Prehistoric Hayseeds
Encyclopedia
Prehistoric Hayseeds is a 1923 Australian film comedy from director Beaumont Smith
. It is the sixth in his series about the rural family the Hayseeds and concerns their discovery of a lost tribe
.
, who who have never been in contact with the outside world, wear skins for clothing, and are surrounded by diamonds. Dad Hayseed makes friends with Wup (Hector St Clair) who plays an ancient form of golf and Owen falls in love with the Wup daughter, the beautiful Golden Girl (Lotus Thompson
), rescuing her from an unwanted suitor, Beetle Brows. This leads to a rising of an opposing clan, and the Wups flee to civilisation with the Hayseeds. They go to Sydney and have various adventures, including a trip to the Randwick Races. Olive is kidnapped by Beetle Brows but the Hayseeds and Owen save the day.
, Gordon Collingridge
and Lotus Thompson
, returned here, although playing different roles. Thompson soon left for Hollywood, where she acted in some films and achieved fame for deliberately disfiguring her legs.
It is likely that Beaumont Smith
was inspired by the Buster Keaton
movie, Three Ages (1923).
The movie was shot in October 1923 in Sydney and Port Hacking
, with interiors at a Rushcutters Bay studio. Actors turned up a Sydney's Central Railway Station in cavemen gear, causing a commotion.
The movie was not a big hit and Smith cease the series until reviving it several years later with The Hayseeds
(1933).
It is considered a lost film
.
Beaumont Smith
Frank Beaumont Smith , was an Australian film director, producer and exhibitor, best known for making low-budget comedies. After a career in theatre production, including managing a midget circus, he made his first film in 1917, Our Friends, the Hayseeds. He went on to become one of the most...
. It is the sixth in his series about the rural family the Hayseeds and concerns their discovery of a lost tribe
Uncontacted peoples
Uncontacted people, also referred to as isolated people or lost tribes, are communities who live, or have lived, either by choice or by circumstance, without significant contact with globalized civilisation....
.
Synopsis
Mum and Day Hayseed are visited by an archaeologist fresh from university, Owen Osborne, looking for signs of prehistoric people in nearby caves. They go through a cave and discover a secret valley which is home to an lost tribeUncontacted peoples
Uncontacted people, also referred to as isolated people or lost tribes, are communities who live, or have lived, either by choice or by circumstance, without significant contact with globalized civilisation....
, who who have never been in contact with the outside world, wear skins for clothing, and are surrounded by diamonds. Dad Hayseed makes friends with Wup (Hector St Clair) who plays an ancient form of golf and Owen falls in love with the Wup daughter, the beautiful Golden Girl (Lotus Thompson
Lotus Thompson
Lotus Thompson was an Australian actress of silent and sound films. She was born in Sydney on 22 August 1906. Her film career began in 1921 and ended in 1949...
), rescuing her from an unwanted suitor, Beetle Brows. This leads to a rising of an opposing clan, and the Wups flee to civilisation with the Hayseeds. They go to Sydney and have various adventures, including a trip to the Randwick Races. Olive is kidnapped by Beetle Brows but the Hayseeds and Owen save the day.
Production
Stage star Hector St Clair played the lead role, and the romantic leads from Townies and HayseedsTownies and Hayseeds
Townies and Hayseeds is a 1923 Australian film comedy from director Beaumont Smith. It is the fifth in his series about the rural family the Hayseeds.-Synopsis:...
, Gordon Collingridge
Gordon Collingridge
Gordon Collingridge was an Australian actor during the silent film era. He played many matinee idol type roles, most notably opposite Louise Lovely in Jewelled Nights .-Selected filmography:*Circumstance *Prehistoric Hayseeds...
and Lotus Thompson
Lotus Thompson
Lotus Thompson was an Australian actress of silent and sound films. She was born in Sydney on 22 August 1906. Her film career began in 1921 and ended in 1949...
, returned here, although playing different roles. Thompson soon left for Hollywood, where she acted in some films and achieved fame for deliberately disfiguring her legs.
It is likely that Beaumont Smith
Beaumont Smith
Frank Beaumont Smith , was an Australian film director, producer and exhibitor, best known for making low-budget comedies. After a career in theatre production, including managing a midget circus, he made his first film in 1917, Our Friends, the Hayseeds. He went on to become one of the most...
was inspired by the Buster Keaton
Buster Keaton
Joseph Frank "Buster" Keaton was an American comic actor, filmmaker, producer and writer. He was best known for his silent films, in which his trademark was physical comedy with a consistently stoic, deadpan expression, earning him the nickname "The Great Stone Face".Keaton was recognized as the...
movie, Three Ages (1923).
The movie was shot in October 1923 in Sydney and Port Hacking
Port Hacking
Port Hacking is an Australian estuary, located in Southern Sydney, New South Wales and fed by the Hacking River and several smaller creeks, including Bundeena Creek and The Basin. It is a ria, a river basin which has become submerged by the sea...
, with interiors at a Rushcutters Bay studio. Actors turned up a Sydney's Central Railway Station in cavemen gear, causing a commotion.
The movie was not a big hit and Smith cease the series until reviving it several years later with The Hayseeds
The Hayseeds
The Hayseeds is a 1933 Australian comedy from director Beaumont Smith. It centres around the rural family, the Hayseeds, about whom Smith had previously made six silent films, starting with Our Friends, the Hayseeds . He retired from directing in 1925 but decided to revive the series in the wake of...
(1933).
It is considered a lost film
Lost film
A lost film is a feature film or short film that is no longer known to exist in studio archives, private collections or public archives such as the Library of Congress, where at least one copy of all American films are deposited and catalogued for copyright reasons...
.
Cast
- Hector St Clair as Wup
- Lotus ThompsonLotus ThompsonLotus Thompson was an Australian actress of silent and sound films. She was born in Sydney on 22 August 1906. Her film career began in 1921 and ended in 1949...
as the Golden Girl - Gordon CollingridgeGordon CollingridgeGordon Collingridge was an Australian actor during the silent film era. He played many matinee idol type roles, most notably opposite Louise Lovely in Jewelled Nights .-Selected filmography:*Circumstance *Prehistoric Hayseeds...
as Owen Osborne - J.P. O'Neill as Dad Hayseed
- Kathleen Mack as Mrs Wup
- Roy Wilson as Beetle Brown
- Pinky Weatherley as Mum Hayseed
- Nina Dacre as Tessie Worth
- Dunstan Webb as Terry
External links
- Hayseeds in the Internet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie DatabaseInternet Movie Database is an online database of information related to movies, television shows, actors, production crew personnel, video games and fictional characters featured in visual entertainment media. It is one of the most popular online entertainment destinations, with over 100 million...
- Prehistoric Hayseeds at National Film and Sound ArchiveNational Film and Sound ArchiveThe National Film and Sound Archive is Australia’s audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national collection of audiovisual materials and related items...