Charles Chauvel
Encyclopedia
Charles Edward Chauvel OBE
(7 October 1897 – 11 November 1959) was an Australian
filmmaker.
, Queensland
, he was the nephew
of General
Sir Henry Chauvel
, Commander of the Australian Light Horse and later the Desert Mounted Corps
in Palestine during World War I
. His father, a grazier, also (aged 53) enlisted to serve in Palestine and Sinai in World War I. The Chauvels were descended from a French Huguenot family who fled France for England in 1685, and soon established a tradition of serving in the British army. The Australian Chauvel's were descended from a Charles Chauvel who retired from the Indian army to New South Wales in 1839 and was a pioneer in the New England region.
Chauvel was educated at The Southport School
in Queensland. After leaving school Charles Chauvel worked on Queensland properties, and on his family property when his father was at war, before studying commercial art and taking drama classes, in Sydney. He was fascinated by films and pestered a friend, showman Snowy Baker, to give him work as a production assistant; usually, he was the man in charge of the horses. He followed Baker to Hollywood in 1922, at his own expense, and spent some time as a jack of all trades including working as an extra, a lighting technician, a publicist, a stunt double and so on.
and Greenhide
. Both were romantic melodramas exploring a theme of the decadent city vs the authentic country. The Moth of Moonbai is a country girl who flutters to the city lights, loses her fortune, but eventually returns home and finds love with her father's trustworthy stockman. In Greenhide a city girl struggles to cope on a cattle station and gradually finds love with her polar opposite, an extremely taciturn bushman. The films were made in Harrisville, Queensland
, enlisting the locals as extras and using locations around his family property 'Summerlands', situated near the edge of town. While making Greenhide he met Elsa May Wilcox
(professional name Elsa Sylvaney), an actress, whom he married on 1927. After their marriage she traveled with him and assisted him on all his films. Both these silent films were released in 1926 and were reasonably successful in Australia. Unfortunately Chauvel could not arrange for the release of his silent movies in Hollywood because of the transition to sound. He returned to Australia and worked as a cinema manager during the depression.
starring Errol Flynn
as Fletcher Christian
(before Flynn went to Hollywood). The film mixed re-enactments with documentary, and focused not so much on the mutiny itself as on its consequences. To provide a long postscript to the story of the mutiny
, the Chauvels went to Pitcairn Island and shot some very interesting footage of the Bounty descendants, spending three months on the island. He also included footage of bare-breasted Tahitian dancers which caused a temporary problem with the censor. The documentary parts were later edited out and used as promotional material for the 1935 Hollywood film about the mutiny
.
In 1935, Chauvel won a Commonwealth Government competition for Heritage
which gave a panoramic view of Australian history. It begins with a character from the earliest days of white settlement (1788), following his struggles, his loves and his marriage, then skips to the modern generation, where a romance between descendents of the original characters completes a circle. The modern hero is struggling to run an outback cattle station, the modern heroine is an expert aviatrix.
In 1936 he made Uncivilised a 'jungle story' filmed in Cape York. Aimed at the U.S. market, it is the story of an upper class girl-reporter investigating the white leader of an aboriginal tribe.
, a tribute to the Australian Light Horse Brigade in Palestine in World War I, in the sand dunes at Cronulla. It was both a popular and critical success and was credited with boosting morale. It also launched the career of actor Chips Rafferty
. He followed this with The Rats of Tobruk
(1944).Both contributed to a classic Australian sense of identity.
After the war he made a film about a pioneer family in Queensland, Sons of Matthew
(1949), drawing on his own family history, and in 1955 made perhaps his best known film, Jedda
. Jedda is a story of an aboriginal baby girl raised by a white station owner and kept in ignorance of traditional ways, and the aboriginal tribal man who carries her off, even though this is a forbidden 'wrong way' marriage, and brings tragedy to both of them. Both films involved travel to remote areas and difficult conditions for filming, and are considered Chauvel's best works.Jedda was the first Australian feature film made in colour, and had to be developed overseas as there were no colour processing facilities in Australia. For Jedda the Chauvel's sought out aboriginals for the lead roles, and in Robert Tudawali, playing the male lead, they found someone with great natural ability. Both these films were made in a period when the Australian film industry had virtually collapsed, unable to compete with imported films.
, Chauvel had left a message asking to speak to Hall on the day he died, and let an estate valued ₤32,000.
has awarded a Chauvel Award to a "distinguished contributor to Australian Cinema".
A cinema
in the suburb of Paddington
, Sydney is named after him.
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(7 October 1897 – 11 November 1959) was an Australian
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
filmmaker.
Early life
Born in WarwickWarwick, Queensland
Warwick is a town in Queensland, Australia, lying south-west of Brisbane. It is the administrative centre of the Southern Downs Local Government Area. In 2006 the town of Warwick had a population of 12,562....
, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, he was the nephew
Nephew
Nephew is a son of one's sibling or sibling-in-law, and niece is a daughter of one's sibling or a sibling-in-law. Sons and daughters of siblings-in-law are also informally referred to as nephews and nieces respectively, even though there is no blood relation...
of General
General (Australia)
General is the second highest rank, and the highest active rank, of the Australian Army and was created as a direct equivalent of the British military rank of General; it is also considered a four-star rank....
Sir Henry Chauvel
Henry George Chauvel
General Sir Harry Chauvel GCMG, KCB was a senior officer of the Australian Imperial Force who fought at Gallipoli and in the Middle Eastern theatre during the First World War. He was the first Australian to attain the rank of lieutenant general and later general, and the first to lead a corps...
, Commander of the Australian Light Horse and later the Desert Mounted Corps
Desert Mounted Corps
The Desert Mounted Corps was a World War I Allied army corps that operated in the Middle East during 1917 and 1918.Originally formed on 15 March 1916 as the Australian and New Zealand Mounted Division under the command of Major General Harry Chauvel The Desert Mounted Corps was a World War I...
in Palestine during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
. His father, a grazier, also (aged 53) enlisted to serve in Palestine and Sinai in World War I. The Chauvels were descended from a French Huguenot family who fled France for England in 1685, and soon established a tradition of serving in the British army. The Australian Chauvel's were descended from a Charles Chauvel who retired from the Indian army to New South Wales in 1839 and was a pioneer in the New England region.
Chauvel was educated at The Southport School
The Southport School
The Southport School , is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school for boys, located in Southport, a suburb on the Gold Coast of Queensland, Australia....
in Queensland. After leaving school Charles Chauvel worked on Queensland properties, and on his family property when his father was at war, before studying commercial art and taking drama classes, in Sydney. He was fascinated by films and pestered a friend, showman Snowy Baker, to give him work as a production assistant; usually, he was the man in charge of the horses. He followed Baker to Hollywood in 1922, at his own expense, and spent some time as a jack of all trades including working as an extra, a lighting technician, a publicist, a stunt double and so on.
First films
Back in Australia after about a year, Chauvel obtained finance from Queensland businessmen and friends to make his first films The Moth of MoonbiThe Moth of Moonbi
The Moth of Moonbi is a 1926 Australian film directed by Charles Chauvel. It was adapted from The Wild Moth, a 1924 novel by Australian author Mabel Forrest.-Production:...
and Greenhide
Greenhide
Greenhide is a 1926 Australian film directed by Charles Chauvel.-Plot:Marjory Paton leaves the city to live on her father's cattle property, run by "Greenhide Gavin" . She carries romantic notions of the bush, of "being swung to the saddle by big brown arms," but Greenhide Gavin is initially only...
. Both were romantic melodramas exploring a theme of the decadent city vs the authentic country. The Moth of Moonbai is a country girl who flutters to the city lights, loses her fortune, but eventually returns home and finds love with her father's trustworthy stockman. In Greenhide a city girl struggles to cope on a cattle station and gradually finds love with her polar opposite, an extremely taciturn bushman. The films were made in Harrisville, Queensland
Queensland
Queensland is a state of Australia, occupying the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
, enlisting the locals as extras and using locations around his family property 'Summerlands', situated near the edge of town. While making Greenhide he met Elsa May Wilcox
Elsa Chauvel
Elsa Chauvel, OBE was an Australian filmmaker and actress, and the wife and collaborator of film director Charles Chauvel.-Early years:...
(professional name Elsa Sylvaney), an actress, whom he married on 1927. After their marriage she traveled with him and assisted him on all his films. Both these silent films were released in 1926 and were reasonably successful in Australia. Unfortunately Chauvel could not arrange for the release of his silent movies in Hollywood because of the transition to sound. He returned to Australia and worked as a cinema manager during the depression.
1930s
In 1933 he made his first 'talkie': In the Wake of the BountyIn the Wake of the Bounty
In the Wake of the Bounty was an Australian film exploring the story of the Bounty. It preceded MGM's more famous Mutiny on the Bounty by two years and featured the screen debut of Errol Flynn, playing Fletcher Christian. Mayne Lynton portrayed Captain Bligh and Charles Chauvel directed the film. ...
starring Errol Flynn
Errol Flynn
Errol Leslie Flynn was an Australian-born actor. He was known for his romantic swashbuckler roles in Hollywood films, being a legend and his flamboyant lifestyle.-Early life:...
as Fletcher Christian
Fletcher Christian
Fletcher Christian was a master's mate on board the Bounty during William Bligh's fateful voyage to Tahiti for breadfruit plants...
(before Flynn went to Hollywood). The film mixed re-enactments with documentary, and focused not so much on the mutiny itself as on its consequences. To provide a long postscript to the story of the mutiny
Mutiny on the Bounty
The mutiny on the Bounty was a mutiny that occurred aboard the British Royal Navy ship HMS Bounty on 28 April 1789, and has been commemorated by several books, films, and popular songs, many of which take considerable liberties with the facts. The mutiny was led by Fletcher Christian against the...
, the Chauvels went to Pitcairn Island and shot some very interesting footage of the Bounty descendants, spending three months on the island. He also included footage of bare-breasted Tahitian dancers which caused a temporary problem with the censor. The documentary parts were later edited out and used as promotional material for the 1935 Hollywood film about the mutiny
Mutiny on the Bounty (1935 film)
Mutiny on the Bounty is a 1935 film starring Charles Laughton and Clark Gable, and directed by Frank Lloyd based on the Charles Nordhoff and James Norman Hall novel Mutiny on the Bounty.The film was one of the biggest hits of its time...
.
In 1935, Chauvel won a Commonwealth Government competition for Heritage
Heritage (film)
Heritage is a 1935 Australian historical film directed by Charles Chauvel.-Production:Heritage was originally conceived in 1933, while Charles Chauvel was organising publicity for his previous film, In the Wake of the Bounty. The Australian government, in a bid to encourage the local film industry,...
which gave a panoramic view of Australian history. It begins with a character from the earliest days of white settlement (1788), following his struggles, his loves and his marriage, then skips to the modern generation, where a romance between descendents of the original characters completes a circle. The modern hero is struggling to run an outback cattle station, the modern heroine is an expert aviatrix.
In 1936 he made Uncivilised a 'jungle story' filmed in Cape York. Aimed at the U.S. market, it is the story of an upper class girl-reporter investigating the white leader of an aboriginal tribe.
International success
The outbreak of war meant that Chauvel turned to war-themed films, making Forty Thousand HorsemenForty Thousand Horsemen
Forty Thousand Horsemen is a 1940 Australian war film directed by Charles Chauvel. The film tells the story of the Australian Light Horse cavalry which operated in the desert at the Sinai and Palestine Campaign during World War I. It follows the adventures of three rowdy heroes in fighting and...
, a tribute to the Australian Light Horse Brigade in Palestine in World War I, in the sand dunes at Cronulla. It was both a popular and critical success and was credited with boosting morale. It also launched the career of actor Chips Rafferty
Chips Rafferty
Chips Rafferty MBE was an iconic Australian actor. Called "the living symbol of the typical Australian", Rafferty's career stretched from the 1940s until his death in 1971, and during this time he performed regularly in major Australian feature films as well as appearing in British and American...
. He followed this with The Rats of Tobruk
The Rats of Tobruk (1944 film)
The Rats of Tobruk is a 1944 Australian film directed by Charles Chauvel. The film follows three drover friends who enlist in the Australian Army together during World War II. Their story is based on the siege of the Libyan city of Tobruk in North Africa by Rommel's Afrika Korps...
(1944).Both contributed to a classic Australian sense of identity.
After the war he made a film about a pioneer family in Queensland, Sons of Matthew
Sons of Matthew
Sons of Matthew is a 1949 Australian film directed by Charles Chauvel. The film was shot in 1947 on location in Queensland, Australia and the studio sequences in Sydney...
(1949), drawing on his own family history, and in 1955 made perhaps his best known film, Jedda
Jedda
Jedda was the last movie made by the Australian filmmaker Charles Chauvel. The film is most notable for being the first to star two Aboriginal actors in the leading roles, and also to be the first Australian film shot in colour...
. Jedda is a story of an aboriginal baby girl raised by a white station owner and kept in ignorance of traditional ways, and the aboriginal tribal man who carries her off, even though this is a forbidden 'wrong way' marriage, and brings tragedy to both of them. Both films involved travel to remote areas and difficult conditions for filming, and are considered Chauvel's best works.Jedda was the first Australian feature film made in colour, and had to be developed overseas as there were no colour processing facilities in Australia. For Jedda the Chauvel's sought out aboriginals for the lead roles, and in Robert Tudawali, playing the male lead, they found someone with great natural ability. Both these films were made in a period when the Australian film industry had virtually collapsed, unable to compete with imported films.
Final years
After this Chauvel turned to television, making a BBC series Walkabout which traveled to interesting locations in Australia. He died unexpectedly of coronary vascular disease in 1959. According to Ken G. HallKen G. Hall
Kenneth George Hall, AO OBE , better known as Ken G. Hall, was an Australian film director, considered one of the most important figures in the history of the Australian film industry.-Early years:...
, Chauvel had left a message asking to speak to Hall on the day he died, and let an estate valued ₤32,000.
Legacy
Since 1992 the Brisbane International Film FestivalBrisbane International Film Festival
Brisbane International Film Festival held in Brisbane provides a focus for film culture in Queensland, Australia. The festival has taken place since 1992 and focuses on films from the Asia-Pacific region. The event offers films including features, documentaries, shorts, experimental, silent films...
has awarded a Chauvel Award to a "distinguished contributor to Australian Cinema".
A cinema
Movie theater
A movie theater, cinema, movie house, picture theater, film theater is a venue, usually a building, for viewing motion pictures ....
in the suburb of Paddington
Paddington, New South Wales
Paddington is an inner-city, eastern suburb of Sydney, in the state of New South Wales, Australia. Paddington is located 3 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district and lies across the local government areas of the City of Sydney and the Municipality of Woollahra...
, Sydney is named after him.
Film
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1920 | Robbery Under Arms Robbery Under Arms (1920 film) Robbery Under Arms is a 1920 Australian film directed by Kenneth Brampton. The film was financed by mining magnate Pearson Tewksbury.- Cast :*Jackie Anderson as Warrigal*Vera Archer as Jennie Morrison*Kenneth Brampton as Captain Starlight... |
actor | directed by Kenneth Brampton |
| 1920 | The Shadow of Lightning Ridge The Shadow of Lightning Ridge The Shadow of Lightning Ridge is a 1921 Australian silent film starring renowned Australian sportsman Snowy Baker. Inspired by Zorro, he plays an Australian studying who returns home to avenge his mother against a powerful squatter... |
actor | directed by Wilfred Lucas |
| 1920 | The Jackeroo of Coolabong The Jackeroo of Coolabong The Jackeroo of Coolabong is a 1920 Australian silent film starring renowned Australian sportsman Snowy Baker. It was made with the husband and wife team of director Wilfred Lucas and writer Bess Meredyth, both of whom had been imported from Hollywood. The film was re-edited and released in the USA... |
actor | directed by Wilfred Lucas |
| 1922 | Captain Fly-By-Night | actor | |
| 1922 | The Man from the Desert | actor | |
| 1923 | Strangers of the Night Strangers of the Night Strangers of the Night is a 1923 silent comedy film directed by Fred Niblo. Presumably this movie is a lost film.-Cast:* Matt Moore - Ambrose Applejohn* Enid Bennett - Poppy Faire* Barbara La Marr - Anna Valeska... |
actor | |
| 1926 | The Moth of Moonbi The Moth of Moonbi The Moth of Moonbi is a 1926 Australian film directed by Charles Chauvel. It was adapted from The Wild Moth, a 1924 novel by Australian author Mabel Forrest.-Production:... |
|director / producer / screenwriter | |
| 1926 | Greenhide Greenhide Greenhide is a 1926 Australian film directed by Charles Chauvel.-Plot:Marjory Paton leaves the city to live on her father's cattle property, run by "Greenhide Gavin" . She carries romantic notions of the bush, of "being swung to the saddle by big brown arms," but Greenhide Gavin is initially only... |
|director / producer / screenwriter | |
| 1933 | In the Wake of the Bounty In the Wake of the Bounty In the Wake of the Bounty was an Australian film exploring the story of the Bounty. It preceded MGM's more famous Mutiny on the Bounty by two years and featured the screen debut of Errol Flynn, playing Fletcher Christian. Mayne Lynton portrayed Captain Bligh and Charles Chauvel directed the film. ... |
|director / producer / screenwriter | |
| 1935 | Heritage Heritage (film) Heritage is a 1935 Australian historical film directed by Charles Chauvel.-Production:Heritage was originally conceived in 1933, while Charles Chauvel was organising publicity for his previous film, In the Wake of the Bounty. The Australian government, in a bid to encourage the local film industry,... |
|director / producer / screenwriter | |
| 1936 | Uncivilised Uncivilised Uncivilised is a 1936 Australian film directed by Charles Chauvel.The film is known as Uncivilized in the USA.- Plot summary :... |
|director / producer / screenwriter | |
| 1936 | Rangle River Rangle River Rangle River is a 1936 Australian western comedy about a woman trying to save her father's property with the help of a ranch hand . The script was written by Charles and Elsa Chauvel and directed by American Clarence G. Badger. The climax features a whip duel between two cowboys... |
screenwriter (with Elsa Chauvel Elsa Chauvel Elsa Chauvel, OBE was an Australian filmmaker and actress, and the wife and collaborator of film director Charles Chauvel.-Early years:... ) |
directed by Clarence G. Badger Clarence G. Badger Clarence G. Badger was an American film director of feature films in the 1910s, 1920s and 1930s. His most noteworthy films include It, starring Clara Bow, more than a dozen features and shorts starring Will Rogers, and two features starring Raymond Griffith, Paths to Paradise and Hands... |
| 1937 | Screen Test Screen Test (1937 film) Screen Test is a 1937 short Australian documentary directed by Charles Chauvel about how screen tests are conducted.-External links:* at National Film and Sound Archive... |
director / producer | |
| 1940 | Forty Thousand Horsemen Forty Thousand Horsemen Forty Thousand Horsemen is a 1940 Australian war film directed by Charles Chauvel. The film tells the story of the Australian Light Horse cavalry which operated in the desert at the Sinai and Palestine Campaign during World War I. It follows the adventures of three rowdy heroes in fighting and... |
director / producer / screenwriter | |
| 1942 | Soldiers Without Uniform Soldiers Without Uniform Soldiers Without Uniform is a 1942 short Australian documentary directed by Charles Chauvel about Australian industry during World War II.-External links:* at IMDB* at National Film and Sound Archive* at Australian Screen Online... |
director / producer | documentary short |
| 1942 | Power to Win Power to Win (film) Power to Win is a 1942 short Australian documentary directed by Charles Chauvel about the Australian coal industry during World War II.-External links:* at National Film and Sound Archive* at Australian Screen Online... |
director / producer | documentary short |
| 1943 | A Mountain Goes to Sea A Mountain Goes to Sea A Mountain Goes to Sea, also known as Shipbuilders is a 1943 short Australian documentary directed by Charles Chauvel about the Australian shipbuilders during World War II.-External links:* at Australian Screen Online... |
director / producer | documentary short |
| 1943 | While There is Still Time While There is Still Time While There is Still Time is a 1943 short Australian dramatised documentary directed by Charles Chauvel about Australian soldiers during World War II.-External links:* at Australian Screen Online* at National Film and Sound Archive... |
director / producer | documentary short |
| 1943 | Russia Aflame Russia Aflame Russia Aflame is a 1943 short Australian dramatised documentary directed by Charles Chauvel.-External links:* at National Film and Sound Archive... |
director / producer | documentary short |
| 1944 | The Rats of Tobruk The Rats of Tobruk The Rats of Tobruk was the name given to the soldiers of the garrison who held the Libyan port of Tobruk against the Afrika Corps, during the Siege of Tobruk in World War II... |
director / producer / screenwriter | |
| 1949 | Sons of Matthew Sons of Matthew Sons of Matthew is a 1949 Australian film directed by Charles Chauvel. The film was shot in 1947 on location in Queensland, Australia and the studio sequences in Sydney... |
director / producer / screenwriter | |
| 1955 | Jedda Jedda Jedda was the last movie made by the Australian filmmaker Charles Chauvel. The film is most notable for being the first to star two Aboriginal actors in the leading roles, and also to be the first Australian film shot in colour... |
director / producer / screenwriter |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Australian Walkabout Australian Walkabout Australian Walkabout is a TV series made for the ABC and BBC by director Charles Chauvel.-External links:* at National Film and Sound Archive* at Australian Screen Online... |
|director / producer / screenwriter | produced for the ABC Australian Broadcasting Corporation The Australian Broadcasting Corporation, commonly referred to as "the ABC" , is Australia's national public broadcaster... and BBC BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff... |
Further reading
- Susanne Chauvel Carlsson Charles and Elsie Chauvel Movie Pioneers Brisbane: University of Queensland Press, 1989.
- Charles Chauvel Heritage Sydney: Angus and Robertson, 1935.
- Charles Chauvel In the wake of ‘’The Bounty’’ from Tahiti to Pitcairn Island Sydney: Endeavour Press, 1933
- Charles and Elsie Chauvel Walkabout London: W H Allen, 1959.
- Elsie Chauvel My Life with Charles Chauvel (Sydney: 1973).
- Stuart Cunningham Featuring Australia: The cinema of Charles Chauvel North Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1991.
- Elyne MitchellElyne MitchellElyne Mitchell, OAM was an Australian author noted for the Silver Brumby series of children's novels...
Chauvel Country: the Story of a pioneering Australian family Melbourne: 1983. - Neil McDonald Damien’s Papers War Melbourne: Lothian Books 1991 (War photographer Damein Parer spent time as one of Chauvel’s crew on Uncivilised and Forty Thousand Horsemen.)
- Eric Reade The Talkies Era: a pictorial history of Australian sound filmmaking 1930-1960 Melbourne: Landsdowne Press, 1972.
- Charles Chauvel at Australian screen
External links
- Charles Chauvel spotlight at the National Film and Sound Archive
- http://colsearch.nfsa.afc.gov.au/nfsa/search/summary/summary.w3p;adv=yes;group=;groupequals=;page=0;parentid=;query=Number%3A435246%20|%20Number%3A355137%20|%20Number%3A356405%20|%20Number%3A358741%20|%20Number%3A351321%20|%20Number%3A350577%20|%20Number%3A351042%20|%20Number%3A351636%20|%20Number%3A350795%20|%20Number%3A357041%20|%20Number%3A351694;querytype=;resCount=10Still photos at the National Film and Sound Archive]
- Queensland Art Gallery information