W. J. Lincoln

W. J. Lincoln
Born	William Joseph Lincoln 1870 Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Died	August 18, 1917(1917-08-18) (aged 46–47) Sydney, New South Wales, Australia
Occupation	Film director
Years active	1911–1916
Spouse	Pearl Ireland (m.1896–1917; his death)

William Joseph Lincoln (1870 – August 18, 1917) was an Australian playwright, theatre manager, film director and screenwriter in the silent era. He produced, directed and/or wrote 23 films between 1911 and 1916.

One obituary called him "undoubtedly the pioneer of the Australian picture-producing industry."

Film historians Graham Shirley and Brian Adams wrote that Lincoln's films "were more like stage tableaux than films. However, with the right ingredients at their disposal the best of Lincoln's early productions were well-received".

Biography

Early Life

Lincoln was born in Melbourne, the only son of Thomas and Esther Lincoln, and was brought up in St Kilda.

He worked as a playwright and a stage actor in Melbourne, his early plays including The Power of Wealth and The Bush King for the Alfred Dampier Company.

Lincoln first became involved with the film industry for J.C Williamson, managing his Anglo-American Bio-Tableau in 1904.

He then managed the Australasian tour of the Gaiety Company for Williamson. While doing this he received notice to meet up with Clement Mason who had film of the Russo-Japanese War. Lincoln toured with this and some other films throughout Western Australia. It was a massive success with the public.

According to Lincoln's obituary "He worked with Meynell, Gunn and Clarke in their early days" (the Meynell and Gunn Dramatic Company). He did this from 1906 to 1909. In 1907 Harold Bessett went bankrupt. He blamed Lincoln, his manager, but Lincoln denied this. He then became the theatrical manager of Miss Lancashire Ltd which toured Australia; this production starred Florence Baines. Lincoln also worked as an advertising copywriter for The Bulletin and continued to write plays, including a pantomime version of Red Riding Hood.

According to one newspaper report he produced and directed the feature film The Story of the Kelly Gang (1907) but this seems doubtful. Lincoln himself attributed the direction to Sam Crews.

In 1909 he became manager of the Paradise of Living Pictures movie theatre in St Kilda, Melbourne, Victoria, one of the earliest moving picture palaces in Melbourne. He had begun to write and direct films for show in the theatre.

Amalgamated Pictures

Lincoln made his film debut as director and writer with It Is Never Too Late to Mend (1911) for the Tait brothers. They appointed him director of their new company, Amalgamated Pictures, for whom he made six films over the next year. During this time Lincoln continued to manage the Paradise Gardens.

In later writing about these films Lincoln said "I am... in a somewhat awkward position in appraising their merits, but in justice to those who assisted in these productions, I may say that their work under discouraging conditions, Is entitled to the highest commendation."

A writer said of It Is Never Too Late to Mend, Mystery of the Hansom Cab and Called Back that "They were very cheaply produced (the cost per film was between £300 and £400), and Johnson and Gibson must have done well out of them, although they were not first-class. How could they be?"

The Taits withdrew from film production around 1912 to focus on importing and distributing overseas films, which was cheaper than making local movies. In 1912 Lincoln became publicity manager of Amalgamated. The following year he bought out Amalgamated Picture's interest in the "Paradise" theatre.

Lincoln-Cass Film Company

In 1913 Lincoln partnered with Godfrey Cass to make films as the Lincoln-Cass Film Company. The company survived for only one year, but in that time it made eight films, most of which Lincoln directed.

J.C. Williamson Ltd

Lincoln later worked for J.C. Williamson Ltd when they moved into film production.

He was originally supposed to write and direct but by this stage his alcoholism had gotten out of control, causing him to be removed as director of Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (1916); actor Fred Niblo took over the job, launching Niblo's considerable career as director.

In October 1915 it was announced that Lincoln "has been in poor health lately, and has had to take things quietly. He is contemplating spending a few weeks at one of the mountain resorts, and while there will looks over, manuscripts of some big film, factories which are under consideration for future production."

Later years

Lincoln later formed Lincoln-Barnes Productions in partnership with G.H. Barnes, directing The Life's Romance of Adam Lindsay Gordon (1916). The shoot was not easy and Lincoln was unwell during filming. However Cinema Papers later wrote "Lincoln was a talented director and this film shows the maturity he had reached in film production" adding that the movie "has a haunting beauty. The long camera shots, interior lighting and sophisticated direction mark him as a particularly sensitive and advanced director for that time."

Lincoln and Barnes would up in litigation against Amalgamated Pictures in 1917.

Lincoln's drinking got worse and he died in Sydney on 18 August 1917.

At the time of his death he was working on an adaptation of the stage play The Worst Woman in London called The Worst Woman in Sydney. It was unclear if this was a play or a film script.

An obituary described him as:

One of the stoutest champions of Australian moving picture production. Although his sanguine views of the business as a profitable investment were not shared by all his friends, it was conceded by everyone who kn6w him, that he had the courage of his convictions. In the early years of moving picture development, as a medium for dramatic expression, Mr. Lincoln achieved success as a maker of photodramas. Undaunted by the-fact that studio facilities were confined to improvisations of one sort and another, that practical experience was only to be acquired by spending money and risking failure, he stuck to his work, and secured results that, were the more to be commended in that they were obtained under such' discouraging conditions. That Australia could not keep pace in the general upward trend in production, was not the fault of Lincoln and others who strove to establish the industry here.

Lincoln's Bulletin obituary said his best films were The Sick Stockrider, After Sundown, Le Revanche, The Bells and Adam Lindsay Gordon.

Personal life

Lincoln married Pearl Ireland (d. 4 February 1943) in 1896 - they were described as "a runaway match". They had one child, a daughter Marguerite (1897–1972).

Filmography

1. Moonlite (1910) – based on his play Captain Moonlite
2. Captain Midnight, the Bush King (1911) – based on his play
3. It Is Never Too Late to Mend (Jan 1911) – based on his stage adaptation of novel, writer, director
4. The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (March 1911) – director
5. The Luck of Roaring Camp (March 1911) – writer, director
6. Called Back (Apr 1911) – writer, director
7. The Lost Chord (May 1911) – director
8. The Bells (Oct 1911) – based on his stage adaptation of the play, writer, director
9. The Double Event (Oct 1911) – writer, director
10. After Sundown (lost, c. 1911) – director
11. Breaking the News (1912) – writer, director
12. Rip Van Winkle (1912) – director
13. The Sick Stockrider (1913) – director
14. Moondyne (1913) – director
15. The Remittance Man (1913) – director
16. Transported (1913) – director
17. The Road to Ruin (1913) – director
18. The Crisis (1913) – director
19. The Reprieve (1913) – director
20. The Wreck (1913) – director
21. Within Our Gates (1915) (aka Deeds That Won Gallipoli) – writer
22. The Life's Romance of Adam Lindsay Gordon (1916) – writer, producer, director
23. Within the Law (1916) – writer
24. Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford (1916) – writer
25. Nurse Cavell (1916) – director, writer, producer
26. La Revanche (1916) – director, writer, producer
27. Officer 666 (1916) – writer

Select theatre credits

• One Summer's Eve (1890) – writer
• The Bush King (1893) – writer. Rewritten by Lincoln and Alfred Dampier (as Adam Pierre) in 1900
• After Sundown (1896) – writer of one act play
• An Affair of Honour (1897) – one act play, writer
• The Power of Wealth (1900) – writer
• Little Red Riding Hood (pantomime) (1903) – writer of the book

Notes

• Bateman, Mary (June–July 1980). "W. J. Lincoln". Cinema Papers. pp. 172–174.

External links

• W. J. Lincoln at IMDb
• W. J. Lincoln at AustLit (subscription required)
• W. J. Lincoln at Australian Variety Theatre Archive
• W. J. Lincoln at AusStage
• W. J. Lincoln at National Film and Sound Archive
• "PICTURE PROFILES IN THE OLDEN DAYS", a 1916 article by W. J. Lincoln on the history of Australian filmmaking
• 1902 article by Lincoln on the arts
• "A Bush Funeral", 1907 article by Lincoln