[George Malins Home Movies: Reel 22]

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 short film captures the visit of a friend after her arrival on a TAA (Trans Australian Airlines) airplane. The host and visitor have some fun with the camera, posing and pretending to run away from the family home.

Selected highlights list:
00:00:03:00 an airplane taxiing around the tarmac
00:00:29:00 men in white overalls attend the landed plane
00:00:32:00 greeting the visitor, filmed from a higher vantage point
00:00:43:00 three older women dressed in late 1950s or 1960s style
00:00:52:00 the visitor in fur trimmed coat, upturned hat, carrying gloves and a 1950s style beauty case (cosmetic case)
00:01:07:00 the women come out of the house, pretend to be running away, waving at the camera and hop into a car
00:01:27:00 the hostess poses in her garden with a lovely pink flower
00:01:44:00 reversing the Holden model car down the driveway with a lemon tree over the fence in the background