Editing Cinema of Australia (section)

===1930s–1960s===
[[File:Buladelah.jpg|thumb|The old Pacific Cinema at [[Bulahdelah, New South Wales]] - a classic example of an early, small, country-town cinema]]

In 1930, [[F. W. Thring]] (1883–1936) established the [[Efftee Studios]] based in [[Melbourne]] to make [[talking film]]s using optical sound equipment imported from the United States. The first Australian sound films appeared  in 1931: the company produced [[Diggers (1931 film)|''Diggers'']] (1931), ''[[A Co-respondent's Course]]'' (1931), ''[[The Haunted Barn]]'' (1931) and [[The Sentimental Bloke (1932 film)|''The Sentimental Bloke'']] (1932). During the five years of its existence, Efftee produced nine features, over 80 [[short film|short]]s and several stage-productions. Notable collaborators included [[C. J. Dennis]], [[George Wallace (Australian comedian)|George Wallace]] and [[Frank Harvey (Australian screenwriter)|Frank Harvey]]. Film production continued only until 1934, when it ceased as a protest over the refusal of the Australian government to set Australian film-quotas, followed soon by Thring's death in 1936. It was estimated{{by whom|date=March 2021}} that Thring lost over £75,000 of his own money on his filmmaking and theatrical ventures.<ref>Graham Shirley and Brian Adams, ''Australian Cinema: The First Eighty Years'', Currency Press, p125.</ref>{{request quotation|date=March 2021}}

[[Ken G. Hall]] became a driving force in establishing [[Cinesound Productions]] in 1931.<ref name=SMPTE37>[http://www.smpte.org.au/industrynews37.asp UNESCO Honours Cinesound Movietone Productions] {{Webarchive|url= https://web.archive.org/web/20040102171428/http://www.smpte.org.au/industrynews37.asp |date= 2 January 2004 }} – Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers (Australia Section)</ref><ref name=AFC263>[http://www.afc.gov.au/newsandevents/mediarelease/2003/release_263.aspx Ken G. Hall Award goes to the late Tom Nurse] {{Webarchive|url= https://archive.today/20031222221617/http://www.afc.gov.au/newsandevents/mediarelease/2003/release_263.aspx |date= 22 December 2003 }} – Australian Film Commission ''News & Events''. 27 November 2003.</ref> The company became one of Australia's first feature-film production companies and operated into the early 1940s, becoming Australia's leading domestic studio based on the [[Hollywood (film industry)|Hollywood]] model. The company also used the Hollywood model for the promotion of its films and attempted to promote a [[Star system (filmmaking)|star system]]. It was particularly successful with the [[On Our Selection (1932 film)|''On Our Selection'']] (1932) series of comedies, based on the popular writings of author [[Steele Rudd]], which featured the adventures of a fictional Australian farming family, the Rudds, and the perennial father-and-son duo, "[[Dad and Dave]]". Despite its ambitions, Cinesound produced only 17 feature-films, all but one of them directed by Ken Hall. Though financially successful, the company ceased making feature films following the 1939 outbreak of [[World War II]].
[[File:Errol Flynn1.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Errol Flynn]] had his debut in ''[[In the Wake of the Bounty]]'' (1933)]]
[[File:Diane Cilento with Peter Finch.jpg|thumb|upright| [[Peter Finch]] with fellow Australian [[Diane Cilento]] during the making of British film ''[[Passage Home]]'' (1955)]]
''[[In the Wake of the Bounty]]'' (1933), directed by [[Charles Chauvel (filmmaker)|Charles Chauvel]], starred Tasmanian-born [[Errol Flynn]]. The film was not a success.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://aso.gov.au/titles/features/wake-bounty/ |title= In the Wake of the Bounty (1933) on ASO – Australia's audio and visual heritage online |access-date= 1 December 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110314084533/http://aso.gov.au/titles/features/wake-bounty/ |archive-date= 14 March 2011 |url-status= live }}</ref> Flynn then travelled to Britain to pursue a career in acting and later went to America and became a celebrated Hollywood star. Chauvel directed a number of successful Australian films, including 1944's World War II classic [[The Rats of Tobruk (1944 film)|''The Rats of Tobruk'']] (which starred [[Peter Finch]] and [[Chips Rafferty]]) and 1955's ''[[Jedda]]'', which was notable as the first Australian film shot in colour, and as the first to feature Aboriginal actors in lead roles and to enter the [[Cannes Film Festival]].<ref>[http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3702/year/1955.html Festival de Cannes – 11–22 May 2011] {{webarchive |url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120118215228/http://www.festival-cannes.com/en/archives/ficheFilm/id/3702/year/1955.html |date= 18 January 2012}}</ref>

In Britain, the [[Cinematograph Films Act 1927]] established a [[screen quota|quota]] of films that had to be shown in British cinemas.  One could shoot compliant films in the British Empire as well as in Great Britain;  this stimulated Australian film-production. However the Cinematograph Films Act 1938 mollified the British film industry by including only films made by and shot in Great Britain in the quota - this removed Australian films from the film quota in the UK, and saw the loss of a guaranteed market for Australian films.<ref>[http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17560049?searchTerm=cinesound%20feature%20rydge&searchLimits=l-category=Article%7Ccategory%3AArticle 'Greater Union Group Half-year's Profit', ''The Sydney Morning Herald'', Wednesday 4 January 1939 p 10]</ref>

''[[Kokoda Front Line!]]'' (1942), directed by Ken G. Hall, won Australia's first [[Academy Award|Oscar]].<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://aso.gov.au/titles/newsreels/kokoda-front-line/ |title= Kokoda Front Line! (1942) on ASO – Australia's audio and visual heritage online |access-date= 1 December 2010 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110226115110/http://aso.gov.au/titles/newsreels/kokoda-front-line/ |archive-date= 26 February 2011 |url-status= live }}</ref> Chips Rafferty and Peter Finch became prominent international stars of the period. Rafferty's onscreen image as a lanky, laconic bushman struck a chord with Australian filmgoers, and he appeared in iconic early Australian films such as ''[[Forty Thousand Horsemen]]'' (1940), [[The Rats of Tobruk (1944 film)|''The Rats of Tobruk'']] (1944), [[The Overlanders (film)|''The Overlanders'']] (1946) and [[Eureka Stockade (1949 film)|''Eureka Stockade'']] (1949) (''Overlanders'' and ''Eureka'' were part of a series of Australian-themed films produced by Britain's iconic [[Ealing Studios]]). In Hollywood, Rafferty also appeared in Australian-themed films, including [[The Desert Rats (film)|''The Desert Rats'']] (1953), [[The Sundowners (1960 film)|''The Sundowners'']] (1960) and [[Mutiny on the Bounty (1962 film)|''Mutiny on the Bounty'']] (1962). Similarly, Peter Finch starred in quintessentially Australian roles (such as "[[Digger (soldier)|digger]]" and [[stockman (Australia)|stockman]]) through a series of popular films and had a successful and diverse screen career in Britain and the United States.

Both [[Ron Randell]] and [[Rod Taylor]] began their acting careers in Australia - initially in radio and on stage before appearing in such Australian films as [[Smithy (1946 film)|''Smithy'']] (1946) for the former and [[Long John Silver (film)|''Long John Silver'']] (1954) for the latter. They each transferred to the United States to become Hollywood [[leading man|leading men]] in a number of films of the late 1940s (Randell) and both from the 1950s onwards. Taylor had starring roles in [[The Time Machine (1960 film)|''The Time Machine'']] (1960) and [[The Birds (film)|''The Birds'']] (1963) as well as in several American television-series such as [[Hong Kong (TV series)|''Hong Kong'']] (1960-1961).

In the 1950s British and American production-companies made several notable films in Australia based on stories from [[Australian literature]] (generally with strong rural themes). These included ''[[A Town Like Alice (film)|A Town Like Alice]]'' (1956, which starred [[Virginia McKenna]] and Peter Finch); [[The Shiralee (1957 film)|''The Shiralee'']] (1957, also starring Peter Finch with Australian actors [[Charles Tingwell]], [[Bill Kerr]] and [[Ed Devereaux]] in supporting roles); [[Robbery Under Arms (1957 film)|''Robbery Under Arms'']] (1957, again starring Finch); and ''[[Summer of the Seventeenth Doll]]'' (1959, starring [[Ernest Borgnine]], [[John Mills]] and [[Angela Lansbury]]). In 1960, [[The Sundowners (1960 film)|''The Sundowners'']] was shot partly in the [[Snowy Mountains]] of [[New South Wales]] with foreign leads [[Deborah Kerr]], [[Robert Mitchum]], and [[Peter Ustinov]] but a supporting cast including Australians - Chips Rafferty, [[John Meillon]] and [[Leonard Teale]].

In 1958, [[Australian Film Institute]] was formed{{by whom|date=March 2021}} and in the same year began awarding the [[Australian Film Institute Awards]].

After filming ''[[Whiplash (TV series)|Whiplash]]'' in the country in 1960, [[Peter Graves]] said that the biggest problem was the shortage of Australian actors.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article103107678 |title=Says Australia Needs Actors |newspaper=[[The Canberra Times]] |location=Australian Capital Territory, Australia |date=24 October 1960 |access-date=4 May 2020 |page=1 |via=Trove }}</ref> Australian film-production reached a low ebb with few notable productions during the 1960s.<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://www.afi.org.au/Past_Winners2/AM/ContentManagerNet/ContentDisplay.aspx?ContentID=6460&Section=Past_Winners |title= The Australian Film Institute &#124; Past Winners |access-date= 29 August 2013 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20100723062132/http://www.afi.org.au/Past_Winners2/AM/ContentManagerNet/ContentDisplay.aspx?ContentID=6460&Section=Past_Winners |archive-date= 23 July 2010 |url-status= dead  }}</ref> The 1966 comedy [[They're a Weird Mob (film)|''They're a Weird Mob'']], starring [[Walter Chiari]], [[Chips Rafferty]] and [[Claire Dunne]], was a rare hit of the period which also documented something of the changing face of Australian society: telling the story of a newly-arrived Italian immigrant who, working as a labourer in Sydney, becomes mates with his co-workers, despite some difficulties with [[Australian slang]] and culture. The film foreshadowed the successful approaching [[Australian New Wave|"New Wave"]] of Australian cinema of the 1970s that would often showcase colloquial [[Culture of Australia|Australian culture]].

Overseas cinema continued to attract Australian actors as "action-men" with the casting of Australian [[George Lazenby]] to replace [[Sean Connery]] in portraying the superspy [[James Bond]] in the 1969 U.K. film [[On Her Majesty's Secret Service (film)|''On Her Majesty's Secret Service'']].