The Australian Life Biograph Company was a short lived Australian film production company in the silent era. It funded many of the early films of

Gaston Mervale Gaston Mervale (1882–1934) was an Australian director and actor who worked extensively on stage and in films. He directed several films for the Australian Life Biograph Company. After this wound up he went to New York and worked as an actor for ...

and

Louise Lovely Louise Lovely (born Nellie Louise Carbasse; 28 February 1895 – 18 March 1980) was an Australian film actress of Swiss-Italian descent. She is credited by film historians for being the first Australian actress to have a successful career i ...

. The company was formed in 1911 with capital of £6,000 and was based in Sydney. It produced eight feature films in total, all directed by Mervale, who used a stock company of actors including Lovely (then known as Louise Carbasse), Jerome Partick,

Godfrey Cass Godfrey Cass (1867 – 14 May 1951) was an Australian actor in the silent era. Between 1906 and 1935 he acted in nineteen film roles. He played Ned Kelly three times, and also had roles in a number of other bushranger movies including '' A Tale ...

and

Harry Beaumont Harry Beaumont (10 February 1888 – 22 December 1966) was an American film director, actor, and screenwriter. He worked for a variety of production companies including 20th Century Fox, Fox, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation, Goldwyn, Metro Picture ...

. Movies were shot at Biograph's glass-roofed studio in

Manly, New South Wales Manly is a beach-side suburb of northern Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. It is north-east of the Sydney central business district and is currently one of the three administrative centres of the Local government in Australia ...

. In the words of film historians Graham Shirley and Brian Adams "the subjects chosen were predominantly colonial, with no less than six featuring prison themes, usually with an innocent man receiving a pardon or making his escape." Most of them also had a strongly Australian flavour. At one stage the company was earning over £300 a week and employing six lecturers to accompany the films. However they had trouble finding a market for their work and the company later wound up and merged into Universal Films Ltd in 1912.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 15

Filmography

*'' One Hundred Years Ago'' (1911) *'' A Ticket in Tatts'' (1911) *''

The Colleen Bawn ''The Colleen Bawn, or The Brides of Garryowen'' is a melodramatic play written by Irish playwright Dion Boucicault. It was first performed at Laura Keene's Theatre, New York, on 27 March 1860 with Laura Keene playing Anne Chute and Boucicault p ...

'' (1911) *'' A Tale of the Australian Bush'' (1911) *'' Hands Across the Sea'' (1912) *'' A Daughter of Australia'' (1912) *''

Conn, the Shaughraun ''Conn, the Shaughraun'' is a 1912 Australian silent film directed by Gaston Mervale starring Louise Lovely based on a popular play by Dion Boucicault. It is considered a lost film. Plot Kinchela, an unscrupulous land agent, determines to get p ...

'' (1912) *''

The Ticket of Leave Man The Ticket-of-Leave Man or The Ticket of Leave Man may refer to: * ''The Ticket-of-Leave Man'' (play), an 1863 play by Tom Taylor * ''The Ticket of Leave Man'' (1912 film), an Australian film directed by Gaston Mervale * ''The Ticket-of-Leave Ma ...

'' (1912)

References

External links

Australian Life Biograph Company
at

IMDb IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie Database) is an online database of information related to films, television series, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and personal biographies, ...

1910s in Australian cinema Companies based in Sydney Mass media companies established in 1911 Australian companies established in 1911 Mass media companies disestablished in 1912 1912 disestablishments in Australia {{film-company-stub