H.A. Forsyth

Henry Albert ('Bert') Forsyth, known professionally as H. A. Forsyth (and informally as Bert Forsyth), was a pioneer of Australian film production during the silent era. From about 1907 to 1909 Forsyth worked as a travelling picture showman, screening the film Robbery Under Arms in Australian country towns. In 1910 his company, Southern Cross Motion Pictures, produced and released two successful motion pictures, Thunderbolt and Moonlite, based on incidents in the careers of the bushrangers Frederick Ward and Andrew Scott. For these projects Forsyth worked with Jack Gavin, who directed both films and acted in the lead roles. In January 1913 the New South Wales Government banned Forsyth's bushranger films (as part of a wider ban on the bushranging genre). At various stages in his career Bert Forsyth also managed theatres that screened motion pictures.