Met an interesting crew member!!!

[Gasoline]

I was talking to the owner of the Beechworth Petrol Station (North East Victoria) a couple of years back. He and his sons are big chev car enthusiasts and have a number of "Treasures" in the yard behind the servo, mainly comaros and chev impalas. They also still operate the oldest licensed Tow truck in the state. refer to pics.

Anyway, getting back on the topic. We were talking about my car project which was unfinished and I was having trouble sourcing things and some troubling supercharger functionality queries. They suggested I speak to one of the locals in town as he would have some intimate knowledge on the subject. The reason being, he was an on set mechanic for Mad Max 1. They drew me a map and I excitedly headed off to this mans house.

Robert Orchard lives just behind the beechworth prison which closed doors a number of years back. He now mainly does back yard jobs for people in the town who pay him cash. I was suprised when I met him. I dont know what he looked like in his youth but now he looks like the toe-cutter...Lol
I was fortunate enough to sit down with him for a good hour and talk about the movie and compications of putting together the incredible opening scene car chase with numerous cars involved.

He talked about the opening scene involving the 3 marked fords and the holden. It was difficult for the mechanics on set as they had little in the way of parts and the stunts put a heavy strain on the vehicles themselves. There really was no budget allocated for maintenance of the vehicles as they were destined to be destroyed during the filming process. It was anticipated that they would be driven into the ground and therefore money spent on them would be wasted. Especially if that took money from other parts of the film. One of the suprising pieces of information he shared was that they didnt film the scene in order as it appears on the film. The crash through the caravan was one of the earlier stunts they filmed and the collision with the bongo van occured days later. Most of the chase scenes were filmed first as they wanted them completed before they started wrecking the cars. That is why the damage to the cars is inconsistent throughout the first scene.

The collision with the caravan did very little aesthetic damage to the car but did damage to the steering. This took them a while to fix onset as there was pressure to get the car back on the road for more filming. The collision with the bongo van caved in the front of the car which blew the radiator apart when it was crushed against the engine. For the purpose of continuing filming, the radiator was "borrowed" from the black interceptor and shoved in with a makeshift fan. He also said they carried buckets of water on set to cool the cars between takes as they were no longer cooling properly.

They also set up an oil drip in the carby of the second car so it would blow smoke as evident in the geelong highway scene. They wanted the cars to look like they were really labouring even though filming took place at only 80-90kmh when the camera car was used. (A milk carton with a piece of wiper hose was used)

The opening scene was a long and protracted process over a number of days. They all slept on set and the mechanics worked into the wee hours of the morning trying to jury-rig the cars together for the next day. By the end of filming on the last day, they were down to 1 ford radiator being capable of retaining water so it had to be swapped around. The collision with the bongo van was thought of later when the car suprisingly survived the caravan collision, and he confirmed the van was provided by George.
He also said that while George was professional and very good at using what resources were available, Byron Kennedy was a stand out as a quiet visionary who was committed to telling the story.

I thanked Robert for an entertaining and enlightening afternoon and went on my way. I rushed home and watched the opening scene a few times and it validated everything he had said. Most notable were the times of day which were evident in each shot. Sunny vs overcast, midday vs afternoon sun.

I was so caught up in discovering what had happened on the set of such an important film of my life and of course such a historical film in general that I didnt even think to ask about the supercharger.

It just means I will have to go back for another visit and this time take the finished BOB. I hope it will make his day.
I also think it would be nice to let him know of any upcoming events as Im sure he would be a sought after crew member for fans and car enthusiasts alike.

[MFP 2020]

Great story! Thanks for sharing.

[mack tanker]

Looks like 62 Impala-70 and a half camaro, are they right hand drive?
How about some pic's of your car?

[Gasoline]

I can post them here if you like.
In the interests of forum cleanliness, im still new to this...
Do we have a seperate area for posting members car pics? or is just ad hoc?

[roadwarriormfp]

Welcome aboard...

Some of us have been fortunate enough to meet Murray Smith who was also one of the crew mechanics.
Im wondering if they have lost contact?

As for pictures of your car, there is a replica car section on the forum, feel free to post as many as you like.
Before and in progress shots are always welcomed.

Sam

[Gasoline]

Is that you slippery Sam?

[cruzn2the max]

well i must add to this also

i met a guy by the name of kim noyce

his only half an hour from me, a few people here told me about him when i was out wearing my little river tshirt, took me 3 months to track him down, turned out he knows a few people i know down here.

kim was a stuntman in madmax2 and was wez,s double, and did various stunts

he came here for dinner last week and we had a beer and he told me many stories about his adventures doing the film
i showed him my interceptor which he liked very much, i couldnt take him for a spin as the morning he came,
i got pulled up in it and got a lecture from the cops about cruzning around in it on a permit, as a permit is only designed to get a rwc, but they let me off with a warning, at least i can laugh about it now, and the copper said he had heard of a stuntman down here too, although he said he hadnt seen the film, the car stood out he said, funny that,

one of the most interesting things he said was that he owned the dog after the film as it was going to the pound and be detroyed, so he took it in, he had pups off this dog but sold a few, the last one he had he was going to have more pups but the dog died before he could, he loved that dog very much and said it was just a natural at acting, as when the cameras rolled it just knew what to do, he had pictures of the dog when he had it but i didnt ask for any as i think that was intruding on him, but i will ask him next week when i see him.

kim was also a professional stuntman doing 27 films after madmax, pharlap, stone, and max3, which he got injured doing other stuntwork during max 3 and couldnt finish it at he had spent 3 months in hospital up north

kim was at the back2themax in broken hill, but missed little river. most people on here probly know him or have heard of him, but as he lives so close to me i was excited him coming here and making the time, even the kids were wrapped in his stories, he had pictures of when he did stunts at speedways and various events, he even said had wrecked some 9 coupes in his stunts back in those days, as they were worth jack

when kim was here i showed him the forum and madmax movies site, he was blown away by it, but he doesnt have any computer knowledge

well thats my 2 bobs worth

after gasolines post i just had to add to it

cheers alan

[Gasoline]

I think your stuntman meeting is far better and exciting than my mechanics meeting....LoL.
He must have had some cool pictures.

[roadwarriormfp]

Is that you slippery Sam?

Uh yes it is....

[Eleanor]

Hi,

I know this post is quite old, but I still want to reply.
Robert Orchard is my dad. I was googling his name to find one of his interviews and I came across this lovely post. I read it out to my dad and he thought it was great. He really enjoyed talking about the movie with you. I hope you were able to check out his interview in The Madness of Max.

All the best!

-Eleanor