Page 23 - cr51

Terowie to Tinseltown 1929 Jack put his own money into J.P.
After working for several studios, in
McGowan Productions. His timing
Frank Van Straten revues a book about the adventurous life of
could not have been worse. Sound was
an Australian who went to Hollywood
coming in and the kind of
J. P. McGowan Kalem’s output was mainly short entertainment in which he excelled was
Biography of a Hollywood Pioneer action films and serials. Though most becoming passé. His career faltered and
By John J. McGowan were shot in New York or Florida, some never really recovered. He managed to
DA Information Services, Victoria, were made overseas - Jack travelled survive with minor directorial jobs and
Australia. 03 9210 777 with units that filmed in Ireland and the small character parts in countless
www.dadirect.com Middle East. movies, mostly B-pictures and serials.
He had grown up with in a railway He had a good speaking voice and
In November 2003 the National town and his father had been an engine usually played a ‘heavy’.
Portrait Gallery in Canberra mounted a driver, so it was natural that Jack would He was ‘rescued’ in 1938 when he
high profile travelling exhibition called gravitate to that early film phenomenon was appointed executive secretary of
Australians in Hollywood, ‘celebrating known as the railroad drama. For the Screen Directors’ Guild, which was
the achievements of Australian artists in fifteen years the main focus of his work formed by Hollywood's most eminent
the high turnover, high competition was as a writer, director, producer and directors to combat the exploitation
American film industry, from our star of railroad movies. Indeed, Kalem they experienced from the major
pioneers of the silent era to the Oscar- proudly dubbed him their ‘Railroad studios. In 1951 the Guild recognised
winning stars of the so-called Man’. Jack’s service and his contribution to
“Australian invasion” today’. four decades of Hollywood history by
The exhibition reminded us that conferring on him Honorary Life
Australians have been busy in Membership. J.P. McGowan died in
Hollywood from its earliest days, and 1952, survived by his second wife. He
there they all were, those silent era had no children.
achievers - Louise Lovely, Annette This book is a timely tribute to the
Kellerman, Arthur Shirley, Snowy early days of Hollywood and to an
Baker. Well, nearly all. Where was unjustly forgotten Australian achiever.
J.P. McGowan? More than 600 productions are detailed
I must admit that until I read John J. in the filmography, which accounts for
McGowan’s biography I had never 80 of the book’s 220 pages. There are
heard of his forebear, John Paterson many fascinating illustrations: portraits
McGowan, let alone known anything of of Jack and his colleagues, stills and
his long and interesting contribution to advertisements. The biographical
Hollywood history. material is impeccably and exhaustively
J.P. (‘Jack’) McGowan was born in researched, but the text is sometimes
the tiny South Australian railway town repetitious. I found myself wishing that
of Terowie in 1880, the year Ned Kelly ‘Jack’ had been used less frequently, in
was hanged. His lack of formal favour of ‘him’ or ‘he’, but this is a
education was more than compensated minor quibble.
by his thirst for knowledge and his In 1913 Jack was sent by Kalem to I congratulate John J. McGowan on
highly developed spirit of adventure. set up their West Coast operations in a his assiduous work, and warmly
This took him, first, to Sydney, then to sleepy little town called Hollywood. recommend this welcome rediscovery
South Africa to fight in the Boer War His most enduring star was Helen of one man’s remarkable journey from
and then to the United States. He made Holmes; she became his first wife. Like Terowie all the way to Tinseltown. ★
the trip as a member of a team that Jack, Helen was a daredevil, and in
went to St Louis for the 1904 World's movie after movie she drove, chased, CATHS membership
Fair, where they presented a huge jumped on or off or allowed herself to
outdoor spectacle replicating exciting be tied to speeding trains. Jack and cards are now being produced by
battles of the war. Helen’s most memorable achievement Security
Jack stayed on in the United States. came in 1914 with the start of a series -
After acting in touring drama not a serial - called The Hazards of
companies he arrived in New York, Helen. These little one- or two-reel Plastics
where he found work with the Kalem railroad adventures were so popular
film company. Kalem, founded in 1907, that Kalem made 119 of them. For high quality cards for your
specialised in outdoor dramas. They Though Jack and Helen moved on clubs or society contact
worked almost always on location; this to other projects about halfway through
gave their films an authenticity that a the series, the image of the intrepid Mike Hayes on
studio or a backlot could not provide, Helen tied to the tracks in the path of a (03) 9587 3133.
and at the same time minimised their speeding locomotive became an icon of Special prices for CATHS members.
production costs. early Hollywood.

CINEMARECORD 2006 23