Pommy Arrives in Australia

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Pommy Arrives in Australia
Directed by Raymond Longford [1]
Written by Raymond Longford
Starring
Cinematography Franklyn Barrett
Production
company
Release date
  • 11 August 1913 (1913-08-11) [2]
CountryAustralia
Languages Silent film
English intertitles

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, [3] [4] [5] Longford called it "the first comedy produced in Australia." [6]

Contents

It is considered a lost film.

Synopsis

An English immigrant is caught up in a series of comic incidents in Australia due to the actions of a trio of local tomboys. [7]

Two of the film's incidents were described this way: "One day last week a new arrival, dressed in a conventional Norfolk jacket and a cap with the regulation check pattern, stepped out of a tramcar, and, quite ignorant of the fact that Sydney possessed a careful Lord Mayor, absent-mindedly dropped his ticket upon the road. He was pounced upon by one of the City Council's uniformed officials, and there ensued a strenuous and mirth-provoking passage-at-arms between the two. Later on the same 'Pommy' was seen out at La Perouse, surrounded by an excited horde of fearful cannibals, all bent upon testing imported stock." [2]

Cast

Production

There had been comic shorts made in Australia prior to this movie, such as Percy Gets a Job (1912) but this was the first feature-length comedy. [3] Longford later went on to make the comedy short Ma Hogan's New Boarder .

Reception

The film only had a short run in cinemas and is among Longford's least known works. [9]

The film appeared on a bill with two supporting Australian films Christmas in Australia and Whaling in Jervis Bay. [10]

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References

  1. "Raymond Longford", Cinema Papers, January 1974 p51
  2. 1 2 "MOVING PICTURES". Referee. No. 1396. New South Wales, Australia. 6 August 1913. p. 16. Retrieved 7 January 2024 via National Library of Australia.
  3. 1 2 Graham Shirley and Brian Adams, Australian Cinema: The First Eighty Years, Currency Press 1989 p 48
  4. "Advertising". Evening News. No. 14, 414. New South Wales, Australia. 19 August 1913. p. 5. Retrieved 7 January 2024 via National Library of Australia.
  5. "Longford Quits Australia; Indicts Govt. Interference.", Everyones., 10 (475 (27 March 1929)), nla.obj-578049585, retrieved 7 January 2024 via Trove
  6. "Bound printed copy of Minutes of Evidence of the Royal Commission on the Moving Picture Industry in Australia (one of two copies)". National Archives of Australia. NAA: A11636, 4/1. p. 145.
  7. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 40
  8. "An Australian Film Pioneer.", Everyones., 4 (294 (21 October 1925)), nla.obj-570545333, retrieved 7 January 2024 via Trove
  9. "Advertising". Warwick Examiner and Times (St. Lucia, Qld. : 1867 – 1919) . St. Lucia, Qld. 6 June 1914. p. 1. Retrieved 21 April 2012 via National Library of Australia.
  10. "ALONG FILM ROW Folk. Fact and Fancy....The Laughs and Laments of the Trade", Everyones., 13 (682 (22 March 1933)), nla.obj-560209152, retrieved 7 January 2024 via Trove