A. R. Harwood Explained

Alexander Roy Harwood (1897–1980), better known as A. R. Harwood, or Dick Harwood, was an Australian film director and producer who also worked in exhibition. He was inspired to become a filmmaker when he was posted to Tahiti to work for an insurance company and watched the shooting of Never the Twain Shall Meet (1925). He returned to Australia and produced and directed The Man Who Forgot (1927).^[1]

Harwood went on to make a number of feature films over the next twenty years.^[2]

Film historians Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper said of him that "what Harwood lacked in talent as a director, he made up for in perseverance, usually in the face of formidable shortages of finance and equipment."^[3]

He also worked as an insurance broker, real estate agent, theatre manager^[4] and chief executive for the Miss Australia Quest.^[5]

Harwood was married with one daughter.^[6]

Credits

• The Man Who Forgot (1927) – feature
• Out of the Shadows (1931) – unfinished feature
• Spur of the Moment (1931) – feature
• Isle of Intrigue (1931) – feature
• Secret of the Skies (1934) – feature
• Something Different (1934) – musical variety show^[7]
• Pearl Lust (1936) – feature for home movie market
• The Avenger (1937) – feature
• Show Business (1938) – feature
• Night Club (1952) – feature

External links

• • A. R. Harwood at the National Film and Sound Archive

Notes and References

1. News: SCREEN SHORTS. . . Perth . 26 March 1931 . 4 April 2012 . 4 . National Library of Australia.
2. News: No. 1. Our Chances for World Markets. . . Melbourne . 17 August 1933 . 16 March 2015 . 7 . National Library of Australia.
3. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998 p141
4. News: Suburban variety theatre opens. . . Melbourne . 5 December 1949 . 4 April 2012 . 18 . National Library of Australia.
5. News: Advertising. . . Melbourne . 1 April 1950 . 5 April 2012 . 32 . National Library of Australia.
6. News: Family Notices. . . Melbourne . 3 June 1944 . 4 April 2012 . 12 . National Library of Australia.
7. http://recordsearch.naa.gov.au/SearchNRetrieve/Interface/DetailsReports/ItemDetail.aspx?Barcode=3515992 Document relating to copyright registration