Australasian feature films by release date
index 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s
1940s Films
1940
Dad Rudd, M.P. (Ken G. Hall, 1940) Cinesound Features, prod. Ken G. Hall, wr. Frank Harvey, Bart Bailey, dp George Heath; Bert Bailey, Connie Martyn, Yvonne East, Fred MacDonald; 83 min.stories by Steele Rudd
Forty Thousand Horsemen (Charles Chauvel, 1940) 40000 Horsemen, wr. Elsa Chauvel, dp George Heath, additional exterior photography Frank Hurley, Tasman Higgins; Grant Taylor, Betty Bryant, Chips Rafferty, Pat Twohill, Michael Pate's debut film - as an extra; WW1
One Hundred Crowded Years (H. H. Bridgman, 1940) dramatised documentary? including Treaty of Waitangi, 1840; NZ
Rewi's Last Stand (Rudall Hayward, 1940) aka The Last Stand: An Episode of the New Zealand Wars; Frontier Films Ltd, wr. Rudall Hayward, source Cowan's history, dp Rudall Hayward, Edwin Coubray; Leo Pilcher, Ramai Te Miha, Henare Toka; NZ; 5750ft, 64 min.
Wings Of Destiny (Rupert Kathner, 1940) dp Arthur Higgins; espionage thriller
1941
Power And The Glory, The (Noel Monkman, 1941) aka The Invaders dp Arthur Higgins; action
Racing Luck (Rupert Kathner, 1941) dp Tasman Higgins; comic adventure; final appearance of Raymond Longford
That Certain Something (Clarence G. Badger, 1941) Argosy Film, dp Arthur Higgins; Megan Edwards, Thelma Grigg, Georgie Sterling, Lou Vernon; film director looks for a girl with 'it' [Badger also made the film called It (1927) with Clara Bow
1942
Cinesound Review: Kokoda Front Line (Damien Parer, 1942) dp and commentary Damien Parer; shared 1942 Academy Award for Short Documentary with John Ford's Battle of Midway Australia's first Oscar; Parer shot the footage for the Dept of Information, which let Cinesound use it (Shirley & Adams: 166) Parer was killed at work on Peleliu, Caroline Is, 1944
Yank In Australia, A (Alfred J. Goulding, 1942) wr. Alfred J. Goulding
1943
None: the first of three years (the other two are 1948 and 1963) in which Australia did not release a single feature film
1944
Rats Of Tobruk, The (Charles Chauvel, 1944) Chamun Productions, wr. Charles & Elsa Chauvel, dp George Heath, music Lindley Evans, sound Jack Bruce, L. J. Stuart; Grant Taylor, Peter Finch, Chips Rafferty; war; 95 min.
Red Sky At Morning (Hartney Arthur, 1944) aka Escape At Dawn in 1951 re-release; Austral-American Productions, wr. Hartney Arthur from play by Dymphna Cusack, dp Rupert Kathner, sound Mervyn Murphy; historical romance set 1812; 55 min.
1945
Harvest Gold (Kevin Murphy, 1945) Supreme Sound System, prod. Harold Gray, dp Arthur Higgins; Joe Valli, Harry Abdy, Tal Ordell; agricultural drama; sponsored by Caltex; 55 min.; Murphy was a technician and pioneer in sound recording
1946
Overlanders, The (Harry Watt, 1946) Ealing Studios; Chips Rafferty, Daphne Campbell, Clyde Combo (Jacky); has an Aboriginal person as a major character; 91 min.
Smithy (Ken G. Hall, 1946) aka Pacific Adventure (in USA) The Southern Cross (UK); Columbia Pictures (US), although made by the Cinesound team; Ron Randell, Muriel Steinbeck, Charles Tingwell has one line in the opening scene, Billy Hughes appears as himself; Hall's last film; Charles Kingsford Smith docu-drama
Son is Born, A (Eric Porter, 1946) prod. Eric Porter, wr. Gloria Bourner, dp Arthur Higgins; Kitty Bluett, Peter Dunstan, Peter Finch, Jane Holland, John McCallum, Ron Randell, Muriel Steinbeck, b/w, 85 min.; family melodrama
1947
Always Another Dawn (T. O. McCreadie, 1947) Charles Tingwell, Guy Doleman, Queenie Ashton; 108 min.
Bush Christmas (Ralph Smart, 1947) wr. Ralph Smart from novel by Mary Cathcart Borer, prod. Ralph Smart, dp George Heath; Children's Entertainment Films ([British] Children's Film Foundation); Chips Rafferty, John Fernside, Stan Tolhurst, Pat Penny, John McCallum, Clyde Combo (uncredited, as Old Jack)
1948
none
1949
Eureka Stockade (Harry Watt, 1949) Ealing Studios, prod. Michael Balcon, assoc. prod. Leslie Norman, wr. Harry Watt, Greenwood & Ralph Smart, dp George Heath; Chips Rafferty (Peter Lalor), Jane Barrett, Jack Lambert, Peter Illing, Gordon Jackson, Peter Finch, Reg Lye; events of 1854; 102 min.
Into the Straight (T. O. McCreadie, 1949) 82 min.; Charles Tingwell, Muriel Steinbeck; horse-trainer drama
Sons of Matthew (Charles Chauvel, 1949) Greater Union Theatres/Universal Pictures; shot in Qld; Michael Pate, Ken Wayne, Tommy Burns, John Unicomb, John Ewart, Wendy Gibb; 107 min.; aka The Rugged O'Riordans (overseas version) family melodrama
Strong is the Seed (Arthur Greville Collins, 1949) story of William Farrer
Under Capricorn (Alfred Hitchcock, 1949) set in nineteenth-century Sydney but may not have been shot in Australia; Ingrid Bergman, Joseph Cotten
Garry Gillard | New: 15 December, 2016 | Now: 30 January, 2018