AustLit

The third Australian film based on the story of English criminal John Babbacombe Lee, convicted of murder and sentenced to hang before the gallows failed on three occasions, after which his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment. Previous versions had been directed by Philip Lytton in 1912 and by Arthur W. Sterry in 1921. This version was the final film for director Raymond Longford.

Contemporary reviews describe the plot as follows:

'Following the book written by John Lee, the story is laid in England. An Australian tale could have been directed in a more convincing way; and would certainly have had as much chance of succeeding with English audiences as the present effort. A long time is occupied in leading up to something; but those who are not already familiar with John Lee's story will be at a loss to know what. Then at last comes the murder, out of a clear sky. John Lee is suspected, and finally sentenced to death. With great attention to detail, the producers set forth his last leave-taking from his family; the three attempts the prison authorities make to hang him; and his final emergence, after 20 years of wrongful imprisonment, a broken and a tearful man.'

[Source: 'Film Reviews,' Sydney Morning Herald, 4 June 1934, p.3.]

This story of a settler and his wife living in the Gippsland bush, the second film to have been made of Pritchard's novel in the ten years since its publication, is one of Australia's 'lost films'.

According to the Camperdown Chronicle (Tuesday 29 June 1926, p.4):

'When Katharine Susannah Prichard won the 1000 pounds offered by Hodder and Stoughton for a prize novel, she incidentally furnished the screen with a vivid and realistic pictorial version of the struggles and hardships of the early pioneers who laid the foundations of the Australia of to-day. "The Pioneers" which has been described by the New York "Bookview" as a truthful picture of the time it depicts, has been filmed in the cattle country on the North Coast of New South Wales and under the guidance of Director Longford--remembered for his production of "The Sentimental Bloke," the atmosphere of this typical Australian story has been transferred in all its realistic detail to the silver sheet.'

'Jim Blake, whom everyone thought had been killed at the war, returns after a ten years' absence, and finds a feud existing between the people of Twin Hills, his old home, and Deep Wells, the Ridgeway holding-—a rather one-sided feud, though, for Jim's brother and sister, assisted by two faithful henchmen, are struggling hard to hold their own against the machinations of Ridgeway and his evil associates. Jim's re-appearance puts a new aspect on affairs, and things move with startling rapidity. There is a splendid love interest. Helen Ridgeway, Jim's playmate as a child, is now a sworn enemy, and the reader follows the changing phases of her mind, as the basic causes of the unfair oppression reveal themselves, with an interest which the wealth of exciting happenings never allows to flag.'

Source:

'The Hills of Hate', The World's News, 29 August 1925, p.12. (Via Trove Australia)

George Willis lives the life of a hermit in the Australian bush, after losing his unfaithful wife in an accidental fall. A chance encounter with a young girl makes him aware that an old enemy has accused him of murder.

'As the story of "Peter Vernon's Silence" is unfolded on the screen the actors graphically bring to the surface the elements that prompted Peter Vernon to forfeit his freedom and take the responsibility ot a crime committed by his foster-brother. To the dramatic climax the noble qualities of that mute appeal to humanity, "As we forgive them," are strikingly manifested.'

Source:

'Amusesments', Advocate [Burnie, Tasmania], 20 February 1929, p.6.

'The story is centred on "Mateship,'' that mystic word that carries the whole gamut of human emotion and causes one man to stick to another through thick and thin. Two mates, an Australian and an Englishman, take to the bush for their sustenance, and apply the usual formula, 'What's the chance of a job, boss?' with varying humorous results. Thus the Englishman's efforts as a farm hand are ludicrous, whilst the Aussie shapes little better as a cook on a station. Tackling all sorts of jobs they at last find their fortune in gold, but the Aussie goes out over a cliff. In the end he is discovered as Mad Joe, a wanderer of the roads, and an operation returns him to his usual self again.'

Source:

'The Bushwhackers', Bunyip [Gawler, South Australia], 11 September 1925, p.3.

Based on Australia's best-known ghost story, Raymond Longford's film is an account of the real-life murder of James Frederick Fisher and his ghostly vengeance on the man who killed him. Fisher, a resident of Campbelltown (New South Wales), disappeared in June 1826. Some four months later, his apparition appeared before a settler named Farley and claimed that his neighbour George Worrall was the murderer. The ghost then led Farley along a creek bank to a place where Fisher's body was later recovered from the water. Farley's experience subsequently led to the arrest, trial, and eventual execution of Worrall.

Commissioned for the 1924 British Empire Exhibition, Australia Calls was a semi-documentary about Ernest Idiens, a successful English immigrant in Australia. (Idiens also toured England in 1923 talking about his successes.)

From a contemporary news report:

'Seldom has the screen given a more striking demonstration of its power to tell a convincing story than in a film, entitled 'Australia Calls,' which was exhibited in the cinema theatre at Australia House,' says The London Telegraph. 'In rather less than an hour the audience learned how Ernest Idiens, a young Staffordshire farm labourer, went to New South Wales 11 years ago with £30 for his whole fortune, and by dint of grit and hard work is the owner to-day of property worth £14,000. So grateful is Mr. Idiens for what his adopted country has done for him that he has had a film made of his experiences in order that others who are to-day situated as he was in 1912 may be induced to follow his example.

'Within two days after landing at Sydney the_young man—he was 25 years old at the time—was on his way up-country to take a job on a farm at 25/ a week, in addition to his board and lodging. He saved practically all his wages, going from one farm job to another until at the end of two years he was able to purchase four colts and break them in. Then he and his brother, who had also come out from England with an assisted passage, farmed a block of 280 acres on sharing terms with the proprietor. A year or two later they were in a position, thanks to a bank loan of £750, to lease approximately 2,000 acres at an annual rent of 3/ an acre, with the option of purchase at £4 10/ an acre.

'To-day Mr. Idiens owns property at Congera which is his own absolutely, worth, as has been stated, £14,000, though he is still quite a young man. Mr. Idiens, who was present at the exhibition of his film, declares that his case is by no means exceptional. Any young man, he says, it he works hard can do as well, and even a good deal better than he has done.'

Source:

'Making Good in Australia', The Register, 24 January 1924, p.13.

'Bill Garvin, a Sydney dock-worker is happy in his Woolloomooloo home with his loving, hard-working wife, Nell, and their little daughter Peggy. Nell falls ill, however, and dies after an operation. Her last wish is that Peggy be brought up a lady. Bill sells the little house in order to place Peggy in an expensive convent school, but soon finds he must work after hours as a street singer to pay for the fees. Ten years pass and Peggy, now grown into a lovely young woman, spends a vacation on a Queensland property with school-friend Joy Gilder. Joy's brother, Geoffrey, falls in love with Peggy and Geoffrey's parents approve of the engagement. A dinner is planned at the Gilder's city home at Potts Point and Bill is invited. He buys a second-hand ill-fitting dinner suit and studies a book on etiquette but is not a social success at the dinner party, and he leaves ashamed of his poor showing and Peggy's evident embarrassment. The crisis worsens when the Gilders discover Bill singing on a street corner. Peggy breaks off the engagement and returns to the convent, where despite Geoffrey's pleas she determines to remain. Bill is aghast at the unhappiness he has caused, but finds inspiration in a story-book, The Prince and the Beggar Maid, which he had once given to Peggy years ago. He confronts the Gilders and tells them that Peggy is not his daughter at all but that her parents were swell English people and that she was adopted by the Gavins when her mother died and her father returned to England. The Gilders gladly believe the story and Bill visits Nell's grave to announce that her wishes have been carried out. Peggy, now accepted as a lady, is married to Geoffrey'.

Further reference: Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper. Australian Film 1900-1977, A Guide to Feature Film Production (1980), pp. 152-153.

'Much of the humor, and not a little of the pathos, of the outback settlers' life are depicted in the story. Dave and his wife set up housekeeping in a deserted hut, and Dave comes home three or four times a day to borrow' something, until the Rudd homestead is nearly denuded of furniture. There is an uproarious scene when the local band of hope calls on Mrs. Rudd, and Joe half-fills the teapot with rum, and the temperance advocates declare it to be the best tea they have ever tasted. The antics of Joe and the twins kept the audience in a simmer of mirth throughout. Some wonderful bush scenery is shown, and the whole production is a credit to the Australian artists engaged in it.'

Source:

'The Rudd's New Selection', Daily Herald, 8 August 1922, p.4 (via Trove Australia).

'"The Blue Mountains Mystery" is an Australian photoplay that is different. Here is a story of the sunlight and shadows of our own society, of a man shot dead on the night of a vivid storm when thunder drowned the sound of the revolver report, and the guests at a great ball laughed and jested while grim tragedy stalked but a floor above them.'

Source: 'The Blue Mountains Mystery', Advocate [Burnie, Tasmania], 24 October 1922, p.3.

Mostly humorous with occasional farcical moments, the film focuses on the Rudd family and their trials and tribulations living on the land. Murtagh Joseph Rudd, known as Dad, and his son Dave finish a bark hut on their newly established selection. The rest of the family arrive and get to work, clearing the land by hand and planting a first crop of corn. The challenges include wildlife in their beds and no money to buy a horse, but their hard work pays off. In a year or two, the Rudds have a working farm and a more comfortable home, thanks to the domestic labours of Mrs Rudd. A bushfire and several years of drought impoverish them, but they hold on against all adversity. When Kate Rudd returns from her job teaching in the city, she falls for an eligible young farmer, Sandy Taylor. Dave and his sister Sarah also find sweethearts, although Dad tries to shoot one of them. Kate's wedding allows all grudges to be forgotten.

'[T]he truth, the pathos, and the humor of C. J. Dennis' great poems "The Moods of Ginger Mick" and "Doreen" are presented just as the author imagined it. The story of "Ginger Mick" is told in six reels, and follows the fortunes of "Ginger Mick" through his everyday life, his career as a soldier, and his final glorious ending on Gallipoli. The "Bloke" and "Doreen" also figure largely in the picture'.

Source:

'The Story of "Ginger Mick"', Western Champion, 10 June 1920, p.11.

Adapted by Raymond Longford and Lottie Lyell from C. J. Dennis's collection of poems (The Songs of a Sentimental Bloke), the story concerns Bill ('the bloke'), a Sydney larrikin who vows to abandon his life of gambling and drinking when he falls in love with Doreen (who works in a pickle factory). His reformation comes about after he has been released from gaol, having been convicted of assaulting a policeman ('stoushing a John') during a raid on a two-up game.

'It imparts a universal and moral lesson. There are rogues in every land who ruin women, and who regard their exploits with delight, but they adopt a totally different attitude when their own sisters are affected, though, of course, in all cases the women pay the penalty. That is the foundation on which this film is constructed. The teaching is demonstrated in a commendably urbane manner, and even the faintest suggestion of impropriety is not allowed to obtrude itself. Unlike most men of this type, the hero of the story proves that he has good qualities, and though his passionate resolution to revenge his sister's disgrace burned as fiercely as a flambeau, yet when his own discreditable conduct was recalled to him his hatred ceased and was transformed into a love which prompted him try make amends and to marry the girl he betrayed. A happy finale is thus provided to a series of exciting episodes.'

Source:

'The Woman Suffers: First South Australian Film Presented', The Advertiser, 25 March 1918, p.9.

'The sister of a young priest fresh from convent meets Dr Sydney Burton, a playmate of early years, and the pair fall In love. Burton is a Protestant and the girl's father when asked to consent to the marriage gives an emphatic "No" with parental indignation. He orders Burton away, and forbids him to come to the home in the future. His dictum to the contrary, the young people do meet, and the old man aware of this, engages a creature, one Mike Feeney, to watch the doctor and report his movements. Fenney is a miserable rake who will do anything for money, and quarrels with the old man over the amount to be paid and strikes him a fatal blow. Feeney promptly decamps. Burton as happens, passes the spot soon afterwards, and stumbles across the prostrate form. His explanations do not help him. He is tried, sentenced to death. Feeney, who seems never to have been sought out, is later knocked over by a car, and it is apparently when on the verge of death that he confides the truth to Father Shannon. Feeney recovers from his injury and then will not acknowledge his guilt, and binds Father Shannon to the secrets of the confessional. Whereupon the noble priest, rather than see the innocent hung, takes upon himself the respensibility for the crime and secures Burton freedom. Haunted by his evil conduct, Feeney, in the presence of the law's officer makes a clean confession and ends his life by plunging a dagger into his side. The priest eventually marries the young couple behind the altar and all ends happily.'

Source:

'The Church and the Woman', Townsville Daily Bulletin, 16 April 1918, p.3.

The first Australian film to treat the topic of Fletcher Christian's mutiny against Captain Bligh on the HMS Bounty.

Perhaps Raymond Longford's most obscure film, this was said to have been released in support of The Sunny South; or The Whirlwind of Fate; to date, no advertisements or other ancillary material supporting its release have been traced.

A slapstick comedy designed to showcase the 'Australian Charlie Chaplin'.

'A surveyor (Graham) leaves his home and his selfish and pleasure-seeking wife to do field duty in New Zealand. He meets incidentally a beautiful Maori girl, and they are mutually attracted. After numerous exciting incidents, he places his little Maori daughter (now motherless) in the care of Maori Jack and his wife, and later on the child is sent to school. On leaving College she, after many adventures, sees and falls in love with Jim, a jackeroo, and matters then go right merrily for a time. Eventually Graham is killed by Maori Jack, and his property falls to his daughter. All ends happily.'

Source:

'A Fair Maid's Love', Sunday Times, 9 January 1916, p.16.