what is the breed of dog in the film dead calm?

Answer 1

Benji was a mixed breed, a terrier cross of some sort, something like an Australian Terrier or maybe Shnauzer, crossed with something that may have had a bit of Kelpie but we are guessing. He was abandoned by his previous owners, tied to a bus stop shed, left there all day, picked up by a Bondi Junction based second hand furniture dealer. He was about 6 months old and smooth coated then, not much of that terrier look! I was 12 years old at the time when I took him home, joined the local obedience school and went from there.

My Benji was named after the original Benji movie, but had nothing to do with those movies. Apart from Dead Calm, he was also in Emerald City (again with Nicole Kidman), Captain James Cook, a documentary style SBS production, a cameo in recovery from surgery in The Wonderful World of Dogs, and a number of TV commercials.

Benji was not harmed in any way during the making of the movie. In the scene where he was harpooned, there were two different ways of filming and I'm not sure which one made the final cut. A rubber model covered in carpet was made as his 'stunt double'. On return to Sydney, he went filming for another day and played dead on a door on the floor for that scence, with fake blood put on his side. He died at the age of about 15 years old in 1995, at home with his family and friends.