Devine's Studios Film Collection

This series comprises 34 film reels documenting regional events, commercial productions, and documentary filmmaking in northern New South Wales from the 1940s to 1965. The collection includes George Arthur Devine's dramatic and documentary productions, news footage, and television commercials produced through Northern Motion Picture Productions. Significant productions include 'War Loan' (35mm, 1940), produced with Os Bartle for the Inverell War Loan Committee; 'The Link', a Christian dramatic film over half an hour long made for the Presbyterian Church, written by Rev. David Ryrie, directed by Marc Le Cudennec with photography and editing by George Arthur Devine, featuring actors Julie Krause and Susan Krause; and the 'Adventures in Science' series documenting Australian wildlife.

The 'Adventures in Science' films were collaborative projects with Max Moulds (Curator of Entomology, Australian Museum), including 'Hunting Australian Tortoises' and 'Bats'. The latter was filmed at multiple locations including Copeton, Kingsgate caves, Susan Island near Grafton, and the Devine's studio, with narration by Geoffrey Smith. Twentieth Century Fox Sydney office viewed 'Bats' and requested permission to send it to New York, subsequently offering a contract for 26 films. News footage documents significant regional events including church openings (Baptist Church Hall, Inverell Baptist Church 1953-1960s), the 1962 RSL Bowling Club opening, Inverell Anzac Memorial opening, institutional activities (Inverell High School, Salvation Army, Presbyterian Choir, Armidale Special School), infrastructure (airport, Apsley Falls Scenic Stairway constructed by Walcha Lions Club 1961), agricultural activities (Fordson Tractors, Inverell Show, wheat harvest), sapphire mining operations (1958), natural disasters (flood shots, Mt Mitchell Forest storm damage 1964), sporting events (Grafton to Inverell Cycle Race spanning 3 reels, jet boat racing), and space exploration milestones ('First Orbit' 1963, 'Americans in Orbit'). The collection also includes commercial footage for North West Small Goods, Walton's Stores, and various businesses, as well as scenic and wildlife footage from regional locations including Tamworth, Coonamble, Coonabarabran, Bingara, Warialda, Ballina, Glen Innes, and silent Inverell footage circa 1946. Collaborators and crew members appearing in various productions include Max Hamilton, Lyn Willing, Tal Killen, Os Bartle, Max Moulds, Marc Le Cudennec, and Geoffrey Smith.

Northern Motion Picture Productions, a film production subsidiary of Devine's Studios, Inverell, established by George Arthur Devine (1919-2015). George Arthur expanded Devine's Studios into motion pictures during the mid-twentieth century, producing news footage, television commercials, documentary films, and dramatic productions. He worked as a cine-cameraman for ABC television and produced content for Fox Movietone News and NEN TV, which did not yet have facilities for making television commercials. George Arthur created the original news opener for Television New England and various television commercials for local firms throughout the 1950s and 1960s.