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The Octoroon (1912 film)
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Wikipedia article
'The Octoroon' is an Australian film directed by George Young based on a popular play by Dion Boucicault which had recently enjoyed a popular run in Australia.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article45183998 "LENARD'S PICTURES." 'Barrier Miner (Broken Hill)' 22 Feb 1912: 3]. Retrieved 15 December 2011 It is considered a lost film.
Synopsis
In the deep south of 1850s USA, an octoroon is given her freedom by her white father but is later bought as a slave by the evil Jacob McCloskey.
Production
The film was shot in Sydney with an old paddle steamer, 'Narrabeen', standing in for a Mississippi river boat.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, 'Australian Film 19001977: A Guide to Feature Film Production', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 32.
Significance
The writer Bruce Dennett has commented on the selection of this material to make an Australian film. "The identifiable influence of Southern stories and characters at such an early stage in the history of Australian film is hard to ignore. 'The Octoroon' is especially notable because it deals with questions of race and blood, issues that were important and enduring social and historical preoccupations of the young Australian nation, as they continued to be for the United States."[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_hb3524/is_3-4_63/ai_n57733114/pg_3/?tag=content;col1 Bruce Dennett "How Dixie waltzed with Matilda: the influence on Australia of cinematic images of the South". 'Mississippi Quarterly, The' Summer-Fall 2010]. Retrieved 15 December 2011
References
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