All titles sourced from NFSA
1416 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 ... 28 29 next
1930s (continued)
Silver City sponsored film – 1936
This film is narrated with Frank Hurley’s typical flamboyance and presents mining as instrumental to maintaining the livelihood of over 100,000 Australians.
Thoroughbred feature film – 1936
The ending of this film led to allegations of plagiarism, because it was almost identical to the 1934 film, Broadway Bill.
Treasures of Katoomba sponsored film – 1936
Frank Hurley’s sense of adventure and eye for landscape composition is evident in this charming travelogue promoting tourism in the Blue Mountains.
Uncivilised feature film – 1936
Uncivilised is basically an Australian Tarzan, but with an English singer, Dennis Hoey, playing the king of the jungle.
Wrap Me Up With My Stockwhip and Blanket music – 1936
New Zealand-born Tex Morton created an awareness that country and western music could be an Australian form as much as it was an American form.
Dad and Dave from Snake Gully – Episode 1 radio – 1937
The first episode of the long-running Dad and Dave radio show from 1937.
Imperial Tractors: Western Australian Farmers Support an Australian Industry advertisement – 1937
This cinema advertisement introduces Imperial Tractors and uses a similar style to the industrial documentaries produced in the 1920s.
It Isn’t Done feature film – 1937
1937 was Cinesound’s golden year – the studio’s films now boasted wittier scripts, more attention to performance, and a series of strong leading players.
Lovers and Luggers feature film – 1937
This entertaining film is packed with action, romance and comedy — the cocktail Ken G Hall’s usually offers — but also sophistication.
Mystery Island feature film – 1937
Two of the principal actors disappeared at sea after filming finished and what became of them is still unknown.
Spirit of Progress: Australia’s Wonder Train documentary – 1937
As the only new passenger train to be constructed in Australia during the 1930s, the Spirit of Progress was a symbol of technological achievement.
Tall Timbers feature film – 1937
The finale, in which a whole hillside of trees are felled, was shot as a miniature in the studio after repeated attempts on location.
Aeroplane Jelly Song advertisement – 1938
The most famous recording of the ‘I Like Aeroplane Jelly’ jingle.
Australia’s 150th Anniversary Celebrations, Sydney home movie – 1938
Interestingly, the 26 January 1938 parade celebrating 150 years since the arrival of the First Fleet does not reflect Australia’s convict history.
Australia Today – Customs Officers Fight Against Drugs newsreel – 1938
Stories in this Australia Today newsreel cover topics like illegal drug importation and crime syndicates; and SP bookmaking and gambling.
Australia Today – Lucky Strike at Larkinville, WA and other segments newsreel – 1938
Segments in this newsreel cover gold prospecting in Western Australia; deadly Australian snakes; and proposals for the extension of pub drinking hours.
The Broken Melody feature film – 1938
A film with music rather than a musical, The Broken Melody is one of the few films of the 1930s that tries to depict the Depression’s effect on real people.
Captain Cook’s Cottage documentary – 1938
Russell Grimwade paid £800 for the family home of Captain Cook and transported it from Yorkshire to Victoria.
Dad and Dave Come to Town feature film – 1938
The question this fish-out-of-water comedy is really asking is whether Australians have the confidence to be modern in the context of the wider world of 1938.
Follow the Sun documentary – 1938
Pioneer filmmaker Frank Hurley is best known for documenting wartime and adventure but he also made travelogues like this one.
The Growing Child sponsored film – 1938
What has changed in the last 70 years is how the public health message is delivered. Rather than highlight dire consequences, this short film positively reinforces correct behaviour.
Let George Do It feature film – 1938
Although reliant on the comic sketches Wallace made famous in his vaudeville act, the film is pushed along by the thrilling outdoor action sequences Ken Hall knew how to direct.
The Maryborough Railway Employees’ Picnic historical – 1938
In the late 1920s and early 1930s, thousands of children and their families would attend the Maryborough Railway’s annual employees’ picnic.
Murray-Will, Ewan: Ballets Russes, Hélène Kirsova’s Wedding home movie – 1938
Dr Murray-Will befriended dancers from the touring Ballets Russes in the 1930s and filmed the wedding of ballerina Hélène Kirsova to the Danish Vice-Consul.
A Nation is Built documentary – 1938
This sprawling and patriotic documentary uses actuality footage, historical re-enactments, fictionalised scenes and propaganda to chronicle Australia’s development and progress as a nation.
Australia Today – Fort Denison: [Pinchgut]: A Relic of Early Sydney newsreel – 1939
This newsreel looks nostalgically at the history of Fort Denison, a fortified island in Sydney Harbour, and its place in Sydney’s military and cultural heritage.
Australia Today – Man-Eater newsreel – 1939
Shark attacks on populated beaches are statistically not that common in Australia, but they attract sensational media coverage of the type seen in this newsreel.
Australia Today – Men of Tomorrow newsreel – 1939
Depicting the family life of a young boy in the poorer suburbs of Sydney, this newsreel touches on society’s responsibility to offer its youth a better future.
Australia Today – The ‘Pyjama Girl’ Murder Case newsreel – 1939
This newsreel reconstructs the coronial inquest into the Pyjama Girl mystery, one of the most baffling unsolved murder cases in Australian criminal history.
A Brief Survey of the Activities of the Brisbane City Mission sponsored film – c1939
This is a moving portrait of the charity work of the Brisbane City Mission for the poor at a time when many people struggled financially because of the Depression.
Colleano on Tightwire, Rehearses in Arena home movie – c1939
Con Colleano was the first performance artist to perfect the toe-to-toe forward somersault on a wire.
Colleano on Tightwire Rehearsing at Home home movie – c1939
This footage offers a unique behind-the-scenes look at one of Australia’s most accomplished circus performers from the early twentieth century.
Give a Little Credit to your Dad; Lonesome for You, Mother Dear music – 1939
Two songs by then unknown country singer Buddy Williams, recorded in 1939.
Gone to the Dogs feature film – 1939
The second comedy that George Wallace made with Cinesound features a musical interlude with dogs, children, dancing girls and backing singers on bicycles!
Isle of Many Waters sponsored film – 1939
The opening credits read 'a portrayal by Frank Hurley described by himself’ and contain the relaxed and descriptive narration style evident in many of his travelogues.
King Billy’s First Car advertisement – 1939
This 1930s animated advertisement contains a disturbing subtext about Indigenous Australians.
Menzies Speech: Declaration of War radio – 1939
The announcement by Prime Minister Menzies in 1939 that because Great Britain has declared war upon Germany, Australia is also at war.
Mr Chedworth Steps Out feature film – 1939
Cecil Kellaway was probably the best actor that Ken G Hall ever worked with. He returned from Hollywood to play the titular little man who learns to assert himself.
Murray-Will, Ewan: Ballet Russes in Australia home movie – c1939
This unique and candid home movie footage of members of the Ballets Russes company was taken at Sydney’s Bungan Beach in the late 1930s.
Murray-Will, Ewan: Ballets Russes home movie – c1939
Amateur filmmaker Murray-Will’s acquaintance with Ballets Russes members allowed him to capture unique images of one of the world’s greatest dance companies.
Take Notice documentary – 1939
Take Notice uses innovative and sophisticated filmmaking techniques to describe the need for a solution to rising rents and substandard living conditions in Sydney.
1940s
250 Million Years Ago documentary – c1940
While very dated stylistically, this documentary about fossils contains clear information.
Browning Machine Gun sponsored film – c1940
An animated army training film that illustrates the operation of the Browning machine gun.
Choo Choo documentary – c1940
An amateur film of the Spirit of Progress passenger train, made by the Owen Brothers.
Dad Rudd, MP feature film – 1940
Dad Rudd, MP truly signals the end of an era, the last gasp of the cycle of rural comedies featuring yokels and livestock that went back 30 years in Australian cinema.
The Dance of the Eyes documentary – c1940
Skylogues’ like this one from Bali, were shown in cinemas prior to a feature film; few Australians travelled abroad then.
Dyer, Frederick Simpson: Milkshakes and Bomb Shelter home movie – c1940
This footage offers a beautiful glimpse of suburban Australia during the Second World War through the everyday recreational activities of the Dyer family.
Electric Stove Cinema Advertisement: Banish Drudgery advertisement – c1940
The emphasis on economy is the main selling point of this electric range.
Forty Thousand Horsemen feature film – 1940
Chauvel introduced a very young and fresh-faced Chips Rafferty, who modelled his performance in part on the comical digger created by Pat Hanna in Diggers (1931).
The Golden West documentary – 1940
This film was made by William George Alma, a member of the Victorian Amateur Cine Society who was predominantly a magician and collector of material about magic.
