Fisher's Ghost is a 1924 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford, based on the legend of Fisher's Ghost. It is considered a lost film.
Production
The film was produced by Longford-Lyell Productions, a company formed by Raymond Longford and Lottie Lyell in association with Charles Perry. It was the first film produced by this company. The screenplay was written by Raymond Longford and Lottie Lyell, with cinematography by Arthur Higgins. The film had a budget of approximately £1,000 and a running time of 55 minutes (about 5,000 feet). It was shot on location, with contemporary accounts differing on whether filming took place in Campbelltown or Windsor, New South Wales. The film was completed by August 1924 and released on 4 October 1924, distributed by Hoyts.
Synopsis
The film is set in 1820s New South Wales. Two transported convicts, George Worrall and Frederick Fisher, are released and take up farms at Campbelltown. They become successful and friends. Worrall persuades Fisher to travel to England and offers to manage Fisher's farm. Months later, Worrall presents a letter to an estate agent claiming Fisher has decided to stay in England and has instructed Worrall to sell his farm. In 1826, a settler named Farley sees an apparition purporting to be Fisher sitting on a three-rail fence. The apparition claims he was murdered by Worrall and indicates where Fisher's body lies. Worrall is arrested at his wedding, tried, convicted, and sentenced to death, eventually confessing to the crime.
Cast
The cast included Robert Purdie as George Worrall, Fred Twitcham as Frederick Fisher, Lorraine Esmond as Nell Thompson, Percy Walshe, William Ryan, Ted Ayr as Jim Mead, William Coulter, Charles Keegan, Ruby Dellew, Ada St. Claire, Charlotte Beaumont, and Ike Beck.
Reception
Reviews were generally strong, and the film reportedly "smashed all records on its initial screening at Hoyts, Sydney" according to the trade publication Everyones. It yielded approximately £1,300 in its first week of screenings. However, Union Theatres rejected the film for its Sydney theaters because managing director Stuart F. Doyle deemed it "too gruesome" for the public. The film is regarded as one of the earliest and most influential Australian horror films.
Legacy
Fisher's Ghost, along with The Bushwhackers (1925) and Peter Vernon's Silence (1925), were the only three films produced by Longford-Lyell Productions, as the company entered liquidation in June 1924, before the film's release. In 1934, Longford registered a script for a remake, but it was never made. In 2010, producer Tony Buckley called for a film search program to locate the lost negatives of Fisher's Ghost and other historic Australian films. The film is currently considered lost.
