Sheepmates

Sheepmates was a proposed Australian film from director F. W. Thring based on a 1931 novel by William Hatfield.

Sheepmates
Directed byF. W. Thring
Based onnovel by William Hatfield
Produced byF. W. Thring
StarringFrank Harvey
Production
company
Release date
1934 (intended)
Running time
incomplete
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish

Development

Thring bought the rights to Hatfield's novel in mid 1933.[1] He paid a reported £300.[2][3]

Tom Holt, Efftee's manager, stated that:

The production of 'Sheepmates' is a decided departure from our policy of adhering to comedy. It is a truly remarkable drama of out back Australia, artistically in a class above anything we have yet attempted. Though it may not prove as popular as a Wallace comedy, we are satisfied to produce it merely as an example of our ability to handle this class of subject. No woman appears in the cast, and for this reason it may be described as 'A Journey's End of the Bush'.[4]

The movie was meant to be the first shot at Efftee's new studio at Wattle Path Palais, St Kilda, Melbourne.[5]

Shooting

Filming began in September 1933. After completing some studio scenes, the crew departed to the Queensland and South Australian border for six weeks of shooting around various cattle stations, notably at one owned by Sir Sidney Kidman near Coopers Creek[6] and at Naryilco Station near Tibooburra.[7] The crew initially consisted of Thring, Hatfield and some assistants, plus various camera and sound men; actors did not come until they finished appearing in Thring's stage production of Rope in Melbourne on 7 October.[8]

Shooting was difficult. Thring suffered from exhaustion, several crew members narrowly escaped death in a tent fire, and cattle mustering scenes were delayed due to communication difficulties.[9] Hatfield also claimed that the stage commitments of the actors made finishing the film hard.[10] On the unit's return to Melbourne, studio shooting was postponed to January because the St Kilda facilities were not ready. However all the scenes involving actor Henry Wenham had to be filmed because he was returning to London.[11] Thring decided to abandon production.[12]

Subsequent fate

In 1936 Thring announced Sheepmates would be one of several novels he was taking with him to Hollywood, with a view to having American writers adapt them into screenplay form, suggesting he still intended to use the footage he had shot.[13] However, Thring died soon after he returned to Australia in June and Sheepmates was never completed.

Cast

References
  1. ""SHEEPMATES" TO BE FILMED". The Sydney Morning Herald. 22 June 1933. p. 7. Retrieved 5 January 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. "Counting the Cash in Australian Films"', Everyones 12 December 1934 pp. 19–21
  3. "Film Industry in Australia". The News. Adelaide. 11 June 1935. p. 4. Retrieved 17 March 2015 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "Talkies that Only Australia Can Make". Table Talk. Melbourne. 24 August 1933. p. 19. Retrieved 26 October 2014 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. "EFFTEE'S PROGRAMME". Western Mail. Perth. 7 September 1933. p. 30. Retrieved 5 January 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. "CATTLE SCENES". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane. 22 September 1933. p. 12. Retrieved 5 January 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  7. "'SHEEPMATES'TO BE FILMED". The Barrier Miner (HOME EDITION ed.). Broken Hill, NSW. 3 October 1933. p. 1. Retrieved 5 January 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. "CATTLE SCENES". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane. 30 September 1933. p. 12. Retrieved 5 January 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. Graham Shirley and Brian Adams, Australian Cinema: The First Eighty Years, Currency Press, 1989 p. 122
  10. "HALF-CASTE PROBLEM". Portland Guardian (EVENING. ed.). Vic. 8 April 1935. p. 3. Retrieved 5 January 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. "AUSTRALIAN FILMS". The Sydney Morning Herald. 23 November 1933. p. 10. Retrieved 5 January 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p. 164
  13. "AUSTRALIAN FILMS". The West Australian. Perth. 29 February 1936. p. 20. Retrieved 5 January 2012 – via National Library of Australia.
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