Around the Boree Log | |
---|---|
Directed by | Phil K. Walsh |
Written by | Phil K. Walsh |
Based on | poems of Patrick Joseph Hartigan |
Starring | Molly O'Donohue [1] |
Cinematography | Lacey Percival |
Production company | Phil K. Walsh Productions |
Release date |
|
Running time | 7,100 feet |
Country | Australia |
Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
Around the Boree Log is a 1925 Australian silent film by Phil K. Walsh adapted from the poems of "John O'Brien" (Patrick Joseph Hartigan). It tells stories of a priest's life around the 1870s in the Goulburn area. [3] [4]
Unlike many Australian silent films, a copy of it survives today.
A priest reads from the book of poems by John O'Brien and recalls his earlier life in the country. He remembers travelling hawkers, his first school, a bishop inspection, childhood romance, and the marriage of a girl to another man.
The movie was shot on location in the New South Wales bush, mostly at the Wollondilly River area near Goulburn, in early 1925. [6] The director had previously worked as an assistant on While the Billy Boils (1921) and would direct The Birth of White Australia (1928). [3] He also tried to make a film of the novel Love Blind but was unable to raise finance. [7]
Most of the cast were anonymous people who lived in the area. [8] Unlike The Birth of White Australia, which was funded by the residents of Young, this film received no financial assistance from Goulburn. [9]
The film met with resistance from distributors who felt it was Roman Catholic propaganda. [10] It was also criticised for having little plot and consisting mostly of a travelogue of scenery and incidents in the country. [8]
Other reviewers however gave it unqualified praise; [11] it screened throughout Australia and New Zealand, made money for its backers, and created renewed interest for Hartigan's book. [12]
Box office success appears to have been strong.<ref> ""Boree Log" at Singleton.", Everyones., 4 (300 (2 December 1925)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-574055638, retrieved 2 March 2024– via Trove <?ref>
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