Australian
Screen

an NFSA website

Opening of the Prahran-Malvern Tramway (1910)

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Municipal tramways education content clip 1

This clip chosen to be G

Clip description

The camera pans across a large crowd gathered in the Malvern tram depot as a man standing on a spiral staircase addresses the audience. There are trams in a shed in the background. The camera films the first Prahran-Malvern tram pulling out into Glenferrie Road. The camera adjusts its angle to follow the tram as it turns and passes on its way down the street. Crowds gather on either side of the tram tracks. A second and third tram follow the first.

In the main street a tram passes by. A crowd gathers around to watch the camera. A stationary tram is shown from the front, the tram then moves past the camera, and stops to drop off its first passengers – the mayor and his wife.

Curator’s notes

by Poppy De Souza

Most of the camera shots are stationary (aside from the odd pan) and are especially set up to capture the passing trams on their journey out of the depot and into the streets of Melbourne. Static shots were common in the early days of the moving image as cameras were heavy and less portable than they are today. This clip is put together in a simple sequence to mirror the tram’s journey.

As was also common in the early days of the cinema, curious onlookers would often stand still in front of a moving-image camera, staring into the camera as if they were posing for a photograph.

Teacher’s notes

provided by The Le@rning FederationEducation Services Australia

This black-and-white silent clip shows scenes celebrating the opening of the Prahran-Malvern Tramway system at the Glenferrie Road, Malvern, depot in Melbourne on 30 May 1910. The clip opens with the camera panning above the heads of the well-dressed crowd at the depot. Crowds are then shown lining the route as the first three trams move along the tracks. Members of the crowd, primarily young boys, gather in front of the camera. The mayor in his robes disembarks from the tram containing the official party at the end of its journey.

Educational value points

  • The opening of the Prahran-Malvern Tramway was a significant development in the history of Melbourne’s electric tramway system. It was the first step in the establishment of an extensive tram network that covered 51 km by 1920 and facilitated suburban expansion south and east of the city. These two lines provided access from the eastern suburbs of Malvern, Armadale and Prahran to the city train line at Windsor station.
  • The importance of the event was amplified by the fact that it was taking place at the newly constructed tram depot in Malvern, the first and largest electric tram depot to be built in Melbourne. Its importance is also evident in the recording of the event by the filmmakers, who have clearly been given a privileged vantage point.
  • The words ‘Municipal Tramways’ appearing on one of the trams indicates that it was part of Melbourne’s Municipal Tramways Trust, an organisation formed by groups of local councils to build electric tramways in Melbourne to replace outdated cable trams. In 1919 the Melbourne and Metropolitan Tramways Board (MMTB) was formed to manage the planning and operation of Melbourne’s entire tramway network. The MMTB decided in 1920 to electrify the whole system.
  • The trams seen in the clip are examples of Melbourne’s original A-class trams that were influenced in their design by US trams, particularly the San Francisco cable cars. Features of these early trams include the central enclosed saloon and the crossbench open seating at each end. These early trams were mostly built in Adelaide but used American bogies (pivoted trucks or trolleys supporting the tram) and electric equipment.
  • The novelty of the sight of a camera on a suburban street in 1910 is indicated by the reactions of onlookers, particularly the young boys, who have gathered to see the passing tram. The film industry was still in its infancy in Australia and few people had seen moving pictures let alone a film camera in 1910. The Salvation Army had first screened a film in 1900 in Melbourne and Australia’s first feature film was produced in 1906.
  • The film from which this clip comes is an example of the work of two of Australia’s important early filmmakers, William Gibson and Millard Johnson. Gibson, a chemist, bought a projector from a customer in 1900 and, in partnership with Johnson, began to screen films in suburban halls in Melbourne, attracting large crowds. In 1906 in partnership with the Tait brothers they produced Australia’s first feature film The Story of the Kelly Gang.

This clip starts approximately 1 minute into the documentary.

We see a large crowd gathered at the Malvern tram depot. A man on a spiral staircase addresses the crowd. There are trams in the shed in the background.

The first Prahran-Malvern trams pulls out. The tram makes it’s way down the tracks. Crowds watch on as a second and third tram pull out. The tram continues down the main street. The tram finally stops and drops off its first passengers – the mayor and his wife.