Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Saturday 16 October 1926, page 10


AUSTRALIAN FILMS,

Capt. Frank Hurley's Adventures.

Few names are better known in tho world's photographic circles than that of Capt. Frank Hurley, who was associated with Sir Dnnn.

las Mawson in the . Adelie Land expedition, later joined Sir Ernest Shackleton's party, and was responsible for the production of a film of the late Sir Ross Smith's flight from London to Australia. It will be remembered that when Sir Ross flew over Adelaide Capt. Hurley took cinematograph pictures while strapped on the top wiug ot the plane, but such incidents, have become of a more or less every-day nature in the adventurous life of Capt. Hurley, who lias since crammed an. abundance of thrills and excitement into his career in the capacity of a producer of moving pictures, taken in the wildest and remotest parts of Australia and New Guinea. Adelaide people will call to mind his beautiful travel film 'Pearls and Savages,' which was the first of his productions to be shown in this city, and met v.-ith marked

auui-eaa mruuguoui me commonwealth. On Friday lie again arrived in Adelaide— this time with two tine moving pictures, differing from his previous films, inasmuch as they have a drama running through them, as well as containing many beautiful scenic effects. This is the result of his travels with 'Pearls and Ravages m America, which Capt. Hurley is convinced is a closed book so far as imported films are concerned. He met with better success in England, but discovered that purely travel pictures could not reach the masses, unless a story theme was interpolated. Consequently he interviewed Mr. Oswald Stoll, a London theatrical magnate, who agreed to finance the taking of two films in the northern Australian tropics, a -company of eight British artists was sent from London, and two pictures— 'The Jungle Woman' and 'The Hound of the Deep'— were limed amid considerable difficulties in Dutch New Guinea and Thursday Island. Hie lastnamed contained many underwater scenes taken among the penrlinc; ugaers, and in the 'Jungle Woman' the leading part was taken by a Sydney cirl Miss Grace Savieri. Many 'supers' -were obtained from Sydney, and the sen-ices of hundreds of natives were also enlisted for the very realistic fight scenes. No Over Acting. As Capt. Hurley explained to a representative of The Register at the South Australian Hotel on Friday, every endeavour was made to eliminate overacting, the idea being that those gazing at the screen should gain the impresion nat they were looking at a real incident from life. The company had to fight against'- tropical sickness and fever, and the taking of the 'sets' was really a race against time. Not an inch of the picture was taken in a studio. No tests were made, and 100,000 feet of film was used without a test being made, and the art'sts were sent back to London before any of it was developed. The result was 00 per cent, success. 'The Jungle Woman' would be shown at West's on Saturday (to-night), and three weeks ater 'The Hound of the Deep,' which lad never before been screened, would be shown.

las indicated his .willingness to advance further capital in the direction of forming an Empire Moving Picture Company, and the Commonwealth Government was also sympathetic. The idea was to establish studios in every country o' the Empire, and travel a company o'f artists round, takinc (say) two pictures in each dominion each year.