AUSTRALIAN FILMS.

Star (Christchurch), Volume XLIV, Issue 563, 17 September 1932, Page 25 (Supplement)

AUSTRALIAN FILMS.

“ The Sentimental Bloke ” to be Screened Shortly.

Australia has successfully entered into the field of talking picture production, and a complete unit programme of sound films made at the Efftee Studio in Melbourne will be screened here shortly. The featured attraction will be the film version of C. J. Dennis’s well-known story in verse, “ The Sentimental Bloke,” already seen in New Zealand on the stage and the "silent” screen. In its talking picture form all the simpje charm of the story has been retained, and leading critics in the •Commonwealth have hailed the film as a decided achievement, both technically and artistically. The standard of the film Is demonstrated by the fact that on its first release it packed the great Hoyts de Luxe Theatre in Melbourne for eight weeks, and has since been screened with equal success throughout the Commonwealth. Leading roles are played by Ray Fisher, as Doreen, Cecil Scott, as The Bloke, Tal Ordell, as Ginger Mick, Dora Mostyn, as Mar, Keith Desmond, as Uncle, and Athol Tier, as Artie. All these players are well known on the Australian stage, and many have been seen in J. C. Williamson productions in the Dominion.

“ The Sentimental Bloke ” will be presented as the featured attraction of a full unit programme of Australian sound films, notably the remarkable micro-cinema series of “ Ocean Oddities,” photographed on the Great Barrier Reef by the New Zealand microcinema expert, Mr Noel Monkman. who with his wife spent six months on the Reef. The entry of Australia Into the field of talking picture-making is an interesting and Important phase of the recent development of the British

screen. The films to be shown here are part of the output of the Efftee Studio, founded at Melbourne (Victoria) under two years ago by Mr F. W. Thring. Mr Thring is a firm believer in the value of the talking screen as a factor in Empire development, and a medium for stimulating Empire commerce and cementing inter-imperial bonds. He recently put forward an urgent plea that the question of Imperial film reciprocity should he made the subject of discussion at the Ottawa Conference. It is Mr Thring’s belief that ultimately films of Empire interest will be made in each of the big overseas Dominions, which will be assured of effective distribution throughout the Empire. He has had the courage to back his theory with his own capital so far as Australia is concerned, and it is satisfactory to note that his efforts have been rewarded with a remarkable measure of success.

The arrival of these Australian films may well point the way to a talking picture-making enterprise in the Dominion. New Zealand provides a unique background for such a venture. Mr Thring leaves this month for London, taking with him the complete output of the Efftee Studios, comprising upwards of twenty distinct talkie and sound units. He hopes before his return to Australia to have arranged satisfactory and permanent distribution of the Efftee product throughout the United Kingdom.