''Showgirl's Luck'' is a 1931 Australian

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 Musical film is a film genre in which songs by the Character (arts), charac ...

directed by

Norman Dawn Norman O. Dawn (25 May 1884 – 2 February 1975) was an early American film director. He made several improvements on the matte shot to apply it to motion picture, and was the first director to use rear projection in film production. Dawn's i ...

. It was the first Australian full talking film.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p155

Synopsis

Peggy Morton (Susan Denis) works as the star of a touring tent show in rural Queensland when she is offered the lead in the first Australian talking film, being made in the Blue Mountains. A rival, Mona Blake (Sadie Bedford) tells her that the offer has been withdrawn and takes the job instead. Peggy's show closes and she finds a job by posing as a Swedish maid. She winds up employed at the same hotel being used by the film company and discovers Mona's deception. Mona's husband abducts Peggy but an actor, Barry (Arthur Clarke) rescues her. Peggy ends up getting cast in the film.

Cast

*Susan Denis as Peggy Morton *

Arthur Tauchert Arthur Michael Tauchert (pronounced "Torcher") (21 August 1877 – 27 November 1933) was an Australian acrobatic comedian, dancer, singer, film actor, and star of the Australian silent film, ''The Sentimental Bloke'' (1919). Biography Born in t ...

as Hap *Arthur Clarke as Barry * Fred Bluett as Hollis *Sadie Bedford as Mona *Paul Longuet as Dud *George Saunders as Uncle George *

Peggy Pryde Peggy Pryde (born 19 July 1867 (baptised as Letitia Matilda on 14 May 1876 in Lambeth, London, England) – 17 May 1943 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) was a British music hall performer of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She ...

*George Lloyd *Les Coney *Des Tooley *the Loretto Brothers

Production

The film was directed by

, who had previously made two films in Australia. He returned to Sydney in October 1929 with plans to make a sound movie using a sound-on-disc recording system. He announced he would go into partnership with J. C. Williamson Ltd but this does not seem to have eventuated. The formed a company, Australian Talkies. One of his investors was radio announcer, "Uncle George" Saunders. An original title of the film was ''Talkie Mad''. Shooting started in May 1930 and took place at the Lapstone Hill Hotel in the Blue Mountains and at the Sydney Showground. The female lead, Susan Denis, was Dawn's wife. Dawn liked to use sophisticated optical effects such as exposures and matts.

Release

By the time the film was read for trade screening in January 1931, the sound-on-disc system was out of date and Dawn tried to transfer the sound to an optical track. It did not premiere until December 1931, after which it only ran a week in Australian cinemas. Although the film managed to be released in the UK, commercial and critical reception was poor and Dawn made no further films in Australia. Uncle George Saunders later declared bankruptcy and complained about Dawn:

The directors f Australian Talkiesborrowed £1,400. Norman Dawn and his wife were brought from the United States to produce a picture, and then Dawn disappeared. They learnt he had gone back to America. He had trouble with his wife and left us high and dry with the picture. The person who lent us the money took possession. The directors lost everything.

References

External links

''Showgirl's Luck''
in the

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

''Showgirl's Luck''
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 c ...

''Showgirl's Luck''
at Oz Movies {{Norman Dawn 1931 films 1931 lost films 1931 musical comedy films 1930s Australian films 1930s English-language films Australian black-and-white films Australian musical comedy films Films directed by Norman Dawn Lost Australian comedy films Lost musical comedy films English-language musical comedy films