The Australian Film Syndicate was an Australian film production company based in North Sydney. According to novelist Arthur Wright, "A local draper put a lot of money into it, and lost it; though all the films produced were not 'duds.' One which paid its way well was an adaptation of my novel, Gamblers Gold ". [1]
The company was formed in May 1911. [2] Wright wrote "a draper and a medico found the finance. They also lost it". [3]
In November 1911 it was announced the Australian Film Company was formed with a capital of £20,000 to make movies for the Australian Film Syndicate. [4] [5] The Australian Film Company went into liquidation in 1913. [6]
An advertisement of June 1911 pushing The Octoroon said the company had also made The Shadow of the Rockies, Black Talbot and Diamond Cross. [7] [8] In June 1911, the actor EB Williams was reported as working for them. [9]
The company was involved in various lawsuits. [10]
According to Lacey Percival, six films were made for the Australian Film Syndicate. [11]
There was a fire at the Melbourne office of the JD Williams Australian Film Company in November 1911. [12]
The Australian Film Company was liquidated in April 1913. [13] [14] (Another Australian Film Company appeared to emerge in following years). [15]
Thunderbolt is a 1910 Australian feature film based on the life of the bushranger Captain Thunderbolt. It was the directorial debut of John Gavin who later claimed it was the first "four-reel movie" made in Australia. It has also been called the first film made in New South Wales.
The Blue Mountains Mystery is a lost 1921 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford and co-directed by Lottie Lyell.
Fellers is a 1930 Australian comedy about three friends in the Australian Light Horse during the Palestine Campaign of World War I starring Arthur Tauchert, who was the lead in The Sentimental Bloke (1919). The film is mostly silent with a recorded music score as an accompaniment, but the last reel was synchronised with a few minutes of dialogue and a song.
The Hayseeds is a 1933 Australian musical comedy from Beaumont Smith. It centres on the rural family, the Hayseeds, about whom Smith had previously made six silent films, starting with Our Friends, the Hayseeds (1917). He retired from directing in 1925 but decided to revive the series in the wake of the box office success of On Our Selection (1932). It was the first starring role in a movie for stage actor Cecil Kellaway.
The Assigned Servant, or the Life Story of a Deported Convict is a 1911 Australian silent film about a convict who is transported to Van Diemen's Land. It was made by the husband-and-wife team of John and Agnes Gavin and is considered a lost film.
The Mark of the Lash is a 1911 Australian silent film. It is a convict-era melodrama made by the husband-and-wife team of John and Agnes Gavin.
The Drover's Sweetheart is a 1911 film from the team of Agnes and John Gavin.
Keane of Kalgoorlie, or a Story of the Sydney Cup is a 1911 Australian silent film set in the racing and gambling circles of Sydney, based on a popular play by Edward William O'Sullivan and Arthur Wright, adapted from the novel by Wright.
The Bushwhackers is a 1925 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford loosely based on Alfred Tennyson's 1864 poem Enoch Arden. It is considered a lost film.
Sunrise is a 1926 Australian silent film co-directed by Raymond Longford, who took over during filming.
The Man They Could Not Hang is a 1934 Australian film directed by Raymond Longford about the life of John Babbacombe Lee, whose story had been filmed previously in 1912 and 1921. These silent films were called "one of the greatest box-office features that ever came out of this country." The sound film was not as successful.
Walter Franklyn Barrett, better known as Franklyn Barrett, was an Australian film director and cinematographer. He worked for a number of years for West's Pictures. It was later written of the filmmaker that "Barrett's visual ingenuity was to be the highlight of all his work, but... his direction of actors was less assured".
A Rough Passage is a 1922 Australian silent film directed by Franklyn Barrett based on the novel by Arthur Wright. It was Barrett's final feature and is considered a lost film.
The Golden West is an Australian film directed by George Young set in the Australian goldfields. It is considered a lost film.
The Octoroon is an Australian film directed by George Young based on a popular play by Dion Boucicault which had recently enjoyed a popular run in Australia. It is considered a lost film.
The Price is a 1924 Australian silent film made with a largely amateur cast under the direction of Dunstan Webb. It is considered a lost film.
Dope is a 1924 Australian silent film about a respected citizen who is blackmailed by someone from his past. It is considered a lost film.
Black Talbot is a 1911 Australian film from the Australian Film Syndicate who also made The Octoroon. It is a lost film.
The Diamond Cross is a 1911 Australian film from the Australian Film Syndicate.
Dr. Mawson in the Antarctic is a 1913 Australian documentary film by Frank Hurley about the Australasian Antarctic Expedition with Douglas Mawson.