Show Business (1938 film)

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Show Business
Directed by A. R. Harwood
Written byFrank Chapple
Alex Rosenblum (additional dialogue)
Produced by A. R. Harwood
StarringBert Matthews
Cinematography Arthur Higgins
Music byFrank Chapple
Production
company
New Era Film Productions
Distributed byAtlas Films
Release date
7 August 1938
Running time
90 mins
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Budget£8,000 [1]

Show Business is a 1938 Australian film musical directed by A. R. Harwood and starring Bert Matthews. [2] It is considered a 'substantially lost' film, with only rushes from a single minor scene left. [3]

Contents

Plot

Two brothers, Bill and Wally Winter, become infatuated with a gold digger, Nina Bellamy. She persuades them to ask their wealthy father, Sir James, for £10,000 so Bill can produce a stage show and Wally a movie, both starring Nina. Sir James discovers the truth about Nina and gives his son the money, provided they leave town in secret for one month to write their shows and that they only use new talent.

Bill goes to a country town and discovers a local amateur group. He buys their show and brings it to the city, where it is a big success. Wally meets a girl from a local film exchange and they decide release an old Australian film with comic commentary. An angry Nina tries to disrupt the preview of the film but fails and it is a big success. Nina then tries to blackmail Sir James but fails.

Cast

Production

Harwood claimed he had a great deal of difficulty casting the female leads, seeing over 700 applications. [6] Shooting started in April 1938 at Cinesound's studio in St Kilda, Melbourne. The studio was found to be too cramped and inadequately equipped [7] so the unit was shipped to Sydney in May where the film was completed at Pagewood Studios. [8] [9] Shooting wound up in July. [10]

Filming was also suspended due to an amendment to the British Quota Act which meant that Australian films were no longer considered "British" under a local quota. [11]

Many of the cast were popular radio personalities at the time.

Reception

The film passed the quality test under the NSW Film Quota Act. [12] It was not a commercial success, and Harwood was forced to seek work as a suburban manager and insurance agent. He later remade the film as Night Club (1951). [13]

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References

  1. ↑ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 182.
  2. ↑ "THEATRE ROYAL". Camperdown Chronicle . Vic. 19 December 1939. p. 2. Retrieved 4 April 2012– via National Library of Australia.
  3. ↑ "Australia's 'Lost' Films'". National Film and Sound Archive.
  4. ↑ "Miss B. James' Charming Personality". The Barrier Miner (HOME ed.). Broken Hill, NSW. 4 October 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 15 August 2012– via National Library of Australia.
  5. ↑ "STAGE AND FILM JOBS". The Sydney Morning Herald . 2 June 1938. p. 26. Retrieved 15 August 2012– via National Library of Australia.
  6. ↑ "A FILM CRITIC'S DIARY". The Argus . Melbourne. 20 April 1938. p. 4. Retrieved 6 April 2012– via National Library of Australia.
  7. ↑ "BRIEF ITEMS IN THE NEWS". The Argus . Melbourne. 4 May 1938. p. 20. Retrieved 15 August 2012– via National Library of Australia.
  8. ↑ "COMPANY ARRIVES TO MAKE FILM". The Sydney Morning Herald . 17 May 1938. p. 9. Retrieved 6 April 2012– via National Library of Australia.
  9. ↑ "PRODUCTION OF NEW FILM". The Argus . Melbourne. 17 May 1938. p. 16. Retrieved 15 August 2012– via National Library of Australia.
  10. ↑ "FILM CRITIC'S DIARY". The Argus . Melbourne. 13 July 1938. p. 16. Retrieved 15 August 2012– via National Library of Australia.
  11. ↑ "FILM STUDIOS NOT CLOSING". The Argus . Melbourne. 23 March 1938. p. 2. Retrieved 6 April 2012– via National Library of Australia.
  12. ↑ "NEWS IN BRIEF". The Argus . Melbourne. 13 September 1938. p. 2. Retrieved 15 August 2012– via National Library of Australia.
  13. ↑ Vagg, Stephen (23 December 2019). "Australian Film Musicals You Probably Didn't Realise Existed". Filmink.
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