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Spud Murphy (John Cosgrove) calls out for used bottles and Skinny Smith (Dinks Paterson) hawks rabbits before the two of them engage in friendly banter. Meeting with Sally (Yvonne Pavis) and Tottie (Joy Revelle), they race their carts through Woolloomooloo, and 'The favourite wins by two lengths’.
Curator’s notes
This sequence allows the filmmakers to show a variety of Woolloomooloo locations, providing a valuable historical record of the suburb as it was in 1922. It also introduces the film’s main comedic characters, Spud Murphy and Skinny Smith.
John Cosgrove (1867–1925), who played Spud, was a versatile stage actor who worked for most of Australia’s leading theatre companies. He appeared in at least a dozen other Australians films and, besides scripting Sunshine Sally, wrote the story for Silks and Saddles (1921) and directed The Guyra Ghost Mystery (1921). His grandson is General Sir Peter Cosgrove, Australia’s Governor-General from 2014. The actor who played Skinny, Dinks Paterson (1892–1982), was a well-known variety actor who from 1919 to 1923 was the stage partner of comedian George Wallace.
