A Girl of the Bush is a 1921 Australian silent film directed by Franklyn Barrett. It is one of the few films from Barrett to survive in its entirety today.
| A Girl of the Bush | |
|---|---|
 Still from film | |
| Directed by | Franklyn Barrett |
| Written by | Franklyn Barrett[1] |
| Produced by | Franklyn Barrett |
| Starring | Vera James |
Production company | Barrett's Australian Productions |
Release date |
|
Running time | 6,000 feet[2] |
| Country | Australia |
| Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
Plot edit
Lorna Denver manages Kangaroo Flat sheep station and is pursued by two men, evil Oswald and handsome young surveyor, Tom Wilson.
Lorna gives shelter to a baby that has survived an attack by aboriginals, but Tom thinks the baby is hers. This upsets Lorna who breaks it off with him.
Oswald is murdered and Tom is arrested. A Chinese cook reveals that the real killer was the father of a woman who had been seduced by Oswald.
Cast edit
- Vera James as Lorna Denver
- Jack Martin as Tom Wilson
- Herbert Linden as Oswald Keane
- Stella Southern as Grace Girton
- James Martin as John Burns
- Sam Warr as Sing Lee
- Emma Shea as Looe Toe
- D. L. Dalziel as James Keane
- Gerald Harcourt as Reg Howard
- Olga Broughton as Mary Burns
- Mick Huntsdale as Bill Tresle
- Tom Cosgrove as Bill's mate
Production edit
The script was heavily influenced by the plays The Squatter's Daughter and On Our Selection.[3]
This was the first of three films Barrett made for his own company.[4] Shooting began in October 1920 at the Fremantle Station near Bathurst.[5]
Reception edit
The film was widely distributed and appears to have been a success at the box office.[3]
Vera James' father bought the rights to distribute the film in New Zealand.[6]
References edit
- ^ Copyright registration details at National Archives of Australia
- ^ "Classified Advertising". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 8 July 1921. p. 14. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
- ^ a b Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 105.
- ^ "THE WORLD OF PICTURES". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 26 March 1921. p. 12. Retrieved 8 May 2012.
- ^ "Australian Production". The Sunday Times. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 1 May 1921. p. 22. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
- ^ "New York Goes to Bed". The Sunday Times. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 17 April 1921. p. 22. Retrieved 4 October 2014.
External links edit
- A Girl of the Bush at IMDb
- A Girl of the Bush at the National Film and Sound Archive
- A Girl of the Bush: Representations of Rural Women in Australian Silent and Early Sound Film by Anna Gardner
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