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The Jackeroo of Coolabong

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Wikipedia article




'The Jackeroo of Coolabong' is a 1920 Australian silent film starring renowned Australian sportsman Snowy Baker. It was the last of three films he made with the husband and wife team of director Wilfred Lucas and writer Bess Meredyth, both of whom had been imported from Hollywood.

It is considered a lost film.

Synopsis



Brian O'Farrell (Snowy Baker), is an English 'new chum' who takes a job at an Australian cattle station. He is teased by station hands because of his appearance (including spats and a monocle) but he soon impresses them with his skills at riding and boxing. The station manager, John MacDonald (Wilfred Lucas), takes O'Farrell to Sydney to meet his daughter Edith (Kathleen Key) who is working in the slums. Edith is kidnapped by criminals after witnessing a crime but O'Farrell rescues her. It is later revealed he is the owner of the station.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63038457 "WEST'S OLYMPIA." 'The Register (Adelaide)' 11 Apr 1921: 3] accessed 18 December 2011

Cast



*Snowy Baker as Brian O'Farrell

*Kathleen Key as Edith MacDonald

*Wilfred Lucas as John MacDonald

*Arthur Tauchert

*Bernice Vere

*Arthur Greenaway

Production



Kathleen Key was imported from the US to play the female lead.

Shooting took place in June 1920. During filming a kangaroo hunt in Narrabri, an extra, Nellie Park, fell off her horse and died of a fractured skull several days later.[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15902628 "CRUSHED BETWEEN TRUCKS." 'The Sydney Morning Herald' 17 Aug 1920: 7] accessed 18 December 2011

Charles Chauvel worked on the film.

Release



The film was re-edited and released in the USA as 'The Fighting Breed'. Like all the Baker-Meredyth-Lucas collaborations, it was successful at the box office overseas, but returns did not come in quickly.Graham Shirley and Brian Adams, 'Australian Cinema: The First Eighty Years', Currency Press, 1989 p66

During filming E. J. Carroll clashed with Wilfred Lucas over the cost of films. Lucas soon returned to Hollywood with Bess Meredyth, taking Baker with them. Raymond Longford took over Carroll's Palmerston studio.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, 'Australian Film 19001977: A Guide to Feature Film Production', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 102.

See also



*List of lost films

References




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