Kenneth Ross is an Australian playwright and screenwriter best known for writing the 1980 play Breaker Morant, based on the life of Australian soldier Harry "Breaker" Morant and later adapted by Ross into a film by the same name.
In recent times, "Ken Ross", who first styled himself "Kenneth Ross" to avoid confusion with others in Australia also known as "Ken Ross", is now compelled to style himself "Kenneth G. Ross" to avoid confusion with the other "Kenneth Ross"; the scriptwriter for The Day of the Jackal.
Ross attended Caulfield Grammar School in Melbourne, where one of his teachers[1] recognized and strongly encouraged his creative writing talents. He was a tenacious and courageous Australian Rules footballer who played well above his weight, and was a superb middle distance runner, excelling at the 880 yards (now 800 metres).
Legal action against Angus & Robertson
Ross's play, Breaker Morant: A Play in Two Acts,[2], was first performed in 1978. The play was such a commercial and artistic success, that work began immediately to convert the script of the play into a screenplay. Ross worked on the film as a scriptwiter, and the film was entirely based on Ross's play.
Once it became known that the film was near release, the Australian publisher Angus & Robertson re-issued an out-of-print novel, The Breaker, written by Kit Denton,[3] with great gusto, with its original front cover plus the announcement across one corner "Soon to be a Movie".[4]
[ISBN 0207140650]
In 1980, Ross was successful in a legal action against Angus & Robertson, the publisher of Kit Denton's 1973 novel, The Breaker, in 1980.
Denton's 1973 book The Breaker: A Novel [ISBN 0207143447] had not been popular at the time it was first published.
In fact, Ross had no knowledge whatsoever of the existence of Denton's (by 1978 out of print for 4 years) book until long after the first stage perfomances of his play, Breaker Morant: A Play in Two Acts [ISBN 0726709972] had taken place in 1978.
In 1980, Ross was successful in a legal action against Angus & Robertson, the publisher of Kit Denton's 1973 novel, The Breaker, in 1980.
Denton's 1973 book The Breaker: A Novel [ISBN 0207143447] had not been popular at the time it was first published.
In fact, Ross had no knowledge whatsoever of the existence of Denton's (by 1978 out of print for 4 years) book until long after the first stage perfomances of his play, Breaker Morant: A Play in Two Acts [ISBN 0726709972] had taken place in 1978.
Ross's play was a great commercial and artistic success, and almost immediately, work began to make a film based on the play. At this time, Denton's publisher Angus & Robertson suddenly re-issued Denton's 1973 novel, The Breaker with great gusto, with precisely the same front cover except that on one corner of the book's cover was the announcement "Soon to be a Movie" [ISBN 0207140650].
Denton had no knowledge of, and had no input into this decision by the publisher.
This announcement, of course, was totally wrong for two reasons:
- (a) it was not Denton's book, but Ross's play, that was being made into a movie, and
- (b) Denton's book was never used in any fashion to create any part of the film script (as Ross was involved with the entire film script).
Ross took Angus & Robertson to court and won his case.
Angus & Robertson withdrew the 1979 version of Denton's book, with the false announcement on the cover, from sale and trashed all the remaining copies; and another, "revised" version of Denton's book (minus the cover announcement) was issued by Angus & Robertson in 1980 [ISBN 0207142688].
Unfortunately, Ken Ross's emphatic court victory did not receive a lot of publicity at the time; and many people today still labour under the misapprehension that Kit Denton's book was the source for the movie.
Notes
References
- Ross, K.G., Breaker Morant: A Play in Two Acts, Edward Arnold, (Melbourne), 1979. [ISBN 0726709972]
External links
- Kenneth Ross at IMDb [N.B. only the "Kenneth G. Ross" films at this site belong to this "Kenneth Ross"]
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