AustLit

Producer, director, and occasional script-writer.

Mathews also ran an acting school in Adelaide, from which he intended to feed actors into his film-production company. He acted as senior manager, and Leonard Doogood, a Charlie Chaplin impersonator, as assistant general manager.

Several of the films that were talked about in conjunction with Mathews' acting school and film production company have not been traced. These include:

• The Welsher, described as a one-reel comedy starring Leonard Doogood ('Charlie's twin brother').
• The Traitor, described in advertisements as requiring a cast of 150, and described in newspaper columns as being an Anzac story (which may have given way to Murphy of Anzac, directed by Mathews).

Further Reading:

'An Adelaide Photo-play', The Advertiser, 15 December 1916, p.8. (Via Trove Australia)

'Moving Picture Acting' [advertisement], The Mail, 16 September 1916, p.7. (Via Trove Australia)