Kenneth Carruthers Rankine (1890 - 1968) was a keen amateur cinematographer and filmmaker. This collection of his home movies has been donated to ACMI by Kenneth’s granddaughter. The collection represents a wonderful slice of life in Australia; with contents including scenes of everyday life, major family occasions, holidays around Victoria and views of Melbourne.
This film is a scenic tour of mostly seaside places, from Sydney Harbour and Port Phillip Bay to a brief look at Phillip Island. The Rankine family members feature and are joined by Bob Wootton late in the reel who contributes to their roadside picnic by cooking meat on a barbecue over a fire in a tin. Kenneth uses individual title cards to clearly point out the locations he is filming and fnishes sunset scenes. Kenneth also uses title cards to introduce each sequence.
Selected highlights list:
00:00:12:00 ‘Sydney and the Harbour’, views across the Harbour to residential areas; Kenneth appears to be filming from a vantage point on the water.
00:01:07:00 Harbour Bridge followed by shots of ferries and dockside buildings; a larger ship comes into view as well as Fort Denison Island and a longer shot of the Harbour Bridge.
00:03:20:00 ‘Manly’, the pier and some buildings.
00:03:40:00 shops and shoppers with the camera taking in the view down to the Harbour; beach scenes and a large ship in the distance.
00:04:48:00 ‘Blue Mountains from Echo Point’ is followed by dramatic views over the mountain ranges and rock formations.
00:05::39:00 the Rankines meeting some other travellers along a walking track.
00:05:51:00 scenes of a sports club and members relaxing, the men are in blazers.
00:06:16:00 ‘The Cascades Leura’, waterfalls, a footbridge and Mrs and Miss Rankine splashing at the foot of a waterfall.
00:07:41:00 a band playing in a large rotunda Spanish exhibition dancing for onlookers; this sequence also shows good examples of vintage bathers.
00:08:32:00 ‘St Kilda’, the St Kilda Botanical Gardens.
00:09:17:00 scenes looking across Pier Rd to the St Kilda Pier, kiosk and a yacht followed by shots of swimmers.
00:10:07:00 ‘At Elwood’ shows more examples of vintage bathing costumes with a beach coat and caps and launching a sail boat straight from the sand.
00:11:14:00 ‘At Mid Brighton’ small craft bobbing in shallow waters followed by a yacht race and Kenneth’s daughter with binoculars looking on.
00:13:07:00 ‘At Sandringham’ shows another sequence of swimmers, people sunbathing, sailboats and diving from what might be an old piece of a jetty, sitting on rocks on the shoreline; there are bathing boxes in the background on the beach.
00:16:50:00 a small boat being hoisted down from a shed and rolled on tracks into the water.
00:18:00:00 onwards we see the Rankines joined by Bob Wootton who contributes to their roadside picnic with his meat patties/ burgers, barbecued over a fire in a tin.
00:18:32:00 ‘Phillip Island’ is introduced with a postcard before coastal views and several shots of koalas in trees, the family wandering along a road.
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Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
B2003284
Language
No spoken word
Subject categories
Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Fashion - Australia
Agriculture, Business, Commerce & Industry → Fashion design
Amateur & Student Films → Amateur films
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Australia - Description and travel
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Australia - Social life and customs
Food, Health, Lifestyle, Medicine, Psychology & Safety → Bathing suits
History → Clothing and dress - History
History → Women's clothing - History
Places → Phillip Island (Vic.)
Places → Port Phillip Bay (Vic.)
Sound/audio
Silent
Colour
Colour
Holdings
16mm film; Master
MOV file H264; ACMI Digital Access Copy - presentation
MPEG-4 Digital File; ACMI Digital Access Copy - overscan
MOV file ProRes4444; Digital Preservation Master - overscan
MOV file H264; ACMI External Digital Access Copy