The Squatter's Daughter (1910)

Interesting facts

The Squatter's Daughter is a 1910 Australian silent film based on the popular play by Bert Bailey and Edmund Duggan. The play was filmed again in 1933.

Production

Filming took place in June 1910 with a cast from the acting company of theatre producer William Anderson at the Kings Theatre Melbourne, many of whom had just appeared in The Man from Outback, also by Bailey and Duggan. Theatre star Olive Wilton played the lead role, with Bailey and Duggan in support. One of her leading men, George Cross, later became a casting director for Cinesound Productions.

Shooting took place in Ivanhoe and other surrounding districts of Melbourne entirely outdoors, even for interior scenes. "Under these circumstances, brilliant sunshine was the main factor to be wooed", recalled Olive Wilton. "It seemed impossible to acquire sufficient light without a constant battle against high wind, which made these interior scenes a nightmare, with hair and clothes blowing in all directions."

However, the fact that it was a movie allowed the demonstration of scenes only discussed in the play, such as Nulla escaping the bushranger's cave. Other sequences praised by reviewers included the abduction of the squatter's daughter, the pursuit by Ben Hall and his gang, Ben Hall's last stand, the dash through the cataract, the farm house rope bridge, the waterfall, the shearing match, and a champion stock whip artist.

On 7 July 1910, it was announced filming was almost over.

It was advertised as being the most expensive movie ever made in Australia to that date, but this is unlikely.

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