Lawson Harris

Austral Super Films was formed by two Americans, Lawson Harris and Yvonne Pavis. Harris, the managing director, was a young all-rounder from Hollywood who came to Australia in 1920 to assist Arthur Shirley with the ill-fated production of The Throwback. His partner, Yvonne Pavis, had begun acting in Hollywood in 1910 with the Vitagraph company. She later played both ingenue and character roles with other studios under the name of Marie Pavis. Early in 1922 she arrived in Sydney to join Harris, who had left Shirley's enterprise and opened an acting school in partnership with Vera Remee. The production company was formed soon after, and three low-budget features followed in quick succession. The first, Circumstance, cost less than £800 and earned a tidy profit after its release at the Haymarket Theatre, Sydney, on 3 June 1922. Distribution was handled directly by the Sydney office of the company. Pike & Cooper: 111-2.

Circumstance** (Lawson Harris, 1922) prod. Lawson Harris, Austral Super Films, wr. Lawson Harris, Yvonne Pavis, dp Arthur Higgins; Yvonne Pavis, Carlton Max, Cane Arthur, Lawson Harris, David Edelsten, Gordon Collingridge; 5 reels

Daughter Of Australia, A (Lawson Harris, 1922) Austral Super Films, prod. Lawson Harris, wr. Dulcie Deamer, Albert Goldie, dp Arthur Higgins, 7000 ft; Lawson Harris, Yvonne Pavis, Charles Beetham, Gilbert Emery; young Englishman, falsely accused of murder, eludes the police by emigrating to Australia where he finds work on a cattle station and befriends the squatter's daughter

Yvonne Pavis (right) in Sunshine Sally >

Sunshine Sally** (Lawson Harris, 1922) aka Winnie of Woolloomooloo; prod. Lawson Harris, Yvonne Pavis, Austral Super Films, wr. John Cosgrove, dp Arthur Higgins, 5000 ft.; Yvonne Pavis, Joy Revelle, John Cosgrove, Dinks Patterson, Mrs Hutton, J.P. O'Neill, Sheila Moore, Lionel Lunn, Mervyn Barrington, Maude Ranier.

Garry Gillard | New: 10 March, 2013 | Now: 11 August, 2020