Montage

I meant to do a blog on a particular favourite Australian Christmas Movie, A Bush Christmas, but time got away from me and I never had a chance to rewatch it. But then I thought perhaps I should work from memory, but it was a long time since I've seen it, perhaps a year or two. If you are not aware of it perhaps you should do a search and find a copy, it dates from the mid 40's and I think Chips Rafferty was in it (yes he was - I checked in IMDB). The story is set on a station where 3 children are on their Christmas Holidays and under mum's feet. Mum and Dad are finding it hard to make ends meet and it hasn't rained for months. Their only hope is there horse Prince winning the Cup, but Prince is stolen. The 3 children decide that they are going to find Prince and return him home, along the way they meet with lots of misadventure, and find out that the true meaning of Christmas is not what they will get, but what they already have. http://www.amazon.com/Bush-Christm...

Earlier on I mentioned that I would be discussing many genre's of film not just Australian Film, this is my first post away from Australian Film and I have decided to discuss a Short Film that I rate as one of my all time favourites. Buster Keaton's The Boat. Last year I watched "The General", Keaton's acknowledged masterpiece and was completely entranced by it, I had previously watched some silent movies and had not really gotten into them. But I found The General very different and still rate it as one my favourite movies. After watching The General I had to see more Keaton so I did the BIG plunge and purchased The Art of Buster Keaton (Released by Kino), every single short and feature film that Keaton released whilst he had he own studio, oh an one in which he was merely an actor "The Saphead". In amongst this wonderful set, is The Boat. a short first released in November 1921. The premise is that Keaton having built a boat "The Damfino" dec...

Recently I was reading a local online news service and there it was "Memories sought for film premiere restaging". It had been 50 years since the Gala Premiere of "A Town Like Alice" at the Pioneer Theatre in Alice Springs on the 24th July 1956; and the good people of Alice Springs wanted to relive some of the excitement and glamour of Hollywood coming to the Alice. According to the "Centralian Advocate" dated July 20th 1956 a world record was to be set on July 24th (the big night) , the record was that in no part of the world have so many people travelled such long distances to see one film ( I wonder if this is still the World Record Holder?). I read this book at High School as did most Australian children. It tells the story of a group of women and children Prisoners of War forced to march across Malaya by the Japanese. Along the way one of the women (Jean Paget) meets up with an Australian soldier (Joe Harman) who sneaks food in for them from his labor...

"The Woman Suffers While The Man Goes Free" released in 1918 and showed successfully throughout all the states in Australia before being banned in New South Wales ( On the 2 2nd Oct 1918. Was it forced by Overseas Interests into the movie industry in Australia, as it was a very successful movie?) . It was produced by Raymond Longford and starred Lottie Lyell; she was billed as "Australia's Film Star". It was produced by Southern Cross Feature Films based in Adelaide, South Australia. It is South Australia's First Feature Film and what a great first feature it is. Filmed in and around Adelaide, including the use of Morphettville Race Course for the Melbourne Cup sequence of the movie, a great use of original film from the Melbourne Cup. blended with the drama. The Premiere was held on March 23rd , 1918 at The Theatre Royal in Adelaide. The review the The Adelaide Advertiser dated Monday March 25 1918 was positive "Justifiable pride was felt by the crowde...

Is at the beginning. In 1894 Australians got their first glimpse of a future that they would never have dreamed of. At 148 Pitt Street in Sydney James McMahon opened a Kinetoscope Parlour. There were 5 machines each running a different title and for a Shilling each the public could make their way to each machine. Approx 20,00o people parted with their shillings and visited the parlour in the first 4 weeks alone, new films were advertised each week. In 1895 the other cities of Australia got their chance to see this new sensation when the 5 machines toured Australia. But the real beginnings of cinema in Australia were at the Vaudleville and Music halls where films would be used as Chasers, just as they were being used in other countries such as America, and like America the Chasers turned out to be just as popular as the acts themselves and they did not serve their actual role; people stayed to watch them rather than leave to allow a new audience to enter the halls. In 1895 Talkies came ...

This is my first post to the room, I love early silent films and am a Damfino (a member of the Buster Keaton International Society). I live in Australia and I hope to write about mainly films that I have watched recently, or anything that I happen to come across that I find interesting.