Beaumont Smith

Frank Beaumont "Beau" Smith (15 August 1885 – 2 January 1950), was an Australian film director, producer and exhibitor, best known for making low-budget comedies.

Smith made his first film, Our Friends, the Hayseeds, in 1917. He went on to become one of the most prolific and popular Australian filmmakers of the silent era. Among his films were adaptations of the works of Banjo Paterson and Henry Lawson. His 1933 comedy The Hayseeds featured the first screen appearance of Cecil Kellaway.

A 1925 profile on the director stated: Though he is by no means the pioneer of Australian motion picture producers, he is the daddy of them all by I'eason of the number of films he has produced [then seventeen]... He is his own financier and has not found it necessary to float a company to stand behind his products. There are many who sneer at some of them, but it is a fact that they have all made money for Beaumont Smith and the showmen who have screened them, and what more could any man ask... Exactly what there is about the Beaumont Smith films it is hard to say. There was with some of the earliest a crudeness that was apparent, yet they are all devised with cunning that speaks of showmanship of the highest degree and as such they get over flaws and all and the general impression defies criticism.

Early life and career Smith was born in Hallett, South Australia, named after a popular singer at the time, Armes Beaumont. He was educated at East Adelaide Public School.

Smith won writing competitions as a teenager. He first worked as a journalist, writing for The Critic and The Register. When he was around 19 he established a small newspaper, Seaside Topics, in the Victor Harbor region, which had a short run. Smith then helped C. J. Dennis found The Gadfly, which ran for several years.

Theatre work Smith moved into theatre, becoming secretary for theatrical entrepreneur William Anderson. He also worked as press secretary for Anderson's representative.

Smith toured Europe in 1909 and 1911. During the latter visit he arranged for a European troupe of midgets, "Tiny Town", to tour Australia. It was enormously successful, making a profit of 425%. Smith later toured the show in South Africa, where it was a success, and Canada, where it flopped due to opposition from existing circuses. He also toured a show by the suffragette Muriel Matters. It was not a success, he claimed, because the main market, suffragettes, could see her at women's clubs for free.

Smith tried playwriting, working on an adaptation of On Our Selection by Steele Rudd. He wrote the first act on his own and then collaborated with Rudd. The play was eventually rewritten by Bert Bailey to great success.

In 1914 he went into theatre management. He toured the plays Mr Wu (1914), The Barrier by Rex Beach, No Mother to Guide Her, A Girl's Cross Roads and The Glad Eye. Smith adapted Seven Little Australians into a play and toured it in 1914–15.

Smith recommenced production in October.

Smith travelled to New Zealand to make the inter-racial romance The Betrayer (1921), then back in Australia did While the Billy Boils (1921), adapted from the stories of Henry Lawson (which Smith had previously adapted for the stage). He made the drama The Gentleman Bushranger (1922).

Smith then returned to Hayseed comedies with Townies and Hayseeds (1923) and Prehistoric Hayseeds (1923). He made two films starring Arthur Tauchert, The Digger Earl (1924) and Joe (1924). He then made two comedies starring Claude Dampier, Hullo Marmaduke (1925) and The Adventures of Algy (1925).

Return to filmmaking Smith returned to filmmaking to make The Hayseeds (1933), giving Cecil Kellaway his first lead in a film, and Splendid Fellows (1934). The box office failure of the latter prompted him to retire permanently from filmmaking.

Smith went back to Williamsons but eventually he and his wife sold their interests in 1937 for £15,000 with an additional £7,000. He retired to Killara, Sydney in 1938.

Personal life Smith was married to Elsie Fleming from 1911 until his death. She was often an uncredited contributor with his work, helping him write scripts.

His brother Gordon managed his finances.

Death Smith died on 2 January 1950 in Royal North Shore Hospital, St Leonards. He was survived by his wife Elsie. He was cremated at Northern Suburbs Crematorium.

Legacy The National Library of Australia tracked down a collection of 300 reels of Smith's films, including all his features. However, when the researchers arrived to collect it they were told that the entire collection had been burnt within the previous weeks, on the advice of an insurance company because of the film's inflammable nature.

Selected filmography Our Friends, the Hayseeds (1917) The Hayseeds Come to Sydney (1917) The Hayseeds' Back-blocks Show (1917) The Hayseeds' Melbourne Cup (1918) Satan in Sydney (1918) Desert Gold (1919) Barry Butts In (1919) The Man from Snowy River (1920) – based on the poem by Banjo Paterson A Journey through Filmland (1921) – documentary The Betrayer (1921) While the Billy Boils (1921) – based on the stories of Henry Lawson The Gentleman Bushranger (1922) Townies and Hayseeds (1923) Prehistoric Hayseeds (1923) The Digger Earl (1924) Joe (1924) – based on the story by Henry Lawson Hullo Marmaduke (1925) The Adventures of Algy (1925) The Hayseeds (1933) Splendid Fellows (1934)

Selected theatre credits Seven Little Australians (1916) While the Billy Boils (1916) – adaptation Joe Wilson and His Mates (1916) – adaptation