was on the set whenever animals were being used in filming.
Reception
Critical responses were mixed but largely positive, with Quigley having a 66% rating on RottenTomatoes.com. Roger EbertRoger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film two-and-a-half out of four stars, arguing that it was a flawed but respectable neo-western, and particularly praising San Giacomo's performance: "[T]his may be the movie that proves her staying power. [...] She has an authority, a depth of presence, that is attractive, and her voice is deep and musical."
The film, however, was not a financial success in theaters, roughly recouping its budget.
The film, specifically the protagonist's skill with his rifle, has led sniper
Sniper
A sniper is a marksman who shoots targets from concealed positions or distances exceeding the capabilities of regular personnel. Snipers typically have specialized training and distinct high-precision rifles....
s to refer to the act of killing two targets with a single bullet as 'a Quigley'.
Quigley Sharps rifle
Quigley says of his gun:Three fully functional .45-110 rifles matching the above description were built for the film in 1989 by the Shiloh Rifle Co.
Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company
Shiloh Rifle Manufacturing Company is a firearms manufacturer located in Big Timber, Montana, United States.The company produces a line of reproductions of various historical black powder rifles, including the legendary 1874 Sharps Rifle, featured in the 1990 Western film Quigley Down Under,...
of Big Timber, Montana
Big Timber, Montana
Big Timber is a city in and the county seat of Sweet Grass County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,650 at the 2000 census.-Geography:Big Timber is located at ....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. They also had a inch length of pull to fit Selleck's tall frame, a full octagon heavy barrel with a blue finish, and weighed pounds. Due to the weight, one of the rifles was sent back to Shiloh to be refitted with an aluminum barrel so it could be swung faster (as a club) in fight scenes. After the filming concluded, Selleck kept all three rifles, and had two of them reconditioned by Shiloh Rifle Co.
In 2006 Selleck donated one of the rifles used in filming to the NRA for a fundraising raffle. In March 2008 that rifle was sold for $69,000 through the James D. Julia auction house. The company which created the rifle for the movie (Shiloh Rifle Co.) also offers production models (1874 Sharps Buffalo – "Quigley") for sale to the public, with an approximate $3,300 price. An Italian company (Davide Pedersoli & C.) sells a copy of the Shiloh rifle under the name S.789 1874 Sharps Quigley Sporting.
An annual Matthew Quigley Buffalo Rifle Match is held in Forsyth, Montana
Forsyth, Montana
Forsyth is a city in and the county seat of Rosebud County, Montana, United States. The population was 1,944 at the 2000 census. Forsyth was established in 1876 as the first settlement on the Yellowstone River, and in 1882 residents named the town after General James William Forsyth who commanded...
(180 miles from Big Timber) on Father's Day
Father's Day
Father's Day is a celebration honoring fathers and celebrating fatherhood, paternal bonds, and the influence of fathers in society. Many countries celebrate it on the third Sunday of June but it is also celebrated widely on other days...
weekend. The shoot is the largest of its kind in America, attended by around 600 shooters, with targets out to 800 yards.