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Private Notes
This episode discusses Australia's early film history. Barnett filming the Melbourne Cup. The Salvation Army's record of Australian Federation - the first Australian feature-length documentary; the birth of a nation captured on film for the first time. The first permanent film studio and processing laboratory in Australia (the oldest surviving anywhere in the world). West and Spencer built some of the biggest cinemas in the world, containing 4000 seats. Pathe produced the first newsreels. The era of the highly popular 'bushranger' films… and the subsequent government ban of these films. The union of four separate film production and distribution companies into what was nicknamed The Combine. The cameramen of World War I. The comedies of Beaumont Smith. American studios' block-booking strategy pushing local productions out of the cinema. The Raymond Longford and Lottie Lyell films, including the controversial melodrama 'The Woman Suffers' and the classics 'The Sentimental Bloke' and 'On Our Selection'. The rise of the Hoyts theatre chain. 'For the Term of His Natural Life' causes the young country to face its cultural heritage. As the old guard fades from the scene, new talent springs up in the form of Charles Chauvel and the McDonough sisters. The silent era comes to a close with the comedy 'The Kid Stakes'.
The beginning of the talkies in Australia. The managing director of the Hoyts theatre chain, Frank Thring, starts Efftee Film Productions. Efftee developed a quaint device to sync sound with picture; the clapperboard. The George Wallace comedies. Child actor Bill Kerr relates how his mother helped him get his start. Clive Cross details the innovation of the Cinesound system, leading to the company Cinesound Productions. Hoyts and Greater Union join forces, once again squeezing local productions out of cinemas. Longford makes his final films. The film quota comes into being. The films of Charles Chauvel including '40,000 Horsemen, starring Chips Rafferty. Ken Hall's 'Orphan of the Wilderness' makes a household name of Chut the Kangaroo. One of Hall's stars recalls how she destroyed an expensive scene. The Dad and Dave films enjoy continued success. Newsreel coverage of World War II, including Damien Parer's Academy Award-winning 'Kokoda Front Line'. Charles Chauvel's docudrama 'Soldiers Without Uniforms'. Grierson's impact on Australian documentary production. Robinson made one of the early Australian colour films, 'Namatjira the Painter'. Ken Hall's Smithy becomes one of the post-WWII successes and his last film.
In a pessimistic era, the Australian cinema struggled to survive, reflecting the ‘cultural cringe’ of the period.
Looking at the modern ‘renaissance’ in Australian film-making, through to the present.
