'Neath Austral Skies

'Neath Austral Skies
Directed byRaymond Longford
Written byRaymond Longford
Produced byA.C. Tinsdale
StarringLottie Lyell
Production
company
Commonwealth Film Producing Company.[1]
Distributed byCo-Operative Film Exchange
Release date
  • 2 December 1913 (1913-12-02)[2]
CountryAustralia
LanguagesSilent film
English intertitles

'Neath Austral Skies is a 1913 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford.

It is considered a lost film.

It is referred to as 'Neath Australian Skies in newspapers of the day.[3][4]

Plot

Captain Frank Hollis (Martyn Keith) is engaged to Eileen Delmont (Lottie Lyell). When her brother Eric commits a theft, Frank accepts the blame in order to protect her family's name. He leaves for Australia and joins the New South Wales mounted police. Eric confesses and Eileen and her father go to Australia to track down Frank. They buy a property, some of their cattle is stolen and request a trooper come to their aid – it is Frank. On the way out to see them, Frank is captured by the thieves and is thrown in the river, but Eileen comes to his aid and the lovers are reunited.

Cast

  • Lottie Lyell[5] as Eileen Delmont
  • Robert Henry as Colonel Delmont
  • George Parke as Eric Delmont
  • Martyn Keith as Captain Frank Hollis
  • Charles Villers as Gidgee Dan
  • Mervyn Barrington as "Snowy", boundary rider
  • Walter Warr as Ah Lum, cook
  • T Archer as Monaro Jack

Production

'Neath Australian Skies was the name of a popular collection of poetry from E.B. Loughran published in 1894.[6]

The film was not widely screened and is not one of Longford's better known movies.[7]

The film opens in Surrey, England and then changes scene to feature Australian station-life. Mounted troopers and bushrangers also feature in the picture, adding to the drama.[8]

It was reported to have some "splendid views of Sydney and of the Australian bush".[9]

Reception

The film was shown at the Melbourne Lyric Theatre in 1913.[1]

One contemporary critic said the film "has many exciting and sensational scenes, relieved with pure Australian comedy to hold the audience. The photography is very true." The Argus wrote about one screening being "well received."[10]

Raymond Longford's name was used extensively in advertising[11] and was described in 1914 as "a great Australian picture production, claimed to be the greatest of all Australian photo-plays."[12] He claimed the film was refused a release by "The Combine".[13]

References

  1. ^ a b "The Age (Melbourne, Vic.)". Trove. 20 December 1913. p. 20. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Raymond Longford", Cinema Papers, January 1974 p. 51
  3. ^ "'Neath Australian Skies". Southern Districts Advocate. 3 June 1914. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  4. ^ "MONARCH PICTURES". Leader. 6 February 1914. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  5. ^ ""NEATH AUSTRALIAN SKIES."". Barrier Miner. 2 February 1914. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  6. ^ "Review: 'Neath Austral Skies". The Brisbane Courier. Vol. LI, no. 11,376. Queensland, Australia. 30 June 1894. p. 6. Retrieved 6 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. ^ Pike, Andrew (1980). Australian film, 1900-1977: a guide to feature film production. Oxford University Press in association with the Australian Film Institute. ISBN 0-19-554213-4. OCLC 7373730.
  8. ^ ""NEATH AUSTRALIAN SKIES."". Barrier Miner. 28 January 1914. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  9. ^ "AMUSEMENTS. JOHNSON'S PICTURES". Barrier Miner. 30 January 1914. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  10. ^ "Music and Drama". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 21, 033. Victoria, Australia. 22 December 1913. p. 11. Retrieved 6 March 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Advertising". The Leader. Orange, NSW: National Library of Australia. 6 February 1914. p. 3. Retrieved 1 September 2013.
  12. ^ ""NEATH AUSTRALIAN SKIES."". Dubbo Liberal and Macquarie Advocate. 3 February 1914. Retrieved 30 October 2023.
  13. ^ "Bound printed copy of Minutes of Evidence of the Royal Commission on the Moving Picture Industry in Australia (one of two copies)". National Archives of Australia. NAA: A11636, 4/1. p. 145.