The Devil's Playground
Directed byVictor Bindley
Written byJohn Bedouin (titles)
Based onlyrics of Hell's Highway
by Ashley Durham
StarringJohn R. Allen
Cinematography
  • Jack Bruce
  • James Grant
  • Jack Fletcher
Edited byJ. Stebbing
Production
company
Fineart Films Productions
Release date
  • 1928 (1928)
Running time
8,385 feet
CountryAustralia
LanguagesSilent film
English intertitles

The Devil's Playground is a 1928 Australian feature-length film set in the South Seas. It was produced by a largely amateur group from the north shore of Sydney.[1]

Production

The film was made by a largely amateur group who formed a company, Fine art Film, in 1927 with a capital of £2,000.[2]

Their first production was the Pacific Island adventure, Trobriana, which was never released. Scenes were shot on beaches near Sydney and interiors in the Mosman Town Hall. Natives were played by Sydney lifeguards in black face.[1]

It was known during filming as Pearl of the Pacific.[3]

Cast member Elza Stenning married sculptor Lyndon Dadswell in 1930; she had a small part in F. W. Thring's Harmony Row then became an opera star; they divorced in 1939. She married financier Ian Mathieson Jacoby and as Elsa Jacoby became a well-known Sydney society matron.[4]

Release

The film sold to Universal Pictures in England. However, the censor prevented its export. According to the Sydney Morning Herald at the time,

"The Commonwealth censorship regulations specify the following heads under which a film may be condemned:

(a) Blasphemy, indecency, or obscenity; (b) likely to be injurious to morality, or to encourage or incite to crime; (c) likely to be offensive to the people of any friendly nation; (d) likely to be offensive to the people of the British Empire; (e) depiction of any matter the exhibition of which is undesirable in the public interest, or likely to prove detrimental or prejudicial to the Commonwealth. According to the Chief Censor, "The Devil's Playground" violates four out of the five stipulations, namely (a), (b), (d), and (e).[5]

More specifically, relating to (e), the Controller General of Custmos O'Reilly thought that showing ill-treatment of natives by Australians or a native revolt in Australian territory (the Trobriand Islands) would be detrimental to Australia's reputation.[6] Not released in Australia, the film "had no more than trade screenings at the time of its production and was not shown publicly until 1966,"[7] when it was screened at St Mark's Anglican Church hall, Avalon Beach.[4]

References

  1. 1 2 Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p147
  2. ↑ "Company News". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 2 December 1927. p. 15. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  3. ↑ "Advertising". The Sunday Times. Perth: National Library of Australia. 29 July 1928. p. 8 Section: First Section. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  4. 1 2 Jan Roberts (2018). Australian Dictionary of Biography: Jacoby, Elsa Antoinette (1910–1994). National Centre of Biography, Australian National University. Retrieved 1 November 2023.
  5. ↑ "AUSTRALIAN FILM". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 8 February 1930. p. 17. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  6. ↑ Jane Landman, The Tread of a White Man's Foot, Canberra: Pandanus Books (The Australian National University), 2006, p. 45.
  7. ↑ Jane Landman, The Tread of a White Man's Foot, Canberra: Pandanus Books (The Australian National University), 2006, p. 41.
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