Biography

Walter Franklyn Barrett (1873 – 16 July 1964), better known as Franklyn Barrett, was an Australian film director and cinematographer. He worked for a number of years for West's Pictures. It was later written of the filmmaker that "Barrett's visual ingenuity was to be the highlight of all his work, but... his direction of actors was less assured". Barrett was born in Loughborough, Leicestershire, England, and was raised by his aunt. He was a professional violin player and amateur photographer and claims to have seen the first exhibit of motion pictures at the Empire Theatre in London.Barrett moved to New Zealand with his brother and father to work as a clerk for the latter. He began to experiment with shooting movies, and in 1901 won a prize of £15 for some of his photos. Barrett accompanied the Duke of York on his 1901 tour of Australia in capacity as photographer. He worked for eight months with the Charles Urban Trading Co. Ltd in England and moved to Australia in 1904, where he worked for several theatre companies.

Barrett was the first person to film the Melbourne Cup from start to finish in 1904, and shot several "scenic movies" for the New Zealand and New South Wales railways.He joined the Melbourne office of Pathé Frères in 1908 and stayed with them when West's Pictures took over in 1911.Barrett began directing movies for West's, starting with The Christian (1911). In 1913 West's merged with Australasian Films and Barrett joined the Fraser Film Release and Photographic Company. In 1920 he formed his own film company with solicitor Barry Kenward, with whom he made three features. This company eventually folded in May 1922 and Barrett moved into theatre management, running the Capitol Theatre in Canberra in 1925, then various cinemas for Hoyts Theatres from 1927 onwards.