The Lure of the Bush

The Lure of the Bush is a 1918 Australian silent film starring renowned Australian sportsman Snowy Baker. It is considered a lost film.

The Lure of the Bush
Directed byClaude Flemming
Written byPercy Reay as "Jack North"
StarringSnowy Baker
CinematographyFranklyn Barrett
Production
company
Snowy Baker Films
Distributed byE. J. Carroll
Release dates
  • 30 September 1918 (1918-09-30) (Australia)
  • 1919 (1919) (US)
Running time
six reels
CountryAustralia
Languages
Budget£1,500[1][2]
Box office£20,000[1]

Synopsis

Hugh Mostyn (Snowy Baker) is sent from his family station to England for an education and returns to Australia years later as a "gentleman", complete with a white suit and monocle. He seeks work as a jackeroo and is teased by station hands who pretend to hold him up as bushrangers, but he beats them all up. He also breaks into a wild brumby, takes part in a kangaroo hunt, defeats the station bully (Colin Bell) in a boxing match, wins the heart of the manager's daughter, and later rescues her from a rejected suitor.[3]

Colin Bell was a real-life boxer and his on-screen fight with Baker went for five minutes.[4]

Cast

Production

The script was the prize winner in a competition held by the Bulletin.[1]

The film was shot in a property near Gunnedah.[5] The female lead, Rita Tress, was a real life squatter's daughter.[6]

Baker visited Hollywood in 1919 and re-shot some sequences there at Jesse Lasky's studios for its American release.[7]

References

The film was enormously popular and earned an estimated £20,000 in profit.[2]

References
  1. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 83.
  2. "OUR FILMS GETTING FACE LIFT". The Courier-Mail. Brisbane: National Library of Australia. 5 June 1944. p. 4. Retrieved 15 August 2012.
  3. "THE LURE OF THE BUSH." The Mercury (Hobart) 25 January 1919: 11, retrieved 18 December 2011
  4. Colin Bell boxing record
  5. "THEATRE ROYAL." The Register (Adelaide) 9 Dec 1919: 9. Retrieved 18 December 2011
  6. "'THE LUKE OF THE BUSH."". The Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 2 December 1919. p. 9. Retrieved 23 July 2012.
  7. "AUSTRALIAN FILMS." The Register (Adelaide) 6 Jan 1919: 9. Retrieved 18 December 2011
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