Harry Southwell

Harry Southwell (born 1882, date of death unknown) was an Australian actor, writer and film director best known for making films about Ned Kelly. He was born in Cardiff, Wales and spent a couple of years in America, where he adapted some short stories by O Henry into two reel films.[1] He worked for Vitagraph in the United States for five years, then moved to Australia in 1919, where he used his experience as a screenwriter to impress investors to back him making features.[2] He set up his own production company in Australia but few of his movies were commercially successful.[3][4][5]


He returned to Europe in the 1920's, where he made a British-Belgian film called The Bells (1925), with himself in the lead role of Mathias the innkeeper. The film took five months to shoot. He later returned to Australia in 1931, where he worked for Australian Players.[6] He made at least three Australian films about the famous outlaw Ned Kelly, and near the end of his career remade The Bells in 1935 as The Burgomeister.[7]

Feature Films

Unmade Projects
  • The Sick Stockrider[10]

References
  1. "LOCAL FILM PRODUCTION". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 28 November 1932. p. 9. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  2. "In the Theatres". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 1 May 1920. p. 6. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  3. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 96.
  4. "AUSTRALIAN FILMS". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 18 August 1931. p. 7. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  5. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 283. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  6. "NEWS AND NOTES". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 7 August 1931. p. 18. Retrieved 3 August 2012.
  7. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 283. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  8. "AUSTRALIAN FILMS". The Daily News. Perth: National Library of Australia. 11 February 1926. p. 8 Edition: THIRD EDITION. Retrieved 25 July 2012.
  9. Workman, Christopher; Howarth, Troy (2016). "Tome of Terror: Horror Films of the Silent Era". Midnight Marquee Press. p. 283. ISBN 978-1936168-68-2.
  10. "AUSTRALIAN FILMS". The Mail. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 10 October 1925. p. 1. Retrieved 25 July 2012.


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