Killarney Film Studios was a South African

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

established in

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

native and

business tycoon A business magnate, also known as a tycoon, is a person who has achieved immense wealth through the ownership of multiple lines of enterprise. The term characteristically refers to a powerful entrepreneur or investor who controls, through perso ...

Isidore W. Schlesinger in 1915 and is regarded as "the first

motion picture studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company or motion picture company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to make films, which is handled by the production ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

".''South African History Timelines''
Film in South Africa. Retrieved online 6 January 2008. Schlesinger moved to South Africa in 1894, against his family's wishes, when he read about the discovery of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile met ...

Witwatersrand The Witwatersrand () (locally the Rand or, less commonly, the Reef) is a , north-facing scarp in South Africa. It consists of a hard, erosion-resistant quartzite metamorphic rock, over which several north-flowing rivers form waterfalls, which ...

. In 1913, having accumulated wealth throughout various ventures, he ventured in to the

entertainment industry Entertainment is a form of activity that holds the attention and Interest (emotion), interest of an audience or gives pleasure and delight. It can be an idea or a task, but is more likely to be one of the activities or events that have dev ...

in 1913 when he purchased the Empire Theatre in

for £60,000 and converted what was an "insolvent" business into a flourishing one named African Consolidated Theatres, which worked on the national distribution of content like

variety show Variety show, also known as variety arts or variety entertainment, is entertainment made up of a variety of acts including musical theatre, musical performances, sketch comedy, magic (illusion), magic, acrobatics, juggling, and ventriloquism. It is ...

s and

film A film also called a movie, motion picture, moving picture, picture, photoplay or (slang) flick is a work of visual art that simulates experiences and otherwise communicates ideas, stories, perceptions, feelings, beauty, or atmosphere ...

s from the

Cape of Good Hope The Cape of Good Hope ( af, Kaap die Goeie Hoop ) ;''Kaap'' in isolation: pt, Cabo da Boa Esperança is a rocky headland on the Atlantic coast of the Cape Peninsula in South Africa. A common misconception is that the Cape of Good Hope is t ...

to the

Zambezi River The Zambezi River (also spelled Zambeze and Zambesi) is the fourth-longest river in Africa, the longest east-flowing river in Africa and the largest flowing into the Indian Ocean from Africa. Its drainage basin covers , slightly less than hal ...

History

The studio was founded and funded in the Johannesburg suburb of Killarney by American citizen Isidore W. Schlesinger (d. 1949). Two years earlier, Schlesinger had bought up Australian Rufus Naylor's Africa's Amalgamated Theatres (est. 1911) and Edgar Hyman's Empire Theatres Company (est. 1912) to form the African Theatres and Films Trusts on 10 April 1913. In this way Schlesinger obtained a monopoly over film importation and

distribution Distribution may refer to: Mathematics *Distribution (mathematics), generalized functions used to formulate solutions of partial differential equations * Probability distribution, the probability of a particular value or value range of a vari ...

throughout Southern Africa.Worsdale, Andrew.
Jozi and the Movies – A history. Gauteng Film Commission. Retrieved online 6 January 2008.Sandon, Emma
2007. Canadian Journal of Film Studies, Vol. 16 No. 1, Spring/Printemps. Retrieved online 6 January 2008.
1986. Naylor, Rupert Theodore (Rufus) (1882–1939), Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 10, Melbourne University Press, pp 668–669. Retrieved online 6 January 2008. Schlesinger set up African Film Productions (AFP), which on 5 May 1913 screened the first of its weekly

newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a cinema, newsreels were a source of current affairs, informa ...

s, African Mirror. AFP continued to produce African Mirror, which included features on

n countries such as

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

, and interviews with notables such as

Chris Barnard Christiaan Neethling Barnard (8 November 1922 – 2 September 2001) was a South African cardiac surgeon who performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant operation. On 3 December 1967, Barnard transplanted the heart of accident-v ...

for South African consumption until 1984.Botha, Martin P. 2006.
110 Years of South African Cinema (Part 1). ''Kinema: a Journal for Film and Audiovisual Media''. Retrieved online 6 January 2008.Davie, Lucille
2005. Italo Bernicchi : a life in film. City of Johannesburg website. Retrieved online 6 January 2008. Schlesinger imported Joseph Albrecht from

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

to run the African Mirror. In 1915 the Killarney Film Studios produced South Africa's first

animated film Animation is a method by which image, still figures are manipulated to appear as Motion picture, moving images. In traditional animation, images are drawn or painted by hand on transparent cel, celluloid sheets to be photographed and exhibited ...

, ''Artist's Dream''. The artist was portrayed by Dennis Santry and directed by Harold Shaw. Schlesinger's wife, Mabel May, starred as the artist's dream girl.Simmonds, Ken.
Animation. South African Scriptwriters' Association. Retrieved online 6 January 2008. Whether this production was inspired by

Thomas Edison Thomas Alva Edison (February 11, 1847October 18, 1931) was an American inventor and businessman. He developed many devices in fields such as electric power generation, mass communication, sound recording, and motion pictures. These inventio ...

's 1900 film of the same title is unclear, as no copies remain of the South African version. Five more animated short films followed, and film titles were also often animated. African Film Productions made 43 films between 1916 and 1922. The scarcity of international films during the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

boosted the development of Schlesinger's company. As befits the political context of a newly unified state (the

Union of South Africa The Union of South Africa ( nl, Unie van Zuid-Afrika; af, Unie van Suid-Afrika; ) was the historical predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into existence on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the Cape, Natal, Trans ...

, 1910) the earlier films aimed at the white market featured co-operation between

Boer Boers ( ; af, Boere ()) are the descendants of the Dutch-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape Colony, Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controll ...

and

Briton British people or Britons, also known colloquially as Brits, are the citizens of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the British Overseas Territories, and the Crown dependencies.: British nationality law governs mo ...

as a common theme. Once

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

started in earnest after 1948, some films took up the theme of

whites White is a racialized classification of people and a skin color specifier, generally used for people of European origin, although the definition can vary depending on context, nationality, and point of view. Description of populations as " ...

standing together against black Africans. Apart from feature films, AFP produced "

documentaries A documentary film or documentary is a non-fictional motion-picture intended to "document reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction, education or maintaining a historical record". Bill Nichols has characterized the documentary in term ...

" for the state, as well as

industrial safety Occupational safety and health (OSH), also commonly referred to as occupational health and safety (OHS), occupational health, or occupational safety, is a multidisciplinary field concerned with the safety, health, and welfare of people at wor ...

films. During the 1920s to 1940s the distribution of AFP films to the black African market was aided by

missionaries A missionary is a member of a religious group which is sent into an area in order to promote its faith or provide services to people, such as education, literacy, social justice, health care, and economic development.Thomas Hale 'On Being a Mi ...

such as Reverend Ray Phillips, who from about 1920 wanted to use the medium to impart (

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

) morals to black Africans. Phillips showed films to mine workers (most notably, during the 1922 white miners' strike), as well as to the

middle class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...

black elite who attended his

Bantu Men's Social Centre The Bantu Men's Social Centre, founded in 1924 in Johannesburg, South Africa, played social, political, and cultural roles in the lives of black South Africans. History The Bantu Men's Social Centre was started by Rev. Ray E. Phillips (1889–1 ...

(established by Phillips in Johannesburg). Most of these films came from Killarney Film Studios.Peterson, Bekhisizwe, 2003.
The Politics of Leisure during the Early Days of South African Cinema. In ''To Change Reels: Film and Film Culture in South Africa'' by Balseiro, Isabel and Ntongela Masilele (eds.). Wayne State University Press. Retrieved online on 6 January 2008. AFP produced "the first sound

advertisement Advertising is the practice and techniques employed to bring attention to a product or service. Advertising aims to put a product or service in the spotlight in hopes of drawing it attention from consumers. It is typically used to promote a ...

films in South Africa for ''Joko Tea'' and ''Pegasus'' products" in 1930. The first films to stimulate internal

tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...

were produced by AFP in serial magazine form, entitled ''Our Land''. In the 1940s a

special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as SFX, F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the imagined events in a story or virtual wor ...

s department was set up at Killarney. Reflecting the rise of

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: ...

nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...

, African Film Productions produced a plethora of popular light-hearted Afrikaans fare, such as ''Kom Saam Vanaand'' (Afrikaans, Come Along Tonight).Worsdale, Andrew. 1999.
From silence to subterfuge. ZA@play. Retrieved online on 6 January 2008. The first South African and

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

musical Musical is the adjective of music. Musical may also refer to: * Musical theatre, a performance art that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance * Musical film and television, a genre of film and television that incorporates into the narr ...

, this film was produced by

Pierre de Wet Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

in 1949. The studio also printed copies of international films, such as

J. Arthur Rank Joseph Arthur Rank, 1st Baron Rank (22 December 1888 – 29 March 1972) was a British industrialist who was head and founder of the Rank Organisation. Family business Rank was born on 22 or 23 December 1888 at Kingston upon Hull in England into ...

's ''

The Sea Shall Not Have Them ''The Sea Shall Not Have Them'' is a 1954 British war film starring Michael Redgrave, Dirk Bogarde and Anthony Steel. It was directed by Lewis Gilbert and is based on the 1953 novel by John Harris, about a North Sea rescue during the Second Wo ...

'' (1954).ASC Close-Up
Vincent Cox, ASC. Retrieved online 6 January 2008.

20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc. (previously known as 20th Century Fox) is an American film production company headquartered at the Fox Studio Lot in the Century City area of Los Angeles. As of 2019, it serves as a film production arm of Walt Dis ...

bought AFP in 1959 but as a result of the world decline of the movie ''

Cleopatra Cleopatra VII Philopator ( grc-gre, Κλεοπάτρα Φιλοπάτωρ}, "Cleopatra the father-beloved"; 69 BC10 August 30 BC) was Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt from 51 to 30 BC, and its last active ruler.She was also a ...

'' which cost the

film industry The film industry or motion picture industry comprises the technological and commercial institutions of filmmaking, i.e., film production companies, film studios, cinematography, animation, film production, screenwriting, pre-production, post ...

around the world very dearly, the Schlesinger family took back AFP due to non-payment. In 1967 Fox produced two films in South Africa directed by Robert D. Webb with

cinematography Cinematography (from ancient Greek κίνημα, ''kìnema'' "movement" and γράφειν, ''gràphein'' "to write") is the art of motion picture (and more recently, electronic video camera) photography. Cinematographers use a lens to focu ...

David Millin David Millin (11 June 1920 - 26 May 1999) was a South African film director, cinematographer and film producer. He has produced various Afrikaans and English films about his career. He has been a member of the American Society of Cinematographers ...

that were remakes of Fox films. ''

Yellow Sky ''Yellow Sky'' is a 1948 American Western film directed by William A. Wellman and starring Gregory Peck, Richard Widmark, and Anne Baxter. The story is believed to be loosely adapted from William Shakespeare's '' The Tempest''. The screenplay ...

'' was remade as ''

The Jackals ''The Jackals'' is a 1967 DeLuxe Color Western film from 20th Century Fox filmed at Killarney Film Studios South Africa. A remake of 1948's ''Yellow Sky'', it stars Vincent Price as a South African prospector named Oupa (grandpa) Decker and c ...

'' with

Vincent Price Vincent Leonard Price Jr. (May 27, 1911 – October 25, 1993) was an American actor, art historian, art collector and gourmet cook. He appeared on stage, television, and radio, and in more than 100 films. Price has two stars on the Hollywood Wal ...

and the then up and coming Robert Gunner and ''

Pickup on South Street ''Pickup on South Street'' is a 1953 Cold War spy film noir written and directed by Samuel Fuller, and released by the 20th Century Fox studio. The film stars Richard Widmark, Jean Peters, and Thelma Ritter. It was screened at the Venice Film Fes ...

'' was remade as ''

The Cape Town Affair ''The Cape Town Affair'' is director Robert D. Webb's 1967 glamorized spy film produced by 20th Century Fox at Killarney Film Studios in South Africa. The film stars Claire Trevor, James Brolin, and Jacqueline Bisset. It is a remake of the 1953 ...

'' with

Claire Trevor Claire Trevor ( Wemlinger; March 8, 1910April 8, 2000) was an American actress. She appeared in 65 feature films from 1933 to 1982, winning the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in ''Key Largo'' (1948), and received nomina ...

and the up-and-coming

James Brolin James Brolin (, born Craig Kenneth Bruderlin; July 18, 1940) is an American actor. Brolin has won two Golden Globes and an Emmy. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 27, 1998. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin. He is ...

and

Jacqueline Bisset Winifred Jacqueline Fraser Bisset ( ; born 13 September 1944) is a British actress. She began her film career in 1965 and first came to prominence in 1968 with roles in '' The Detective'', ''Bullitt'', and ''The Sweet Ride'', for which she rec ...

. In 1968 the company made ''Majuba'' about the

First Boer War The First Boer War ( af, Eerste Vryheidsoorlog, literally "First Freedom War"), 1880–1881, also known as the First Anglo–Boer War, the Transvaal War or the Transvaal Rebellion, was fought from 16 December 1880 until 23 March 1881 betwee ...

. In the 1970s the Sanlam Corporation bought AFP from the Schlesingers and later it was resold, the name was changed to South African Screen Productions and the studio was moved to Balfour Park. Killarney Film Studios' original buildings were demolished in 1972 by John Schlesinger (Isidore W.'s son), who built Johannesburg's first mall, Killarney Mall.Thomas, Harvey. 2000.
The man who re-invented Killarney. Retrieved online 6 January 2008.

Notable staff

* General manager(s): Hyman Kirstein, Benny Mechanik (1972) *

Directors Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''Di ...

(1940s-70s) *

Cameras A camera is an optical instrument that can capture an image. Most cameras can capture 2D images, with some more advanced models being able to capture 3D images. At a basic level, most cameras consist of sealed boxes (the camera body), with a ...

: Joseph Albrecht, African Mirror; Italo Bernicchi, African Mirror, during the 1950s; Vincent Cox (ASC); David Millin, African Mirror (ASC)The Internet Movie Database.
Biography for David Millin. Retrieved online 6 January 2008. * Film editors: Barney Bernard Joffe (chief editor), Tommy Doig (assistant editor) Peter Grossett, Bill Asher Features Editors *

Art director Art director is the title for a variety of similar job functions in theater, advertising, marketing, publishing, fashion, film industry, film and television, the Internet, and video games. It is the charge of a sole art director to supervise and ...

: Gordon Vorster (1950–63)Gordon Vorster
. The Man of Africa. Retrieved online 6 January 2008. *

Makeup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , ''asteriskos'', "little star", is a typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a heraldic star. Computer scientists and mathematicians often voc ...

: William "Bill" Bell

Notable Films

* 1915: ''The Artist's Dream'': first South African animated film * 1916: '' De Voortrekkers'' * 1930: ''In the Land of the Zulus'', "the first sound film of Black traditional life". * 1949: [Afrikaans, Come Along Tonight), the first South African and Afrikaans musical. * 1968: ''Majuba'' directed by

about the Battle of Majuba Hill * 1974: Gold (1974 film), ''Gold'', starring Roger Moore and Susannah York, nominated in 47th Academy Awards, 1975 for an Academy Awards, Academy Award for (Best Original Song Score and Its Adaptation or Adaptation Score, Best Music, Original Song) and a BAFTA for Best Sound Track.The Internet Movie Database.
''Gold''. Retrieved online 6 January 2008.

References

{{Authority control Film production companies of South Africa Companies based in Johannesburg Mass media in Johannesburg

History

Notable staff

Notable Films

See also

References