W. J. Lincoln

W. J. Lincoln (1870–August 1917) was an Australian playwright, theatre manager, film director and screenwriter in the silent era. He produced, directed and/or wrote 23 films between 1911 and 1916.

Contents

Life

W. J. Lincoln was born in Melbourne and was bought up in St Kilda. He worked as a playwright and a stage actor in Melbourne, his early plays including The Power of Wealth and The Bush King for the Alfred Dampier Company.[1] In 1904 and 1905 he managed film tours around Australia and New Zealand for J.C. Williamson Ltd with much success. In 1908 he was manager of the Paradise of Living Pictures movie theatre in St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, and had begun to write and direct films for show in the theatre.[2]

Lincoln made his film debut as director and writer with It Is Never Too Late to Mend (1911) for the Tait brothers. They apppointed him director of their new company, Amalgamated Pictures, for whom he made six films over the next year. The Taits withdrew from film production and in 1913 Lincoln become owner of the "Paradise", and then partnered with Godfrey Cass to make films as the Lincoln-Cass Film Company. The company survived for only one year, but in that time it made eight films.

Lincoln later worked for J.C. Williamson Ltd when they moved into film production. He was originally supposed to write and direct but by this stage his alcoholism had gotten out of control, causing him to be removed as director of Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (1916). He later formed Lincoln-Barnes Productions in partnership with G.H. Barnes, continuing to make films until 1916. His drinking got worse and he died in Sydney in August 1917.[3] At the time of his death he was working on an adaptation of the stage play The Worst Woman in London called The Worst Woman in Sydney.[4]

Filmography

  1. Moonlite (1910) - based on his play Captain Moonlite[5]
  2. Captain Midnight, the Bush King (1911) - based on his play
  3. It Is Never Too Late to Mend (1911) - based on his stage adaptation of novel, writer, director
  4. The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1911) - director
  5. The Luck of Roaring Camp (1911) - writer, director
  6. Called Back (1911) - writer, director
  7. The Lost Chord (1911) - director
  8. The Bells (1911) - based on his stage adaptation of the play, writer, director
  9. The Double Event (1911) - writer, director
  10. After Sundown (lost, c. 1911) - director
  11. Breaking the News (1912) - writer, director
  12. Rip Van Winkle (1912) - director
  13. The Sick Stockrider (1913) - director)
  14. Moondyne (1913) - director
  15. The Remittance Man (1913) - director
  16. Transported (1913) - director
  17. The Road to Ruin (1913) - director
  18. The Crisis (1913) - director
  19. The Reprieve (1913) - director
  20. The Wreck (1913) - director
  21. Within Our Gates (1915) (aka Deeds That Won Gallipoli) - writer
  22. The Life's Romance of Adam Lindsay Gordon (1916) - writer, producer, director
  23. Within the Law (1916) - writer
  24. Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (1916) - writer
  25. Nurse Cavell (1916) - director, writer, producer
  26. La Revanche (1916) - director, writer, producer
  27. Officer 666 (1916) - writer

Select Theatre Credits

References

  1. ^ Mary Bateman, 'W.J. Lincoln', Cinema Papers, June-July 1980 p 173
  2. ^ Peter Fogarty, 'The Screening of St Kilda: A History of St Kilda’s Cinemas', St Kilda Historical Series Number Two: Cinemas
  3. ^ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 12.
  4. ^ Mary Bateman, 'W.J. Lincoln', Cinema Papers, June-July 1980 p 174
  5. ^ Mary Bateman, 'W.J. Lincoln', Cinema Papers, June-July 1980 p 173

External Links