Australasian Cinema > actors >
See also: Lottie Lyell as writer.
Pike & Cooper:
Through his most creative years Longford was closely associated with Lottie Lyell, until her death from tuberculosis on 21 December 1925. Born in Sydney on 23 February 1890 as Lottie Edith Cox, she acted with touring stage companies before joining Spencer in 1911 to play leading roles in Longford's film productions. She was an accomplished horsewoman and opportunities were often contrived in her films to display her riding skills. Her exact contribution to Longford's work can never be properly assessed; certainly she worked with him variously as actress, writer, associate director, art director and co-producer when his most important films were made, and the loss of her support was possibly a key factor in his creative decline after her death.
Fatal Wedding, The (Raymond Longford, 1911) Spencer's Pictures, screenplay, scenario, script Raymond Longford, dp Arthur Higgins; Raymond Longford (Howard Wilson), Lottie Lyell (Mabel Wilson), Walter Vincent (Robert Curtis), Tom Cosgrove (Toto), Harry Saville (Peter Schwartz), George Ellis (Constable O'Reilly), Mr Henderson (Reverend Dr Lanceford), Miss Clare (Cora Williams), Helen Fergus (Bridget), Elsie Rennie (Jessie), Master Anson (Frankie), Jack Goodall; first film to bring together Longford, Lyell and Higgins; 3500 ft
Romantic Story Of Margaret Catchpole, The** (Raymond Longford, 1911) Spencer's Pictures, dp Ernest Higgins; Lottie Lyell (Margaret Catchpole), Raymond Longford, Augustus Neville, Sybil Wilde, William Coulter, E. Melville, Fred Hardy, Walter Vincent, Fred Twitcham, Jack Goodall, J. Howard, H. Parker, J. Eldridge, C. Swain, Arno, Mr Spencer's dapple grey horse; 3000 ft (?) of which about half survives
Midnight Wedding, The (Raymond Longford, 1912) Spencer's Pictures, wr. Raymond Longford from the play by Walter Howard, dp Ernest Higgins; Augustus Neville, Lottie Lyell, D. L. Dalziel; 3000 ft
Tide Of Death, The (Raymond Longford, 1912) Spencer's Pictures, wr. Raymond Longford, dp Tasman Higgins; Augustus Neville, Lottie Lyell, Frank Harcourt; 3000 ft, 33 min.
Neath Austral Skies (Raymond Longford, 1913) Lottie Lyell
Maori Maid 's Love, A (Raymond Longford, 1915) prod. Raymond Longford, Lottie Lyell, Vita Film Corp, Zealandia Photo Play Producing Co.; Lottie Lyell, Raymond Longford, Kenneth Carlisle, Rawdon Blandford; no footage exists; 5000 ft, five reels; Aust/NZ; first shown NZ Nov 1915; has a claim to being first NZ feature as first film of 4000ft or more to be made and screened there
Mutiny of the Bounty, The (Raymond Longford, 1916) Aust/NZ; wr. Raymond Longford, Lottie Lyell [?], dp Franklyn Barrett, A. O. Segerberg, Charles Newham; George Cross (Captain Bligh), John Storm (George III), D. L. Dalziel (Sir Joseph Banks), Wilton Power (Fletcher Christian); no footage exists; 5000ft
Woman Suffers, The (Raymond Longford, 1918) ... While the Man Goes Free; Southern Cross Feature Film Company, wr. Raymond Longford, dp Arthur Higgins; Lottie Lyell, Boyd Irwin, Roland Conway, Connie Martyn
Sentimental Bloke, The (Raymond Longford, 1919) Arthur Tauchert, Lottie Lyell, Gilbert Emery, CJ Dennis
Ginger Mick (Raymond Longford, 1920) Southern Cross Feature Film Company, wr. Lottie Lyell (?) Raymond Longford, from verse narrative The Moods of Ginger Mick by C. J. Dennis, dp Arthur Higgins, 5500 ft; Gilbert Emery, Arthur Tauchert, Lottie Lyell, Jack Tauchert, Queenie Cross, George Hotspur
Blue Mountains Mystery, The (Raymond Longford, Lottie Lyell, 1921) Southern Cross Feature Film Company, prod. E. and Dan Carroll, wr. Lottie Lyell from novel The Mount Marunga Mystery by Harrison Owen, dp Arthur Higgins, 6000 ft; Marjories Osborne, John Faulkner, Vivian Edwards; murder mystery; 66 min.
Rudd's New Selection (Raymond Longford, 1921) wr. Raymond Longford from stories by Steele Rudd, dp Arthur Higgins; J. P. O'Neill, Ada Clyde, Tal Ordell, Lottie Lyell, Charlotte Beaumont
Australia Calls (Raymond Longford, 1923) Commonwealth Immigration Office/British Empire Exhibition Commission; wr. Lottie Lyell, dp Arthur Higgins, 4000 ft; semi-documentary: 'the experiences in New South Wales of a successful immigrant'; Ernest Idiens
Dinkum Bloke, The (Raymond Longford, 1923) aka Gentleman in Mufti, Longford-Lyell Australian Productions, wr. Raymond Longford, Lottie Lyell, dp Lacey Percival; Arthur Tauchert, Lottie Lyell
Fisher's Ghost (Raymond Longford, 1924) Longford-Lyell Productions, wr. Raymond Longford, dp Arthur Higgins, 5000 ft; murder mystery thriller
Bushwhackers, The (Raymond Longford, 1925) Longford-Lyell Productions, wr. Raymond Longford, Lottie Lyell, dp Arthur Higgins
Peter Vernon's Silence (Raymond Longford, 1926) Production Company: Longford-Lyell Productions, dp Arthur Higgins; Rawdon Blandford (Peter Vernon), Walter Hunt (Philip Kingston), Loretta May (Marie), Rene Sandeman, Iris Webster, Beryl Gow, John Faulkner, George Chalmers, Billy Ryan, Victor Davy, Annie Permain; last of the Longford-Lyell productions before Lyell's death in December 1925; an uninspired melodrama about a man's loyalty to his mate; 5830 ft.
Pioneers, The (Raymond Longford, 1926) wr. Lottie Lyell from novel by Katharine Susannah Prichard, Arthur Higgins, 8000 ft; Virginia Beresford, William Thornton, Augustus Neville
Pike, Andrew & Ross Cooper 1998, Australian Film 1900-1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, revised edition, Oxford University Press, Melbourne (first edition: 1980).
Garry Gillard | New: 30 March, 2022 | Now: 5 November, 2023