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Australian Film, 1900-1977
This is a comprehensive guide to the feature films of the first eight decades of film-making in Australia -- from Soldiers of the Cross (1900) to movies such as Don's Party and The Last Wave. Pike and Cooper's work discusses 488 films and features more than 400 illustrations. Oscar-winning
actor Geoffrey Rush provides a new foreword to this revised edition.
actor Geoffrey Rush provides a new foreword to this revised edition.
Paperback
First published March 19, 1981
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July 25, 2023
One of the mysteries of collecting film books for many decades is why I only found this a short time ago.
Picking up this second-hand hardcover original was one of my great finds in the past year. For a book more than 40 years old and obviously used frequently it's in almost mint condition. My thanks to the previous owners Dennis and Roseanne who received the book as a gift with the instruction "Be creative" by co-author Andrew Pike.
This is a fabulous history/reference work of Australian Film from its fledgling days up to the beginning of the Australian New Wave. An awesome achievement!
The flyleaf claims that Pike and co-author Ross Cooper worked over ten years to assemble all the information, interviewing pioneers of the local film industry and studying their correspondence, reading the trade journals and newspapers, searching through Government film archives and viewing and re-viewing the films themselves.
Not an exaggeration as the comprehensive information provided detailing the production team, plot synopsis and description of the shooting and marketing of each of the 488 films listed -from "Soldiers of the Cross" (1900) to "Fantasm Comes Again" (1977)- is simply phenomenal.
Students of the silent screen will be amazed at the coverage devoted to the production of the 258 films made during this rich period of Aussie filmmaking.
Book boasts more than 400 illustrations (many rare), including eight colour pages and is designed in a very accessible format for quick reference. And the text is never dull and more importantly, accurate and informative, teaching this film buff who thought he knew just about everything about movies, how little he really knew about the rich history of Australian film. A real eye-opener and educational delight. Now one of my favorite go-to reference books.
My original hardback edition was published by Oxford University Press (Melbourne) in association with the Australian Film Institute, 1980. 448 pages.
Picking up this second-hand hardcover original was one of my great finds in the past year. For a book more than 40 years old and obviously used frequently it's in almost mint condition. My thanks to the previous owners Dennis and Roseanne who received the book as a gift with the instruction "Be creative" by co-author Andrew Pike.
This is a fabulous history/reference work of Australian Film from its fledgling days up to the beginning of the Australian New Wave. An awesome achievement!
The flyleaf claims that Pike and co-author Ross Cooper worked over ten years to assemble all the information, interviewing pioneers of the local film industry and studying their correspondence, reading the trade journals and newspapers, searching through Government film archives and viewing and re-viewing the films themselves.
Not an exaggeration as the comprehensive information provided detailing the production team, plot synopsis and description of the shooting and marketing of each of the 488 films listed -from "Soldiers of the Cross" (1900) to "Fantasm Comes Again" (1977)- is simply phenomenal.
Students of the silent screen will be amazed at the coverage devoted to the production of the 258 films made during this rich period of Aussie filmmaking.
Book boasts more than 400 illustrations (many rare), including eight colour pages and is designed in a very accessible format for quick reference. And the text is never dull and more importantly, accurate and informative, teaching this film buff who thought he knew just about everything about movies, how little he really knew about the rich history of Australian film. A real eye-opener and educational delight. Now one of my favorite go-to reference books.
My original hardback edition was published by Oxford University Press (Melbourne) in association with the Australian Film Institute, 1980. 448 pages.
Displaying 1 of 1 review