All titles produced by Herschells Films
16 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year
A
Australian Navy: Destroyers documentary – c1930
The capacity of Royal Australian Navy destroyers to carry and launch torpedoes in the 1930s is demonstrated here.
B
Black Sunday documentary – 1926
This silent footage was probably used as a promotional tool for fundraising in the wake of the 'Black Sunday’ bushfires of Valentine’s Day 1926 that swept Victoria.
C
Captain Cook’s Cottage documentary – 1938
Russell Grimwade paid £800 for the family home of Captain Cook and transported it from Yorkshire to Victoria.
Centenary Celebrations of Melbourne, Victoria newsreel – 1934
This unedited newsreel footage includes a speech given by the Duke of Gloucester opening Melbourne’s centenary celebrations.
D
A Day in a Biscuit Factory sponsored film – 1932
While not the film’s primary intention, it offers an interesting examination of the division of labour and factory-line production processes in a 1930s biscuit factory.
F
The Flying Doctor sponsored film – 1941
Through the work of the Australian Aerial Medical Service and their 'mantle of safety’, no-one in Australia is further than four hours from medical assistance.
O
The Origin of Oil sponsored film – c1923
Made for the Shell Company of Australia, this industrial documentary traces the path of oil from its initial extraction to the petroleum relied on by consumers.
S
Sewerage of a Great City: Melbourne sponsored film – c1922
By the time this sponsored documentary was made, over 166,000 homes and 70,000 people were, according to its intertitles, 'enjoying the benefits of sewerage’ in Melbourne.
Sheep to Shop: Hosiery and Knitted Goods sponsored film – 1924
At one point in this promotional documentary, a machine miraculously 'absorbs yarn at one end and discharges socks at the other’!
Sheep to Shop: Woollen Goods sponsored film – 1924
Made inside a wool mill, this film covers making the yarn, weaving the fabrics, pressing the finished goods and packaging them for distribution nationwide.
A Shining Example sponsored film – c1920
Unlike other films produced by the Made in Australia Council, A Shining Example juxtaposes a tour of an Australian factory with a fictional narrative.
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.
The Stawell Gift: Staging the Golden Jubilee Carnival documentary – 1927
The Stawell Gift, one of the oldest foot races in the world, began as a competition between miners in the Victorian goldfields.
T
They Serve sponsored film – 1940
By the 1940s, the work of the Red Cross for the 'Australian soldier at home and abroad’ extended throughout Europe and the Middle East.
Through the Centre sponsored film – 1940
The Indian camel trader and the Japanese pearl diver become part of the film’s projection of the exotic within the expansive space of the Australian outback.
Timber sponsored film – 1947
Timber communicates a romantic perspective of logging and the timber industry – both seen as having minimal negative environmental impact.
