''The Squatter's Daughter'' is a 1910 Australian silent film based on the popular

play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * Pla ...

Bert Bailey Albert Edward Bailey (11 June 1868 – 30 March 1953), better known as Bert Bailey, was a New Zealand-born Australian playwright, theatrical manager and stage and screen actor best known for playing Dad Rudd, in both mediums, the character from ...

and Edmund Duggan.

Synopsis

The plot concerns the rivalry between two neighboring sheep stations, Enderby and Waratah. This version includes the subplot about the

bushranger Bushrangers were originally escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlement of Australia who used the bush as a refuge to hide from the authorities. By the 1820s, the term had evolved to refer to those who took up "robbery under ...

Ben Hall which was not used when the play was adapted again in

1933 Events January * January 11 – Sir Charles Kingsford Smith makes the first commercial flight between Australia and New Zealand. * January 17 – The United States Congress votes in favour of Philippines independence, against the wis ...

Cast

Olive Wilton Olive Dorothea Graeme Wilton (1883–1971) was an English-born stage actor, theatre producer and speech and drama teacher who worked extensively in England and Australia. She came to Australia in 1906 and decided to settle there. In 1910 she playe ...

as Violet Enderby *

as Archie McPherson * Edmund Duggan as Ben Hall * J.H. Nunn as James Harrington * Rutland Beckett as Dudley Harrington *

George Cross The George Cross (GC) is the highest award bestowed by the British government for non-operational gallantry or gallantry not in the presence of an enemy. In the British honours system, the George Cross, since its introduction in 1940, has been ...

as Tom Bathurst * George Mackenzie as Nick Harvey * Temple Harrison as Nulla Nulla * Edwin Campbell as Billy *

Eugenie Duggan Eugenie Marian Duggan (1872 – 2 November 1936) was a popular Australian stage actress. She was the sister of the actors Edmund, P.J. and Kathleen Duggan. She began studying acting, won a number of elocution competitions and made her professio ...

Production

Filming took place in June 1910 with cast from the acting company of theatre producer

William Anderson William Anderson may refer to: Arts and entertainment * William Anderson (artist) (1757–1837), painter of marine and historical paintings * William Anderson (theatre) (1868–1940), Australian stage entrepreneur * William Anderson (1911–1986), ...

at the Kings Theatre Melbourne, many of whom had just appeared in '' The Man from Outback'', also by Bailey and Duggan. Theatre star

played the lead role, with Bailey and Duggan in support. One of her leading men, George Cross, later became a casting director for

Cinesound Productions Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was an Australian feature film production company, established in June 1931, Cinesound developed out of a group of companies centred on Greater Union Theatres, that covered all facets of the film process, from produ ...

. Shooting took place in Ivanhoe and other surrounding districts of Melbourne entirely outdoors, even interior scenes. "Under these circumstances brilliant sunshine was the main factor to be wooed", recalled Olive Wilton. "It seemed impossible to acquire sufficient light without a constant battle against high wind, which made these interior scenes a nightmare, with hair and clothes blowing in all directions." However the fact it was a movie allowed the demonstration of scenes only discussed in the play, such as Nulla escaping the bushranger's cave. Other sequences praised by reviewers included the abduction of the squatter's daughter, the pursuit by Ben Hall and his gang, Ben Hall's last stand, the dash through the cataract, the farm house rope bridge, the waterfall, the shearing match, and a champion stock whip artist. It was advertised as being the most expensive movie ever made in Australia to that date, but this is unlikely.

Reception

Screenings were often accompanied by a lecture. The movie was a popular success at the box office, breaking records in Sydney and Melbourne, and enjoying long runs throughout the country. It achieved a cinema release in England, one of the first Australian films to do so. Bert Bailey and

Ken G. Hall Kenneth George Hall, AO, OBE (22 February 1901 – 8 February 1994), better known as Ken G. Hall, was an Australian film producer and director, considered one of the most important figures in the history of the Australian film industry. ...

tried to track down a copy of the movie when Hall directed a version in 1933 but was unsuccessful. No known copies of it exist today, and it is considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...

. The Perth ''Sunday Times'' called the film a "calamity in celluloid."

References

External links

*
''The Squatter's Daughter''
at

Ausstage AusStage: The Australian Live Performance Database is an online database which records information about live performances in Australia, providing records of productions from the first recorded performance in Australia (1789, by convicts) up unt ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Squatter's Daughter (1910 film) 1910s Australian films 1910 films 1910 Western (genre) films 1910 lost films Australian black-and-white films Australian films based on plays Lost Australian films Lost Western (genre) films Silent Australian Western (genre) films 1910s English-language films