Call of the Bush

Call of the Bush is a 1912 Australian silent film. It is considered a lost film.[6]

Call of the Bush
Written byJack Allen[1]
StarringCharles Woods
"Mr Barrington"[2]
Production
company
Australian Photoplay Company[2] or Gaumont Federal Films[3]
Release date
16 December 1912[4]
Running time
2,000 feet[5] or 2,500 feet[2]
CountryAustralia
LanguageSilent film
English intertitles

Plot

The film was billed as "a story of the Australian bush, based on the incidents of the easy miner settlements."[7]

The home of Wm Collins, a squatter on the Lachlan, was shown, together with the return Fred, who had won his V.C. in the recent Boer war. Fred was secretly loved by Mary Campbell, but lost his heart to the shepherd's pretty daughter to whom he presented his dog Ruby. Bill Doyle, a stockman, was also infatuated with this girl and swore that if he couldn't have her Fred Collins wouldn't. Through Bill's actions, Fred was sent away from home because of his alleged unfaithfulness to Mary Cameron, but was brought back when the latter declared that he had never made love to her. Young Cameron was killed by Doyle on the journey and the latter left Fred's riding whip under the body so that the crime might be fixed upon him. Fred, in due course was arrested and tried, but at this critical moment a sundowner who has witnessed the murder turned up and gave evidence, at the same time producing a handkerchief bearing the name of Doyle. Fred was released and married and married the shepherd's daughter while Doyle went to the scaffold. The sundowner, though offered a home with the happy young couple, could not remains in conventional quarters so responded again to the call of the bush.[8]

It was divided into the following chapters:

  • the squatter's son
  • a welcome home
  • the shepherd's daughter
  • Bosun, the dog hero
  • attacked by blacks
  • the last cartridge
  • a foul revenge
  • wrongly accused
  • a sundowner to the rescue
  • great court scene.[9]

Production

This was the first film made in Australian by the Gaumont Company, trading as "The Gaumont Agency".[10] Other sources however say it was some the Australian Photoplay Company – who were bought out by Gaumont.[2] Another says it was from "Gaumont Federal Films", an amalgamation of Gaumont and APPC.[3]

The script was written by Jack Allen of Wollongong.[11]

It was shot on location on a New South Wales station.[12]

The Gaumont Agency later also made The Opium Runners.

References
  1. "Amusements". Illawarra Mercury. Wollongong, NSW: National Library of Australia. 7 March 1913. p. 9. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  2. "Advertising". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. National Library of Australia. 25 December 1912. p. 12. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  3. "THE KIOSK". Port Pirie Recorder and North Western Mail. SA: National Library of Australia. 28 December 1912. p. 5. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  4. "AMERICAN THEATRE". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 16 December 1912. p. 3. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  5. "Williamstown Theatre". Williamstown Chronicle. Vic.: National Library of Australia. 4 January 1913. p. 3. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  6. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p 37
  7. "AMERICAN THEATRE". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 16 December 1912. p. 3. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  8. "WONDERLAND PICTURES". The Mildura Cultivator. Vic.: National Library of Australia. 25 January 1913. p. 7. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  9. "Advertising". The Barrier Miner. Broken Hill, NSW: National Library of Australia. 21 December 1912. p. 1. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  10. "NAPIER ST. PICTURE GARDENS". The Independent. Footscray, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 22 February 1913. p. 3. Retrieved 14 April 2012.
  11. "WEST'S". South Coast Times and Wollongong Argus. NSW: National Library of Australia. 28 February 1913. p. 12. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
  12. "CENTRAL PICTURES". Daily Herald. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 18 December 1912. p. 6. Retrieved 7 June 2015.
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