Raymond Longford

Raymond Longford
Portrait of Raymond Longford, circa 1935.
Born	John Walter Longford
Other names	Raymond Hollis Longford
Occupation(s)	Director, actor, screenwriter, editor, film producer
Years active	1911–1941

Raymond Longford (23 September 1878–2 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian cinema. He formed a production team with Lottie Lyell. His contributions to Australian cinema with his ongoing collaborations with Lyell include The Sentimental Bloke (1919) and The Blue Mountains Mystery (1921) earned an AFI award named in his honour, inducted in 1968.

Biography

John Walter Longford was born in 1878 in Hawthorn, a suburb of Melbourne, and spent his early life at sea, then started acting on the stage in India, New Zealand and Australia. When he entered the theatre, he chose the name Raymond Hollis Longford. In 1911 Longford directed his first feature, The Fatal Wedding, for Cozens Spencer. Longford's early films were often made quickly, with limited budgets and a small crew. Based on the poetry of C. J. Dennis, Longford directed The Sentimental Bloke (1919), an important production of the silent period, earning better returns and critical reviews than any film to that date. The sequel, Ginger Mick, was released in 1920. He was devastated by Lyell's death in 1925. His final film, The Man They Could Not Hang, was released on 1 June 1934. During World War II, he was a clerk for the U.S. military stationed in Australia and was still active as a night watchman in Sydney before dying at the age of 80.

AFI Longford Life Achievement Award

Main article: Australian Film Institute Longford Life Achievement Award

Named in Longford's honour, the AFI Raymond Longford Award is the Australian film industry's highest accolade for an individual based on their contributions to "unwavering commitment over many years to excellence in the film and television industries and has, through their body of work to date, contributed substantially to the enrichment of Australian screen culture". Since the introduction of the award by the AFI in 1968, winners have included Peter Weir, David Stratton, Ian Jones and Geoffrey Rush.

Filmography

Director and screenwriter

• The Fatal Wedding (1911)
• Sweet Nell of Old Drury (1911)
• The Tide of Death (1912)
• The Midnight Wedding (1912)
• Pommy Arrives in Australia (1913)
• 'Neath Austral Skies (1913)
• The Mutiny of the Bounty (1916)
• The Church and the Woman (1917)
• The Woman Suffers (1918)
• The Sentimental Bloke (1919)
• On Our Selection (1920)
• Ginger Mick (1920)
• Rudd's New Selection (1921)
• The Blue Mountains Mystery (1921)
• The Dinkum Bloke (1923)
• Fisher's Ghost (1924)
• The Bushwhackers (1925)

Director

• The Romantic Story of Margaret Catchpole (1911)
• Australia Calls (1913)
• The Silence of Dean Maitland (1914)
• A Maori Maid's Love (1916)
• Australia Calls (1923)
• Peter Vernon's Silence (1926)
• The Pioneers (1926)
• Sunrise (1926)
• Hills of Hate (1926)
• The Man They Could Not Hang (1934)

Actor

• The Fatal Wedding (1911) as Howard Wilson
• The Life of Rufus Dawes (1911) as Gabbett
• The Romantic Story of Margaret Catchpole (1911) as Will Laud
• Diggers in Blighty (1933) as Von Schieling
• The Avenger (1937) as Warren
• Dad and Dave Come to Town (1938) as Policeman
• Wings of Destiny (1940) as Peters
• Dad Rudd, M.P. (1940) as Electoral Officer
• Racing Luck (1941)

References

• Murray, Scott (1994). Australian Cinema. St.Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin/AFC. p. 325. ISBN 1863733116. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |month= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)

External links

• The Sentimental Bloke at IMDb
• Raymond Longford & Lottie Lyell by William M. Drew