The era of silent feature films in Australia began in 1906, with the release of The Story of the Kelly Gang, arguably not only Australia's first feature-length film, but the first in the world.
Over the next twenty-four years, Australia produced over 200 films, an enormous output for a nascent industry–and that's excluding the work of Australians such as Alfred J. Goulding, John Farrow, and J.P. McGowan, who plied their trade in Hollywood.
Then, in 1930, the silent-film era came to an end in Australia, when the Commonwealth Film Prize determined that only talkies would be eligible for the 1930 prize and the £9000 available in prize money. Film-makers scurried to add sound to otherwise silent films–after which, to some controversy, the Commonwealth Film Prize refused to award first and second prize, on the grounds that none of the entered films were of sufficient quality.
This exhibition explores the way in which Australian newspapers marketed the silent-film era. The individual tiles below show pictorial advertisements, portraits of silent-film stars, and publicity stills–all harvested from contemporary newspapers via the National Library of Australia's Trove database.
To aid in navigating this material, the advertisements have been divided into three categories: pre-1920 films, films made between 1920 and 1925, and films made between 1926 and 1929. Publicity stills have been divided into two categories: publicity stills pre-1925 and publicity stills post-1925.
This division ensures the material is accessible, but is not purely arbitrary: as the decades rolled on, advertisements became more and more elaborate, and newspapers published more publicity stills. This shift can be traced through the exhibitions below.
For a full list of AustLit records for films produced in Australia between 1906 and 1919, follow this link.
For a full list of AustLit records for silent films by Australians, including those working in overseas film industries, follow this link.
Later known as Louise Lovely, Louise Carbasse was one of Australia's most successful and recognisable film actresses, drawing media attention as early as 1913, from which year this image dates. (Image via Sunday Times, 16 February 1913, p.22)
Vera Pearce–who was also aunt to Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt–performed on the Australian stage from the age of four. She left Australia in 1921 to work in England, but before her departure, appeared in such films as The Shepherd of the Southern Cross (1914). (Image from the Sunday Times, 28 June 1914, p.31)
Tien Hogue appeared in a number of silent films in the early years of the industry, including The Shepherd of the Southern Cross (1914) alongside Vera Pearce. She was the sister of Oliver Hogue ('Trooper Bluegum'), and retired from the screen when she married Guy Wyatt, an officer in the British Navy. She frequently appeared in the society columns of later Australian newspapers as Lady Wyatt. (Image via The World's News, 8 August 1914, p.5)
Appearing here in costume for a performance as 'La Cigale' in the stage play Never Say Die in 1914, Margaret Linden also appeared in a number of Australian films, including playing Edith Cavell in a 1916 film. (Image via The Australasian, 9 May 1914, p.61)
Although this photo was taken in 1914, Irby Marshall's work in the film industry took place earlier: she appeared in four films in 1912, all thrillers. After this flurry of activity, she returned to the stage. (Image via Western Mail, 5 June 1914, p.26)
Show here in 1915, when she was still a stage actress, Enid Bennett starred in two Australian films in 1916: Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford and Officer 666. She went on to a Hollywood career that included, among other roles, playing Lady Marian opposite Douglas Fairbanks' Robin Hood. (Image via Table Talk, 29 April 1915, p.23)
This later image is more 'Hollywood glamour' than its predecessor–Carbasse had moved to Hollywood in 1914, where she was re-named 'Louise Lovely'. At one time, she was considered to rival even Mary Pickford. In 1916, from which year this image dates, she starred in two films with Lon Chaney: The Gilded Spider and Tangled Hearts. (Image via Table Talk, 30 March 1916, p.23)
By the time this image was taken, in 1917, Dorothy Cumming was already making a name for herself in Hollywood. Among her credits in Australian film is the 1915 war film Within Our Gates. (Image via Table Talk, 21 June 1917, p.15)
Agnes Dobson, already a well-known stage actress, made her film debut in The Face at the Window (1919), one of the very few Australian silent films with fantastical elements. She retired from acting briefly, but later took up voice work in radio dramas. (Image via Table Talk, 29 January 1920, p.22)
An American actress, Brownie Vernon starred in a number of Australian films opposite Australian Snowy Baker. This image served as an advertisement for The Man from Kangaroo (1919). (Image via Table Talk, 29 January 1920, p.3)
A 'society woman' rather than a professional actress, Marjorie Osborne nevertheless took the lead role in Raymond Longford and Lottie Lyell's The Blue Mountain Mystery (1921). (Image via Table Talk, 22 December 1921, p.25).
Lotus Thompson worked in a number of Australian silent films before moving to the United States with her mother. There, she was repeatedly cast as a chorus girl, on the strength of her pretty legs. Craving the dramatic roles that she had played in Australia, she finally deliberately disfigured her legs with nitric acid. (Image from the Sunday Times, 1 April 1923, p.17)
Pictured here in 1924, Jessica Harcourt made her film debut in 1927, in Norman Dawn's adaptation of For the Term of His Natural Life. (Image via the cover of The Western Mail, 28 August 1924).
Lucille Lisle was only sixteen when she appeared in the Claude Dampier vehicle Hullo Marmaduke (1924), in which she played the adopted daughter of Dampier's bumbling remittance man. (Image via the Evening News, 26 February 1925, p.16)
Still a teenager, Lucille Lisle went on to a successful stage career, and frequently appeared in the newspapers in her stage costumes, as here for Aladdin. (Image via Table Talk, 4 February 1926, p.31)
Thelma Newling primarily starred in films from the studios of P.J. Ramster–films such as Should A Doctor Tell? (1923). And, like her more modern counterparts, she also appeared in advertisements, such as this one for Rexona. (Image from the Illawarra Mercury, 9 April 1926, p.8)
Elsie Sylvaney's primary screen role was as a the city girl out of her depth in the outback, in the Chauvels' Greenhide (1926). (Image via the Sunday Mail, 14 November 1926, p.11). Speaking of the Chauvels, you might recognise Elsie Sylvaney better by her later name: Elsa Chauvel.
Primarily a stage actress and dancer, Phyllis Du Barry also appeared in silent films, including Sunrise (1926). (Image via Sunday Times, 16 May 1926, p.3)
A slightly earlier portrait of Phyllis Du Barry. (Image via the Sunday Times, 13 July 1924, p.20)
Beth Darvall's primary work came late in the silent-film era: in 1927, she appeared in both Environment and The Rushing Tide, both Gerald M. Hayle films. (Image via Western Mail, 15 December 1927, p.11)
Daughter of Marcus Clarke, Marion Marcus Clarke appeared in the 1927 film adaptation of For the Term of His Natural Life. (Image via Sunday Times, 26 June 1927, p.26)
Billie Sim appeared in a number of films in the mid-1920s, including the 1925 adaptation of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab. (Image via Table Talk, 22 September 1927, p.35)
Born Isabella McDonagh, Marie Lorraine frequently worked with her sisters Paulette and Phyllis, who worked as film-makers from the mid-1920s. (Image via Referee, 11 July 1928, p.17)
French-born, Renee Adoree worked on the Australian stage as a dancer, before making her film debut in £500 Reward in 1918. She then moved to Hollywood, where she appeared in at least 40 films. She died in 1933 of tuberculosis. (Image via TableTalk, 13 June 1929, p.26)
Australian newspapers frequently displayed portraits of the various stars of the Australian film industry. Explore a number of these portraits in this slideshow.
The Loyal Rebel is a story of the Eureka Stockade. (Image via Sunday Times, 12 September 1915, p.16)
Described by its producer as a 'lurid melodrama', £500 Reward had only a two-week run in Australia, after which the negative was presumed lost until rediscovered in a basement in 1938.
The dramatic events of A Coo-ee from Home were said to have been inspired by a real-life crime. (Image via The Mirror, 12 January 1918, p.13)
This publicity still is more explicitly an advertisement than most: it works both as a taste of the film and as a recognisable, almost generic, image of Australian pioneer heroism. (Image via Table Talk, 5 September 1918, p.33)
A publicity still showing Snowy Baker, renowned for his athleticism as much as his acting, defeating one of the villains of The Man from Kangaroo. (Image via the Sunday Times, 18 January 1920, p.22)
The Face at the Window was one of very few early Australian films to have a fantastical element. This image appears to show that moment in the film: the dead detective revived by galvanism for long enough to write out his killer's name. (Image via the Sunday Times, 2 November 1919, p.22)
Should a Doctor Tell? (1920) is a drama of sexually transmitted disease, in which the doctor's moral dilemma is whether to reveal to the bride the consequences of her groom's past dissipation. (Image via Sunday Times, 19 August 1923, p.18)
Beaumont Smith made seven films in his 'Hayseeds' series–the last silent film in the series was Prehistoric Hayseeds (1923), in which the farming Hayseed family discover a lost tribe and introduce them to modern society. (Image via Sunday Times, 25 November 1923, p.19)
An adaptation of Henry Lawson's short stories about Joe Wilson and his mates, Joe starred Arthur Tauchert, Marie Lorraine [Isabel McDonagh], and Gordon Collingridge: the latter two appear in this publicity still. (Image via Sunday Times, 24 August 1924, p.20)
Made under the guidance of silent-film actress Louise Lovely, Painted Daughters was set inside a theatre, performing the popular late-Victorian piece Floradora. (Image via Table Talk, 30 April 1925, p.20)
Another publicity still from Painted Daughters. (Image via Table Talk, 30 April 1925, p.20)
Shot on location in Tasmania, Jewelled Nights was Louise Lovely's attempt to demonstrate that Australia could produce as sumptuous a film as the United States. (Image via Table Talk, 22 October 1925, p.19)
(Image via Table Talk, 22 October 1925, p.19)
(Image via Table Talk, 22 October 1925, p.19)
(Image via Table Talk, 22 October 1925, p.34)
Adapted from a collection of poems, Around the Boree Log recounted a country childhood in the 1870s. (Image via Freeman's Journal, 28 May 1925, p.22)
(Image via Freeman's Journal, 28 May 1925, p.22)
Newspapers also frequently published publicity stills from upcoming films. Explore some of these images–often from films that are now completely lost–in this slideshow and its companion. In this slideshow, find publicity stills from films made up to 1925.
A mining drama set in Papua New Guinea, The Jungle Woman was one of two melodramas released in 1926 by Frank Hurley. (Image via Sunday Times, 23 May 1926, p.26)
Set in a logging camp, Tall Timber was a melodrama of blackmail, timber robberies, and love triangles. (Image via Sunday Times, 22 August 1926, p.22)
The debut film of Paulette McDonagh, Those Who Love follows the travails of a young man disowned for seeking to marry a dancer. (Image via Sunday Times, 12 December 1926, p.20)
A series of publicity stills from Raymond Longfond and Lottie Lyell's crime drama, Peter Vernon's Silence. (Image via Table Talk, 15 April 1926, p.3.)
(Image via Table Talk, 15 April 1926, p.3.)
(Image via Table Talk, 15 April 1926, p.3.)
Environment followed the travails of a woman induced by circumstances to pose nude for an artist, only to find herself pursued relentlessly by his married friend. (Image via Table Talk, 17 February 1927, p.33)
Like Environment, The Rushing Tide was a Gerald M. Hayle film, starring Beth Darvell, this time a crime drama about stolen diamonds. (Image via Table Talk, 15 September 1927, p.35)
For the Term of His Natural Life, Norman Dawn's spectacular adaptation of Marcus Clarke's novel, attracted a wide range of advertisements and articles, including this image of Eve Novak and Dunstan Webb. (Image via Sunday Mail, 7 November 1926, p.11).
(Image via Table Talk, 6 October 1927, p.31)
Jessica Harcourt appears in a scene from The Russell Affair, a film by P.J. Ramster. (Image from the Evening News, 9 July 1928, p.14)
This publicity image shows actress Phyllis Gibbs and horse Limerick, both of whom starred in Odds On, a film of the racing fraternity. (Image via the Register, 17 November 1928, p.12)
And a more conventional publicity still, sans horse. (Image via the Register, 21 November 1928, p.12)
Based on a novel by Beatrice Grimshaw, The Adorable Outcast was a tale of slavery and the South Seas. (Image via Sunday Times, 25 September 1927, p.9)
(Image via the Advertiser, 17 November 1928, p.20)
The Grey Glove was adapted from a serial of the same name by E.V. Timms (who also wrote the screenplay), and follows a society-girl-turned-detective. (Image via Table Talk, 16 August 1928, p.25)
This image of Eva Novak and Gordon Collingridge (costumed as Sub-Inspector Dale of the Queensland Mounted Police) appeared on the cover of the Queensland Figaro, 7 January 1928.
The McDonagh sisters' follow-up to Those Who Love, The Far Paradise starred, as usual, Isabel McDonagh (as Marie Lorraine). (Image via Table Talk, 8 November 1928, p.27)
Newspapers also frequently published publicity stills from upcoming films. Explore some of these images–often from films that are now completely lost–in this slideshow and its companion. In this slideshow, find publicity stills from films made after 1925.
This elaborate illustration for The Sin of a Woman is highly unusual for its period, although it is a sketch and not a still from the film. (Image via the Williamstown Chronicle, 10 February 1912, p.3)
Despite being primarily a melodrama about alcoholism, Do Men Love Women? was advertised in the Williamstown Chroncile with a line drawing of the film's denouement: a railway accident. (Image via the Williamstown Chronicle, 17 February 1912, p.5)
A film of the Eureka Stockade, The Loyal Rebel also included a melodramatic love story. (Image via the Sunday Times, 26 September 1915, p.17)
Raymond Longford's The Mutiny of the Bounty was the first Australian film to show the mutiny against Captain Bligh. (Image via the Sunday Times, 4 November 1917, p.8)
The subject of a contentious copyright suit, The Church and the Woman was advertised in Cairns with this simple, stylised image. (Image via the Cairns Post, 18 Apirl 1918, p.8)
An historical drama, The Monk and the Woman turns on the corruption of both church and court. (Image via the Adelaide Mail, 20 October 1917, p.9)
The third of Beaumont Smith's Hayseeds films, The Hayseeds' Back-blocks Show one centred on an agricultural show. (Image via the Brisbane Courier, 23 February 1918, p.2)
The fourth in Beaumont Smith's series of 'Hayseeds' films, The Hayseeds' Melbourne Cup packs the back-blocks family off to Melbourne with their horse. (Image via the Advertiser, 22 June 1918, p.11)
Made by prolific director Alfred Rolfe as a war-time fund-raising activity for the Red Cross, Cupid Camouflagued was not well reviewed, but did succeed in raising funds. (Image via the Sunday Times, 2 June 1918, p.22)
£500 Reward is said to be the first Australian film to show a snowy Mount Kosciusko, but advertisements concentrated on its more dramatic moments. (Image via Sunday Times, 17 November 1918, p.21)
A film from Agnes Gavin, perhaps Australia's first professional female script-writer, His Convict Bride was originally titled For the Term of Her Natural Life. (Image via the Sunday Times, 10 February 1918, p.25)
An adaptation of a play that was itself adapted from a novel, The Waybacks capitalised on the success of Steele Rudd's stories. (Image via the Advertiser, 5 June 1918, p.8)
This advertisement for the Barry Lupino vehicle Barry Butts In actually advertises a competition to name the film. (Image via the Advertiser, 13 October 1919, p.8)
Accompanied by live performances of jazz dancing, Does the Jazz Lead to Destruction? was advertised with cheerful line drawings. (Image via the Daily Advertiser, 10 September 1919, p.3)
Few early Australian films had fantastical elements, so advertisers capitalised on The Face at the Window's creepy, not-entirely-human antagonist. (Image via Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 6 December 1919, p.12)
Raymond Longford's The Sentimental Bloke remains a touchstone of early Australian film-making, but even at the time, it was awarded a degree of elaborate advertising normally reserved for American imports. (Image via the Brisbane Courier, 20 December 1919, p.2)
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 9 November 1919, p.22.
The Man from Kangaroo was a vehicle for Snowy Baker, who specialised in wildly athletic stunts, as the advertisement implies. (Image via the Adelaide Mail 24 April 1920, p.6)
Set in the US at the time of the Civil War, Struck Oil features Dutch protagonists, providing the imagery for this advertisement. (Image via the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 29 November 1919, p.12)
Pictorial advertisements for films were not the norm in Australian newspapers before around 1920. But even in the early days of film, there are some evocative advertisements to be found. Explore advertisements up to 1919 in this slideshow.
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 16 May 1920, p.22.
An advertisement from the Brisbane Courier, 23 August 1920, p.2.
An advertisement from the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 23 March 1920, p.8.
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 20 June 1920, p.22.
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 27 June 1920, p.22.
An advertisement from the [Adelaide] Advertiser, 17 July 1920, p.10
An advertisement from the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 15 January 1921, p.12.
An advertisement from the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate, 19 January 1921, p.12.
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 30 January 1921, p.22.
An advertisement from The Argus, 21 March 1921, p.8.
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 3 April 1921, p.22.
An advertisement from Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate, 13 April 1921, p.12.
An advertisement from the Daily News, 6 October 1922, p.4.
An advertisement from Table Talk, 11 August 1921, p.10.
An advertisement from the Queensland Times, 10 November 1921, p.7.
An advertisement from the Mercury, 11 May 1923, p.8.
An advertisement from the Wellington Times, 7 June 1923, p.5.
An advertisement from The Mirror, 1 March 1924, p.8.
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 8 July 1923, p.23.
An advertisement from the Queensland Times, 23 February 1925, p.9.
An advertisement from the Queensland Times, 6 September 1927, p.9.
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 1 June 1924, p.6.
An advertisement from the Mirror, 4 October 1924, p.7.
An advertisement from The Mail, 13 September 1924, p.15.
An advertisement from the Daily Advertiser [Wagga Wagga], 22 November 1924, p.1.
An advertisement from the Mercury, 31 December 1925, p.8.
An advertisement from the Mirror, 8 August 1925, p.7.
An advertisement from the Mercury, 19 September 1925, p.11.
An advertisement from the Mirror, 24 October 1925, p.8.
An advertisement from the Daily News, 3 July 1925, p.8.
In the 1920s, advertisements became more and more pictorial. The advertisements in this slideshow are for films released in the first part of the decade.
An advertisement from the Sunday Mail, 27 February 1927, p.10.
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 23 May 1926, p.26.
This advertisement for the Lyceum screening and the rival advertisement for the Haymarket screening (shown next) actually appeared one above the other on the same page of the newspaper.
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 23 May 1926, p.26.
This advertisement for the Haymarket screening and the rival advertisement for the Lyceum screening (shown previously) actually appeared one above the other on the same page of the newspaper.
An advertisement from the Sunday Mail, 14 November 1926, p.10.
An advertisement from the Cessnock Eagle and South Maitland Recorder, 9 July 1926, p.4.
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 12 December 1926, p.20.
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 22 August 1926, p.22.
An advertisement from the Queensland Times, 12 October 1928, p.11.
An advertisement from the Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners Advocate, 15 June 1927, p.12.
An advertisement from the Sunday Mail 17 July 1927, p.10.
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 7 August 1927, p.15.
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 14 August 1927, p.15.
An advertisement from the Cairns Post, 19 November 1928, p.9.
An advertisement from the Sunday Times, 1 July 1928, p.11.
An advertisement from the Morning Bulletin, 18 February 1928, p.2.
An advertisement from the South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus, 3 August 1928, p.17.
As the 1920s went on, the advertisements became ever more elaborate. The advertisements in this slideshow are for films released in the latter part of the decade.
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