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Harmony Row (film)

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Harmony Row
Directed byF. W. Thring
Raymond Longford (associate)[1]
Written byGeorge Wallace
Based onstage show by George Wallace
Produced byF. W. Thring
StarringGeorge Wallace
Phyllis Baker
CinematographyArthur Higgins
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • 11 February 1933 (1933-02-11)
Running time
78 mins
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Budget£11,000[2][3]
Box office£18,000[4]

Harmony Row is a 1933 Australian musical comedy directed by F. W. Thring and Raymond Longford and starring popular stage comedian George Wallace. It marked the film debut of Bill Kerr.[5]

Plot

George enlists in the police force and is assigned to Harmony Row, a haunt of criminals such as Slogger Lee. He makes several friends, including the pretty street musician Molly, and boy soprano Leonard. He is persuaded to fight Slogger Lee in a boxing tournament. He manages to defeat Slogger and win, and is united with Molly.

Cast

  • George Wallace as Contable Dreadnought
  • Phyllis Baker as Molly
  • Marshall Crosby as the sergeant
  • John Dobbie as Slogger Lee
  • Bill Kerr as Leonard
  • Bill Innes as Detective Brooks
  • Edwin Brett as the father
  • Norman Shepherd as the butler
  • Norman French as the husband
  • Bebe Scott as the wife
  • Gertrude Boswell as the housekeeper
  • Leonard Stephens as the Ferrett
  • Dan Thomas
  • Nell Fleming
  • Nell Crane
  • Elza Stenning
  • Thelma Scott
  • Dorothy Weeks
  • Johnny Marks
  • Campbell Copelin

Original play

Harmony Row
Written byGeorge Wallace
Date premiered23 August 1924
Place premieredNewtown Majestic, Sydney[6]
Original languageEnglish
Genrecomedy revue

The film was based on a revue Wallace had performed in the 1920s.[7] It was one of a series of "revusicals" written by Wallace during this period.[8]

Production

The film marked the feature film debut of Bill Kerr who had been cast by Thring in a proposed movie called Pick and the Duffers. That movie was not made but he was then cast in Harmony Row.[9]

The full version of the film features a haunted house sequence where George unravels a mystery in a mansion. In some versions of the film this sequence was cut and replaced with one where George arrests a high society gentlemen (Campbell Copelin), thinking he's a thief.[2]

Reception

The film was released on a double bill with Diggers in Blighty and was a success at the box office.[2] The two films grossed £8000 in Melbourne and £3070 in two weeks in Sydney.[10]

The critic from The Sydney Morning Herald called it "the first really successful picture that Efftee Films have produced."[11]

The film was released in England.

References

  1. ^ "Raymond Longford", Cinema Papers, January 1974 p51
  2. ^ a b c Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 160.
  3. ^ "Counting the Cash in Australian Films"', Everyones 12 December 1934 p 19-20
  4. ^ 'Counting the Cash in Australian Films', Everyones 12 December 1934 p 19 quoted in Fitzpatrick p179
  5. ^ Vagg, Stephen (23 December 2019). "Australian Film Musicals You Probably Didn't Realise Existed". Filmink.
  6. ^ "Newtown Majestic – Vaudeville and Revue". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 23 August 1924. p. 16. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  7. ^ "Majestic Theatre". The Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 3 November 1924. p. 9. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  8. ^ "George Wallace Revue Company" at Australian Variety Theatre Archive. (Sighted 6 December 2012)
  9. ^ "Saturday Night". The Northern Times. Carnarvon, WA: National Library of Australia. 4 April 1934. p. 5. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  10. ^ "Australian Films". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 24 February 1934. p. 16. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  11. ^ "New Films". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 10 April 1933. p. 5. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  • Fitzpatrick, Peter, ''The Two Frank Thrings, Monash University, 2012
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