Australasian Gazette (1913 - 1932)
Newsreel collection
Series synopsis:
The Australasian Gazette newsreels held at the National Film and Sound Archive span over 3 decades and capture a diverse range of subjects including political and national events, sport and entertainment.
From 1913 until the advent of the talkie newsreels in the early 1930s, Australasian Gazette produced over 1,000 weekly issues covering the arrival of the Duke and Duchess of York in 1927, the ‘Bodyline’ cricket series as well as footage of Dame Nellie Melba in her home. Unfortunately, many of these newsreels were lost over time but what survives is preserved at the National Film and Sound Archive.
Curator’s Notes:
Newsreels were an integral part of cinema programming in Australia before the advent of television in 1956. Issued on a weekly basis, the newsreels enabled people to further engage with local and national political stories and events.
Australasian Gazette newsreels started in 1913 when The Greater JD Williams Amusement Company amalgamated with General Film Company, the same partnership that later formed Greater Union Theatres.
Multi-story newsreels became popular and favoured over the one off single story newsreels, such as the Melbourne Cup 1896 and various editions were distributed around the country, adding a local story where possible. Not having a sound track made the newsreels relatively easy to re-edit.
Like today’s television news bulletin, a standard newsreel would include a number of stories – a national news event, sport (most often cricket), a local interest story and even publicity and celebrity interest stories.
Not much has been recorded about the history of the Australasian Gazette newsreels but what survives is a wonderful collection of newsreels representative of the time. Being silent, the newsreels relied on intertitles to link footage together. Intertitles explained what the audience was about to see and also gave a chronological sequence to the story.
Musicians often accompanied newsreel screenings and without this live presentation, some of the dramatic effect is lost, but one can imagine the excitement of visiting the cinema and watching significant events unfold on the big screen.
With the introduction of sound, larger newsreel companies from the USA – Paramount, Metro and Fox Film Corporation started providing newsreels as part of a packaged program. These program packages included a feature, a couple of newsreels and a cartoon or trailer.
Fox Film Corporation began distributing the International Movietone Newsreels, which were issued weekly, and in 1931 an Australian edition of Fox Movietone began. This same year also saw the introduction of Cinesound Review, an all Australian newsreel production house distributed by Union Theatres. These newsreels soon took the place of the Australasian Gazette newsreels, which could not afford to compete, and folded.
For more information see Ray Edmonston’s article ‘The last newsreel’, Cinema Papers (1976, p 302).
Titles in this collection
Australasian Gazette – 10,000 Miles around Australia (c1926)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel from approximately 1926 shows the arrival of Mr and Mrs F Dean in Melbourne after their trip around Australia by touring car. The trip was sponsored by the Shell company who supplied their petrol. Buffalo horns ...
Australasian Gazette – 1924 Melbourne Cup (1924)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel shows the 1924 Melbourne Cup. It includes footage of the crowd as well as the race where Backwood won.
Australasian Gazette – 1st Chatswood Erects a Tower and a Rope Suspension Bridge (c1923)
This newsreel clip from approximately 1923 shows the 1st Chatswood troop of Boy Scouts, which won the E Trenchard Miller Shield in that year, erecting a tower and suspension bridge and competing in boxing matches at an oval in Melbourne.
Australasian Gazette – 70,000 Pounds Production Nears Completion (1926)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel clip from 1926 shows a scene from the film For the Term of His Natural Life in production at the Australasian Films’ Bondi studio, Sydney NSW. A cameraman standing on a moving platform, or dolly, shoots ...
Australasian Gazette – A Seaplane Circles a Continent (1926)
This newsreel shows segments of the 1924 documentary A Seaplane Circles a Continent about Wing Commander SJ Goble and Officer IE McIntyre arriving at St Kilda, Melbourne, in their RAAF Fairey 111D seaplane after a flight circumnavigating Australia.
Australasian Gazette – A Unique Audience (c1920)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel from approximately 1920 shows injured soldiers from Caulfield Military Hospital attending a special matinee arranged by the management at Elsternwick Theatre.
Australasian Gazette – All for a Good Cause (c1920)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel footage from approximately 1920 shows a surf carnival at Bondi Beach, Sydney in aid of the St John’s Ambulance Brigade.
Australasian Gazette – Annual Christmas Treat (c1925)
This segment from an Australasian Gazette newsreel from approximately 1925 shows Christmas celebrations for children in the Victoria Barracks, Sydney including a live puppet show and Father Christmas handing out presents.
Australasian Gazette – Armistice Day, Melbourne (c1925)
This newsreel clip from about 1925 shows a large crowd of people gathered on the steps of Parliament House, Melbourne for an Armistice Day ceremony. The crowd stands for two minutes silence then the ‘Last Post’ is played. The clip ...
Australasian Gazette – Arrival of the Duke and Duchess of York (1927)
This newsreel footage from 26 March 1927 shows the arrival and official welcome of the Duke and Duchess of York to Australia. As the HMS Renown motors through the Heads, aircraft from the RAAF provide an aerial greeting. The clip ...
Australasian Gazette – Bon Voyage to Ex-Chief Justice, Sir William Cullen (c1924)
This newsreel segment from approximately 1924 shows the farewell and departure of the retired Chief Justice Sir William Cullen and Lady Cullen in Sydney for an overseas trip. Lady Cullen is farewelled by a party of Girl Guides who give ...
Australasian Gazette – Clive Barass, Australian Champion and Leader of the Troupe (c1926)
This newsreel shows Australian champion diver Clive Barass and his diving troupe performing individual and group dives at Clifton Gardens Baths near Mosman, Sydney. It is black-and-white and silent.
Australasian Gazette – Conversion (c1920)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel from approximately 1920 shows the commencement of work at Victoria Parade for the electrification of the cable tram system of Collins Street, Melbourne, and informs us of the opposition to it.
Australasian Gazette – Dame Nellie Melba (c1920)
This black-and-white silent story from an Australasian Gazette newsreel shows opera soprano Dame Nellie Melba accompanied by John Lemmone, Lady Pamela Vestey as a child and others, walking along the deck of the passenger liner RMS Niagara, which has arrived ...
Australasian Gazette – First Shipment of Red Cross Supplies to Egypt (c1917)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel shows the first shipment of Red Cross supplies leaving Federal Government House, Melbourne for soldiers in Egypt. Men form a chain to transport boxes of supplies down stairs to load onto a vehicle. The horse-drawn vehicles ...
Australasian Gazette – Highlights of the Cricket Series England vs Australia (1933)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel shows highlights of the 1932–1933 England versus Australia cricket series. It starts with footage of the packed stadium and shows clips of the first Test in Sydney. It is black-and-white and silent.
Australasian Gazette – Historic Cricket (1933)
This newsreel segment shows highlights of the second Test played at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in the 1932–1933 series, which was won by Australia. It includes England’s Harold Larwood bowling to Jack Fingleton; Don Bradman batting as well as being ...
Australasian Gazette – HMAS Brisbane Launched at Cockatoo Island (1915)
This segment from an Australasian Gazette newsreel shows the launch of the HMAS Brisbane naval ship by Mrs Fisher, wife of the then Prime Minister Andrew Fisher, on 30 September 1915, from the dockyard of Cockatoo Island.
Australasian Gazette – In and around Hamilton District (c1920)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel from approximately 1920 shows the orchard districts of Hamilton, Queensland. Fruit pickers pick peaches off trees and empty their bags into a trough. They then sort the peaches into crates and hammer them closed for transportation. ...
Australasian Gazette – Maoris Give Their War Cry (c1922)
This newsreel from about 1922 shows a Maori football team doing haka war dance before a football match. The New South Wales football team poses for the camera and a match is captured in progress.
Australasian Gazette – Master Pictures Lead the Way (c1926)
This newsreel segment from around 1926 shows the departure by ship for Tasmania of the general manager of Australasian Films, WA Gibson and film producer, Norman Dawn, where they will inspect locations at Port Arthur and Macquarie Harbour for their ...
Australasian Gazette – Mermaids Swim Well (c1931)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel from approximately 1931 shows highlights of the Bondi Ladies’ Annual Carnival at the local Bondi Baths, now known as the Bondi Icebergs. Edna Davey is shown well in front in the mile championship; the Bondi Club ...
Australasian Gazette – Mimic Warfare (1917)
This Australasian Gazette exclusive newsreel story from 1917 shows troops from the Engineers’ Depot rehearsing a raid on enemy trenches. Soldiers in training are instructed by their commanding officers by telephone.
Australasian Gazette – Miss Australia, Beryl Mills, Leaves for the US on the Sonoma (1926)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel clip shows a large crowd farewelling the first Miss Australia, Miss Beryl Mills, as she leaves for the USA in 1926.
Australasian Gazette – Parliament Opens the New Session (1925)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel from 1925 shows the Governor of New South Wales, Sir Dudley de Chair, arriving by car to open Parliament House in Melbourne. He salutes an Army Guard of Honour before entering Parliament House. After the ceremony ...
Australasian Gazette – Patriotic Procession in Aid of the French Red Cross (1915)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel clip shows a parade in 1915 for the French Red Cross. People dressed in costumes walk, ride horses or ride in horse-drawn carriages along an inner-city street of Melbourne, Victoria while trams can be seen in ...
Australasian Gazette – Pauline Frederick, World Famous Star of Stage and Screen (c1924)
This newsreel from 1924 shows Pauline Frederick, a world famous actress from the stage and screen, posing for the camera. She takes of her hat to reveal her new sophisticated bob haircut and wears a cloche hat with a fox ...
Australasian Gazette – Prickly Pear Infested Areas of Australia (1926)
This silent newsreel from approximately 1926 opens with a map which shows the prickly pear infested areas of northern New South Wales and Queensland. A map of England is then superimposed over the infested areas to illustrate the extent of ...
Australasian Gazette – Returned Anzacs (1920)
This segment from an Australasian Gazette newsreel from around 1920 shows returned Anzac soldiers marching through Melbourne as part of the ‘Fill-the-Gap’ recruitment drive.
Australasian Gazette – Sheep Dog Trial (1915)
This newsreel segment from 1915 shows a typical Australian showground and a scene of a sheepdog trainer and a sheepdog herding three sheep into a pen.
Australasian Gazette – Ship Building as Hobby (c1925)
This segment from a newsreel from approximately 1925 shows builders of model passenger liners sailing and motoring their boats on a pond in Moore Park, Sydney. It features Mr Needum’s four funnel masterpiece and the ingenious model of the SS ...
Australasian Gazette – Shopping Week, Sydney (c1926)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel segment from approximately 1926 shows a ‘monster procession’ as part of Shopping Week in Bondi Junction, Sydney.
Australasian Gazette – Some Sunday Morning (c1920)
This Australasian Gazette newsreel from the 1920s shows a scene from ‘some Sunday morning’ at St Kilda Beach, Melbourne.
Australasian Gazette – Spectacular Surf Club Parade at Bondi Championships Carnival (c1929)
This segment from an Australasian Gazette newsreel from approximately 1929 shows a Scottish pipe band leading the opening parade of a surf carnival at Bondi Beach, Sydney. Surf clubs including North Bondi, Maroubra, Curl Curl, Clovelly, Collaroy and Manly participate. ...
Australasian Gazette – Sun Worshippers (c1924)
This newsreel from approximately 1924 shows surfers and swimmers enjoying the first day of real summer weather of the season. It opens with a wide shot of the northern end of Bondi Beach and although there are some buildings on ...
Australasian Gazette – Test Cricketers (c1926)
This newsreel from about 1926 shows the Australian cricket team while on tour in England. It features MA Noble, Clem Hill, Arthur Mailey, Warren Bardsley, WM Woodfull, Arthur Richardson and the English cricketer Jack Hobbs. Filmed at Headingley Oval, England ...
Australasian Gazette – The Last Innings of Victor Trumper (1915)
This newsreel footage shows part of the funeral march of Australian cricketer Victor Trumper. A large group of men march in front of a horse-drawn vehicle carrying the casket of Victor Trumper as it approaches a Sydney cemetery.
Australasian Gazette – The Strike Spreads (c1917)
This segment from an Australasian Gazette newsreel shows waterside workers unloading perishables from a ship, possibly part of the New South Wales General Strike of 1917.
Australasian Gazette – The Ups and Downs of Cricket (1933)
This newsreel shows highlights of the third Test cricket series, often referred to as the ‘Bodyline’ series, between England and Australia in Adelaide in January 1933.
Cartoons of the Moment – Australia’s Prime Minister Delights at the Empire (c1916)
In this edition of Cartoons of the Moment, cartoonist Harry Julius comments on the war in Europe and Australian Prime Minister Hughes’s policy of restrictions on trade with Germany.
Cartoons of the Moment – Crown Prince of Death (c1915)
Cartoonist Harry Julius was employed by the Australasian Gazette from approximately 1914 to provide a political cartoon segment – Cartoons of the Moment – as part of its wartime newsreels. This edition includes three sketches that comment on: the German ...
Cartoons of the Moment – Economy in Germany (c1914)
Cartoons of the Moment is an animated satirical segment created by Australian cartoonist Harry Julius during the First World War for the Australasian Gazette newsreel. In this edition from approximately 1914, Julius comments on the economic decline in Germany and ...
Cartoons of the Moment – German Dove of Peace (c1916)
In this edition of Cartoons of the Moment from around 1916, cartoonist Harry Julius uses cut-out and drawn animation to: comment on Germany’s offer of peace during the First World War; take a satirical look at the evolution of women’s ...
Cartoons of the Moment – Miss Australasia (c1914)
Cartoons of the Moment was an animated segment by Harry Julius that appeared in wartime editions of the Australasian Gazette newsreel. This edition comments on First World War-related events in Australia and Europe. In the first of three sketches, women ...
Cartoons of the Moment – The Berlin Lokal Anzeiger (1915)
This edition of Cartoons of the Moment by cartoonist Harry Julius appeared in the Australasian Gazette, providing satirical comment on events in Australia and Europe during the First World War.
Cartoons of the Moment – The Kaiser War (c1918)
Cartoons of the Moment was an animated segment by Harry Julius that appeared in wartime editions of the Australasian Gazette newsreel. This edition comments on events at the end of the First World War in Germany and on Australia’s wartime ...
Cartoons of the Moment – The War Zoo (c1915)
A segment from an animated political series created by cartoonist Harry Julius for wartime editions of the Australasian Gazette newsreel. In this edition, zoo animals are used to depict the major warring countries including: a lion (Britain), an eagle (the ...
Kiddies of Queensland Enjoy Outings in their Billy Carts: Rockhampton (c1920)
This segment from an Australasian Gazette newsreel item shows a group of boys riding on the back of goats and children riding in billycarts down a street in Rockhampton, Queensland.
Novel Method of Advertising Peace Bonds: The Lion and the Kangaroo (c1917)
A silent Australasian Gazette newsreel item featuring part of a parade in Melbourne. It shows signs advertising peace bonds erected on the cages of a lion and kangaroo belonging to the Colleano and Sole Brothers Circus.
