Silver City
Directed and filmed by Frank Hurley for Cinesound, this short industrial documentary captures the realities of 1930s mining in Broken Hill. This film opens with dramatised historical re-enactments of Captain Charles Sturt’s 1844 expedition and Charles Rasp’s 1883 silver lode discovery. Utilising extensive cable networks and specialised camera filters to overcome extreme dark and heat, Hurley takes his camera 2,000 ft below the surface. The footage captures miners drilling rock, pit ponies hauling ore cars, and an explosive rock blasting arrangement. Above ground, it documents men operating heavy machinery to extract zinc, lead, and silver deposits, and the refining of the raw minerals.
Directed by Frank Hurley · Written by Frank Hurley
Cast
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Frank Hurley Self - Narrator (voice) - Mr. A. Johnson Captain Charles Sturt
- Unnamed Station Hand Charles Rasp
Make it a double feature
1h 42m together
Silver City
South
Both from Frank Hurley.
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