Eureka Stockade is a 1949 British film of the story surrounding Irish-Australian rebel and politician Peter Lalor and the gold miners' rebellion of 1854 at the Eureka Stockade in Ballarat, Victoria, in the Australian Western genre.[3]
Starring Chips Rafferty, it was produced by Ealing Studios and directed by Harry Watt, following their success with The Overlanders. The movie was the most expensive film made in Australia at that time, and was a critical and commercial disappointment.[4][5][6] It has been called "a case of a filmmaker coming off a big fat hit and given carte blanche for his next project, then picking a story that gave him full scope to spend a lot of money on production value, but it was beyond his capabilities to dramatise."[7]
An introductory montage establishes Australia of 1851 – a place of both wealth and poverty, transformed by the discovery of gold. This causes a massive drain in manpower which puts a strain on the country. The Governor of Victoria, La Trobe, appoints an army officer, Rede, commissioner of the goldfields and orders him to tax the miners via licences, and to keep law and order.
In 1854 Ballarat, civil engineer Peter Lalor arrives to prospect for gold with his Italian friend Rafaello Carboni. They discover the license fee system is strictly enforced. The miners are upset at the conditions under which they work. Lalor and Carboni befriend a Scottish sailor, Tom. Lalor meets a school teacher, Alicia, and the two begin a romance.
Governor La Trobe resigns and Governor Hotham arrives, ordering Rede to force people off the gold fields in order to encourage them back to other jobs. Things get militant on the goldfields after the murder of miner James Scobie by James Bentley goes unpunished. The miners riot, despite Lalor's efforts and burn down Bentley's hotel. Governor Hotham sends in the military to keep the peace.
The miners form the Ballarat Reform League and Lalor emerges as their leader. They rally under the Eureka Flag.
Lalor and the miners arm themselves and make camp at the Eureka Stockade. The rebellion is overpowered by the British Army. Many of the miners are killed and Lalor is injured, ultimately having to have his arm amputated. However the reforms wanted by the miners are ultimately pushed through and Lalor is elected to Parliament.
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