''The Waybacks'' is a 1918 Australian silent film directed by Arthur W. Sterry. It is a rural comedy in the vein of Dad and Dave based on a play adaptation of a series of popular novels. Only part of the film survives today.

Plot

The Wayback family visit Sydney from the bush. Dad and his son Jabex make friends with a group of bathing beauties at Bondi. Mum visits a fortune teller.

Cast

*Vincent White as Dads Wayback *Gladys Leigh as Mums Wayback *Lucy Adair as Tilly *Louis Machilaton as Jabex *Rose Rooney as Frances Holmes *Harry Hodson as Dan Robins *William Turner as Charley Lyons *George Hewlitt as Nigel Kelvin *Lance Vane as Jack Hinds

Original play

''The Waybacks'', also known as ''The Waybacks at Home and in Town'', was a 1915 Australian play by

Philip Lytton Philip Lytton, (died 21 November 1949) real name Charles Ernest Phillips, was an Australian actor and theatrical entrepreneur best known for producing theatre shows that toured throughout Australia in the early part of the twentieth century. He st ...

which was adapted from the stories by Henry Fletcher about the comic adventures of a rural family. The play was seen as attempt to cash in on the success of the theatre version of ''

On Our Selection ''On Our Selection'' (1899) is a series of stories written by Australian author Steele Rudd, the pen name of Arthur Hoey Davis, in the late 1890s, featuring the characters Dad and Dave Rudd. The original edition of the book was illustrated by ...

'', and enjoyed almost as much popularity at the box office during its original run. The plot involves the Wayback family visiting Sydney and having various adventures.

Production

Director Sterry previously enjoyed success with '' The Life Story of John Lee, or The Man They Could Not Hang'' (1921). He appeared in the original stage production as Charley Lyons. The film was shot near

Windsor Windsor may refer to: Places *Detroit–Windsor, Michigan-Ontario, USA-Canada, North America; a cross-border metropolitan region Australia New South Wales *Windsor, New South Wales ** Municipality of Windsor, a former local government area Queen ...

and in Sydney. Two of the cast, Gladys Leigh and Harry Hodson, reprised their roles from the stage production.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 79.

Release

The film was released in August 1918. The premiere was held at Sydney Town Hall and resulted in a near riot as people sought tickets. The film went on to be a success with the box office. It continued to be seen in cinemas until 1925.Crowley, Bill, 'Pugliese, Caroline Frances (1865–1940)', Australian Dictionary of Biography, National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, Retrieved 7 January 2012
/ref> It was re-released as ''The Waybacks of 1925''. Sterry planned a sequel, ''The Cornstalks'', but it does not seem to have been completed.

References

External links

*
''The Waybacks''
at

National Film and Sound Archive 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 ...

Brief biography of Henry Fletcher
– discusses ''The Waybacks''
Original production
at

AusStage AusStage: The Australian Live Performance Database is an online database which records information about live performances in Australia, providing records of productions from the first recorded performance in Australia (1789, by convicts) up unt ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waybacks (film), The 1915 plays 1918 films 1918 drama films 1918 lost films 1910s Australian films 1910s Australian plays 1910s English-language films Australian black-and-white films Australian films based on plays Australian plays adapted into films Australian silent feature films English-language drama films Lost Australian drama films Silent Australian drama films