Harmony Row | |
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Directed by | F. W. Thring Raymond Longford (associate) [1] |
Written by | George Wallace |
Based on | stage show by George Wallace |
Produced by | F. W. Thring |
Starring | George Wallace Phyllis Baker |
Cinematography | Arthur Higgins |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Universal Pictures |
Release date |
|
Running time | 78 mins |
Country | Australia |
Language | English |
Budget | £11,000 [2] [3] |
Box office | £18,000 [4] |
Harmony Row is a 1933 Australian musical comedy directed by F. W. Thring and Raymond Longford and starring popular stage comedian George Wallace. It marked the film debut of Bill Kerr. [5]
George enlists in the police force and is assigned to Harmony Row, a haunt of criminals such as Slogger Lee. He makes several friends, including the pretty street musician Molly, and boy soprano Leonard. He is persuaded to fight Slogger Lee in a boxing tournament. He manages to defeat Slogger and win, and is united with Molly.
Harmony Row | |
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Written by | George Wallace |
Date premiered | 23 August 1924 |
Place premiered | Newtown Majestic, Sydney [6] |
Original language | English |
Genre | comedy revue |
The film was based on a revue Wallace had performed in the 1920s. [7] It was one of a series of "revusicals" written by Wallace during this period. [8]
The film marked the feature film debut of Bill Kerr who had been cast by Thring in a proposed movie called Pick and the Duffers. That movie was not made but he was then cast in Harmony Row. [9]
The full version of the film features a haunted house sequence where George unravels a mystery in a mansion. In some versions of the film this sequence was cut and replaced with one where George arrests a high society gentlemen (Campbell Copelin), thinking he's a thief. [2]
The film was released on a double bill with Diggers in Blighty and was a success at the box office. [2] The two films grossed £8000 in Melbourne and £3070 in two weeks in Sydney. [10]
The critic from The Sydney Morning Herald called it "the first really successful picture that Efftee Films have produced." [11]
The film was released in England.
Efftee Studios was an early Australian film and theatre production studio, established by F.W. Thring in 1930. It existed until Thring's death in 1935. Initially Efftee Films was based in Melbourne and used optical sound equipment imported from the US.
George Stephenson "Onkus" Wallace, was an Australian comedian, actor, vaudevillian and radio personality. During the early to mid-20th century, he was one of the most famous and successful Australian comedians on both stage and screen, with screen, song and revue sketch writing amongst his repertoire. Wallace was a small tubby man with goggle eyes, a mobile face and croaky voice who appeared in trademark baggy trousers, checkered shirt and felt hat. His career as one of Australia's most popular comedians spanned four decades from the 1920s to 1960 and encompassed stage, radio and film entertainment. Ken G. Hall, who directed him in two films, wrote in his autobiography that George Wallace was the finest Australian comedian he had known.
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