Review of Mad Dog Morgan (1976) by Brian S — 19 Oct 2010

Dennis Hopper stars as the title character. Actually, it's Dennis Hopper, a fake beard and truckloads of drugs and alcohol starring, and Hopper is outstanding. His performance lends a dreamlike quality to the film, which would have been a rather dull bit of work without Hopper's strangeness to lend it some color.

The story traces the fall of an Irish immigrant to mid-19th century Australia who goes broke while working as a gold miner. He's forced to steal food and clothes to survive and is arrested, then given a harsh sentence to 12 years of hard labor by a judge who gives out such sentences so that convicts can be used to build roads. Morgan is assaulted in ever possible way while in prison, both by guards and other convicts. Upon release, he's rejected society and become a horse thief and highwayman, teaming up with an Aborigine whose tribe has been wiped out by European settlers.

"Mad Dog Morgan" is more about the inhumanity, racism and brutality of Australian society of its time. Morgan is a somewhat sympathetic character; he's a vicious criminal, but this monster has been created by the system itself. He still possesses some good traits, but even they've been perverted. By the time Morgan is brought down by bounty hunters and police at the end of the film, it's clear that he's intended here to be a cautionary example about the lack of fairness in society.

Luckily for Dennis Hopper, his character has been written to be blasted out of his head for most of the film. It's clear that Hopper really was. David Gulpilil is good as Morgan's Aborigine partner, likely bringing a good deal of personal history to his performance. The rest of the cast is interchangeable. Some great cinematography of the Australian wilderness. The editing of the film detracts greatly from it, though. Scenes are strung together without transitions, making "Mad Dog Morgan" choppy and confusing at times. Fans of Dennis Hopper should see this flick, though, to see the actor at his rebellious high-point... emphasis on the "high.".