AustLit

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.'

'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.

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.

'"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.

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

'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.