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Catching Crocodiles (1933)

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Freshwater crocodiles

This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

This clip shows freshwater crocodiles on a riverbank in Australia’s tropical north. A man carrying a rifle crawls along on his stomach to hunt the sleeping reptiles. On seeing him, the crocodiles head for the nearby lagoon but not before one of them is shot. Three men stretch a fishing net across the lagoon. They close the net and pull it back towards the bank, trapping crocodiles inside. Before removing them from the net, one of the hunters ties shut the crocodile jaws with strong cord.

The clip contains an instrumental soundtrack and voice-over narration by FW Thring.

Curator’s notes

by Poppy De Souza

The freshwater crocodiles are smaller and less dangerous than their saltwater counterparts, but the methods of capture – where barefoot men wade through the lagoon – are nonetheless adventurous. Noel Monkman established his reputation as a naturalist filmmaker based on his work for Australian Educational Films. In this clip, the camera gets close to the action, which builds dramatic tension as the crocodile hunters approach their prey.

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australianscreen is produced by the National Film and Sound Archive. By using the website you agree to comply with the terms and conditions described elsewhere on this site. The NFSA may amend the 'Conditions of Use’ from time to time without notice.

All materials on the site, including but not limited to text, video clips, audio clips, designs, logos, illustrations and still images, are protected by the Copyright Laws of Australia and international conventions.

When you access australianscreen you agree that:

  • You may retrieve materials for information only.
  • You may download materials for your personal use or for non-commercial educational purposes, but you must not publish them elsewhere or redistribute clips in any way.
  • You may embed the clip for non-commercial educational purposes including for use on a school intranet site or a school resource catalogue.
  • The National Film and Sound Archive’s permission must be sought to amend any information in the materials, unless otherwise stated in notices throughout the Site.

All other rights reserved.

ANY UNAUTHORISED USE OF MATERIAL ON THIS SITE MAY RESULT IN CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

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