John Robert (Jack) Anderson (1924–1993) was a film distributor, cinema owner and photographer as well as an enthusiastic filmmaker in and around Ballarat in Victoria. Jack developed an interest in film very early at cinema shows and gained his first film experience while serving in WWII, photographing wartime conditions and aircraft involved in the defence of Australia’s north, including the aftermath of the Darwin bombing raid.
It was whilst working in photographic studios that Jack met his future wife, business partner and fellow film enthusiast Marie Bourke. Starting out by hiring films and showing them around regional Victoria, Jack and Marie established cinemas such as the Astor Cinema in Ararat, Bell Post Hill Drive-In in Geelong and the Southern and Northern Drive-Ins and Vegas 70 Cinema in Ballarat. In the 1970s, the Anderson family acquired and restored the Regent Theatre in Ballarat which would then become the first multiplex in regional Victoria.
Along the way, Jack filmed his family and friends activities and outings, horse racing, Ballarat street scenes, motorcycle scrambling and travel scenes on the road – an unusual and wonderful look at life in regional Victoria during the 1940s to the 1960s.
In this film there are views around Ballarat and members of the Anderson and Bourke families take a trip to the snow. There are some great moments of comedy, beginning with a man and his perilous tower climb, then fun and games at a family card game, then to a pretend plane crash.
This film was originally made using 9.5mm film.
Selected highlights list:
00:00:51:00 a man climbs a tower whilst holding his camera and proceeds to take photos from the top after which he comes down and collapses with feigned exhaustion
00:02:18:00 a football field from overhead
00:02:30:00 scenes round Ballarat streets
00:03:08:00 the Buck’s Head Hotel in Ballarat
00:03:16:00 backyard scenes
00:03:20:00 family members playing cards which turns into a comedy when one man pretends to cheat
00:04:09:00 a small plane is ditched in a paddock and we see a man staggering out of the cockpit and collapsing onto the ground feigning injury
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How to watch
Collection
In ACMI's collection
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
B2003555
Subject categories
Amateur & Student Films → Amateur films
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Ballarat (Vic.)
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Hotels, taverns, etc. - Australia
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Victoria - Rural conditions
Anthropology, Ethnology, Exploration & Travel → Victoria - Social life and customs
Climate, Environment, Natural Resources & Disasters → Snow
Communications, Infrastructure, & Transport → Airplanes
Communications, Infrastructure, & Transport → Tramways - Australia
Crafts & Visual Arts → Cameras
Economics, Philosophy, Politics, Religion & Sociology → Country life - Australia
Family, Gender Identity, Relationships & Sexuality → Family - Australia
Hobbies, Recreation & Sport → Cards
Sound/audio
Silent
Colour
Black and White
Holdings
9.5mm 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