''Harmony Row'' is a 1933 Australian musical comedy directed by

F. W. Thring Francis William Thring III (2 December 1882 – 1 July 1936) was an Australian film director, producer, and exhibitor. He has been credited with the invention of the clapperboard. Early life Francis William Thring (or William Francis Thring) ...

and starring popular stage comedian

George Wallace George Corley Wallace Jr. (August 25, 1919 – September 13, 1998) was an American politician who was the 45th and longest-serving governor of Alabama (1963–1967; 1971–1979; 1983–1987), and the List of longest-serving governors of U.S. s ...

. It marked the film debut of

Bill Kerr William Henry Kerr (10 June 1922 – 28 August 2014) was a British and Australian actor, comedian and vaudevillian. Born in South Africa, he started his career as a child actor in Australia, before emigrating to Britain after the Second World W ...

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

as Contable Dreadnought *Phyllis Baker as Molly *

Marshall Crosby Marshall Crosby (18 February 1882 – 1 January 1954) born as Joseph Alexander Crosby, was a popular Australian actor and singer of vaudeville, theatre, radio, film and television. Biography Crosby was born the twelfth of thirteen children in ...

as the sergeant * John Dobbie as Slogger Lee *

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 Thelma Marjorie Scott (17 June 1913 – 23 November 2006) was an Australian character actress whose six-decade career in theatre, radio, film and Australian made her one of her country's most recognisable and beloved personalities. Having sta ...

*Dorothy Weeks *Johnny Marks *

Campbell Copelin Campbell Copelin (15 March 1901 – 3 August 1988) was an English actor, who moved to Australia in the 1920s and worked extensively in film, theatre, radio and television. He had a notable association with J.C. Williamson Ltd and frequently coll ...

Original play

The film was based on a revue Wallace had performed in the 1920s. It was one of a series of "revusicals" written by Wallace during this period. In ''Harmony Row'' Wallace played "Dreadnought" an incompetent policeman called Dreadnaught. ''The Bulletin'' said "George. Wallace’s new revue, a fourth-rate coster turn with splashes of local color to make it look like home, is a wearisome affair. Only the ballet, George Wallace’s clowning and the boxing scene at the finish save it from being a dreadful example." The revue was a success and toured through Australia.

Production

Wallace and F.W. Thring decided to make a film together resulting in ''His Royal Highness''. This was followed by ''Harmony Road''. Wallace said the two films cost £35,000 between them. In August 1932 Wallace and Thring would sign a five year contract. Most of the cast were stage actor making their film debut. The film marked the feature film debut of

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''. Filming began in Melbourne on 4 July 1932 and was finished in four weeks. 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 (

), thinking he's a thief.

Reception

The film was released on a double bill with '' Diggers in Blighty'' and was a success at the box office. The two films grossed £8000 in Melbourne and £3070 in two weeks in Sydney. However Thring complained he only received a small portion of returns.

Critical

The critic from ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid newspaper published in Sydney, Australia, and owned by Nine Entertainment. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuous ...

'' called it "the first really successful picture that Efftee Films have produced." ''Everyones'' wrote, "George Wallace again proves his ability as a screen comedian, and George Wallace from now on he must be considered as a box-offlce factor. “Harmony Row” lacks the production quality of “His RoyalHighness”; it is far less ambitious technically; but it provides considerably more humor." The film was released in England.

Re-release

Pat Hanna George Patrick "Pat" Hanna (born 18 March 1888 in Whitianga, New Zealand – 24 October 1973 in Ampthill, Bedfordshire, England) was a New Zealand-born film producer, he was a soldier of the First World War who entertained post-war audienc ...

bought the rights to Efftee's films and kept them in circulation for many years. In 1952 ''Harmony Row'' and ''Diggers in Blighty'' were hugely successful in country towns, prompting them to be re-released in Melbourne. ''The Age'' called it "scarcely more than a vaudevilllan mixture of routine situations and weak double-entendres. Easily the most interesting item is the precarious tenure of George Wallace's trousers."

References

Notes

*Fitzpatrick, Peter, 'The Two Frank Thrings'', Monash University, 2012

External links

*
''Harmony Row''
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

''Harmony Row''
at Oz Movies
''Harmony Row''
at Australian Variety Theatre Archive
Copyright information
at

National Archives of Australia The National Archives of Australia (NAA), formerly known as the Commonwealth Archives Office and Australian Archives, is an Australian Government agency that is the National archives, official repository for all federal government documents. It ...

{{F.W. Thring 1933 films Australian musical comedy films 1933 musical comedy films Films directed by F. W. Thring Australian black-and-white films 1930s Australian musicals 1930s English-language films English-language musical comedy films