Ernest Higgins

In 1900, Higgins rigged up a projector from his father's shop's balcony with a screen on a building across the street. Higgins was working as a bioscope operator by 1903. The following year, he purchased a motion picture camera and began capturing Hobart streetscapes.{{Cite book |title=Australian Silent Films. A Pictorial History 1896-1929 |last=Reade |first=Eric |publisher=Lansdowne Press Pty Ltd |year=1970 |isbn=07018-0320-7 |location=Melbourne, Victoria |pages=36}} Eventually Higgin's fascination with photography and cinema took him to Sydney where he found work at Spencer's Pictures filming newsreels and travelogues. Higgins was involved in a train crash at Richmond Station in 1906 while filming a newsreel.{{Citation | author1=Australian Geographical Society | title=The Good Old Days of Aussie Films (31 July 1970) | journal=Walkabout | publication-date=1970-07-31 | publisher=Australian National Travel Association | volume=36 | issue=8 | pages=52 | issn=0043-0064}}

In 1908, Higgins filmed a boxing match between Tommy Burns and Jack Johnson. The film, The Burns-Johnson Fight became a box office sensation, earning £2,114 in one week in Sydney, and £1,738 in Melbourne over four nights.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article148615994 |title=The Great Fight |newspaper=Eastern Districts Chronicle (York, WA : 1877–1927) |location=York, WA |date=16 January 1909 |accessdate=21 February 2015 |page=3 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{Cite book |title=Hollywood Down Under. Australians at the Movies: 1896 to the Present Day |last=Collins |first=Diane |publisher=Angus & Robertson Publishers |year=1987 |isbn=0-207-15267-5 |location=North Ryde, New South Wales |pages=39}}

In 1912, Higgins captured the first moving pictures from an aircraft for the production of the film The Camera in the Clouds. Flying with William E. Hart, who was the first man in Australia to fly a plane, Higgins made eighteen flights over the course of the production. It premiered at the Lyceum Photo Show.{{Cite book |title=Australian Silent Films. A Pictorial History 1896-1929 |last=Reade |first=Eric |publisher=Lansdowne Press Pty Ltd |year=1970 |isbn=07018-0320-7 |location=Melbourne, Victoria |pages=66}}

In 1922, Shirley Productions went into voluntary liquidation during the filming of The Throwback and Higgins, who was the production's cinematographer, overtook the business. Higgins was then successfully sued by actress Vera Remée for six weeks worth of unpaid wages.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article117587033 |title=Movie Actress: Verdict Against Cinematographer |newspaper=The Bathurst Times |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=20 January 1922 |accessdate=19 November 2022 |page=2 |via=National Library of Australia}}

Director Arthur Shirley later sued Higgins for A£1000 in breach of contract, and for the detention of certain films and plates in connection with the movie.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article223454453 |title="The Comeback!" |newspaper=The Sun |issue=3884 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=14 April 1923 |accessdate=19 November 2022 |page=6 |via=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23541421 |title=Music and Drama |newspaper=The Mercury |location=Hobart, Tas. |date=18 April 1922 |accessdate=23 March 2012 |page=2 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Shirley claimed that Higgins had promised to pay money for the preparation and production of the movie to a maximum of A£600.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16059560 |title=Supreme Court |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=12 April 1923 |accessdate=23 March 2012 |page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Higgins argued that Shirley had departed from the arrangement between them without his consent, and that he had disagreed with Shirley during filming over scenes that were shot, including the substitution of the female actors.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article23641210 |title=Moving Picture Dispute |newspaper=The Mercury |location=Hobart, Tas. |date=14 April 1923 |accessdate=23 March 2012 |page=7 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} The jury eventually found for Higgins, and awarded him costs. As a result, Shirley declared bankruptcy for the second time in his life, claiming he was the victim of Higgins' "hate, spleen and malice".{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article16219029 |title=Picture Producer |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=2 July 1925 |accessdate=23 March 2012 |page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}

• The Burns-Johnson Fight (1908)
• The Life and Adventures of John Vane, the Notorious Australian Bushranger (1910)
• Captain Midnight, the Bush King (1911)
• Captain Starlight, or Gentleman of the Road (1911)
• The Life of Rufus Dawes (1911)
• Sweet Nell of Old Drury (1911)
• The Midnight Wedding (1912)
• Australia Calls (1913)
• A Long, Long Way to Tipperary (1914) – producer
• The Shepherd of the Southern Cross (1914)
• The Church and the Woman (1917)
• The Woman Suffers (1918)
• The Waybacks (1918)
• The Throwback (1920) (abandoned)
• East Lynne (1922)

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb name|id=0383382}}
• [http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/summary/summary.w3p;adv=no;group=;groupequals=;page=0;parentid=;query=Person%3A%22%2FPerson%2Fkey%2F5464-1%22;querytype=;resCount=10 Ernest Higgins] at the National Film and Sound Archive
• {{YouTube|jVPOJzNY3IQ|Clip of Ernest Higgins}}

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Category:Australian cinematographers

Category:People from Hobart

Category:1945 deaths

Category:1871 births

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