''The Jackeroo of Coolabong'' is a 1920 Australian

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized Sound recording and reproduction, 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) ...

starring renowned Australian sportsman

Snowy Baker Reginald Leslie "Snowy" Baker (8 February 18842 December 1953) was an Australian athlete, sports promoter, and actor. Born in Surry Hills, an inner-city suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Baker excelled at a number of sports, winning New Sout ...

. It was the last of three films he made with the husband and wife team of director

Wilfred Lucas Wilfred Van Norman Lucas (January 30, 1871 – December 13, 1940) was a Canadian American stage actor who found success in film as an actor, director, and screenwriter. Early life Lucas was born in Norfolk County, Ontario on January 30, 1871,US ...

and writer

Bess Meredyth Bess Meredyth (born Helen Elizabeth MacGlashen, February 12, 1890 – July 13, 1969) was a screenwriter and silent film actress. The wife of film director Michael Curtiz, Meredyth wrote ''The Affairs of Cellini'' (1934) and adapted '' The Unsus ...

, both of whom had been imported from Hollywood. It is considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

Synopsis

Brian O'Farrell (

), is an English 'new chum' who takes a job at an Australian cattle station. He is teased by station hands because of his appearance (including spats and a monocle) but he soon impresses them with his skills at riding and boxing. The station manager, John MacDonald (

), takes O'Farrell to Sydney to meet his daughter Edith (Kathleen Key) who is working in the slums. Edith is kidnapped by criminals after witnessing a crime but O'Farrell rescues her. It is later revealed he is the owner of the station.

Cast

as Brian O'Farrell * Kathleen Key as Edith MacDonald *

as John MacDonald * Arthur Tauchert * Bernice Vere *Arthur Greenaway

Production

Kathleen Key was imported from the US to play the female lead. Shooting took place in June 1920. During filming a kangaroo hunt in

Narrabri Narrabri ( ) is a locality and seat of Narrabri Shire local government area in the North West Slopes, New South Wales, Australia on the Namoi River, northwest of Sydney. It sits on the junction of the Kamilaroi Highway and the Newell Highw ...

, an extra, Nellie Park, fell off her horse and died of a fractured skull several days later. Charles Chauvel worked on the film.

Release

The film was re-edited and released in the USA as ''The Fighting Breed''. Like all the Baker-Meredyth-Lucas collaborations, it was successful at the box office overseas, but returns did not come in quickly. During filming E. J. Carroll clashed with

over the cost of films. Lucas soon returned to Hollywood with

, taking Baker with them.

Raymond Longford Raymond Longford (born John Walter Hollis Longford, 23 September 18782 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian ...

took over Carroll's Palmerston studio.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 102.

References

External links

*
''The Jackeroo of Coolabong''
at the National Film and Sound Archive
''The Jackeroo of Coolabong'' at SilentEra''The Fighting Breed''
at

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