The Moth Of Moonbi (Charles Chauvel, 1926) wr. Charles Chauvel, novel Mabel Forrest, The Wild Moth, dp Al Burne; Chauvel's first feature; Marsden Hassall, Doris Ashwin, Arthur Tauchert, 9000ft
Doris Ashwin
Charles Chauvel's first feature was a modest romantic adventure about an innocent young country girl drawn to the bright lights of the city. ... Interiors were shot in an improvised studio at the rear of a guest house in the centre of Brisbane, but most of the film was shot on location in the bush outside the city. ... Already, in his first film, Chauvel's characteristics as a director were apparent: his desire to tell stories that used emphatically Australian backgrounds, and to film those backgrounds even on difficult locations, rather than re-create them in a studio; his willingness to experiment with new acting talent in leading roles; and a marked degree of self-reliance, handling production, direction, writing and promotion himself. During the next thirty years he made only eight more features, but none were routine productions. Pike & Cooper: 129, 130.
Carlsson, Susanne Chauvel 1989, Charles and Elsa Chauvel: Movie Pioneers, University of Queensland Press, St Lucia; Foreword by Ken G. Hall, Introduction by Michael Pate.
Pike, Andrew & Ross Cooper 1998, Australian Film 1900-1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, revised edition, Oxford University Press, Melbourne.