Harmony Row (film)

Harmony Row is a 1933 Australian musical comedy directed by F. W. Thring and Raymond Longford and starring popular stage comedian George Wallace. It marked the film debut of Bill Kerr.[5]

Harmony Row
Directed byF. W. Thring
Raymond Longford (associate)[1]
Produced byF. W. Thring
Written byGeorge Wallace
Based onstage show by George Wallace
StarringGeorge Wallace
Phyllis Baker
CinematographyArthur Higgins
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
11 February 1933
Running time
78 mins
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Budget£11,000[2][3]
Box office£18,000[4]

Plot

George enlists in the police force and is assigned to Harmony Row, a haunt of criminals such as Slogger Lee. He makes several friends, including the pretty street musician Molly, and boy soprano Leonard. He is persuaded to fight Slogger Lee in a boxing tournament. He manages to defeat Slogger and win, and is united with Molly.

Cast
  • George Wallace as Contable Dreadnought
  • Phyllis Baker as Molly
  • Marshall Crosby as the sergeant
  • John Dobbie as Slogger Lee
  • Bill Kerr as Leonard
  • Bill Innes as Detective Brooks
  • Edwin Brett as the father
  • Norman Shepherd as the butler
  • Norman French as the husband
  • Bebe Scott as the wife
  • Gertrude Boswell as the housekeeper
  • Leonard Stephens as the Ferrett
  • Dan Thomas
  • Nell Fleming
  • Nell Crane
  • Elza Stenning
  • Thelma Scott
  • Dorothy Weeks
  • Johnny Marks
  • Campbell Copelin

Original play
Harmony Row
Written byGeorge Wallace
Date premiered23 August 1924
Place premieredNewtown Majestic, Sydney[6]
Original languageEnglish
Genrecomedy revue

The film was based on a revue Wallace had performed in the 1920s.[7] It was one of a series of "revusicals" written by Wallace during this period.[8]

Production

The film marked the feature film debut of Bill Kerr who had been cast by Thring in a proposed movie called Pick and the Duffers. That movie was not made but he was then cast in Harmony Row.[9]

The full version of the film features a haunted house sequence where George unravels a mystery in a mansion. In some versions of the film this sequence was cut and replaced with one where George arrests a high society gentlemen (Campbell Copelin), thinking he's a thief.[2]

Reception

The film was released on a double bill with Diggers in Blighty and was a success at the box office.[2] The two films grossed £8000 in Melbourne and £3070 in two weeks in Sydney.[10]

The critic from The Sydney Morning Herald called it "the first really successful picture that Efftee Films have produced."[11]

The film was released in England.

References
  1. "Raymond Longford", Cinema Papers, January 1974 p51
  2. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 160.
  3. "Counting the Cash in Australian Films"', Everyones 12 December 1934 p 19-20
  4. 'Counting the Cash in Australian Films', Everyones 12 December 1934 p 19 quoted in Fitzpatrick p179
  5. Vagg, Stephen (23 December 2019). "Australian Film Musicals You Probably Didn't Realise Existed". Filmink.
  6. "Newtown Majestic – Vaudeville and Revue". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 23 August 1924. p. 16. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  7. "Majestic Theatre". The Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 3 November 1924. p. 9. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  8. "George Wallace Revue Company" at Australian Variety Theatre Archive. (Sighted 6 December 2012)
  9. "Saturday Night". The Northern Times. Carnarvon, WA: National Library of Australia. 4 April 1934. p. 5. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  10. "Australian Films". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 24 February 1934. p. 16. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  11. "New Films". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 10 April 1933. p. 5. Retrieved 8 August 2012.
  • Fitzpatrick, Peter, ''The Two Frank Thrings, Monash University, 2012
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