Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Titles curated by Poppy De Souza

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1920s (continued)

Piano Making documentary – c1924

This early film offers insights into the workmanship involved in piano manufacture and boasts the slogan, ‘Wherever you trade, buy Australian Made’.

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.

South Melbourne Methodist Mission News sponsored film – c1924

From the early 20th century, Christian welfare organisations have used films like this to highlight their work within the Australian community.

Albion, Douglas: Children’s Birthday Party home movie – c1925

This short segment is one of three reels of nitrate film chronicling significant events and celebrations in the Albion family during the early 1920s.

An Australian Invention: Falkiner Cane Harvester in Operation sponsored film – c1925

This film, possibly made by the Queensland Cane Growers Organisation, promotes the use of the mechanical harvester – a real innovation at the time.

Building a Motor Body sponsored film – c1925

The South Australian Government commissioned this promotional film to attract workers to the Woodville car plant; at the time, the second largest in the British Empire.

Building a Railway Engine sponsored film – c1925

The state government commissioned this short film showing work at the South Australian Railways engine construction and repair plant outside Adelaide.

Children’s Party, Boys Wrestling and Outdoor Performances home movie – c1925

Cameras were relatively expensive in the 1920s and mostly confined to families who could afford the new technology.

The Evolution of a Chocolate sponsored film – 1925

The chocolate factory which features in this film employed over 2,000 people and – according to the intertitles – was one of 'the best producers of chocolates’.

Factory to Farm: Making Agricultural Implements in Australia sponsored film – c1925

This film provides a visual record of the inner workings of an agricultural implements factory as well as the role of sheet metal workers and fitters and turners.

Opal Mining Lightning Ridge documentary – c1925

Davidson collected over a million feet of footage over 40 years including the miracle of a man pulled from a mine shaft, never once hindered by the pipe in his mouth.

The Rising Generation documentary – c1925

This incomplete documentary from 1926 promotes the public education system in South Australia from kindergarten through to university.

Snippy is an Artful Dodger short film – c1925

This charming example of an early Australian cartoon superimposes cell animation over freeze-frames of live action to create Snooks’s dream world.

Thursday Island and Merauke, Dutch New Guinea historical – c1925

The cast and crew of Frank Hurley’s feature-length dramas, The Hound of the Deep (1926) and The Jungle Woman (1926), explore the culture and environment of their island locations.

Timber Getting in New South Wales documentary – c1925

Wood choppers balance on thin planks while rigorously swinging their axes. A silent film looking at the timber industry in New South Wales in the 1920s.

A Trip Along the River Murray documentary – 1925

This silent black-and-white film from 1925 emphasises the ‘Mighty Murray’ river’s significance in Australia’s agricultural and natural history.

Wirth’s Circus Film historical – c1925

Wirth’s Circus, one of Australia’s most well-known family circuses, toured the country extensively in the 1920s and embarked on world tours to England, South Africa and South-East Asia.

Australian Cement in the Making documentary – c1926

Everything you wanted to know about cement making — in the 1920s — but were afraid to ask.

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.

Darwin c1926 historical – c1926

This historical and cultural record of Darwin in the 1920s includes valuable footage of the city’s environment and its multicultural population.

A Day at an Engineering Works sponsored film – c1926

This Made in Australia Council documentary details work at the largest engineering works in South Australia at the time.

A Morning at the World’s Greatest Agricultural Show documentary – c1926

A straightforward glimpse into the lives of the trainers, handlers and owners of horses and livestock competing at the 1926 Royal Agricultural Show.

Overland Whippet Motor Car: Advertisement advertisement – c1926

The Overland was an American motor vehicle company acquired by John Willys early in the 20th century.

Peach Growing and Canning in Australia sponsored film – c1926

At the time the film was made, the Leeton State Canning Factory employed approximately 250 people and processed 120 tonnes of fruit a day.

Picturesque Portsea Provides Perfect Pageant newsreel – c1926

This clip of the popular beach and pier at Portsea in Victoria vividly captures the beach fashions and social customs of the 1920s.

Round About Townsville documentary – 1926

Thought to be one of the Know Your Own Country series from the 1920s, Round About Townsville positions Townsville as a veritable paradise.

Snapshots around ‘Madras’ home movie – c1926

This is a good example of how, in the early days of moving images, people would often pose for the camera as if they were posing for a still photograph.

These American Tourists Leave Melbourne After Breakfast home movie – c1926

This home movie footage consists mostly of aerial shots taken during the flight that survey suburban areas around Melbourne.

Traffic Chaos Caused by Fusing of Electric Tram Wires newsreel – c1926

This newsreel covers a traffic jam caused by the fusing of electric tram wires in Melbourne in the 1920s. We also see the chaos that follows the event.

A Visit to Ernest Hillier’s Factory sponsored film – c1926

This documentary details the delicate work and attention to detail required when producing handmade chocolates and sweets for Australian consumers.

An AIM Patrol documentary – 1927

This film documented outback life in the 1920s and may have been made to accompany a written report.

Archibald Family: Noorong Gazette: Parts I - IV home movie – c1927

The Noorong Gazette is a series of seven film gazettes compiled between 1927 and 1932 by the Archibald family of Strathfield, Sydney.

Camp-Berlei Foundation Garments: Physiological Support advertisement – c1927

Today Berlei remains one of the most recognisable names in the manufacture and design of lingerie and underwear in Australia.

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.

Vivien Straford 1927–1937 home movie – 1927

The father of amateur filmmakers the Straford Brothers was an avid maker of home movies himself, despite losing an arm during the First World War.

Archibald Family: Noorong Gazette: Parts IX - XII home movie – c1928

These gazettes made by members of the Archibald family are some of the earliest examples of home movie making.

Austin Hospital at Heidelberg, Vic: The Only Hospital for Chronic Diseases in Australia documentary – 1928

This is a remarkable visual record of what hospitals were once like — and the treatments used for some ailments in the 1920s.

Browne, George: Our movie memories 1928–1934 home movie – 1928

These amateur role-plays are a real treat to watch and were clearly a source of great amusement for all involved.

Buckley, Anthony: Buckley Family Collection: Tarn Shan Tin Mine, Thailand home movie – c1928

This footage is rare because Australians travelled infrequently to South-East Asia in the 1920s.

Charles Ulm documentary – c1928

Historical footage such as this of Charles Ulm, hints at the challenges early aviation pioneers would have faced.

Christmas Hustle and Bustle: Crowds Leave for Well-deserved Holiday on 22 December newsreel – 1928

This Christmas 1928 newsreel includes a hint of the economic hardships of the time by contrasting well-dressed women with two homeless swagmen.

Commonwealth Film Laboratories documentary – c1928

The provenance of this film fragment is unclear, but it could have been promoting the lab’s services.

Federal Capital Commission: Anti-Fly Campaign sponsored film – c1928

This public relations film explains an anti-fly campaign. It depicts a series of familiar situations in which flies are present and demonstrates acceptable methods of dealing with them.

Sydney Tramways historical – c1928

This footage demonstrates the relationship between the growing city population of Sydney in the 1920s and the developing public transport system.

Your Daily and Weekly News: The Making of Two Great Papers newsreel – 1928

This newsreel shows the 'organised haste’ involved in preparing a daily newspaper, in this case Melbourne’s The Argus.

Hoyts and Studebaker Cinema Advertisement: Touring Talkie Show advertisement – c1929

This advertisement positions the joint Hoyts, Shell and Studebaker venture as a service which audiences in country areas both need and deserve.

Hoyts Cinemas: Talkies for Country Areas advertisement – c1929

It wasn’t until 1937 that all Australian cinemas countrywide had been converted to sound.

Life Guards at Bondi Beach documentary – c1929

From around 1929, this fragment of actuality footage shows a Surf Life Saving carnival at Bondi Beach.

Talkie Season Opens: Wintergarden Theatre historical – c1929

The Wintergarden Theatre was the first suburban cinema to install audio technology to screen talkies.

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