Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1931 - 1954), Thursday 19 May 1949, page 3


No Camp For Film Natives

From A Staff Representative QUORN, May 18.

After a trying 54 hour train journey from Ooldea in two cattle vans and an obsolete railway carriage.

the natives who will appear in the film "Bitter Springs" have spent a wet and miserable day at Quorn. Their camp at Warren's Gorge was not ready when they arrived late last night and they were taken to the Quorn oval on the outskirts of the town, and given crude accommodation. They wfll stay there in sheds and under improvised canvas shelters until the weather improves and it is possible to pitch their tents on a site selected this morn-ing, about a mile from the shooting location at the gorge. Toe party, made up of about 40 men, 30 women and 50 boys and girls under 15—some of them piccaninnies carried on their mothers' backs—has been making the best of its unhappy lot. Soon after the canvas shelters were erected the older men and many of the lubras were tightly packed round a smoking log fire. The children forgot their dis-comfort in a happy singsong. An attendant said they had also relieved the tedium of the long rail trip—from the eastern edge of the Nullarbor Plain—by singing. "An Oversight" When the plight of the abo-rigines was reported this morn-ing to the Mayor of Quom (Mr. A. Thompson) he rang Adelaide and obtained authority from the Aborigines' Department to incur expense in having the tents erected for the natives and in caring for them generally. "This unfortunate hitch is due to an oversight somewhere," said Mr. Thompson. Mr. Ralph Smart, who will direct the film, agreed that there had been an oversight, but it was not on the part of Ealing Studios. "When we first talked to the SA Government about making the film," he added, "the Pre-mier (Mr. Playford) was most helpful in promising to supply us with the aborigines we re-quired if we made the picture here. "Arrangements for the ac-commodation and general care of the natives were out of our hands." The misshmer at Ooldea (Mr. H. Green), who is in charge of the party, was more critical of the travelling conditions than the breakdown in the reception arrangements. Train Criticised There were no sanitary con-veniences or lights in the two cattle vans, he said, and the obsolete carriage was extremely uncomfortable. "It was unfair," he added, "that the Commonwealth Rail-ways should charge full second class fare for this form of tra-vel." The natives had behaved splendidly throughout the trying journey. Some had not wanted to come, but when it was ex-plained that the experience would be something in the nature of a game they were more inclined towards the idea. They were completely won over when told that they would have an opportunity to hunt euros in the Flinders Ranges, and the men and older youths had brought spears and woomeras.