[George Malins Home Movies: Reel 14]

George William Malins (1910–2007) was an amateur filmmaker who made home movies in Australia and overseas from the 1940s to 1970s. According to his daughter, George was ‘optimistic, happy and enthusiastic’, an outlook reflected in his films which are a history of home life and a love of travel.

George came to Australia from England as a young man by way of the merchant navy, after having seen South America and some of Asia. He met his future wife Sybil, who was impressed by George’s world travels and his dreams for the future.

The family lived in the Melbourne suburb of North Balwyn, spending their summers camping at Wye River on the Victorian coast often with extended family and friends.

George and Sybil must have shared a sense of adventure as they eventually sold the family home and sailed on the ‘SS Orontes’ to England, travelling around Britain for two years.

The George Malins Home Movie Collection was donated to ACMI by the creator’s daughter, Ruth Hargrave. The films were made on 16mm film.

This film contains snippets of scenes from travels around Victoria. Firstly the Hume Dam (formerly Hume Weir) which is a major dam across the Murray River in New South Wales. Constructed between 1919 and 1936 and involving hydro-power as well as flood mitigation and irrigation, the Hume Dam would have been a major attraction at the time, the 1940s. There are also some scenes of the family children during what seems to be a stop along the way.

This very short black and white film is faded throughout.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:24:00 a man in suit and hat clambering over large boulders and looking out at a view
00:00:45:00 the spillway drains at the Hume Dam
00:01:05:00 children smiling at the camera while standing near a car
00:01:17:00 one of the children holds what might be a small rabbit or possum