The Swagman's Story

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The Swagman's Story
Directed by Raymond Longford
Written byViolet Pettengel [1]
Starring Lottie Lyell
Cinematography Tasman Higgins
Production
company
Commonwealth Film Producing Company
Distributed byFraser Film Company
Release date
  • 2 March 1914 (1914-03-02) [2]
Running time
2,000 feet
CountryAustralia
Languages

The Swagman's Story is a 1914 short film directed by Raymond Longford. Although considered a lost film, it is likely that it was a low-budget support feature. [3]

Contents

Longford claimed the film was refused a release by "the Combine" who dominated Australian exhibition. [4]

Plot

A swagman arrives on the scene of the breakdown of a motor car and tells the honeymooning drivers that he's never liked motor cars as they've never done him any good. He then goes on to explain why – ten years earlier he was living happily with his wife and pretty daughter (Lottie Lyell). Then the daughter marries a "swell city cove" and she becomes a member of the high society set, refusing to meet her unsophisticated mother. The mother is killed by a motor car and the father takes to drinking and becomes a swagman. [5]

Cast

References

  1. "MOVING PICTURES". The Referee . Sydney. 15 April 1914. p. 15. Retrieved 1 September 2013 via National Library of Australia.
  2. "Raymond Longford", Cinema Papers, January 1974 p51
  3. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 46
  4. "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.
  5. "PRINCESS COURT THEATRE". The Morning Bulletin . Rockhampton, Qld. 13 November 1916. p. 4. Retrieved 15 January 2012 via National Library of Australia.