Fisher's Ghost (film)
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Lottie Lyell
Charles Perry
| Fisher's Ghost | |
|---|---|
 Everyone's 1 October 1924 | |
| Directed by | Raymond Longford |
| Written by | Raymond Longford[1] Lottie Lyell |
| Produced by | Lottie Lyell Charles Perry |
| Cinematography | Arthur Higgins |
Production company | Longford-Lyell Productions |
| Distributed by | Hoyts |
Release date |
|
Running time | 55 minutes (5000 feet)[3] |
| Country | Australia |
| Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
| Budget | £1,000[4][5] |
Fisher's Ghost is a 1924 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford based on the legend of Fisher's Ghost. It is considered a lost film.
The film is set in 1820s New South Wales. Two transported convicts, George Worrall and Frederick Fisher, are released and take up farms at Campbelltown. They are both successful and become friends. Worrall persuades Fisher to go on a trip to England and says he will manage Fisher's farm. A few months later, Worrall goes to an estate agent with a letter from Fisher saying that he has decided to stay in England and has instructed Worrall to sell his farm.
In 1826, a settler called Farley sees an apparition who purports to be Fisher sitting on a three rail fence. This apparition claims he was murdered by Worrall and later indicates where Fisher's body lays. Worrall is arrested at his wedding to a girl who does not return his affections. He is tried, convicted and sentenced to death. He eventually confesses to the crime.[6][7]
Cast
- Robert Purdie as George Worrall
- Fred Twitcham as Frederick Fisher
- Lorraine Esmond as Nell Thompson
- Percy Walshe
- William Ryan
- Ted Ayr as Jim Mead, the love interest[8]
- William Coulter
- Charles Keegan
- Ruby Dellew
- Ada St. Claire
- Charlotte Beaumont
- Ike Beck
Production
Raymond Longford and Lottie Lyell, in association with Charles Perry, formed a new company together: Longford-Lyell Productions. Fisher's Ghost marks the production company's first film.[9][10]
According to on contemporary account the film was shot on location in Campbelltown under the title The Life and Death of Frederick Fisher. Longford sought the advice of Campbelltown residents and also explored the records on the subject from the local Mitchell Library.[10] Another report however says the film was shot on location entirely in Windsor, featuring such locations as the Fitzroy Hotel and the old courthouse.[11]
The film was completed by August 1924.[9][10]
Fisher's Ghost, The Bushwhackers (1925), and Peter Vernon's Silence (1925) were the only three films produced by Longford-Lyell Productions as the company had already entered liquidation in June 1924, even before the film's release.[12][13]
Although Lottie Lyell and Raymond Longford created many films together, Fisher's Ghost and The Bushwhackers are the only films for which Lyell received credit as scriptwriter and assistant director before her death from tuberculosis in 1925.[14]
