Wikipedia

Charles Cozens Spencer

Charles Cozens Spencer (12 February 1874 – c. September 1930) was a British-born film exhibitor and producer, who was a significant figure in the early years of the Australian film industry. He produced films under the name Spencer's Pictures and was an early backer of the films of Raymond Longford. He was also instrumental in the creation of "The Combine".

Charles Cuzons Spencer
Born12 February 1874
Hunston, Sussex, England
Diedc. September 1930 (age 56)
Canada
Occupation(s)Film exhibitor, film producer
Known forSpencers Pictures

One article called him "virtually the first man to realise the importance of the locally-made article, even though his efforts were too early to do anything more than pave the way for those who were to come after."[1]

Biography

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Spencer was born in Hunston, West Sussex, the third son of Cornelius Cosens, farmer, and his wife Ellen. In 1892, he emigrated with his brother Arthur to British Columbia, Canada, with the gold rush. He did a variety of jobs then in 1894 formed a pastoral services company with his brother Sidney at Fairview and Camp McKinney. In 1898 he was a clerk at Vernon. He began screening motion pictures and met and married Mart Stuart Huntly who became his chief projectionist and business partner. He then set his eye on the south Pacific, first showing films in New Zealand.

Australia

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Spencer arrived in Australia in 1905. He opened the his "Great American Theatrescope" at the Lyceum Theatre in Pitt Street, Sydney, showing newsreel shorts with a 3,000 candle-power carbon-arc projector, accompanied by a "full orchestra" and sound effects,[2] Spencer himself giving a commentary where needed. He showed scenes from Wilson Barrett's drama,The Sign of the Cross in July.[3] In August he showed a 1,200-ft film A Trip to the Sun. He returned to The Lyceum in December after a profitable season at Queen's Hall, Perth, Western Australia.[4] In 1906 his Theatrescope visited Adelaide, Perth and Brisbane and northern Queensland before returning to the Lyceum in December. In 1907 he took a long lease on the Lyceum, then toured America and Europe while the theatre underwent renovations.[5] Spencer's Theatrescope reopened at the Palace in February 1908.

which became a dedicated picture theatre in June 1908.

He made a fortune exhibiting The Great Train Robbery in Australia and soon became the leading exhibitor in the country. He moved into production, establishing a permanent production unit under Ernest Higgins in 1908. Initially focused on documentary shorts and newsreels, he moved into funding dramatic feature films, starting with The Life and Adventures of John Vane, the Notorious Australian Bushranger (1910).[6]

He was an early supporter of director Raymond Longford who directed The Fatal Wedding (1911) for Spencer. The success of this film enabled him to set up a £10,000 studio complex in Rushcutter's Bay, Sydney, where Longford made his next couple of features.[7][8]

In 1911, Spencer established Spencer's Pictures Ltd with a nominal capital of £150,000.[9] He went overseas for 12 months; while overseas, the board of Spencer's voted to merge with Wests Ltd and Amalgamated Pictures resulting in the "combine" of Australasian Films and Union Theatres.[10][11]

By 1912, he was the largest importer of films in Australia and helped popularize the medium in that country.[12] Several of his films were released in the US by Sawyers Pictures; they were given new titles such as The Convict Hero, The Bushranger's Bride, Nell Gwynne, The Bandit Terrors of Australia, and The Queen of the Smugglers.[13]

After the box-office failure of The Shepherd of the Southern Cross (1914), however, Spencer was unable to persuade the Combine to invest in drama production, and he stepped back his involvement in the local industry.[14]

In 1918, the Spencers were sued by the Combine for an alleged breach of contract. They settled out of court (by allowing their interests to be purchased) and left Australia.[15]

Spencer had his eye on the growing Southern Hemisphere. In July 1905, Spencer toured New Zealand and Australia, screening movies and becoming well known all over Australia. Spencer settled in Sydney to establish a new business he initially called “The Great American Theatrescope” and subsequently "Spencer's Pictures", based in the Royal Lyceum Theatre in Pitt Street, Sydney.[16] Spencer's Pictures ultimately evolved to become the well-known Australian cinema brand EVENT Cinemas.

Initially, Spencer shared the Lyceum, but became such a huge success that his business ended up taking over the whole building. He had a massive hit when he imported The Great Train Robbery, a silent western movie about a gang of outlaws robbing a train. Spencer used the cash from importing and screening movies to start producing his own movies in Australia. He initially cut his teeth producing newsreels for his cinema network as well as producing short documentaries. In 1908, he produced a documentary of the World Heavyweight Championship boxing fight between Tommy Burns and Jack Johnson that was groundbreaking for its time in focussing on the preparation for the fight as well as the highlights of the actual fight itself and then reflections from those involved afterwards. Spencer made significant profits from the production and distribution of the documentary in Australia and across the world.[17]

With money flowing, Spencer produced a number of feature films which initially included The Life and Adventures of John Vane, the Notorious Australian Bushranger. In 1911, he produced a movie called The Fatal Wedding which was a box office blockbuster, enabling him to finance a studio complex in Rushcutters Bay, from where other movies were made - as well as purchasing Nugal Hall. The movie cost £360 to produce, but netted Spencer over £18,000.[18] Spencer is credited with establishing productions in Australia with sound and colour, turning Sydney into one of the world's leading movie centres at the time. Fox Studios Australia has a commemoration plaque made to remember Spencer given his role as a pioneer in the movie world.[17]

In 1912, Spencer's Pictures merged with Amalgamated Pictures to create the General Film Company of Australasia. The following year this company combined with the Greater JD Williams Amusement Co, a large exhibition and film supply outfit, to create Union Theatres and Australasian Films, known as 'The Combine'. Spencer was one of the original directors, but retired in 1914 due to a difference in opinion about the production of local firm content.[19] Spencer was an advocate of filming movies in Australia rather than importing movies from offshore.

Death

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Spencer returned with his wife to Canada, where he bought several ranches in British Columbia in Chilcotin County. The stresses of his financial losses in the Great Depression, however, affected his mental stability (in particular, he began being troubled by an image of the devil's face visible in the grain of a wooden wall).[20]

On 10 September 1930, he was unpacking a truck full of groceries at one of his ranches along with his foreman, Walter Stoddart, and a grocer, Edward Smith. Spencer, probably delusional and paranoid, grabbed a gun and shot Smith in the back and then Stoddart, before fleeing. Smith died of his wounds; Stoddart managed to drive away and was rescued.[21][22][23]

Spencer went missing in the aftermath of the shooting; eventually, on 29 October 1930, his body was found in a lake, where he had drowned himself.[24][25] He left behind an estate worth A£60,000 (A$5,583,859 in 2023)

Filmography

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Notes

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References

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  1. ^ "An Australian Film Pioneer.", Everyones., 4 (294 (21 October 1925)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-570545333, retrieved 29 February 2024 – via Trove
  2. ^ "Theatrescope". The Referee (Sydney). No. 973. New South Wales, Australia. 28 June 1905. p. 10. Retrieved 2 October 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "The Lyceum". The Daily Telegraph (Sydney). No. 8160. New South Wales, Australia. 29 July 1905. p. 10. Retrieved 2 October 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ "Queen's Hall". The Daily News (Perth). Vol. XXIV, no. 9455. Western Australia. 11 September 1905. p. 1. Retrieved 2 October 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. ^ "American Theatrescope Company". The Daily Telegraph. No. 8743. New South Wales, Australia. 10 June 1907. p. 7. Retrieved 3 October 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ Graham Shirley and Brian Adams, Australian Cinema: The First Eighty Years, Currency Press, 1989, p28.
  7. ^ "Film Industry". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 17 June 1927. p. 16. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  8. ^ "Spencer's Film Factory". The Sunday Times. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 7 July 1912. p. 2. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  9. ^ "Spencer's Pictures, Ltd". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 21 September 1911. p. 11. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  10. ^ "Notes and Comments". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 27 September 1912. p. 11. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  11. ^ "Spencer's Pictures, Ltd". The Sunday Times. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 23 November 1913. p. 2. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  12. ^ "Cinemaography". The Examiner. Launceston, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 6 January 1912. p. 8. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  13. ^ "Motion Picture News - Lantern: Search, Visualize & Explore the Media History Digital Library".
  14. ^ "Mr C. Spencer Retires". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 28 February 1914. p. 24. Retrieved 4 February 2012.
  15. ^ The Lone hand, W. McLeod, 1907, retrieved 25 March 2019
  16. ^ Collins, Diane, "Spencer, Cosens (1874–1930)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 25 October 2021
  17. ^ a b "Charles Cozens Spencer, Milford St, Randwick". Adrian Bo Stories. Retrieved 25 October 2021.
  18. ^ "Australian Films". Daily News. 18 December 1931. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  19. ^ "MR. C. Spencer Retires". Sydney Morning Herald. 28 February 1914. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  20. ^ "Forgotten Australia: Spencer: From Movie Mogul To Murderer – Part Two on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. Retrieved 31 May 2021.
  21. ^ "WANTED FOR MURDER". Western Argus. Kalgoorlie, WA: National Library of Australia. 23 September 1930. p. 2. Retrieved 4 September 2013.
  22. ^ "Spencer Shot Smith". Daily Colonist. 21 September 1930. p. 1.
  23. ^ "Indian trackers on trail". The Daily Colonist. 13 September 1930. p. 1.
  24. ^ "COZENS SPENCER". The Mercury. Tasmania, Australia. 1 November 1930. p. 11. Retrieved 2 June 2020 – via Trove.
  25. ^ "12 September 1930". The Daily Colonist. 1930. p. 1.
  26. ^ Clip at Australian Screen Online
  27. ^ "Marvellous Melbourne: Queen City of the South c.1910". Australian Screen Online. Retrieved 5 September 2011.

Further reading

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