Australian
Screen

Teacher’s notes

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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Tramways Trust, an organisation formed by groups of local councils to build electric tramways in Melbourne to replace outdated cable trams.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.