Page 18 - CinemaRecord Cover Section # 45

His ill-fated Out Of The Shadows,
was completed in this way during
March 1931 but failed to find a buyer
and was never publicly exhibited.
Instead, he went on to make two crude
optical sound films, The Spur Of The
Moment and Isle Of Intrigue released in
September 1931.
The sound-on-disc Australian
Sound Gazette existed only as a result
of commercial desperation. The
Movietone reel was generally
associated with Hoyts' outlets in the
various capital cities and was mostly
unavailable or excessively expensive
for Union Theatres. This association of
Fox and Hoyts was cemented by Frank
Thring (Snr), who as Hoyts’Australian
Director had been filmed by Fox in
Fox Australian Movietone News
Hollywood in September 1929, a short
Manager:
filmed speech shown at the Melbourne
Stanley S Crick.
Regent a month later (refer Film
Weekly 17 October 1929). In Section Head, Newsreel Unit:
September 1930, Thring sold his Harry Guinness. After mid-1931 an American, Harry Lawrenson, became editor.
interest in Hoyts to Fox Films in order Camera:
to set up his Efftee Film Studio in Ray Vaughan (an Australian who spent nine months in training in USA). The
Melbourne. following cameramen were added after mid-1930: Stan Pentreath, Billy Trerise.
Union Theatres were forced to
Sound Engineer:
support competing Australian sound
Paul Hance (an American).
newsreels, even if they were of inferior
quality to Movietone; like the slipshod, Laboratory:
Melbourne-based sound-on-disc effort. Ray Vaughan / Claude Carter (Filmcraft Laboratories, Sydney).
Eventually the situation was resolved Associated Newspaper:
by the establishment of the Sydney- Sydney Sun.
based Cinesound Newsreel using the
Opening Trademark:
excellent local Smith-Cross optical
A pair of laughing kookaburras framed by two boomerangs.
sound system, which was released into
Filmed in Sydney by Vaughan and Hance sometime prior to November 1929
all Union Theatres from November
(refer Film Weekly, Sydney, 21 Nov. 1929: On Location with the Chatter
1931.
Chariot).
Until about July 1930, when
Sydney’s Standardtone entered the fray
Volume One
with another local optical sound ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Where length in minutes and seconds is omitted,
recorder, the Australian Movietone I wish to thank Graham Shirley for his the information is not known.
Newsreel was the only talking picture research assistance and Mike Trickett 1. (3 min. 49 sec.) Released 2 Nov. 1929: Arrival
producer in constant production in for enhancing the quality of some of the of Movietone News van at Sydney aboard SS
Australia. By correlating all known images. Sierra: Mr Crick's speech at the docks. [8
sources in newspapers, film industry August 1929]
magazines, incomplete surviving ‘dope Australia's New Prime Minister, J H Scullin.
sheets’ and the odd surviving film, I’ve [Filmed c. 24 Oct. 1929].
come up with the following 2. (6 min. 56 sec.) 9 Nov. 1929
filmography of Fox-Movietone’s The Melbourne Cup, 1929.
earliest Australian sound films - the
3. (3 min. 48 sec.) 16 Nov. 1929
oldest Australian sound films. I should
Here's To Good Taste: Wine experts, including
emphasise that very few of these Leo Buring, gather at Emu Plains.
earliest reels are known to survive, Try Drowning These: Ferryman's cats swimming
perhaps 10 percent at the most. Please in Yarra River.
contact the author on (03) 9890 8164 if Items filmed by Movietone in Sydney c. August-
you happen to find any! ★ October 1929, apparently not released locally, but
according to Film Weekly (Sydney, 5 Nov. 1931
p.3) this item was syndicated to the Canadian and
International Editions of the Fox Movietone
News:
Sydney State Theatre Ballet Girls Rehearse In
Neilsen Park.

18 2004 CINEMARECORD