Hijack! (1975 film)

Hijack!
Opening titles
Directed byMichael Forlong
Written byMichael Forlong
Produced byMichael Forlong
StarringRichard Morant
James Forlong
Tracy Peel
CinematographyWilliam Jordan
Edited byFrederick Ives
Music byHarry Robertson
Production
company
Michael Forlong Productions
Release date
  • 1975 (1975)
Running time
59 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish

Hijack! is a 1975 children's drama film directed, written and produced by Michael Forlong and starring Richard Morant, James Forlong and Tracy Peel.[1][2]

Plot

Three children are taken hostage by a man armed with a hand grenade and flick-knife. He takes them to sea aboard their father's yacht.[3]

Cast

  • Richard Morant as Colin
  • James Forlong as Jack
  • Tracy Peel as Jenny
  • Sally Forlong as Lucy
  • David Hitchen as power boat driver
  • Richard Kerrigan as power boat mechanic
  • Derek Bond as power boat owner
  • Robert Swales as policeman

Production

The film was sponsored by the Children's Film Foundation.[3]

Reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "Technically, this is one of the best CFF films yet made, with lively location shooting (under clearly difficult and cramped conditions) on board the yacht, excellently controlled colour and a fine narrative pace. Although the story rather obviously cashes in on current newspaper headlines, the predicament of the children is never exploited in a melodramatic way, and they respond in a realistic and spontaneous manner. Richard Morant as the fugitive (we never discover what he has done) has a more difficult task, starting off in a somewhat actorish style, but later investing the character with just the right degree of desperate confusion. The film again demonstrates how a resourceful director and cameraman can turn out a neat little film within a well-prescribed format."[4]

Robert Shail wrote: "The film is packed with enough detail to pass for a visual manual on how to sail a small craft at sea ... ranks as one of its best seafaring adventures."[5]

References

  1. ^ "Hijack!". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 9 August 2024.
  2. ^ "Hijack!". British Film Institute. 1975. Archived from the original on 23 October 2020. Retrieved 23 January 2023.
  3. ^ a b "Hijack!". Children's Film and Television Foundation. Retrieved 28 January 2023.
  4. ^ "Hijack!". The Monthly Film Bulletin. 42 (492): 58. 1 January 1975 – via ProQuest.
  5. ^ Shail, Robert (2016). The Children's Film Foundation: History and Legacy. Bloomsbury Publishing. p. 79. ISBN 9781844578580. OCLC 946705236