While The Billy Boils (Beaumont Smith, 1921) Beaumont Smith's Productions, wr. Beaumont Smith, from stories by Henry Lawson, ass. dir. Phil K Walsh, dp Lacey Percival; Tal Ordell, John Cosgrove, Robert MacKinnon, Henry Lawson; 5800 ft
Smith's reliance on formula plot devices dominated even this film with its rich source material. ... Perhaps the film's major distinction was its brief prologue, in which Henry Lawson himself appeared (although at the time he was seriously ill) in his popular image as a bushman, narrating the story beside the campfire. With characteristically thorough pre-planning, vigorous publicity and hard physical work, Beaumont Smith shot and edited the film in little more than a month, in July-August 1921, using locations at the country town of Windsor, NSW. Smith was assisted by Phil K Walsh, a young entrepreneur who later directed two features of his own, Around The Boree Log (1925) and The Birth Of White Australia (1928). Pike & Cooper: 107, 108.
Tal Ordell and Elsie McCormack
Garry Gillard | New: 28 November, 2012 | Now: 30 June, 2020