Register (Adelaide, SA : 1901 - 1929), Friday 7 September 1923, page 14


'TOWNIES AND HAYSEEDS.'

COMEDY AT THE YORK. Most Australian picture* we have had have been, dramas of a, sensational type. Few producers have explored the field of comedy. When Beaumont Smith first entered the moving picture field he '-pro-duced a series of comedies entitled 'The Hayseeds.' But somehow he departed from the laughing side of picture production, and went in for more serious drama, making 'The Man From Snowy Biver, 'The Betrayer,' 'While the BUIy Boils,' and several other well-known films. However, after a year's absence from producing circles, he has come to the fore again, this tune with a film that is funnier than his friends ever dreamed he could make. It is called 'Townies and Hayseeds,' and will be shown at the York -Theatre tomorrow. In a satirical vein he deals with the humour and peculiarities of city people, especially 'when they visit their country cousins. He has created what is a typical Australian city family, and it consists of Pa and 'Ma Townie, and their brood of children, rail named after capital cities— Melbourne, Sydney, Adelaide, Brisbane, Perth, and Hobart. Pa Townie's holidays having fallen due. he decides to take his family into the country and fill them up with fresh air and milk. They go to stay with Dad Hayseed and his extensive family. The Townies have some quaint ideas of country life, and they cause the Hayseeds endless merriment. One can well imagine the hundred and one eccentric, ignorant things city _pgople do on a farm. After a riotous month the Townies return to Tonrak.- tak-ing Dad and Mum Hayseed with them. Here more contrast is jjiven to the picture by the doings of Dad , and Mum in fashionable circles. A pleasant, simple, triangular love story runs through, the picture, and the ends of the triangle are Adelaide Townie (named Adelaide because she was so cultured), a 'pommy/' named 'Choom,' and a returned Aussie soldier named 'Goorge.' The picture is right up to date, and contains wine brilliant satire. It is said that a character representing William Morris Hughes 'blows into' one important scene. The character is one carrying a bag containing; £25,000. The 'Suicide Club,' at The Gap, Sydney, is a very original scene, and will cause merriment. The picture is beautifully photographed, and it is delightfully acted by a score of well-chosen types. Beautiful little Lotus Thompson plays-the heroine (Adelaide Townie), while the leading comedy roles are undertaken by George Edwards (well known on the Australian stage); P. J. O'Neill is Dad Hayseed, and W. J. Newman, an English actor, plays the part of Choom, the 'pommy.' A large portion of the film wbb made in Adelaide, scenes having been photographed in the prinicipal streets, on the Torrens, and round Toorak. It should have a very strong local appeal. The programme, in addition, includes Elliott. Dexter and Claire. Windsor in 'The Grand Larceny.' The eminent Melbourne 'soprano, Miss Lillian Grahame, will make her farewell appearance before leaving for the eastern States.