[George Malins Home Movies: Reel 1]

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 shows the Malins family in a montage of holidays and events in Victoria spanning several years from 1946 to the 1950s (not in precise chronological order). Highlights include a visit to Melbourne Zoo, trips to the beach along the Great Ocean Road and to Phillip Island, as well as trips to the snow at Lake Mountain. Malins frequently captured road signs of their travel destinations, including Anglesea, Lorne, Wye River and Cowes. Other moments captured include children’s birthday parties, horse riding and children at school (possibly Koonung Heights Primary School in Mont Albert North, 1954–1993).

The film also features footage of an historic gathering at the Shrine of Remembrance on the occasion of Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery’s visit to Melbourne in 1947.

Selected highlights (time codes from Access Overscan)
00:00:02:00 (upside down footage) caged orangutan at Zoo eating an ice cream
00:00:15:00 entrance to Melbourne Zoo
00:00:20:00 visitor hands food to a white-cheeked gibbon through cage fence
00:00:29:00 George, Sybil, Helen and John picnic on lawn, with the Taggart family
00:00:45:00 children ride the open-carriage train, ‘Zoo Spirit of Progress’ written on side of driver’s car (a reference to Victorian Railways premier express train from Melbourne to Albury)
00:01:07:00 children riding on an Indian Elephant
00:01:15:00 horse performing tricks for audience, balancing on a see-saw, riding and bucking in the arena with a baboon (possibly a hamadryas baboon) on back
00:01:40:00 George, Sybil, Helen and John with Mabel Malins (Nana) having a picnic with fire next to river, great shots of family members eating and smiling, at Healesville Sanctuary
00:02:40:00 Children play in yard. One boy wearing an ‘indian’ costume rides a tricycle; another boy rides a rocking horse; two girls push prams with dolls. Christmas morning at Rathmines Road, Hawthorn.
00:03:20:00 children and mother in caravan trailer, portable radio, bicycle and a 1940s Chevrolet Utility vehicle (Ute)
00:03:48:00 road sign ‘Anglesea – please slow down’
00:04:09:00 ‘Great Ocean Road’ Memorial Arch
00:04:25:00 road sign ‘Lorne – please slow down’
00:04:28:00 children walking in water and climbing on rocks at the beach
00:05:02:00 Sybil and girl standing next to road sign ‘Wye River’ at bridge
00:05:11:00 boy playing with toy boat in water
00:05:17:00 group of children paddling a yellow inflatable dinghy
00:05:51:00 John holding a small fish that he caught
00:05:59:00 gathering of families, playing games on beach
00:06:29:00 two children in bath, Helen and John
00:07:00:00 family, including Mabel Malins, celebrating Helen’s sixth birthday with cake at dining table
00:07:25:00 family in snow with sled, having a snowball fight at Lake Mountain
00:08:35:00 Helen and John at horse-riding school on country road. A man and a boy pass by standing on the back of a flatbed ute.
00:08:58:00 children ride in a horse drawn cart with a crop harvest (possibly corn)
00:09:07:00 group of nurses surround new born baby, Ruth, as she leaves hospital. Ethel Taggart briefly pictured.
00:09:17:00 people riding horses across country road
00:09:35:00 baby (Ruth) amused by family members at Whitehorse Road, Balwyn
00:10:36:00 baby hops and slides along the floor
00:10:55:00 family exiting St Mark’s Church Camberwell in formal clothing, after Ruth’s chistening; priest holding baby
00:11:41:00 John and Helen walking Ruth (toddler) in harness at Doncaster Road; John wearing leg braces
00:12:11:00 children riding on carousel at San Remo
00:12:39:00 John pushing Ruth in swing; John wearing leg calipers
00:12:56:00 John presented with the dux award at a school, Balwyn Primary School
00:13:13:00 family playing tennis-like game at Wye River beach; Mabs, Ruth and Janet playing with sand
00:13:45:00 in a lounge room, next to a fireplace, George and Sybil and their two daughters throw beach balls to each other (217 Doncaster Road with Bill Gladstone, Ruth and Janet)
00:14:20:00 intertitle card “Wake’y Wake’y”: a day in the life of Ruth and Janet
00:15:33:00 Ruth and Janet holding toys, a baby doll and a plush dog
00:15:45:00 intertitle card “Breakfast”
00:16:10:00 intertitle card “Off to School”: Sybil waving goodbye to her daughters who leave the home with their ports (small briefcases)
00:16:26:00 the girls running through a playground
00:16:39:00 intertitle card “Assembly”: outdoor gathering of students standing in line formations, hand on heart
00:17:16:00 students march into classrooms; crates of glass milk bottles stacked outside one classroom
00:17:46:00 Australian flag blowing in the wind
00:17:54:00 intertitle cards “Forestry Commission’s Lecture”; “Arbor Day at Koonung School 1956”
00:18:10:00 intertitle card “Mr. Godfrey – Our Headmaster”
00:18:26:00 intertitle card “Frances, Joanne and Janet Planting a Tree”
00:18:51:00 adults and children watch as children plant trees (excellent example of 1950s fashion)
00:19:00:00 classroom puppet show, children performing a song and dance for parents
00:20:10:00 girl writing in book at a wooden desk; the desks have ink bottle holders
00:20:30:00 group of children dancing in formation outside
00:21:50:00 Janet’s 6th birthday party: hildren wearing homemade party hats with blowers, sit around a cake and snack spread
00:22:17:00 Nan, Ruth and Janet at the Nobbies Phillip Island, then riding wooden belly boards at Wye River with Dora Kennedy and son John
00:22:58:00 girl and dog climbing on rocks at beach
00:23:03:00 young man fishing from rocks at beach
00:23:11:00 family takes shelter under rocks
00:23:23:00 family riding inflatable dinghy in the Yarra River, Warrandyte
00:24:11:00 koala sitting in and climbing a tree
00:24:23:00 road sign ‘Cowes – please slow down’
00:24:28:00 crossing the wooden bridge to Phillip Island
00:25:21:00 men playing golf in Apollo Bay next to beach, with boats and distant landscape in background
00:25:30:00 putting on golf green
00:25:58:00 “C.O.R.” written on a weathervane
00:26:02:00 Pontiac driving on Great Ocean Road, with wide shot of hillside coastline
00:26:51:00 car bogged on a snow covered road, people attempt to release it
00:27:02:00 children having a snowball fight
00:27:13:00 people make a snowman, dressed with a hat, scarf and buttons
00:27:38:00 riding sleds down a snow covered hill
00:28:32:00 wide shot of tree covered mountains and valleys
00:29:06:00 large group of children and adults riding horses in country location
00:29:59:00 large gathering of people at Shrine of Remembrance; soldier marches across the front of shrine
00:30:22:00 soldiers wearing slouch hats marching toward the shrine; the reflecting pool (removed in the early 1950s) is partially shown with Melbourne skyline in distance
00:30:37:00 Highly decorated men in uniform gather. Man wearing black beret is Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, 1st Viscount Montgomery of Alamein. His presence places this footage in 1947. Surrounded by enormous crowd of people, including police officers wearing a black bobby helmet.
00:31:10:00 family in Chevrolet Ute with caravan trailer
00:31:28:00 family at beach dressed in skirts made of newspaper, bows and flowers in hair; men wearing stuffed brassieres perform a dance
00:32:05:00 people catching waves, riding wooden belly boards
00:32:34:00 Australian National Airways plane (possibly a Douglas DC-4), ‘Bungana’ written on exterior of cockpit. Propellers start to spin, plane moves.
00:33:03:00 Ansett Airways plane (possibly a Douglas DC-3), turns on tarmac
00:33:06:00 man on horse in residential area, Bulleen Riding School
00:33:10:00 fancy dress party at 217 Doncaster Road; children in costumes (yellow bird and nurse) in yard at “Heath’s home”
00:33:22:00 large gathering of children and women at Wattle Park with picnic baskets (Janet’s kindergarten)