''Around the Boree Log'' is a 1925 Australian

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

by Phil K. Walsh adapted from the poems of "John O'Brien" (

Patrick Joseph Hartigan Monsignor Patrick Joseph Hartigan (13 October 1878 – 27 December 1952) was an Australian Roman Catholic priest, educator, author and poet, writing under the name John O'Brien. Biography Born at Yass, New South Wales Patrick Joseph Hartigan st ...

). It tells stories of a priest's life around the 1870s in the

Goulburn Goulburn ( ) is a regional city in the Southern Tablelands of the Australian state of New South Wales, approximately south-west of Sydney, and north-east of Canberra. It was proclaimed as Australia's first inland city through letters pate ...

area.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 128. Unlike many Australian silent films, a copy of it survives today.

Plot

A priest reads from the book of poems by John O'Brien and recalls his earlier life in the country. He remembers travelling hawkers, his first school, a bishop inspection, childhood romance, and the marriage of a girl to another man.

Cast

*Molly O'Donohue (or O'Donohoe) as Laughing Mary

Production

The movie was shot on location in the New South Wales bush, mostly at the

Wollondilly River The Wollondilly River, an Australian perennial river that is part of the HawkesburyNepean catchment, is located in the Southern Tablelands and Southern Highlands regions of New South Wales. The river meanders from its western slopes near Crook ...

area near Goulburn, in early 1925. The director had previously worked as an assistant on ''

While the Billy Boils ''While the Billy Boils'' is a 1921 Australian film from director Beaumont Smith which adapts several stories from Henry Lawson. It is considered a lost film. Plot Bob Brothers (Tal Ordell) is a bushman who quarrelled with his father ten years ...

'' (1921) and would direct ''

The Birth of White Australia ''The Birth of White Australia'' is a 1928 Australian silent film directed by Phil K. Walsh. It is an historical drama about the settlement of white Australia, including scenes of Captain Cook's landing at Botany Bay, skirmishes with Australia ...

'' (1928). He also tried to make a film of the novel ''Love Blind'' but was unable to raise finance. Most of the cast were anonymous people who lived in the area. Unlike ''The Birth of White Australia'', which was funded by the residents of

Young Young may refer to: * Offspring, the product of reproduction of a new organism produced by one or more parents * Youth, the time of life when one is young, often meaning the time between childhood and adulthood Music * The Young, an American roc ...

, this film received no financial assistance from Goulburn.

Release

The film met with resistance from distributors who felt it was Roman Catholic propaganda. It was also criticised for having little plot and consisting mostly of a travelogue of scenery and incidents in the country. Other reviewers however gave it unqualified praise; it screened throughout Australia and New Zealand, made money for its backers, and created renewed interest for Hartigan's book.

References

External links

*
''Around the Boree Log''
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

Peter Malone's summary and reviewFull text of original poem at Project Gutenberg
1925 films Australian drama films Australian silent feature films Australian black-and-white films 1925 drama films Irish-Australian culture Silent drama films {{Australia-silent-film-stub