Australasian Cinema > directors >
W J Lincoln began as a playwright and stage actor in Melbourne and developed into one of Australia's earliest specialists in screen-writing. He became involved in film first as an exhibitor, managing tours of J. C. Williamson's Bio-Tableau (a presentation of various imported film items) in New Zealand and Australia with substantial success in 1904 and 1905. He later managed an outdoor cinema in Melbourne, the St Kilda Paradise Gardens. After his first feature for J and N Tait, he became the main director for their new company, Amalgamated Pictures, and later in 1911 made at least six films for them in their Melbourne studio. Amalgamated withdrew from feature production early in 1912, and in July 1913 Lincoln formed his own company with the actor Godfrey Cass and produced a series of short features also in Melbourne. This enterprise failed and Lincoln's career began to falter, partly because of his problems with alcohol. When J C Williamson bought the Lincoln-Cass studio, Lincoln was hired by them to write (but not direct) scenarios for several films in 1915. Lincoln's last films as director in 1916 were his own productions, but none succeeded commercially. He died in August 1917 while working on a scenario called The Worst Woman in Sydney. Pike & Cooper: 12.
It Is Never Too Late To Mend (W. J. Lincoln, 1911)The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (W. J. Lincoln, 1911) novel Fergus Hume
The Luck Of Roaring Camp (W. J. Lincoln, 1911)
Called Back (W. J. Lincoln, 1911) Amalgamated Pictures, wr. W. J. Lincoln from the novel by Hugh Conway set at the time of Garibaldi, dp Orrie Perry; Arthur Styan; 4000 ft
The Lost Chord (W. J. Lincoln, 1911)
The Bells (W. J. Lincoln, 1911)
The Double Event (W. J. Lincoln, 1911)
Breaking The News (W. J. Lincoln, 1912) drama; 39 min.
Rip Van Winkle (W. J. Lincoln, 1912)
The Sick Stockrider (W. J. Lincoln, 1913) Lincoln-Cass Films, from the poem by Adam Lindsay Gordon, dp Maurice Bertel; George Bryant (the stockrider) Godfrey Cass (his mate) Roy Redgrave, Tom Cannam; 1200 ft; earliest film to survive virtually complete
Moondyne (W. J. Lincoln, 1913)
The Remittance Man (W. J. Lincoln, 1913) reformed thief
Transported (W. J. Lincoln, 1913)
The Road To Ruin (W. J. Lincoln, 1913)
After Sundown (W. J. Lincoln, 1911) Amalgamated Pictures, wr. W. J. Lincoln, dp Orrie Perry; Leslie Woods, Godfrey Cass, Frank Cullinane, John Ennis, Miss Laing-Mason, Nellie Bramley, Ethel Grist; melodrama; 60 min. [not in Pike & Cooper, data from Verhoeven]
The Reprieve (W. J. Lincoln, 1913) 28 min.
The Crisis (W. J. Lincoln, 1913)
Wreck, The (W. J. Lincoln, 1913) from the poem 'From the Wreck' by Adam Lindsay Gordon
Within Our Gates (Frank Harvey, 1915) aka Deeds That Won Gallipoli J. C. Williamson, wr. W. J. Lincoln, dp Monte Luke; Cyril Mackay, Leslie Victor, Frank Harvey; 6 (?) reels
Within The Law (Monte Luke, 1916) J. C. Williamson, wr. W. J. Lincoln from the play by Bayard Veiller, dp Maurice Bertel; Muriel Starr; 4 reels
Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (Fred Niblo, 1916) wr. W. J. Lincoln from the play by Geroge M. Cohan based on a story by George Randolph Chester, dp Maurice Bertel; Fred Niblo, Henry Carson Clarke, Enid Bennett; 4 reels
Nurse Cavell (W. J. Lincoln, 1916) aka Edith Cavell; wr. W. J. Lincoln
Officer 666 (Fred Niblo, 1916) wr. W. J. Lincoln from the play by Augustin McHugh, adapted by George M. Cohan, dp Maurice Bertel; Fred Niblo, Enid Bennett, Mation Marcus Clarke, Sydney Stirling; 4 reels
La Revanche (W. J. Lincoln, 1916) based on Nurse Cavell story
The Life's Romance Of Adam Lindsay Gordon (W. J. Lincoln, 1916)
After working on J C Williamson's film program, Lincoln formed a new company with a theatrical identity from Melbourne, G H Barnes, but the venture ran into immediate financial difficulties and only one feature was completed. The leading actor later recounted that on one occasion he and the cameraman were forced to seize the film before they could extract their pay from the company. About this time Lincoln spent some weeks in hospital with alcoholic poisoning. The film was not a great success either with the public or the press, and after Lincoln's death in 1917 it was taken over by the Austral Photoplay company for screenings at their Kookaburra Theatre, Sydney, commencing on 28 October 1918. Pike & Cooper: 65-66.
Garry Gillard | New: 28 December, 2012 | Now: 12 August, 2020