View source for Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (1916 film)

{{short description|1916 film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2020}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2012}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford
| image          =
| caption        =
| director       = [[Fred Niblo]]<br>[[W. J. Lincoln]]
| producer       =
| writer         = W. J. Lincoln<br>Fred Niblo
| based_on       = [[George M. Cohan]] (play)<br>[[George Randolph Chester]] (story)
| starring       = Fred Niblo<br>[[Enid Bennett]]
| cinematography = [[Maurice Bertel]]
| editing        =
| distributor    =
| studio         = [[J. C. Williamson Ltd (film company)|J.&nbsp;C. Williamson Ltd]]
| released       = {{film date|df=yes|1916|2|21|Melbourne}}<ref>Mary Bateman, 'W. J. Lincoln', ''Cinema Papers'', June–July 1980 p 214</ref>
| runtime        = 4,000 feet<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article50870737 |title=AMUSEMENTS. |newspaper=[[The Examiner (Tasmania)|The Examiner]] |location=Launceston, Tas. |date=6 May 1916 |access-date=15 April 2012 |page=8 Edition: DAILY |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> (approx 60 mins)
| country        = Australia
| language       = Silent with English intertitles
}}
'''''Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford''''' is a 1916 Australian [[silent film|silent]] [[comedy film]] directed by [[Fred Niblo]].<ref name="silentera">{{cite web |url=http://www.silentera.com/PSFL/data/G/GetRichQuickWallingfor1916.html |title=Progressive Silent Film List: Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford |access-date=6 June 2008|work=Silent Era}}</ref> The film was the first made by the film unit of theatrical firm [[J. C. Williamson Ltd (film company)|J.&nbsp;C. Williamson]], although it was one of the last to be released.<ref name="metro">Marsden, Ralph. 'The Old Tin Shed in Exhibition Street': The J.&nbsp;C. Williamson Studio, Melbourne's Forgotten Film Factory [online]. Metro Magazine: Media & Education Magazine, No. 157, 2008: 144-153. Availability: <http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=519108300276483;res=IELAPA> {{ISSN|0312-2654}}. [cited 15 Nov 14].</ref><ref>[https://archive.org/stream/motionpicturenew132unse#page/1446/mode/2up/search/australia "Film News from Foreign Parts", ''Motion Picture News'' 11 March 1916] accessed 23 November 1916</ref><ref>{{Citation
| title=When J.&nbsp;C Williamson Ltd Made pictures  | date=16 December 1925|page=28  | publisher=Everyones Ltd  | url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-557686518  | access-date=27 April 2019}}</ref> It was Niblo's [[List of directorial debuts|debut film]] as a director and is considered a [[lost film]].
==Plot==
Two swindlers, Blackie Daw (Henry Carson Clarke) and J. Rufus Wallingford ([[Fred Niblo]]), arrive in Battlesburg, Iowa, and con the local townsfolk that they are wealthy businessmen. They use the town's money to establish plans for a factory to produce covered carpet tacks and set off a major real estate boom. They are about to leave town with their money when they receive a genuine order for a large supply of tacks. They decide to marry local girls and settle down in Battlesburg.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article58914524 |title=GET-RICH-QUICK-WALLINGFORD AT THEATRE ROYAL. |newspaper=[[Townsville Daily Bulletin]] |location=Qld. |date=14 July 1916 |access-date=15 April 2012 |page=2 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}
</ref>
==Cast==
* [[Fred Niblo]] as J. Rufus Wallingford
* Henry Carson Clarke as Blackie Daw
* [[Enid Bennett]] as Fanny
* Eddie Lamb
* Pirie Bush
* Sydney Stirling
* Charles Clary
* Kathryn Williams
==Original play==
Williamsons often imported American plays and American actors to star in them. [[Fred Niblo]] came out to Australia in 1912 with his wife Josephine Cohan, sister of [[George M. Cohan]], and stayed for three years, appearing in a number of plays.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15356975 |title=NEW AMERICAN ARTISTS. |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=8 July 1912 |access-date=15 April 2012 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> One of these was ''Get-Rich-Quick-Wallingford'', by Cohan, which proved enormously popular with Australian audiences.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article60611032 |title=MUSIC AND THE STAGE. |newspaper=[[The Register (Adelaide)|The Register]] |location=Adelaide |date=22 July 1916 |access-date=15 April 2012 |page=5 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article15339994 |title="GET-RICH-QUICK WALLINGFORD.". |newspaper=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |date=5 August 1912 |access-date=15 April 2012 |page=3 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> In the American production, [[Hale Hamilton]] played Wallingford, and [[Edward Ellis (actor)|Edward Ellis]] played Daws.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|author=Lachman, Marvin|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/903807427|title=The villainous stage : crime plays on Broadway and in the West End|date=2014|publisher=McFarland|isbn=978-0-7864-9534-4|oclc=903807427}}</ref> The play opened at the Gaiety in September 1910 was a huge hit and had 424 performances in New York, 198 shows in London, and a translation in Paris.<ref name=":0" />
==Production==
[[W. J. Lincoln]] adapted the play into a script in March 1915 and shooting began the following month. Filming took place at the J.&nbsp;C. Williamsons Studio, opposite Her Majesty's Theatre in Melbourne,<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article142988050 |title=DRAMATIC NOTES. |newspaper=[[The Australasian]] |location=Melbourne |date=26 February 1916 |access-date=15 November 2014 |page=24 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref> and on location, in particular at the Junction Hotel in St Kilda.<ref name="metro"/>
Lincoln was the original director and appears to have definitely been in charge during the location shoot. However he had to pull out during production because of his alcoholism and Niblo stepped in.<ref>Mary Bateman, 'W. J. Lincoln', ''Cinema Papers'', June–July 1980 p 174</ref> While filming, Niblo was also rehearsing a play in the morning and appearing in ''Seven Keys to Baldpate'' at night. He would have likely been heavily assisted by his stage manager Maurice Dudley and assistant stage manager Dick Shortland, as well as cinematographer Maurice Bertel.<ref name="metro"/>
The cast includes [[Enid Bennett]], who understudied Josephine Cohan on stage and went with Niblo and her to America when they returned there in 1915. Bennett later married Niblo on Cohan's death in 1916.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article1625577 |title=PERSONAL. |newspaper=[[The Argus (Melbourne)|The Argus]] |location=Melbourne |date=14 July 1916 |access-date=15 April 2012 |page=6 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref><ref name="Pike">Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p59</ref>
==Reception==
The film was not a success at the box office, with critics noting in particular the absence of the play's wisecracking dialogue.<ref name="metro"/>
However the ''Sunday Times'' did describe the film as "one of the finest ever taken in Australia".<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article121338129 |title=Film Fancies. |newspaper=[[The Sunday Times (Sydney)|The Sunday Times]] |location=Sydney |date=30 January 1916 |access-date=15 November 2014 |page=16 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
''Punch'' said that "it is not always that a popular stage favourite is able to make a success upon the screen. Mr. Niblo's extraordinary personality has assisted him greatly, and the film version is in many respects superior to the stage representation."<ref>{{cite news |url=http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article130037500 |title=THE PLAYGOER. |newspaper=[[Melbourne Punch|Punch]] |location=Melbourne |date=24 February 1916 |access-date=15 November 2014 |page=36 |publisher=National Library of Australia}}</ref>
The ''Moving Picture World'' called the movie "very poor".<ref>[https://archive.org/stream/movpic28chal#page/n689/mode/2up/search/australia Tom Imrie, "Australian Notes", ''Moving Picture World'' 5 April 1916] accessed 23 November 2014</ref> This contributed to the decision of J.C. Williamson to wind up their filmmaking arm.<ref name="Pike"/>
==References==
{{Reflist}}
==External links==
*{{IMDb title|id=0343710|title=Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford}}
*[http://colsearch.nfsa.gov.au/nfsa/search/display/display.w3p;adv=no;group=;groupequals=;holdingType=;page=0;parentid=;query=get%20rich%20quick%20wallingford;querytype=;rec=2;resCount=10 ''Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford''] at [[National Film and Sound Archive]]
*[http://www.gutenberg.org/files/37010/37010-h/37010-h.htm Original text of George Chester's story] at [[Project Gutenberg]]
*[http://0-www.austlit.edu.au.library.sl.nsw.gov.au/austlit/page/6333715 ''Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford''] at [[AustLit]]
{{W. J. Lincoln}}
{{Fred Niblo}}
[[Category:1916 films]]
[[Category:1916 comedy films]]
[[Category:1916 lost films]]
[[Category:1916 directorial debut films]]
[[Category:Australian silent feature films]]
[[Category:Australian black-and-white films]]
[[Category:Films directed by Fred Niblo]]
[[Category:Lost Australian comedy films]]
[[Category:Silent comedy films]]
[[Category:Films produced by J.C. Williamson's]]