Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Monday 19 September 1932, page 6


AUSTRALIAN FILMS.

Dearth of Actors.

MR. K. HALL'S LECTURE.

Speaking at a meeting of the Film Society, Mr. K. Hall, the director of "On Our Selec-tion," gave an Interesting talk on "Some Practical Problems of Film Production."

People often maintained, he said, that Aus-tralia had the climate, the scenery, and the acting talent necessary to produce fine motion pictures. But this statement was seriously incorrect. The climate and the scenery were certainly here; but it was the most difficult thing in the world at present to find screen actors in this country. The screen was not a "career" In Australia, and would not be a career for many years yet. At present, the next production by Cinesound was being held up precisely by this difficulty of finding actors for its leading roles. The company wanted to go on with "The Silence of Dean Maitland." If the part of the Dean was filled, work could begin within a month. But an actor capable of playing the Dean had not yet appeared.

Original scenarios, like prospective actors, arrived at the studio every day in shoals: and two men had been specially appointed care-fully to examine them all, but most of this material was hopeless from the beginning.

It seemed that a great gulf was fixed be-tween good art on the screen and the sort of thing which won success from a money-mak-ing point of view. Art and financial success did not mix In the world of the screen. Broad, rollicking comedy was what the people liked; and the success of "On Our Selection," which had been deliberately contrived along these ]ines with an eye to the box-office, had proved this proposition beyond a doubt.