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Although based on the 1905 play by Bert Bailey and Edmund Duggan (which was itself more faithfully adapted for film in 1910), this cinematic version retains little of the original. The storyline begins with Joan Enderby about to lose her family's sheep station because she can't afford to buy out the lease from her neighbours, the Sherringtons. To make matters worse, the elderly 'Ironbark' Sherrington, the owner of 'Waratah,' has been in England for two years allowing his villainous son Clive to try and remove Joan from the property. His attempt to bankrupt her is foiled, however, when a mysterious stranger offers to buy three thousand head of sheep from her at a good price. What she doesn't know is that the stranger, Wayne Ridgeway, is also rightful heir to the Sherrington estate. The only person who knows Ridgeway's identity is an Afghan trader called Jebal Zim, but he is murdered by Clive's overseer before he can tell the recently returned Ironbark Sherrington. Typical of the melodrama genre, the story's climax is played out in a thrilling scene - a bushfire - as Joan and Ridgeway try to deliver three thousand sheep to the market. After escaping the fire, they rescue Zim's kidnapped daughter, Zena and capture the overseer, Fletcher. Naturally Ridgeway is restored to his rightful inheritance, and he and Joan marry.
[Source: Australian Screen]
The Squatter's Daughter
( dir. Bert Bailey
)
Australia
:
William Anderson
,
1910
Z1618643
1910
single work
film/TV
Set largely on a sheep station in rural Australia, the storyline concerns a rivalty between two neighbouring stations: Enderby (owned by Violet Enderby) and Waratah (owned by the Harringtons). In the elder Harrington's absence, his weak-willed son has been manipulated by the station overseer into attempting to bankrupt the Enderby station. The plan almost succeeds but is foiled by a stranger to the district, Archie McPherson. An additional storyline concerns the exploits of bushranger Ben Hall.
The Squatter's Daughter
Sydney
:
N.S.W. Bookstall Company
,
1933
Z54634
1933
single work
novel
A woman sheep station owner is about to lose her family's property because she can't afford to buy out the lease from the neighbouring station. The situation arises when the owner's weak-willed son, left to temporarily manage the station, is manipulated by his villainous overseer. A stranger to the district helps foil the plot, however, and also eventually proves to be the rightful owner of the woman's rival property. The narrative includes a bush fire incident, which occurs when the woman and the stranger attempt to drove a large herd of sheep.
Sheep and the Australian Cinema
Carlton
:
Melbourne University Publishing
,
2006
Z1280812
2006
single work
criticism
'The book focuses on two key 'sheep films' The Squatters Daughter (1933) and Bitter Springs (1950). Both movies are concerned with the national project, in which sheep growing and nation building are seamlessly aligned.' Source: Back cover of Sheep and the Australian Cinema (2006).
This analysis of The Story of the Kelly Gang, Thunderbolt, and The Squatter's Daughter considers early Australian films in the light of American cowboy films, arguing that 'it is the contention of this paper that these relations are the result of certain cultural coincidences between Australia and the Western United States rather than the outcome of direct influence of the one upon the other. Viewed in this light, “the American cinema par excellence” can perhaps be more reasonably understood as the epitome of a global cinema – not an original myth of nationhood, but a story of no-place retold everywhere and at all times, even in terra nullius itself.'
Sheep and the Australian Cinema
Carlton
:
Melbourne University Publishing
,
2006
Z1280812
2006
single work
criticism
'The book focuses on two key 'sheep films' The Squatters Daughter (1933) and Bitter Springs (1950). Both movies are concerned with the national project, in which sheep growing and nation building are seamlessly aligned.' Source: Back cover of Sheep and the Australian Cinema (2006).
This analysis of The Story of the Kelly Gang, Thunderbolt, and The Squatter's Daughter considers early Australian films in the light of American cowboy films, arguing that 'it is the contention of this paper that these relations are the result of certain cultural coincidences between Australia and the Western United States rather than the outcome of direct influence of the one upon the other. Viewed in this light, “the American cinema par excellence” can perhaps be more reasonably understood as the epitome of a global cinema – not an original myth of nationhood, but a story of no-place retold everywhere and at all times, even in terra nullius itself.'
