Titles from the 1920s
120 titles - sorted alphabetically or by year prev 1 2 3 next
1920
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Australasian Gazette – All for a Good Cause newsreel – c1920
A surf carnival at Bondi Beach in aid of the St John’s Ambulance Brigade features in this Australasian Gazette newsreel from approximately 1920.
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Australasian Gazette – A Unique Audience newsreel – c1920
This 1920 Australasian Gazette newsreel shows injured soldiers from Caulfield Military Hospital attending a special matinee at Elsternwick Theatre.
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Australasian Gazette – Conversion newsreel – c1920
In this 1920 newsreel, work commences at Victoria Parade for the electrification of the cable tram system of Collins Street, Melbourne.
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Australasian Gazette – Dame Nellie Melba newsreel – c1920
This newsreel footage shows soprano Dame Nellie Melba, having arrived in Sydney from Vancouver on the passenger liner RMS Niagara after a world tour.
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Australasian Gazette – In and around Hamilton District newsreel – c1920
This newsreel from approximately 1920 shows the orchard districts of Hamilton, Queensland. Workers pick, sort and pack peaches for transportation.
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Australasian Gazette – Some Sunday Morning newsreel – c1920
This newsreel vividly captures 'some Sunday morning’ at St Kilda Beach, Melbourne, showcasing 1920s swimming costumes, parasols and beach culture.
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The Australian Steel Works sponsored film – c1920
This Made in Australia Council documentary, made circa 1920, tours a steel works factory in Newcastle to promote the Australian steel industry.
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Berlei Corsets: Beautiful Lines of Woman Triumphant advertisement – c1920
This advertisement shows the fuller figures of the models as compared with models of today.
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The Breaking of the Drought feature film – 1920
An outback family faces ruin through drought and a son corrupted by life in the big city.
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City Traffic in Variable Moods newsreel – c1920
This newsreel item is an example of how simple camera techniques can dramatically alter the appearance and mood of scenes that are filmed.
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From the Bush to the Bungalow documentary – 1920
Produced at a time when the timber industry was considered romantic, Bush Bungalow shows the power of nature and man’s ability to conquer it.
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Kiddies of Queensland Enjoy Outings in their Billy Carts: Rockhampton newsreel – c1920
This newsreel novelty item from approximately 1920 features boys riding on the back of goats and children in billycarts on the streets of Rockhampton, Queensland.
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On Our Selection feature film – 1920
On Our Selection is a landmark of the silent era in Australian cinema, and one of the key films in the career of Raymond Longford, the greatest director of that period.
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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.
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Steamboat Holidays on the Murray River documentary – c1920
This silent documentary shows the landscape and townships along the Murray River and is from a series made in the 1920s called See Australia First.
1921
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Albion, Douglas: Children’s Party home movie – c1921
This beautiful example of early movie making in 1920s Australia was rediscovered by Douglas Albion decades after it was filmed.
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Albion, Douglas: Wally’s Fifth Birthday Party home movie – c1921
Douglas Albion was about to throw this footage out when he heard of a search for source material to be used in the production of Our Century (1998).
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Pearls and Savages documentary – 1921
This 1979 reconstruction of Frank Hurley’s 1921 adventure film Pearls and Savages showcases the peoples and cultures of the Torres Strait Islands and Papua New Guinea.
1922
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Australasian Gazette – Maoris Give Their War Cry newsreel – c1922
In this 1922 newsreel footage, a Maori rugby league team perform a haka war dance before playing a game against New South Wales.
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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.
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Sorrento historical – c1922
The many attractions of the Victorian seaside town of Sorrento are promoted in this 1920s footage produced for the Sorrento Progress Association.
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Sunshine Sally feature film – 1922
The working-class Sally falls in love with the adopted son of wealthy parents from whom she was kidnapped as a child.
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The Sun Worshippers documentary – 1922
A scientific expedition to Wallal for the 1922 solar eclipse confirmed the bending of light by gravity predicted in Einstein’s 1915 General Theory of Relativity.
1923
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Australasian Gazette – 1st Chatswood Erects a Tower and a Rope Suspension Bridge newsreel – c1923
In this newsreel from approximately 1923, the 1st Chatswood Boy Scouts erect a tower and suspension bridge and compete in a boxing match.
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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.
1924
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Australasian Gazette – 1924 Melbourne Cup newsreel – 1924
This newsreel features highlights of the 1924 Melbourne Cup, including the horses entering the racetrack, crowds in the grandstand and the race, won by Backwood.
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Australasian Gazette – A Seaplane Circles a Continent newsreel – 1924
In this extract from a 1924 documentary, A Seaplane Circles a Continent, a RAAF airplane arrives in St Kilda after circumnavigating Australia.
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Australasian Gazette – Bon Voyage to Ex-Chief Justice, Sir William Cullen newsreel – c1924
This newsreel shows the 1924 farewell and departure from Sydney of the retired Chief Justice Sir William Cullen and Lady Cullen for an overseas trip.
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Australasian Gazette – Pauline Frederick, World Famous Star of Stage and Screen newsreel – c1924
In this newsreel, stage and screen actress Pauline Frederick poses for the camera. It is an early example of the fascination Australians have with American actors.
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Australasian Gazette – Sun Worshippers newsreel – c1924
This newsreel from approximately 1924 shows surfers and swimmers at Bondi Beach enjoying the first day of real summer weather of the season.
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Boots and Shoes sponsored film – c1924
This film shows the inner workings of a boot and shoe factory, following the manufacturing process from cutting shoe patterns to the finished product.
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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’.
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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’!
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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.
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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.
1925
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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.
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Australasian Gazette – Annual Christmas Treat newsreel – c1925
This segment from an old cinema newsreel shows Christmas celebrations for children at the Victoria Barracks in Sydney, including a live puppet show and Father Christmas handing out presents.
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Australasian Gazette – Armistice Day, Melbourne newsreel – c1925
This newsreel clip from about 1925 shows the crowd gathered on the steps of Parliament House, Melbourne, for Armistice Day. 'The Last Post’ plays after two minutes of silence.
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Australasian Gazette – Parliament Opens the New Session newsreel – 1925
In this newsreel from 1925, the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Dudley de Chair, arrives by car to open Parliament House in Melbourne.
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Australasian Gazette – Ship Building as Hobby newsreel – c1925
In this 1925 newsreel, builders of model passenger liners sail their boats on a pond in Moore Park, Sydney.
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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.
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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.
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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.
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Bushells Blue Label Tea: Bushells Tea Factory advertisement – c1925
This ad takes the form of an industrial documentary by showing the process of tea making.
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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.
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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’.
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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.
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Lifesavers: Cryst-O-Mint Flavour advertisement – 1925
Running for over 17 minutes, this cinema advertisement is long compared to current standards.
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Magnavox Wireless: Why Jones Chose a Magnavox advertisement – 1925
Compared to contemporary car radios, the Magnavox Wirelesses seems absurd because of its large size.