Pearls and Savages

Pearl and Savages is a 1921 documentary from filmmaker Frank Hurley about the people of Papua New Guinea and Torres Strait.

Pearls and Savages
Directed byFrank Hurley
Written byFrank Hurley
CinematographyFrank Hurley
Release dates
December 1921 (orig. version)
October 1923 (amended version)
CountryAustralia
LanguageSilent

Production

Hurley left for Papua in December 1920 to record the work of Anglican missionaries in the region. He made the documentary which was a popular success on release in 1921, with Hurley often accompanying screenings to give a lecture. He also wrote a book to accompany the film.[1][2]

Reviews were strong, one critic calling it "probably the most beautifully photographed pictorial of the kind that has ever been screened."[3]

Second Visit and With the Headhunters in Papua

Hurley then visited Papua again at his own expense in 1923 to shoot additional footage. He was accompanied by Allan McCullock from the Australian Museum in Sydney. During the trip they obtained hundreds of cultural objects, angering the administrator of Papua the time, Sir Herbert Murray. Murray arranged for some objects to be returned to their owners but the rest were deposited in the Australian Museum. In 1925 Murray would refuse to allow Hurley to enter Papua to make another film.[4][5]

Hurley incorporated the new footage into the documentary. The new film was called With the Headhunters in Papua and released in October 1923.

The Lost Tribe

Hurley took the movie to America where it was screened under the title of The Lost Tribe but it did not meet with popular success and he wound up losing thousands of pounds. Hurley once claimed at a screening in Philadelphia was attended by only five people.[6] It also did not perform particularly well in England, although the film managed a sale of £1,500 to Germany.[7]

This prompted Hurley to move into dramatic feature film making with Jungle Woman (1926) and The Hound of the Deep (1926).[8][9]

The company Hurley used to make the film was voluntarily wound up in 1927.[10]

Reconstruction

In 1979 the film was reconstructed by Keith Pardy from the National Film Archive of the National Library of Australia using material such as a 1925 program brochure, Hurley's diaries, and his book Pearls and Savages: Adventures in the Air, On Land and Sea in New Guinea (1924).[4]

References
  1. Anna Cater, 'Such Desirable Objects: Frank Hurley: Journeys into Papua', The Monthly, June 2008
  2. ""PEARLS AND SAVAGES."". The Register. Adelaide. 16 January 1922. p. 7. Retrieved 8 April 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ""PEARLS AND SAVAGES."". The Register. Adelaide. 2 January 1922. p. 8. Retrieved 8 April 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. Liz McNiven, 'Pearls and Savages – Curator's Notes', Australian Screen Online
  5. "PAPUAN COLLECTION". The Sydney Morning Herald. 24 February 1923. p. 18. Retrieved 8 April 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "The TALKIE MAKERS". The Mail. Adelaide. 31 October 1931. p. 20. Retrieved 8 April 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "AUSTRALIAN FILM". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 February 1934. p. 5. Retrieved 8 April 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 132
  9. "Capt. Frank Hurley". Albany Advertiser. WA. 11 December 1928. p. 4. Retrieved 8 April 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. "COMPANY NEWS". The Sydney Morning Herald. 30 August 1927. p. 13. Retrieved 8 April 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
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