''Sunshine Sally'' is a 1922 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 ...

directed by

Lawson Harris William Lawson Harris (June 30, 1897 – March 31, 1948) was an American director, actor, producer, and writer who made a number of films in Australia. He came to Australia originally at the behest of Arthur Shirley to work as production manag ...

set in the Sydney suburb of

Woolloomooloo Woolloomooloo ( ) is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Woolloomooloo is 1.5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. It is in a lo ...

. Most of the movie survives today.

Plot

Sal and Tottie are sacked from their jobs in a laundry, then go on a picnic with friends Skinny and Spud. Skinny and Spud are both romantically interested in Sal but she spurns their attentions. Sal is rescued in the surf

Coogee Beach Coogee Beach may refer to: *Coogee, New South Wales, beach in Sydney, NSW, Australia *Coogee, Western Australia Coogee is a southern coastal suburb of Perth, Western Australia, located within the City of Cockburn. History The suburb takes its ...

by wealthy

lifeguard A lifeguard is a rescuer who supervises the safety and rescue of swimmers, surfers, and other water sports participants such as in a swimming pool, water park, beach, spa, river and lake. Lifeguards are trained in swimming and CPR/ AED first a ...

Basil Stanton and taken to his family home in

Potts Point Potts Point is a small and densely populated suburb in inner-city Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Potts Point is located east of the Sydney central business district and is part of the local government area of the City of Sydney. Potts ...

to recuperate. Sal and Basil fall in love and get married. Spud and Skinny are arrested for drunkenness and reform. Spud marries Tottie and Skinny marries a woman from the

Salvation Army Salvation (from Latin: ''salvatio'', from ''salva'', 'safe, saved') is the state of being saved or protected from harm or a dire situation. In religion and theology, ''salvation'' generally refers to the deliverance of the soul from sin and its c ...

Cast

* Yvonne Pavis as Sal *Joy Revelle as Tottie Faye * John Cosgrove as Spud Murphy *Dinks Patterson as Skinny Smith *Mrs Hutton as Katie Smith *J. P. O'Neill as Bill Smith *Sheila Moore as Mrs Constance Stanton * Lionel Lunn as Basil Stanton *Mervyn Barrington as James Stanton *Maude Ranier as Salvation Army woman

Production

The film was shot in October and November 1922 under the title ''Winnie of Woolloomooloo''. Vaudevillean Dinks Patterson, of Dinks and Onkus, made his film debut. Some studio interiors were shot late at night because John Cosgrove was appearing on stage each day in the city. Scenes were shot at Long Bay Gaol. One of the actors quit during filming.

Reception

The movie was not a success at the box office and Harris and Pavis soon left Australia to return to the US. However film writers Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper praised the film:

It is clearly a work of confident professionalism, offering a perceptive portrait of a distinctively Australian lifestyle. The American star, Yvonne Pavis, and her American director, Lawson Harris, had not only sympathy and clarity of vision but also the ability to express themselves effectively on film, creating credible characters and capturing thoroughly colloquial dialogue in the inter titles.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 114.

One reviewer said it was the "best picture" made in Australia.

References

External links

*
''Sunshine Sally
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 ...

1922 films Silent Australian drama films Australian black-and-white films Australian silent feature films 1922 drama films 1920s English-language films {{Australia-silent-film-stub