Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), Monday 18 November 1935, page 17


I NATIVE ACTORS

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For Australian Film.

EMPLOYMENT SAFEGUARDED, j

' Mr. Charles Chauvel, producer for Expedi-

tionary Films, Ltd., said yesterday that, in choosing natives at Palm Island to come to Sydney to act as extras in the film "Un-civilised," great care had been exercised by the Queensland Government Aboriginal De-

partment and himself In the choice of abo- ' rigines. A rigid medical test had to be passed

by the natives, and only men who were physl- I cally fit and of good behaviour and charac-ter were listed. No native women would be brought to Sydney.

The conditions under which the aboriginal actors would work in the picture, he said, would be equal to those applying to the usual motion picture extras, except that, instead of recelvin. casual rates of pay, the aborigines would receive continuóos pay for between two and three months. The work would be so regulated that periods of rest and recreation would be allowed, and the aborigines would also be housed, fed, and clothed in accord-ance with an agreement entered into with the Queensland Aboriginal Department.

Mr. Chauvel emphasised that the natives would be employed on the same terms as those made with station owners and others employing native labour. He commended the Queensland Government's system of with-holding a proportion of an aboriginal's earn-ings, which he described as a superannua-tion scheme that protected the black man and provided security, not only for his own future, but for that of his family. By allow-ing the aborigines to take part In a film deal-ing only with the highest aspects of their life, the Queensland Government was falling into line with the Imperial Government, which had given enormous assistance to the pro-ducers of "Sanders of the River" and "The Bengal Lancer" by organising on behalf of those companies large parties of native

tribes.