Around the Boree Log

Around the Boree Log is a 1925 Australian silent film by Phil K. Walsh adapted from the poems of "John O'Brien" (Patrick Joseph Hartigan). It tells stories of a priest's life around the 1870s in the Goulburn area.[3][4]

Around the Boree Log
Directed byPhil K. Walsh
Written byPhil K. Walsh
Based onpoems of Patrick Joseph Hartigan
StarringMolly O'Donohue[1]
CinematographyLacey Percival
Production
company
Phil K. Walsh Productions
Release date
25 September 1925[2]
Running time
7,100 feet
CountryAustralia
LanguagesSilent film
English intertitles

Unlike many Australian silent films, a copy of it survives today.

Plot

A priest reads from the book of poems by John O'Brien and recalls his earlier life in the country. He remembers travelling hawkers, his first school, a bishop inspection, childhood romance, and the marriage of a girl to another man.

Cast
  • Molly O'Donohue (or O'Donohoe)[5] as Laughing Mary

Production

The movie was shot on location in the New South Wales bush, mostly at the Wollondilly River area near Goulburn, in early 1925.[6] The director had previously worked as an assistant on While the Billy Boils (1921) and would direct The Birth of White Australia (1928).[3] He also tried to make a film of the novel Love Blind but was unable to raise finance.[7]

Most of the cast were anonymous people who lived in the area.[8] Unlike The Birth of White Australia, which was funded by the residents of Young, this film received no financial assistance from Goulburn.[9]

Release

The film met with resistance from distributors who felt it was Roman Catholic propaganda.[10] It was also criticised for having little plot and consisting mostly of a travelogue of scenery and incidents in the country.[8]

Other reviewers however gave it unqualified praise;[11] it screened throughout Australia and New Zealand, made money for its backers, and created renewed interest for Hartigan's book.[12]

References
  1. "Majestic". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 9 February 1926. p. 11. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  2. "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 28 September 1925. p. 2. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  3. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 128.
  4. "The Majestic". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 8 February 1926. p. 9. Retrieved 22 February 2012.
  5. "Advertising". The Daily Standard (Brisbane). Queensland, Australia. 8 February 1926. p. 2. Retrieved 12 March 2020 – via Trove.
  6. "The Majestic". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 8 February 1926. p. 9. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  7. "Distinguished Film Producer". Windsor and Richmond Gazette. NSW: National Library of Australia. 23 April 1926. p. 3. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  8. "New Films". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 28 September 1925. p. 5. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  9. "Slow Goulburn". Goulburn Evening Penny Post. New South Wales, Australia. 10 February 1925. p. 2. Retrieved 10 March 2020 – via Trove.
  10. "Film Inquiry". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 9 June 1927. p. 6. Retrieved 1 August 2012.
  11. "Entertainments". Warwick Daily News. Queensland, Australia. 21 June 1926. p. 7. Retrieved 12 March 2020 – via Trove.
  12. "Australian Success". The Gosford Times and Wyong District Advocate. New South Wales, Australia. 29 July 1926. p. 4. Retrieved 10 March 2020 – via Trove.


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