Townies and Hayseeds | |
---|---|
Directed by | Beaumont Smith |
Written by | Beaumont Smith |
Produced by | Beaumont Smith |
Starring | George Edwards Lotus Thompson |
Cinematography | Arthur Higgins |
Production company | Beaumont Smith Productions |
Distributed by | Beaumont Smith Union Theatres |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 5,000 feet |
Country | Australia |
Language | silent |
Townies and Hayseeds is a 1923 Australian film comedy from director Beaumont Smith. It is the fifth in his series about the rural family the Hayseeds.
It is considered a lost film.
City-dweller Pa Townie goes to the country for a holiday with his wife Ma and children Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brissy, Perth and Hobart. They stay with the Hayseed family, who they then invite to stay at their place in Potts Point. In a romantic subplot, Pa Townie's daughter Adelaide (Lotus Thompson) is pursued by a returned serviceman, George, and an English "new chum" called "Choom". [2] [3]
The film has satirical elements including a "suicide club" at The Gap in Sydney, with Pa Townie trying to commit suicide, and a send up of former Prime Minister Billy Hughes. [4]
The film was written, produced and sold within five weeks in May 1923 with shooting taking place in and around Sydney under the title The Townies. [5] [6]
Specific scenes and titles were added for the Melbourne and Adelaide release (e.g. Potts Point was changed to Toorak). [7] [8]
Everyone's said the film "is reported to be of a very unusual type, and breaks fresh ground as far as comedy photoplays are concerhed. It has many humorous topical skits in it, and we are given to understand Beaumont Smith, in constructing it, has had access to the humor of “Smith Weekly”. As, is always the case with this producer’s pictures, there will be no delay in placing the feature on the market." [9]
Everyone's said " Its early presentation is imperative, as it contains many topical skits that wii set Sydney laughing heartily." [10]
The titles of the movie received praise for their cleverness. [11] Indeed, one reviewer though the titles were funnier than the actual sequences themselves. [12]
In August 1923 Smith shoot scenes in Melbourne and recut the film to be relocated in Melbourne for its release in that city. [13]
The film enjoted successful seasons in Melbourne and Sydney and Smith sold the rights for other states. [14]
The film was popular enough to lead to another in the series, Prehistoric Hayseeds .
The Man from Snowy River is a 1920 film made in Australia. The film was silent and filmed in black and white, and was based on the Banjo Paterson poem of the same name.
Uncivilised is a 1936 Australian film directed by Charles Chauvel. It was an attempt by Chauvel to make a more obviously commercial film, and was clearly influenced by Tarzan.
The Blue Mountains Mystery is a lost 1921 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford and co-directed by Lottie Lyell.
Frank Beaumont "Beau" Smith, was an Australian film director, producer and exhibitor, best known for making low-budget comedies.
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.
Splendid Fellows is a 1934 Australian film from director Beaumont Smith about an Englishman who comes to Australia. The cast includes Eric Colman, brother of Ronald Colman, and Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, who has a cameo as himself. It was Smith's last film.
Sheepmates was a proposed Australian film from director F. W. Thring based on a 1931 novel by William Hatfield. It commenced filming in 1933 but was abandoned.
Our Friends, the Hayseeds is a 1917 Australian rural comedy from director Beaumont Smith. It centers on the rural family, the Hayseeds, and their rivalry with a neighbouring family, the Duggans.
The Hayseeds Come to Sydney is a 1917 Australian rural comedy from director Beaumont Smith.
The Hayseeds' Back-blocks Show is a 1917 Australian rural comedy from director Beaumont Smith. It was the third in his series about the rural family, the Hayseeds.
Satan in Sydney is a 1918 Australian melodrama from director Beaumont Smith. It was his first movie which was not about the rural family, the Hayseeds. It is considered a lost film.
Prehistoric Hayseeds is a 1923 Australian film comedy that was written, produced, and directed by Beaumont Smith. It is the sixth in his series about the rural family the Hayseeds and concerns their discovery of a lost tribe.
The Adventures of Algy is a 1925 Australian film comedy written and directed by Beaumont Smith about a "silly ass" Englishman who inherits a sheep station in New Zealand. It is an unofficial follow up to Hullo Marmaduke (1924), which also starred Dampier.
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. These silent films were called "one of the greatest box-office features that ever came out of this country." The sound film was not as successful.
The Jackeroo of Coolabong is a 1920 Australian silent film starring renowned Australian sportsman Snowy Baker. It was the last of three films he made with the husband and wife team of director Wilfred Lucas and writer Bess Meredyth, both of whom had been imported from Hollywood.
Odds On is a 1928 Australian silent film starring Arthur Tauchert set in the world of horse racing. It was the first film as director from noted cinematographer Arthur Higgins.
The Adorable Outcast is a 1928 Australian silent film directed by Norman Dawn about an adventurer who romances an island girl. The script was based on Beatrice Grimshaw's novel Conn of the Coral Seas. It was one of the most expensive films made in Australia until that time, and was Dawn's follow up to For the Term of His Natural Life (1927). It did not perform as well at the box office and helped cause Australasian Films to abandon feature film production.
Painted Daughters is a 1925 Australian silent film directed F. Stuart-Whyte. Only part of it survives today.
Riding to Win is an Australian comedy drama silent film starring Australian gangster Squizzy Taylor and his girlfriend Ida Pender. Made in 1922 it was banned by the Victorian censor but obtained release in Sydney and Brisbane under the title Bound to Win.