The Lure of the Bush is a 1918 Australian silent film starring renowned Australian sportsman Snowy Baker. It is considered a lost film.
| The Lure of the Bush | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Claude Flemming |
| Written by | Percy Reay as "Jack North" |
| Starring | Snowy Baker |
| Cinematography | Franklyn Barrett |
Production company | Snowy Baker Films |
| Distributed by | E. J. Carroll |
Release dates |
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Running time | six reels |
| Country | Australia |
| Languages |
|
| Budget | £1,500[1][2] |
| Box office | £20,000[1] |
Hugh Mostyn (Snowy Baker) is sent from his family station to England for an education and returns to Australia years later as a "gentleman", complete with a white suit and monocle. He seeks work as a jackeroo and is teased by station hands who pretend to hold him up as bushrangers, but he beats them all up. He also breaks in a wild brumby, takes part in a kangaroo hunt, defeats the station bully (Colin Bell) in a boxing match, wins the heart of the manager's daughter, and later rescues her from a rejected suitor.[3]
Colin Bell was a real-life boxer and his on-screen fight with Baker went for five minutes.[4]
The script was the prize winner in a competition held by the Bulletin.[1]
The film was shot in a property near Gunnedah.[5] The female lead, Rita Tress, was a real life squatter's daughter.[6]
Baker visited Hollywood in 1919 and re-shot some sequences there at Jesse Lasky's studios for its American release.[7]
The film was enormously popular and earned an estimated £20,000 in profit.[2]