Hills of Hate (1926 film)

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Dutchy85 (talk | contribs) at 12:06, 29 March 2019 (add). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Hills of Hate
Directed byRaymond Longford
Written byE. V. Timms
StarringDorothy Gordon
CinematographyArthur Higgins
Production
companies
Australasian Films
A Master Picture
Release date
27 November 1926[1]
Running time
6,000 feet
CountryAustralia
LanguagesSilent film
English intertitles

Hills of Hate is a 1926 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford, based on the debut novel by E. V. Timms, who also did the screenplay. It is considered a lost film.

Synopsis

A feud exists between two outback families, the Blakes and the Ridgeways, caused by Sam Ridgeway having married a woman Jim Blake was in love with. The feud goes on for over thirty years. Blake's eldest son, also called Jim (Gordon Collingridge) returns from being away for ten years and falls in love with Ridgeway's daughter Ellen (Dorothy Gordon). Matters are complicated by Sam Ridgeway's villainous overseer, Cummins (Big Bill Wilson).

Cast

  • Dorothy Gordon as Ellen Ridgeway
  • Gordon Collingridge as Jim Blake
  • Big Bill Wilson as Black Joe Cummins
  • Clifford Toone as Jim Blake Snr
  • Kathleen Wilson as Peggy Blake
  • Stanley Lonsdale as Stanley Ridgeway

Original Novel

E. V. Timms' original novel was published in 1925. The Bulletin called it "A virile Australian story, though rough-cut and without pretence to literary quality."[2]

Production

Master Pictures bought the screen rights in January 1926 and Timms was hired to write the script. Everyone's said it "presents a new type of Australian character set amid the wide open spaces, and should make an excellent photo play. " [3] The studio would make it after The Pioneers and Tall Timber.

Longford later said at the 1927 Royal Commission that both The Pioneers and Hills of Hate "were selected by the directors of the combine; they were produced at an inadequate expense and in many cases the cast was chosen despite my protests. During the filming of these pictures I recognised that these pictures were absurdly cheap and inadequate to secure even an English market."[4]

Shooting began in March 1926 and went for around six weeks, mostly on location in Avon Vale, near Gloucester, New South Wales.[5][6][7][8] Filming was delayed by weather. Willian Thornton, juvenile lead, was injured on location but recovered by May.[9]

Studio work in Bondi started in late April.[10]


The female lead, Dorothy Gordon, had worked in Hollywood for six years and did art direction on For the Term of His Natural Life (1927).[11] She and later became a radio commentator and newspaper columnist under the name of Andrea.[12][13]

'Big' Bill Wilson was a professional boxer before being discovered by a casting agent at the Sydney Stadium and cast in Tall Timber (1927).[14]

Raymond Longford's son Victor served as associate producer.[15]

Reception

The Northern Times said Collingridge played his role "with a skill remarkable in such a young actor, whilst Dorothy Gordon's portrayal is a powerfully competing proof of her ability."[16]

The film was not a success at the box office – although it was screening in cinemas as late as 1933[17] – and it was several years before Longford managed to direct another feature, The Man They Could Not Hang (1934). This turned out to be his last movie as director.

References

  1. ^ "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 27 November 1926. p. 1. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  2. ^ The bulletin, John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 1880, retrieved 29 March 2019 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  3. ^ Everyones, Everyones Ltd, 1920, retrieved 29 March 2019 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  4. ^ Everyones, Everyones Ltd, 1920, retrieved 29 March 2019 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  5. ^ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p136
  6. ^ Everyones, Everyones Ltd, 1920, retrieved 29 March 2019 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  7. ^ Everyones, Everyones Ltd, 1920, retrieved 29 March 2019 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  8. ^ Everyones, Everyones Ltd, 1920, retrieved 29 March 2019 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  9. ^ Everyones, Everyones Ltd, 1920, retrieved 29 March 2019 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  10. ^ Everyones, Everyones Ltd, 1920, retrieved 29 March 2019 {{citation}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |1= (help)
  11. ^ "BRAINS AND BEAUTY." Cairns Post 20 Jul 1926: 9 accessed 7 December 2011
  12. ^ "ANDREA: Darlings l've had a ball!." The Australian Women's Weekly 8 Oct 1975: 67 accessed 7 December 2011
  13. ^ Dorothy Gordon Biography at Australian Dictionary of Biography
  14. ^ "MASTER PICTURE NEWS." Queanbeyan-Canberra Advocate 2 Sep 1926: 5 accessed 7 December 2011
  15. ^ "Raymond Longford", Cinema Papers, January 1974 p51
  16. ^ "Master Picture News". The Northern Times. Carnarvon, WA: National Library of Australia. 17 September 1926. p. 3. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  17. ^ "Advertising". The Delegate Argus. NSW: National Library of Australia. 23 March 1933. p. 2. Retrieved 26 November 2014.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Hills_of_Hate_(1926_film)&oldid=890007696"