Fisher's Ghost (film)

Last updated

Fisher's Ghost
Fishers Ghost.png
Everyone's 1 October 1924
Directed by Raymond Longford
Written byRaymond Longford [1]
Lottie Lyell
Produced byLottie Lyell
Charles Perry
Cinematography Arthur Higgins
Production
company
Longford-Lyell Productions
Distributed byHoyts
Release date
4 October 1924 [2]
Running time
55 minutes (5000 feet) [3]
CountryAustralia
Languages Silent film
English intertitles
Budget£1,000 [4]

Fisher's Ghost is a 1924 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford based on the legend of Fisher's Ghost. It is considered a lost film.

Contents

Synopsis

The film is set in 1820s New South Wales. Two transported convicts, George Worrall and Frederick Fisher, are released and take up farms at Campbelltown. They are both successful and become friends. Worrall persuades Fisher to go on a trip to England and says he will manage Fisher's farm. A few months later, Worrall goes to an estate agent with a letter from Fisher saying that he has decided to stay in England and has instructed Worrall to sell his farm.

In 1826, a settler called Farley sees an apparition who purports to be Fisher sitting on a three rail fence. This apparition claims he was murdered by Worrall and later indicates where Fisher's body lays. Worrall is arrested at his wedding to a girl who does not return his affections. He is tried, convicted and sentenced to death. He eventually confesses to the crime. [5] [6]

Cast

Production

Raymond Longford and Lottie Lyell, in association with Charles Perry, formed a new company together: Longford-Lyell Productions. Fisher's Ghost marks the production company's first film. [8] [9]

According to on contemporary account the film was shot on location in Campbelltown under the title The Life and Death of Frederick Fisher. Longford sought the advice of Campbelltown residents and also explored the records on the subject from the local Mitchell Library. [9] Another report however says the film was shot on location entirely in Windsor, featuring such locations as the Fitzroy Hotel and the old courthouse. [10]

The film was completed by August 1924. [8] [9]

Fisher's Ghost, The Bushwhackers (1925), and Peter Vernon's Silence (1925) were the only three films produced by Longford-Lyell Productions as the company had already entered liquidation in June 1924, even before the film's release. [11] [12]

Although Lottie Lyell and Raymond Longford created many films together, Fisher's Ghost and The Bushwhackers are the only films for which Lyell received credit as scriptwriter and assistant director before her death from tuberculosis in 1925. [13]

Reception

Reviews were strong as was public response.

According to Everyones the film "smashed all records on its initial screening at Hoyts, Sydney." [14] It transferred to the Shell Theatre in Pitt Street, "and the very consistent sup-port given the picture since that day is further proof that its success... was no mere fluke. Fisher’s Ghost has a title that is worth a lot of money to the ex- hibitor. The story itself is a very satisfactory one, and the production, as a whole, will do much to create further interest in Australian-made motion pictures." [15]

The film is attributed to being one of the earliest and influential Australian horror films, [16] paving the way for the resurgence of the genre in the 1970s after the Australian government began funding their movie industry. [17]

Union Theaters rejected the film be released in their Sydney theaters because their managing director, Stuart F. Doyle, claimed the film was "too gruesome" for the public. The film was shown in Hoyt theaters and yielded £1,300 in its first week of screenings. [18]

The head of the actor's federation claimed the film was prejudiced against by sales agents. [19]

In 1934 Longford registered a script for a remake of the film. [20] However it was never made.

In 2010, Tony Buckley, a producer who helped find and restore the 1971 Australian film Wake in Fright , called for a Film Search program to locate the lost negatives of Fisher's Ghost as well as other historic Australian films. [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lottie Lyell</span> Australian actress and film director

Lottie Lyell was an Australian actress, screenwriter, editor and filmmaker. She is regarded as Australia's first film star, and also contributed to the local industry during the silent era through her collaborations with director and writer Raymond Longford.

<i>The Blue Mountains Mystery</i> 1921 film

The Blue Mountains Mystery is a lost 1921 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford and co-directed by Lottie Lyell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Longford</span> Australian filmmaker and actor (1878–1959)

Raymond Longford was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer, and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian cinema. He formed a production team with Lottie Lyell. His contributions to Australian cinema with his ongoing collaborations with Lyell, including The Sentimental Bloke (1919) and The Blue Mountains Mystery (1921), prompted the Australian Film Institute's AFI Raymond Longford Award, inaugurated in 1968, to be named in his honour.

<i>The Hayseeds</i> 1933 film

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.

Townies and Hayseeds is a 1923 Australian film comedy from director Beaumont Smith. It is the fifth in his series about the rural family the Hayseeds.

Pommy Arrives in Australia is a 1913 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford. The director's first comedy, and the first purely comic feature made in Australia,

The Silence of Dean Maitland is a 1914 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford. It is an adaptation of the 1886 novel of the same name by Maxwell Gray which was later filmed by Ken G. Hall in 1934. It is considered a lost film.

Ginger Mick is a 1920 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford based on The Moods of Ginger Mick by C. J. Dennis, which had sold over 70,000 copies. It is a sequel to The Sentimental Bloke (1919) and is considered a lost film.

The Dinkum Bloke is a 1923 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford. Despite the title and the presence of Arthur Tauchert and Lottie Lyell in the cast, the film is not a direct sequel to The Sentimental Bloke (1919) or Ginger Mick (1920).

<i>The Bushwhackers</i> (film) 1925 film

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.

<i>The Pioneers</i> (1926 film) 1926 film

The Pioneers is a 1926 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford. The script had been written by Lottie Lyell but she had died by the time filming started. It was considered a lost film but some surviving footage from it has recently emerged.

<i>Sunrise</i> (1926 film) 1926 film

Sunrise is a 1927 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.

The Life of Rufus Dawes is a 1911 Australian silent film based on Alfred Dampier's stage adaptation of the 1874 novel For the Term of His Natural Life produced by Charles Cozens Spencer.

<i>The Sealed Room</i> (1926 film) 1926 film

The Sealed Room is a 1926 Australian silent film directed by and starring Arthur Shirley. It is considered a lost film.

The Tenth Straw is a 1926 Australian silent film heavily inspired by the novel For the Term of His Natural Life. Little is known of the director and cast, but most of the film survives today.

Painted Daughters is a 1925 Australian silent film directed F. Stuart-Whyte. Only part of it survives today.

<i>The Price</i> (1924 film) 1924 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.

<i>Dope</i> (1924 film) 1924 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.

<i>The Life Story of John Lee, or The Man They Could Not Hang</i> (1921 film) 1921 film

The Life Story of John Lee, or the Man They Could Not Hang is a 1921 Australian silent film based on the true life story of John Babbacombe Lee. It is a remake of a 1912 film with some extra scenes of Lee's childhood.

References

  1. ↑ Copyright registration at National Archives of Australia
  2. ↑ ""Fishers Ghost" Ready", Everyones., 4 (238 (24 September 1924)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-574679884, retrieved 29 February 2024– via Trove
  3. ↑ "Raymond Longford", Cinema Papers, January 1974 p51
  4. ↑ Shirley, Graham (1983). Australian cinema, the first eighty years. Angus & Robertson. p. 72. ISBN   0-207-14581-4.
  5. ↑ ""FISHER'S GHOST."". The Brisbane Courier . National Library of Australia. 17 December 1924. p. 23. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  6. ↑ "MAJESTIC THEATRE". The Brisbane Courier . National Library of Australia. 19 December 1924. p. 9. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  7. ↑ "GHOST'S MESSAGE". The Herald . No. 14, 808. Victoria, Australia. 1 November 1924. p. 6. Retrieved 14 September 2019– via National Library of Australia.
  8. 1 2 Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 122.
  9. 1 2 3 ""FISHER'S GHOST."". The Mercury . Hobart, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 7 February 1925. p. 4. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  10. ↑ "FISHER'S GHOST". Windsor and Richmond Gazette . Vol. 36, no. 1938. New South Wales, Australia. 5 December 1924. p. 6. Retrieved 4 July 2020– via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ Reade, Eric (1979). History and heartburn: the saga of Australian film, 1896-1978. Fairleigh Dickinson Univ Press. p. 38. ISBN   0-8386-3082-0 . Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  12. ↑ McFarlane, Brian (1999). The Oxford Companion to Australian Film. Oxford University Press. p. 208. ISBN   0-19-553797-1.
  13. ↑ Brakeman, Lynne; Gall, Susan B. (1997). Chronology of Women Worldwide. Gale Research. p. 264. ISBN   0-7876-0154-3.
  14. ↑ ""Fisher's Ghost"", Everyones., 4 (241 (15 October 1924)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-574693618, retrieved 29 February 2024– via Trove
  15. ↑ ""Fisher's Ghost" at Shell Theatre.", Everyones., 4 (241 (15 October 1924)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-574694417, retrieved 29 February 2024– via Trove
  16. ↑ Goldsmith, Ben (2010). Directory of World Cinema: Australia and New Zealand. Intellect Books. p. 189. ISBN   978-1-84150-373-8 . Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  17. ↑ Jones, Alan (2005). The Rough Guide to Horror Movies . Rough Guides. p.  222. ISBN   1-84353-521-1.
  18. ↑ "Film Inquiry". The Sydney Morning Herald . 20 July 1927. Retrieved 28 August 2011.
  19. ↑ "AUSTRALIAN FILMS WANTED". The Labor Daily . No. 300. New South Wales, Australia. 7 January 1925. p. 6. Retrieved 14 September 2019– via National Library of Australia.
  20. ↑ Copyright registration for 1934 Fisher's Ghost at National Film and Sound Archive
  21. ↑ Groves, Don (12 July 2010). "Funding squeeze on film archives". Special Broadcasting Service . Retrieved 28 August 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.