Know Thy Child
{{short description|1921 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Know Thy Child
| image =
| caption =
| director = Franklyn Barrett
| producer = Franklyn Barrett
| writer = Elsie M. Cummins
| narrator =
| starring =
| music =
| cinematography = Franklyn Barrett
| editing =
| studio = Barrett's Australian Productions
| distributor =
| released = {{Film date|1921|10|08|df=yes|ref1={{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article28083775 |title=THE LYCEUM. |newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald |date=8 October 1921 |accessdate=10 May 2012 |page=16 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}}}
| runtime = 6 reels
| country = Australia
| language = Silent film
English intertitles
| budget =
| gross =
}}
Know Thy Child is a 1921 Australian silent film directed by Franklyn Barrett.
It is considered a lost film.{{cite web |url=http://www.nla.gov.au/sites/default/files/australias_lost_films.pdf |title=Australia's Lost Films |last1=Edmondson |first1=Ray |last2=Pike |first2=Andrew |publisher=National Library of Australia |date=1982 |page=64 |quote=It would be hard to guess the significance of the rediscovery of, say, Longford's Ginger Mick or Barrett's Know Thy Child ... |accessdate=13 March 2013}}{{cite web |url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/K/KnowThyChild1921.html |title=Know Thy Child |publisher=silentera.com |accessdate=4 March 2013}}
Plot
A travelling salesman, Ray Standford (Roland Conway), seduces country girl Sadie McClure (Vera James) but forgets about her when she returns to the city and marries Dorothy Graham (Nada Conrade), daughter of his boss. Sadie gives birth to a daughter, Eileen (Lotus Thompson), who becomes Ray's personal secretary. Dorothy becomes a social worker and she and Ray can not have children. Dorothy pressures the government to declare bigamous all marriages contracted by people who were "morally pledged" to others. Ray becomes attracted to Ellen, but she has a sweetheart, engineer Geoffrey Dexter. One night burglars enter a building containing Ray, Eileen and Geoffrey but they fight them off.
Sadie dies and Standford and Dorothy adopt the girl.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article82027209 |title="KNOW THY CHILD". |newspaper=The Daily News |location=Perth, WA |date=6 January 1922 |accessdate=10 May 2012 |page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article63701190 |title="KNOW THY CHILD!". |newspaper=The Register |location=Adelaide |date=24 January 1922 |accessdate=10 May 2012 |page=9 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
Cast
- Roland Conway as Ray Standford
- Nada Conrade as Dorothy Graham
- Lotus Thompson as Eileen Baker
- Vera James as Sadie McClure
- Gerald Harcourt as Geoffrey Dexter
- Lily Rochefort
Production
Filming was delayed for some time due to fear of the subject matter, involving illegitimate children, but this was overcome.{{Citation
| title=Please, Mr. Policeman, May I Make a Movie? For “Everyones” by Franklyn Barrett.
|first=Franklyn
|last=Barrett
| journal=Everyones
| date=10 December 1930
| location=Sydney
| publisher=Everyones Ltd
| url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-564399119
| id=nla.obj-564399119
| access-date=16 August 2024
| via=Trove
}}
The film was shot in Sydney at the Rushcutters Bay Studio with exteriors done at Berowra WatersAndrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 108. and at Grenwell Point near Nowra.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123236495 |title=THE PASSIONATE PILGRIM. |newspaper=The Sunday Times |location=Sydney |date=12 June 1921 |accessdate=10 December 2014 |page=12 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
A contemporary report said it featured "probably the biggest set ever used in an Australian film."{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123244369 |title=FIGHTING CRESSY. |newspaper=The Sunday Times |location=Sydney |date=26 June 1921 |accessdate=4 October 2014 |page=14 |publisher=National Library of Australia}} Filming was completed by July 1921.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123245895 |title=OUTSIDE THE LAW. |newspaper=The Sunday Times |location=Sydney |date=3 July 1921 |accessdate=10 December 2014 |page=14 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
This was the film debut of Lotus Thompson who later achieved fame in Hollywood.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article123238994 |title=TO THE SUNSHINE |newspaper=The Sunday Times |issue=1844 |location=New South Wales, Australia |date=29 May 1921 |accessdate=12 March 2017 |page=5 |via=National Library of Australia}}
Actress Wendy Osborne later claimed she refused a role in the film on moral grounds.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article56516509 |title=AUSTRALIAN FILMS. |newspaper=The Register |location=Adelaide |date=22 October 1927 |accessdate=10 May 2012 |page=13 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
Release
Barrett distributed the movie himself, but it was not a big success at the box office.
The film was seen by Sir Walter Davidson, the Governor of New South Wales, whose endorsement of the film was used prominently in advertising.{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4618345 |title=THE PICTURES. |newspaper=The Argus |location=Melbourne |date=24 November 1921 |accessdate=10 May 2012 |page=8 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
See also
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0336707}}
- [http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=no;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=1;parentid=;query=know%20thy%20child;querytype=;rec=7;resCount=10 Know Thy Child] at National Film and Sound Archive
- [http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/K/KnowThyChild1921.html Know Thy Child at SilentEra]
{{Franklyn Barrett}}
Category:Silent Australian drama films
Category:Australian black-and-white films
Category:Australian silent feature films
Category:Lost Australian drama films
Category:1920s Australian films