A Rough Passage

A Rough Passage is a 1922 Australian silent film directed by Franklyn Barrett based on the novel by Arthur Wright. It was Barrett's final feature and is considered a lost film.[2]

A Rough Passage
Directed byFranklyn Barrett
Based onnovel by Arthur Wright
Produced byFranklyn Barrett
StarringStella Southern
Hayford Hobbs
CinematographyFranklyn Barrett
Production
company
Barret's Australian Productions
Distributed byFranklyn Barrett
Release date
22 July 1922[1]
Running time
6,000 feet
CountryAustralia
LanguagesSilent film
English intertitles

Plot

Laurie Larand (Hayford Hobbs) returns from the war and finds himself jilted and broke. He goes to work for a horse trainer who he discovers to be in league with a book maker to fleece the horse owners.

He also comes across a Shakesperean actor, Poverty Point (Arthur Albert), who becomes his friend, and the beautiful Doiya (Stella Southern), who he falls in love with.

In the finale, Larland exposes the villains and is united with Doris.[3]

Cast

Original Novel
A Rough Passage
AuthorArthur Wright
IllustratorPercy Lindsay
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
SeriesBookstall series
PublisherNSW Bookstall
Publication date
1921
Pages189

Arthur Wright's original novel was published in 1921.[5]

Plot

Laurie Larand, a returned soldier, discovers that the barmaid he has entrusted with his money is missing. After a bad day at the races he has no money. He goes to live in the Domain but is helped by a trainer and an actor friend to get back on his feet. He discovers the trainer is in cahoots with bookmakers.

Reception

The novel appears to have been well received. "He shows to advantage as a writer of humor", said one critic.[6] Another stated that, "Not many Australians, perhaps, are writing "literature", but quite a fair number are turning out readable and respectable yarns, and Arthur Wright is one of the number."[7]

Production

The film was made with Wright's close involvement.[8] Hayford Hobbs was an English actor touring Australia when the film was made.[9][10]

Reception

The movie was distributed by Barrett himself, due in part to his difficulties with the Australasian Films monopoly, and was not widely seen.[11]

Arthur Wright later said the film was:

Produced and photographed excellently by Franklyn Barrett, but bringing little grist to the mill of movie ' picture production. It was a flop financially, as were practically all the latter day local silents, which were never given the chance they deserved. Fate and oversea interests were against the Industry, which went into a decline.[12]

Barrett's company soon wound up and he left filmmaking to go into cinema management.[13]

Critical

The Advertiser called the movie "a delightful comedy-drama" in which Arthur Albert "is excellently cast".[14] The Register called it "a stirring racing film" which "cannot fail to please the most exacting. In addition the comedy in the picture is exceedingly clever, and productive of many hearty laughs."[15] The Launceston Daily Telegraph said that "from the very first moment that the screen reflected the delightful panorama of our bush land I knew that here at last I had found a picture which, would prove worth while the time it had taken to produce."[16]

See also

References
  1. "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 July 1922. p. 3. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "A Rough Passage". silentera.com. Retrieved 6 March 2013.
  3. "AT THE PAY". The Register. Adelaide. 26 September 1924. p. 15. Retrieved 21 January 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "FOOTLIGHT FLASHES". The Truth. Sydney. 5 March 1922. p. 2. Retrieved 1 December 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "" A ROUGH PASSAGE."". Zeehan and Dundas Herald. Tas. 30 March 1921. p. 4. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "REVIEW". Illawarra Mercury. Wollongong, NSW. 1 April 1921. p. 7. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "REVIEW NOTICES". Murray Pioneer and Australian River Record. Renmark, SA. 20 May 1921. p. 8. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "BURNIE THEATRE TO MORROW". The Advocate. Burnie, Tas. 11 September 1922. p. 4. Retrieved 21 January 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. "MUSIC AND DRAMA". The Sydney Morning Herald. 10 July 1920. p. 8. Retrieved 22 January 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "A NEW TEACHER OF SINGING". The Sunday Times. Sydney. 19 February 1922. p. 22. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 112.
  12. "To Pana's Page On Passing and Past Shows". The Referee. Sydney. 1 July 1931. p. 24. Retrieved 13 September 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. Rutledge, Martha, 'Barrett, Walter Franklyn (1873–1964)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University accessed 22 January 2012
  14. ""A ROUGH PASSAGE."". The Advertiser. Adelaide. 24 September 1924. p. 18. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. "AT THE PAY". The Register. Adelaide. 26 September 1924. p. 15. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. "AMUSEMENTS". The Daily Telegraph. Launceston, Tas. 7 September 1922. p. 2. Retrieved 4 October 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
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