Page 28 - CinemaRecord #87

By Robert Parkinson

oo often the role played by the Salvation
TArmy in production and exhibition of
early Australian films is overlooked, and I
have tried to tell something of their story in
my book “Picture Shows the Marrickville and
Newtown Districts 1898-2012”.

In many instances, the Army would have been
the first exhibitor in many Australian towns.
From their headquarters in Melbourne (still at
69 Bourke Street), individual officers and
later specifically named companies went all
over Australia, following railway and river
transport systems. In 1903, a group travelled
by train from Sydney to Woodlawn on the
North Coast, took a boat on the Richmond
River to Ballina, rode a coach to Lismore and
back to Ballina where they returned to Sydney
by steamship, with all the necessary
equipment such as hand-operated projectors
and materials to produce limelight. (1)

The Army mostly had readily available sites
for exhibition in citadels and barracks but, in
some communities, public facilities were
hired. They visited Lismore again later in
1903 under the banner of the Salvation Army
Bioscope Company, showing films in
connection with religious services and to raise
money for their social work projects. As
Lismore did not then possess a Citadel, the
Army hired the Federal Hall. (2)
Below: The Lumiere Cinematograph

Above: The Salvation Army headquarters Bourke Street, Melbourne. 1890s

The Army had considerable experience in either as "The Passion Films" or "Life of
using limelight to show lantern slides and, in Christ". (3)(4) The Army was also contracted to
1897, they purchased a Lumiere machine and film ceremonies in Sydney's Centennial Park
films. Later that year, they began production for the inauguration of the Commonwealth in
of their own documentary-like films at January 1901, and the opening of the first
headquarters. A group of short films, under Parliament in Melbourne in June 1901. (5)
the title “Our Social Triumphs”, was shown at
the Melbourne Town Hall in May 1898. By If readers are searching for Salvation Army
January 1900, 13 short films were produced to screenings which generally ceased by about
illustrate the life of Christ, and were known 1910, they will need to be aware that the
Army operated under a variety of names, eg.

28 CINEMARECORD # 87