Women’s History Month Meets Cinematic Fever
Added: (Wed Mar 01 2006)
Pressbox (Press Release) -
Love it or hate it – every February the “Oscar” fever hits the media and you can rarely turn on the television or open the newspaper without hearing a mention of an actor, director or movie which is up for nomination. Australia of course has its own award ceremony in the form of the Australian Film Awards which was founded in 1958, 29 years after the first Annual Academy Awards were held.
But Australia actually played a large role in early cinematic history. A little known but important achievement was that the Australian Film Industry produced what was thought to be the world’s first full length feature film in 1906. The Story of the Kelly Gang was a success in both Britain and Australia and spawned the bushranger genre.
Australian cinema thrived during the silent era particularly due to Raymond Longford who is recognised as the leading director of early Australian cinema and his long term association with Lottie Lyell. Lottie Lyell is thought to be the most significant woman during the first 100 years of Australian feature film making and her career covered all aspects of film making both on screen and behind the camera.
The Sentimental Bloke which was originally a verse penned by CJ Dennis in 1915 was directed by Longford and co-starred Lyell and was undoubtedly her best known role. It opened in 1919 and broke existing box office records. Lyell not only co-starred as Doreen but she is also believed to have co-written the screenplay and titles, was involved in editing, art direction and also in the overall production of the film.
Lottie Lyell starred in 24 movies and was involved in the writing of at least 11 movies in her short but successful career. Lottie Lyell sadly died at the age of 35 due to tuberculosis.
The trade magazine “Everyones” published an obituary of Lottie in 1925 which referred to her death as “a distinct blow to the major picture industry” and “the loss of one who has left her mark of her genius on Australia’s screen progress”.
After Lyell’s death, Longford did not direct or produce another successful film and her death seemed to be something which Longford carried throughout the rest of his life.
About the author:
Michelle Sweeney is the owner of an online gift store – www.tonicgifts.com.au. Michelle has had a varied career in administration and customer service roles and has combined all of her skills and expertise in order to establish and create Tonic Gifts.
Tonic Gifts registered as a business in October 2004 with an aim to provide quality and affordable gifts to online shoppers both in Australia and overseas and to make the whole experience as simple and enjoyable as possible. They specialise in selling beauty and bath products, accessories, baby gifts, books, toys and many other great gift ideas. As shoppers themselves, they only sell products that they would wish to buy. And just for the record, the team at Tonic Gifts loves to shop!
The name Tonic Gifts was inspired by the fact that a tonic is a refreshing or restorative influence and we know how much we need those on a weekly, if not daily basis, especially with our hectic lifestyles.
Tonic Gifts
www.tonicgifts.com.au