Tall Timber (1926 film)
| Tall Timber | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Dunstan Webb |
| Written by | Dunstan Webb |
| Based on | story by Louis Esson[1] |
| Starring |
Eden Landeryou Billie Sim |
| Cinematography | Lacey Percival |
Production company |
Australasian Films A Master Picture |
| Distributed by | Union Theatres |
Release dates | 1926 |
Running time | 7,000 feet |
| Country | Australia |
| Language |
Silent film English intertitles |
| Budget | ₤3,000[2] |
Tall Timber is a 1926 Australian silent film about a rich man who flees the city and works in a timber mill. It is considered a lost film.
Synopsis
Jack Maxwell, a young ne'er-do-well, is disowned by his wealthy father after a raucous party, and goes to work at a mill in the North Coast timber district owned by his friend Dick Desmond.
He falls in love with Betty Manning, the daughter of the widow who cooks for the workers, and clashes with Steve Black, the ganger of the mill who is behind a spate of timber robberies, who also loves Betty.
A sundowner arrives in camp and shoots Steve in revenge for seducing the sundowner's wife years ago. He also reveals Steve has been blackmailing Dick's father for a murder for which he can now b e proved innocent.
Jack saves the mill from a robbery and is offered a partnership from Desmond.
Cast
- Billie Sim as Betty Manning
- Eden Landeryou as Jack Maxwell
- George Willoughby as Jhn Maxwell Snr
- Claude Holland as Dick Desmond
- Big Bill Wilson as Steve Black
- Jimmy McMahon as Jimmy Manning
- Charles Beetham as Desmond Fox
- Dan Gallagher as Dan[3]
- Nellie Ferguson as Mrs Manning
- Ray Watson as Agnes Esdale
- J.P. O'Neill as sundowner
- Bill Murray as burglar
Production
The film was directed by the actor Dunstan Webb, who later also made The Grey Glove for Australasian Films. At one stage he was also mentioned as a possible director of For the Term of His Natural Life (1927), but he wound up just appearing in it as an actor.[4]
It was shot on location on the New South Wales coast in Langley Vale and in studios at Sydney.[2][5]
There are some reports Raymond Longford worked on the movie as director but this does not seem to be true.[1]
Titles for the film were written by Sydney journalist Jim Donald.
Bille Sim was a New Zealand actor.[6]
Release
The movie was the only film made by Australasian Films from 1925-27 to receive a cinema release in England.[7][8]
In 1937, Cinesound Productions, the company that followed Australasian Films under the Greater Union banner, made a movie set in the timber industry called Tall Timbers. It was directed by Ken G. Hall who claimed he had never seen the 1926 Tall Timber.[9]
References
- 1 2 "Raymond Longford", Cinema Papers, January 1974 p51
- 1 2 Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 145.
- ↑ "MOVIE NOTES.". The Horsham Times (Vic. : 1882 - 1954). Vic.: National Library of Australia. 16 July 1926. p. 9. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ↑ "MASTER PICTURE NEWS." Queanbeyan-Canberra Advocate 12 Aug 1926: 1 accessed 9 December 2011
- ↑ "MASTER PICTURE NEWS.". Queanbeyan-Canberra Advocate (NSW : 1905 - 1927). NSW: National Library of Australia. 25 March 1926. p. 2. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ↑ "AUSTRALIAN FILM—TALL TIMBER.".". Morning Bulletin (Rockhampton, Qld. : 1878 - 1954). Rockhampton, Qld.: National Library of Australia. 4 March 1927. p. 7. Retrieved 2 August 2012.
- ↑ Brian Adams and Graham Shirley, Australian Cinema: The First Eighty Years, Currency Press, 1989 p 90.
- ↑ "QUEENSLAND FILM." The Brisbane Courier 14 Sep 1928: 21 accessed 9 December 2011
- ↑ Philip Taylor, 'Ken G. Hall', Cinema Papers January 1974 p 83