''While the Billy Boils'' is a 1921 Australian film from director

Beaumont Smith Frank Beaumont "Beau" Smith (15 August 1885 – 2 January 1950), was an Australian film director, producer and exhibitor, best known for making low-budget comedies. Smith made his first film, ''Our Friends, the Hayseeds,'' in 1917. He went on ...

based on Smith's stage play adaptation of several stories from

Henry Lawson Henry Archibald Hertzberg Lawson (17 June 1867 – 2 September 1922) was an Australian writer and bush poet. Along with his contemporary Banjo Paterson, Lawson is among the best-known Australian poets and fiction writers of the colonial period ...

. It is considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

Plot

Bob Brothers (

Tal Ordell Talone Ordell (1880 – 1948), better known as Tal Ordel, was an Australian actor, writer and director. Ordell was probably born in Calcutta, India, seventh child of Victorian-born parents William Odell Raymond Buntine, drover, and his wife Susann ...

) is a bushman who quarrelled with his father ten years earlier, left him and changed his name. He returns to his father's station and takes a job there, eventually becoming the union representative of the station hands. His younger brother Dick (Robert MacKinnon) is being blackmailed by the evil Tessie (Lorna Lantaur) into stealing money. Bob takes the blame to protect his brother. Dick and Bob both fall in love with Ruth. Bob tries to forget her by going out back and almost dies in the desert, but is rescued by an Afghan camel driver. He returns home and is blamed for another robbery, but is cleared of the charges and is united with Ruth.

Cast

as Bob Brothers * John Cosgrove as One-eyed Bogan *Robert MacKinnon as Dick ebb *Ernest T. Hearne as Steelman *

Gilbert Emery Gilbert Emery Bensley Pottle (June 11, 1875 – October 28, 1945), known professionally as Gilbert Emery, was an American actor who appeared in over 80 movies from 1921 to his death in 1945. He was also a playwright, author of seven Broadway pla ...

as Smithy *J. P. O'Neill as Tom Mitchell *Charles Beetham as Tom Wall *Alf Scarlett as bank manager *Elsie McCormick as Ruth *Lorna Lantaur as Tessie Brand *Rita Aslin as Mrs Stiffner *May Renne as Mrs Brighten *James Ward as Old Tallyho * Charles Villers as Andy Regan *

as himself

1916 Play Version

Beaumont Smith had previously adapted Lawson's for the stage in 1916, and it toured Australia for that and the following year. The play was popular. Members of the cast for the play appeared in Smith's debut feature, ''

Our Friends, the Hayseeds ''Our Friends, the Hayseeds'' is a 1917 Australian rural comedy from director Beaumont Smith. It centers on the rural family, the ''Hayseeds'', and their rivalry with a neighbouring family, the ''Duggans''. It was Smith's first movie as a direct ...

'' (1917).

Film Production

Smith shot and edited the film from July to August 1921 in and around Windsor and Redclay in New South Wales. His assistant director was Phil K. Walsh, who later directed two Australian films, ''

Around the Boree Log ''Around the Boree Log'' is a 1925 Australian silent film by Phil K. Walsh adapted from the poems of "John O'Brien" ( Patrick Joseph Hartigan). It tells stories of a priest's life around the 1870s in the Goulburn area.Andrew Pike and Ross Coo ...

'' and '' The Birth of White Australia''. Lawson himself appears in a brief prologue.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 107. Lawson had given all copyright in his work to

Angus & Robertson Angus & Robertson (A&R) is a major Australian bookseller, publisher and printer. As book publishers, A&R has contributed substantially to the promotion and development of Australian literature.Alison, Jennifer (2001). "Publishers and editors: A ...

, but its principal, George Robertson, agreed the money for the rights to the movie should go to Lawson, which became the author's main source of income in the last years of his life.

Reception

Commercial results were strong.

References

External links

the Billy Boils''
in the

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

''While the Billy Boils''
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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:While The Billy Boils 1921 films Films directed by Beaumont Smith Lost Australian films Australian silent feature films Australian black-and-white films 1921 lost films Films based on works by Henry Lawson Films based on Australian short stories Australian short story collections