Australia Today (1938 - 1941)
Historical footage collection
Series synopsis:
Australia Today billed itself as a ‘digest of current events’ and covered social issues including poverty, crime, and other social conditions. It was set up in the late 1930s by Kathner as an alternative news source to established newsreels like Cinesound and Movietone.
Curator’s Notes:
Australia Today newsreels went beyond basic reportage with a more documentary feel, using re-constructions and re-enactments to produce a dramatically engaging product. The newsreels reported on crime, poverty, international relations, national security and other contemporary social issues in Australia during the Depression and the Second World War.
Rupert Kathner produced Australia Today with his filmmaking partner, Alma Brooks, through their production company Enterprise Film Co. They also produced the feature films Wings of Destiny (1940) and The Glenrowan Affair (1951). Today, less than a dozen of Kathner’s newsreels survive.
Titles in this collection
Australia Today – Australia’s 5th Column (1941)
The opening title card to this Australia Today newsreel declares that Australia is at war and threatened by a ruthless enemy whose objective is the ‘downfall of the British Empire’. That enemy is the ‘5th Column’.
Australia Today – Customs Officers Fight Against Drugs (1938)
This Australia Today newsreel contains three segments (two of which have been selected): Contraband about illegal drug importation and crime syndicates; Below the surface about working in Australia’s coal mines; and Backyard betting about SP bookmaking and gambling
Australia Today – Fort Denison: [Pinchgut]: A Relic of Early Sydney (1939)
Fort Denison is a fortified island in Sydney Harbour built between 1841 and 1857 as a defence against a feared invasion. This newsreel narrates the history of the site over time, and shows the Fort’s various characteristics and possible functions.
Australia Today – Lucky Strike at Larkinville, WA and other segments (1938)
This Australia Today newsreel features three segments: Lucky Strike at Larkinville – about gold prospecting in Western Australia in 1932; Fangs of Death – about the dangers of deadly Australian snakes; and The Lucky Hour – about proposals for the ...
Australia Today – Man-Eater (1939)
This Australia Today newsreel looks at the ‘silent terrors of the deep’ – sharks. It begins on the beautiful beaches of Sydney, makes its way through the murky waters of the Georges River where terror strikes, and finally travels out ...
Australia Today – Men of Tomorrow (1939)
Men of Tomorrow looks at the ‘city of shadows’ – life as it is for young people living in slum conditions in Sydney in the late 1930s. It contrasts the despair and poor social conditions of those living in densely ...
Australia Today – The ‘Pyjama Girl’ Murder Case (1939)
This Australia Today newsreel, produced in the 1930s by Rupert Kathner, investigates the famous ‘Pyjama Girl’ murder case, which remained unsolved in Australia for over ten years. On 1 September 1934, the body of an unidentified woman was found on ...
