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The Birth of White Australia (1928)

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clip The start of the trouble

This clip chosen to be PG

Clip description

Mary Davis (Dot McConville) upbraids some Chinese miners for doing their washing in the creek that everyone must draw their drinking water from. They chase her and she falls, knocking herself out. As two Chinese men crouch over her body, one with a knife, her suitor Tom Kendrick (Frank Hardingham) rides to the rescue, running both men off after an exchange of blows. Mary’s father John (Bert Trawley) is so grateful he makes Tom (who’s now suddenly called Frank) an offer of partnership.

Curator’s notes

by Paul Byrnes

The Chinese miners were played by non-Chinese actors wearing crude disguises – which is perhaps not surprising, given the film’s hostility towards the Chinese. The sloppiness with which the film was made is farcically evident in the fact that the titles get the first name of the character wrong, apparently confusing him with the actor who plays him. He is Tom Kendrick when introduced, and Frank Kendrick by the end of the scene.

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