Hills of Hate – a “lost film”

“Hills of Hate” published by Angus and Robertson in 1925 was the debut novel of Australian author E V Timms.¹ It tells the story of two feuding bush families who are ultimately reconciled through marriage. Early in 1926 the film rights were purchased by Australian company, Master Pictures (A F) Ltd, which commissioned Timms to write the screen play.²

By March of that year, filming was underway in the vicinity of Rawdon Vale, near Gloucester. Directed by Raymond Longford, an important figure in the early Australian film industry,³ the cast was headed by Gordon Collingridge and Dorothy Gordon (who was later to have a career as a journalist and pioneer of talk-back radio), with some locals being included as extras, notably Joe Laurie and Eric Paton.⁴

The studio sequences were filmed at the new premises at Bondi, a Sydney suburb.⁵

The film was released at the end of 1926 and was praised for the photography and scenery, although Longford was later to say that it was a film made on the cheap and was not of sufficient quality to gain an English release.⁶

Although considered to be “lost” through the passage of time, stills from this film remain as a reminder of a simpler era.

Author: Penny Teerman