Page 30 - CR-93

Stan and Fred stuck on Mt Hercules. Resourceful Hari Hari
moviegoers met them and carted all the gear
GOING TO THE PICTURES WITH WESTLAND TALKIES, NEW ZEALAND
By Mary Moffitt

The Author of this article, Mary Moffitt, was born in Stillwater, New Zealand, during World War 2. Her mother, Molly, was sister to Rene Smith,
the wife of Alf Smith, both of whom feature in this article. Mary’s parents passed away in the same week in 1971 and, as Mary explains, Rene and
Alf Smith were her second parents.

After her university education in Canterbury and Massey, Mary trained in Christchurch as a teacher and spent 43 years teaching at various New
Zealand high schools.

A genealogist, historian, teacher and co-owner of a business based on their farm bred natural wool products, Mary is married to Selwyn Hall, and
lives on the beautiful Kapiti Coast, the North Island’s west coast.
y 1932, the term “going to the pictures” began to be quite a different experience for New Zealanders. Silent movies, never really silent, of
Bcourse, with their live sound effects and even live vocals at times, were losing ground to sound-on-film movie experiences. Technological
difficulties had seemed insurmountable in producing viable sound films, in those days called “talkies”. There were also those who felt that the film
experience had reached the greatest of aesthetic heights with silent films, and rejected what they called the “noise” of many of the early sound
films, where actors appeared to be controlled by the need to talk throughout the films! Many musicians and other artists lost employment, but
people with technological skills soon saw the opportunity for a new kind of work.
In the thirties, things were tough for New Zealand youth, but three such technically inclined young New Zealanders who were keeping up with the
successful development of sound-on-film, as opposed to synchronised sound-on-disc, grabbed the moment and set up a company called Westland
Talkies. They bought vehicles (a Burliet truck, a Chev, and later, two Dodge vans built in Christchurch) and sets of film equipment including
projectors, sound equipment, and screens. Generators were also needed because their chosen communities did not have electricity. They then
joined a circuit which supplied film programmes. These usually each comprised a set of short items, a full length picture (movie), and trailers
(coming attractions) for halftime (intermission). They supplied their own music on old 78 rpm records for non-film times. The original set, made
up of all the oldest popular songs, was a stack of about 50 cm tall, which was in my possession until recently.

The premises were generally unprepared for film. Seating had to be moved into place, and huge screens had to be rolled down for performances
and up afterwards. Everything had to be out of the way of other activities. This led our enterprising lads to offer free rides with them to the film
venues. It was their second point of difference - sound films AND free rides.

Frederick Waironga Galletly 1909-1990, Alfred James Smith 1909-1978, and Stanley Gordon Smith 1912-1988, formed the nucleus of Westland
Talkies in 1932. Westland Talkies was initially based in Ross, 65 km south of Greymouth, where they had a regular circuit of seven communities.

30 CINEMARECORD # 93