Gayne Dexter

Last updated

Robert James Dexter (1890 – 20 June 1966), known as Gayne Dexter, was an Australian journalist, publicist and screenwriter. He was head of publicity at Union Theatres and Australasian Films in the 1910s, where his assistant was a young Ken G. Hall. [1] He went on to become editor for Everyone's, the trade paper for the Australian film industry.

Kenneth George Hall, AO, OBE, better known as Ken G. Hall, was an Australian film producer and director, considered one of the most important figures in the history of the Australian film industry. He was the first Australian to win an Academy Award.

Contents

Screenwriter

In the 1930s Dexter wrote two films for Ken G. Hall, The Squatter's Daughter (1933) and The Silence of Dean Maitland (1934). [2] He also worked extensively overseas in New York City and London as head of publicity for Warner Bros. and doing publicity for stars such as Judy Garland and Danny Kaye. [3]

The Squatter's Daughter is a 1933 Australian melodrama directed by Ken G. Hall and starring Jocelyn Howarth. One of the most popular Australian films of the 1930s, it is based on a 1907 play by Bert Bailey and Edmund Duggan which had been previously adapted to the screen in 1910.

The Silence of Dean Maitland is an 1886 novel by Maxwell Gray. Set in a fictionalized Isle of Wight, particularly around Calbourne, it concerns an ambitious clergyman who accidentally kills the father of a young woman he has made pregnant, then allows his best friend to be wrongly convicted for the crime. A popular bestseller, it was filmed in 1914, in 1915, and in 1934.

New York City Largest city in the United States

The City of New York, usually called either New York City (NYC) or simply New York (NY), is the most populous city in the United States and in the U.S. state of New York. With an estimated 2017 population of 8,622,698 distributed over a land area of about 302.6 square miles (784 km2), New York is also the most densely populated major city in the United States. Located at the southern tip of the state of New York, the city is the center of the New York metropolitan area, the largest metropolitan area in the world by urban landmass and one of the world's most populous megacities, with an estimated 20,320,876 people in its 2017 Metropolitan Statistical Area and 23,876,155 residents in its Combined Statistical Area. A global power city, New York City has been described as the cultural, financial, and media capital of the world, and exerts a significant impact upon commerce, entertainment, research, technology, education, politics, tourism, art, fashion, and sports. The city's fast pace has inspired the term New York minute. Home to the headquarters of the United Nations, New York is an important center for international diplomacy.

Filmography

For the Term of His Natural Life is a 1927 Australian film, based on the novel by Marcus Clarke, directed, produced and co-written by Norman Dawn. It was the most expensive Australian silent film ever made and remains one of the most famous Australian films of the silent era.

The Grey Glove is a 1928 Australian silent film based on a newspaper serial by E. V. Timms.

<i>The Romance of Runnibede</i> 1928 film

The Romance of Runnibede is a 1928 Australian silent film based on an incident in a book by Steele Rudd. Unlike many Australian silent movies, a copy of it exists today.

Related Research Articles

Cinesound Productions

Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was an Australian feature film production company, established in June 1931, Cinesound developed out of a group of companies centred on Greater Union Theatres, that covered all facets of the film process, from production, to distribution and exhibition.

John Longden 1900–1971; West Indian-born English film actor

John Longden was a West Indian-born English film actor. He appeared in 84 films between 1926 and 1964, including five films directed by Alfred Hitchcock.

Maxwell Gray British writer

Mary Gleed Tuttiett, better known by the pen name Maxwell Gray, was an English novelist and poet best known for her 1886 novel The Silence of Dean Maitland.

<i>The Broken Melody</i> (1937 film) 1937 film by Ken G. Hall

The Broken Melody is a 1938 Australian drama film directed by Ken G. Hall and starring Lloyd Hughes, based on a best-selling novel by F. J. Thwaites.

Raymond Longford film director

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 Longford Lyell Award, inducted in 1968, and named in his and Lyell's honour.

Constance Worth Australian actress

Constance Worth was an Australian actress who became a Hollywood star in the late 1930s.

Heritage is a 1935 Australian historical film directed by Charles Chauvel.

<i>On Our Selection</i> (1932 film) 1932 film by Ken G. Hall

On Our Selection is a 1932 comedy based on the Dad and Dave stories by Steele Rudd. These had been turned into a popular play by Bert Bailey and Edmund Duggan in 1912, which formed the basis for the screenplay. Bailey repeats his stage role as Dad Rudd. He also wrote the script with director Ken G. Hall.

The Silence of Dean Maitland is a 1934 Australian film directed by Ken G. Hall, and based on Maxwell Gray's novel of the same name. It was one of the most popular Australian films of the 1930s.

Bert Bailey New Zealand actor

Albert Edward Bailey, better known as Bert Bailey, was a New Zealand-born Australian writer, theatrical manager and actor best known for playing Dad Rudd on stage and screen.

Edmund Piers Barclay was an English-Australian writer known for his work in radio drama. Radio historian Richard Lane called him "Australian radio's first great writer and, many would say, Australian radio's greatest playwright ever."

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

George D. Parker (1873-1937) was an American-born actor, writer and director who worked extensively in Australian theatre during the 1920s and 1930s, mostly for J.C. Williamson Ltd. He was later employed by Cinesound Productions as a dialogue director and screenwriter, as well as running the Cinesound Talent School with Frank Harvey. According to Hall, "Parker was much more slick in his handling of dialogue" than him around the time of The Silence of Dean Maitland but he did not work with Cinesound after Grandad Rudd.

Fred MacDonald (1895–1968), was an Australian actor best known for playing Dave Rudd opposite Bert Bailey on stage and screen, starting with the original 1912 production of On Our Selection. He also played a similar role, Jim Hayseed, several times on screen for director Beaumont Smith.

<i>Cinesound Varieties</i> 1934 film by Ken G. Hall

Cinesound Varieties is a 1934 Australian variety short film from director Ken G. Hall made to go out on a double-bill with the full-length feature, The Silence of Dean Maitland (1934). Only 18 minutes of the film survive today.

Tasman Higgins was an Australian cinematographer during the early days of the Australian film industry, working for such directors as Charles Chauvel, Raymond Longford, Beaumont Smith, Louise Lovely and Rupert Kathner. He was the brother of Arthur and Ernest Higgins, with whom he occasionally collaborated.

William Freshman was an Australian-born actor, scriptwriter and director. He moved to England as a child and worked in the British film industry, writing over 20 screenplays and working as an associate producer at British International Pictures. He also wrote the play The Last of the Ladies.

Charlotte Francis was an English actress best known for playing the lead role in the Australian film The Silence of Dean Maitland (1934) in which she appeared opposite her husband John Longden. She was touring Australia in a company led by Athene Seyler and Nicholas Hannen for J.C. Williamsons in 1933 when cast in the role. She also had extensive stage credits. Her British stage name was Jean Jay.

References

  1. Ken G. Hall Obituary
  2. Gayne Dexter at Austlit
  3. 'An Australian is Danny Kaye's Personal No-Man.' The Australian Women's Weekly, Wednesday 13 May 1959, p13.