The Octoroon | |
---|---|
Directed by | George Young |
Based on | play by Dion Boucicault |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | over 3,000 feet [2] |
Country | Australia |
Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
The Octoroon is an Australian film directed by George Young based on a popular play by Dion Boucicault which had recently enjoyed a popular run in Australia. [3] It is considered a lost film.
In the deep south of 1850s USA, an octoroon is given her freedom by her white father but is later bought as a slave by the evil Jacob McCloskey.
It was an early film from the Australian Film Syndicate. According to articles from the time, other films made from this company included The Shadow of the Rockies, Black Talbot and The Diamond Cross. [5]
The film was shot in Sydney with an old paddle steamer, Narrabeen, standing in for a Mississippi river boat. [6] [7]
The writer Bruce Dennett has commented on the selection of this material to make an Australian film. "The identifiable influence of Southern stories and characters at such an early stage in the history of Australian film is hard to ignore. The Octoroon is especially notable because it deals with questions of race and blood, issues that were important and enduring social and historical preoccupations of the young Australian nation, as they continued to be for the United States." [8]
The Blue Mountains Mystery is a lost 1921 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford and co-directed by Lottie Lyell.
Fellers is a 1930 Australian comedy about three friends in the Australian Light Horse during the Palestine Campaign of World War I starring Arthur Tauchert, who was the lead in The Sentimental Bloke (1919). The film is mostly silent with a recorded music score as an accompaniment, but the last reel was synchronised with a few minutes of dialogue and a song.
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.
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 Lady Outlaw is a 1911 Australian silent film set in Van Diemen's Land during convict days.
In the Nick of Time is a 1911 Australian silent film directed by Alfred Rolfe. It was described as a "sensational railway drama", although now is considered a lost film.
The Loyal Rebel is a 1915 Australian silent film directed by Alfred Rolfe set against the background of the Eureka Rebellion.
A Rough Passage is a 1922 Australian silent film directed by Franklyn Barrett based on the novel by Arthur Wright. It was Barrett's final feature and is considered a lost 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.
The Golden West is an Australian film directed by George Young set in the Australian goldfields. It is considered a lost 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.
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.
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.
The Australian Film Syndicate was a short lived Australian film production company based in North Sydney. According to novelist Arthur Wright, "A local draper put a lot of money into it, and lost it; though all the films produced were not 'duds.' One which paid its way well was an adaptation of my novel, Gamblers Gold."
Black Talbot is a 1911 Australian film from the Australian Film Syndicate who also made The Octoroon. It is a lost film.
The Diamond Cross is a 1911 Australian film from the Australian Film Syndicate.
Spartacus is a 1942 Australian radio play by Dymphna Cusack about the rebel slave Spartacus. It was the last of the ABC's Bonus Competition Plays.
Dr. Mawson in the Antarctic is a 1913 Australian documentary film by Frank Hurley about the Australasian Antarctic Expedition with Douglas Mawson.