Townies and Hayseeds

Townies and Hayseeds is a 1923 Australian film comedy from director Beaumont Smith. It is the fifth in his series about the rural family the Hayseeds.

Townies and Hayseeds
Original advertisement
Directed byBeaumont Smith
Written byBeaumont Smith
Produced byBeaumont Smith
StarringGeorge Edwards
Lotus Thompson
CinematographyArthur Higgins
Production
company
Beaumont Smith Productions
Distributed byBeaumont Smith
Union Theatres
Release dates
7 July 1923 (Sydney)[1]
13 August 1923 (Melbourne)
Running time
5,000 feet
CountryAustralia
Languagesilent

It is considered a lost film.

Synopsis

City-dweller Pa Townie goes to the country for a holiday with his wife Ma and children Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Brissy, Perth and Hobart. They stay with the Hayseed family, who they then invite to stay at their place in Potts Point. In a romantic subplot, Pa Townie's daughter Adelaide (Lotus Thompson) is pursued by a returned serviceman, George, and an English "new chum" called "Choom".[2]

The film has satirical elements including a "suicide club" at The Gap in Sydney, with Pa Townie trying to commit suicide, and a send up of former Prime Minister Billy Hughes.[3]

Cast
  • George Edwards as Pa Townie
  • JP O'Neill as Dad Hayseed
  • Pinky Weatherly as Mum Hayseed
  • Ada S Claire as Ma Townie
  • Lotus Thompson as Adelaide Townie
  • W.J. Newman as Choom
  • Gordon Collingridge as George Fisher
  • Ena Aldworth
  • J Rayner
  • Freddie Tauchert
  • Gwen Gamble
  • Matthew Gamble
  • Jim Coleman
  • Gloria Lloyd Weatherly
  • Jack Tauchert
  • Harold Parkes

Production

The film was written, produced and sold within five weeks in May 1923 with shooting taking place in and around Sydney. Specific scenes and titles were added for the Melbourne and Adelaide release (e.g. Potts Point was changed to Toorak).[4][5]

Reception

The titles of the movie received praise for their cleverness.[6] Indeed, one reviewer though the titles were funnier than the actual sequences themselves.[7]

The film was popular enough to lead to another in the series, Prehistoric Hayseeds.

References
  1. Ross Cooper,"Filmography: Beaumont Smith", Cinema Papers, March–April 1976 p333
  2. "TOWNIES AND HAYSEEDS.". The Advertiser (Adelaide) 5 Sep 1923: 17
  3. "TOWNIES AND HAYSEEPS" The Register (Adelaide) 7 Sep 1923: 14
  4. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 117.
  5. "TOWNIES AND HAYSEEDS." The Register (Adelaide) 8 Sep 1923: 18
  6. "TOWNIES AND HAYSEEDS". The Advertiser (Adelaide) 5 Sep 1923: 17
  7. "Cairns, Pictures, To-night "Townies and Hayseeds". Cairns Post (Qld. : 1909 - 1954). Qld.: National Library of Australia. 14 May 1924. p. 3. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
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