The Adventures of Algy

From start to finish, the film is novel and amusing, and the scenes where Algy chases his hat along Lambton Quay and tries his luck on the cable tram are only a few of the many which so entertained the theatre-goers last night.

The Adventures of Algy, New Zealand/Australia, 1925

Beaumont Smith Films
Producer/writer: Beaumont Smith
Camera: Edwin Coubray, Charles Barton, Syd Taylor, Frank Stewart, Lacey Percival

With: Claude Dampier (Algy Allison), Eric Harrison (Murray Watson), George Chalmers (John McGill), Beaumont Smith (J. Fullerton Williams), Bathie Stuart (Kiwi McGill), Billie Carlyle (Mollie Moore), Lester Brown (Stage Manager)

16mm, B&W, 60 minutes, Exempt

NZ premiere 11 September 1925 at Strand Theatre, Auckland

“In a Beaumont Smith production, entitled The Adventures of Algy, Claude Dampier, the comedian who made such a name for himself when he appeared on the stage with the famous Diggers, makes a welcome reappearance, and the shrieks of laughter which greeted him at the Paramount Theatre last evening testified to his popularity with local audiences. From start to finish, the film is novel and amusing, and the scenes where Algy chases his hat along Lambton Quay and tries his luck on the cable tram are only a few of the many which so entertained the theatre-goers last night. He has a shot at canoeing on the Avon, he wears kilts in Dunedin, and on a wayback farm he dances, complete with monocle, with the Maori damsels. As the plot goes, Algy inherits a farm in Taranaki which is reputed to bear oil. His cousin has tricked him out of the better property, but Algy falls in love with the daughter of the manager. The girl, to help her father, goes on the Sydney stage, but the cousin acquires an interest in the show, and discharges her when she refuses to marry him. Things look black for both Algy and the girl, but in the nick of time word comes through that oil has been struck, and happiness comes to them both. Playing in the leading feminine role is Bathie Stuart, a New Zealand actress and a credit to her country. There is a strong supporting cast, and the entire production is excellent in every respect… The music of the Paramount orchestra enhances the programme.” — The Evening Post, Saturday 21 November, 1925

Filming for The Adventures of Algy began in March 1925 at Blockhouse Bay in Auckland and continued through well-known tourist spots around the country – the finished film is something of a catalogue of scenic highlights of New Zealand.

The Adventures of Algy premiered in Australia before screening in New Zealand in September 1925 and enjoyed successful seasons in both countries. Eventually all prints of the film were thought to have been either lost or destroyed, that is until the 1960s when Hastings collector, Jack Murtagh, found an almost complete, nitrate print in good condition. In the absence of a New Zealand Film Archive, the print was sent to Australia for preservation. In the 1980s two ‘lost’ sequences were found in Melbourne and the film is now considered nearly complete.

The film was produced by Beaumont Smith. One of the most successful producers in Australasia during the silent era, Smith produced a total of 17 silent features (15 in Australia and two in New Zealand – The Betrayer (1921) and The Adventures of Algy), however only The Adventures of Algy is known to survive. To cast the film, Smith held extensive screen tests throughout the country. The lead female role went to Bathie Stuart. Already known for her tours of the theatre circuit in New Zealand and Australia with her ‘Musical Maids’, Bathie was a big 1920s name. The Adventures of Algy was, however, the only film she appeared in and following her role she moved to the United Sated working as representative for the NZ Tourist and Publicity Department. Later she presented travel lectures across North America, specialising in promoting New Zealand. For her lectures Bathie filmed, edited and narrated travelogues of New Zealand, the Pacific, South-east Asia and China (these films are now in the Archive’s collection). The male lead, Algy, was played by Claude Dampier, a well-known English vaudeville comedian, who was very popular in New Zealand and Australia throughout the 1920s.

The original score for The Adventures of Algy is also lost. In 1984 the Archive commissioned composer Dorothy Buchanan to write a new score which premiered at the 1985 Film Festivals in Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. These screenings were particularly important in the Archive’s development as the first time a rediscovered local silent feature film was presented with full live musical accompaniment.

Screenings: The Adventures of Algy screened as part of the annual Soundtracks event on 24 May 2006 as a Friends of the Film Archive presentation with piano accompaniment by Nicholas Palmer.