Pagewood Studios was a

film studio A film studio (also known as movie studio or simply studio) is a major entertainment company that makes films. Today, studios are mostly financing and distribution entities. In addition, they may have their own studio facility or facilities; how ...

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

, Australia, that was used to make Australian, British and Hollywood films for 20 years.

Creation

The studio was built in 1935 for National Productions by National Studios Ltd and was originally known as National Studios. It was constructed for the presumed increase in production that most observers thought would result in Australia following introduction of the NSW

Film Quota Act The Film Quota Act, full title the New South Wales Cinematograph Films (Australian Quota) Act was an act of legislation passed in September 1935 that came into force on 1 January 1936. Under the Act it was compulsory that in the first year of opera ...

. National Studios Ltd was incorporated with capital of £250,000. They were the first new film studios built in Australia since 1912.Philip Kemp, 'On the Slide: Harry Watt and Ealing's Australian Adventure', ''Second Take: Australian Filmmakers Talk'', Ed Geoff Burton and Raffaele Caputo, Allen & Unwin 1999 p 145-164

Gaumont British The Gaumont-British Picture Corporation was a British company that produced and distributed films and operated a cinema chain in the United Kingdom. It was established as an offshoot of France's Gaumont. Film production Gaumont-British was fou ...

helped provide finance and personnel in its construction. After six months of operation, National Studios reported a profit of 26%. However, the studio was soon eclipsed by Sydney's two other sound studios,

Cinesound Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was an Australian feature film production company. Established in June 1931, Cinesound developed out of a group of companies centred on Greater Union, Greater Union Theatres that covered all facets of the film proc ...

and Figtree Studios at Lane Cove. It was shut down for three years from 1937–1940, when it was reopened to make '' That Certain Something'' (1940). During World War II, the studio was used as a store depot, a training ground, and as the rehearsal and refitting depot of the Australian Army Entertainment Unit.

Revival

The success of '' The Overlanders'' (1946) prompted renewed interest in the studios from English companies looking to make movies in Australia.

Ealing Studios Ealing Studios is a television and film production company and facilities provider at Ealing Green in west London, England. Will Barker bought the White Lodge on Ealing Green in 1902 as a base for film making, and films have been made on th ...

shot ''

Eureka Stockade The Eureka Rebellion was a series of events involving gold miners who revolted against the British administration of the colony of Victoria, Australia, during the Victorian gold rush. It culminated in the Battle of the Eureka Stockade, wh ...

'' (1949) there and eventually took over the studio, putting it under the management of Eric Williams and overseeing an expensive refurbishment. Ealing used Pagewood for '' Bitter Springs'' (1950) and rented it out for ''

Wherever She Goes ''Wherever She Goes'' is a 1951 Australian feature film that tells the early part of the life story of pianist Eileen Joyce. Directed by Michael Gordon, it stars Suzanne Parrett, Eileen Joyce, Nigel Lovell and Muriel Steinbeck. Synopsis Eileen ...

'' (1951) and ''

Kangaroo Kangaroos are marsupials from the family Macropodidae (macropods, meaning "large foot"). In common use, the term is used to describe the largest species from this family, the red kangaroo, as well as the antilopine kangaroo, eastern gre ...

'' (1952), but plans to film a version of ''

Robbery Under Arms ''Robbery Under Arms'' is a bushranger novel by Thomas Alexander Browne, published under his pen name Rolf Boldrewood. It was first published in serialised form by ''The Sydney Mail'' between July 1882 and August 1883, then in three volumes in ...

'' fell through.

Closure

The studio was temporarily shut down again in 1952, which Ken G. Hall called "the worst blow the Australian film industry has ever received, and I believe it is a fatal blow." One year later, it was sold to Associated Television. In 1959, it was sold off completely to Holden manufacturing. Hall later wrote in his memoirs that Pagewood "never did turn out even one commercially successful Australian film".

Films shot at Pagewood

*'' Uncivilised'' (1936) *''

The Flying Doctor ''The Flying Doctor'' is a 1936 Australian-British drama film directed by Miles Mander and starring Charles Farrell, Mary Maguire and James Raglan. The Royal Flying Doctor Service of Australia operate in the Australian Outback. Noted as Aust ...

'' (1936) *'' Rangle River'' (1936) *'' The Avenger'' (1936) *''

Show Business Show business, sometimes shortened to show biz or showbiz (since 1945), is a vernacular term for all aspects of the entertainment industry.''Oxford English Dictionary'' 2nd Ed. (1989) From the business side (including managers, agents, produce ...

'' (1938) *'' Below the Surface'' (1939) *''

Dad Rudd, MP ''Dad Rudd, M.P.'' is a 1940 comedy that was the last of four films made by Ken G. Hall starring Bert Bailey as Dad Rudd. It was the last feature film directed by Hall prior to the war and the last made by Cinesound Productions, Bert Bailey and F ...

'' (1940) *'' That Certain Something'' (1941) *''

The Power and the Glory ''The Power and the Glory'' is a 1940 novel by British author Graham Greene. The title is an allusion to the doxology often recited at the end of the Lord's Prayer: "For thine is the kingdom, the power, and the glory, forever and ever, amen." ...

'' (1941) *''

'' (1949) *'' Bitter Springs'' (1950) *''

'' (1951) *''

'' (1952) *''

Long John Silver Long John Silver is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the 1883 novel '' Treasure Island'' by Robert Louis Stevenson. The most colourful and complex character in the book, he continues to appear in popular culture. His missing leg ...

'' (1954) *''

Smiley A smiley, sometimes called a smiley face, is a basic ideogram representing a Smile, smiling face. Since the 1950s, it has become part of popular culture worldwide, used either as a standalone ideogram or as a form of communication, such as em ...

'' (1956) *''

'' (1957) *''

Smiley Gets a Gun ''Smiley Gets a Gun'' is a 1958 Australian comedy-drama film in CinemaScope directed by Anthony Kimmins and starring Sybil Thorndike and Chips Rafferty. It is the sequel to the 1956 film ''Smiley''. Synopsis A young boy named Smiley desperately ...

'' (1958) *''

Summer of the Seventeenth Doll ''Summer of the Seventeenth Doll'' is an Australian play written by Ray Lawler and first performed at the Union Theatre in Melbourne on 28 November 1955. The play is considered to be the most significant in Australian theatre history, and a " ...

'' (1959)

References

{{Cinema of Australia Australian film studios Film production companies of Australia Buildings and structures in Sydney Companies based in Sydney