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A PRIVATE COLLECTION

Ross Cooper

discover. He tells a story that as a young boy
The following article was published in during the 1930's he became fascinated by toy
Cinema Papers July 1974. It is reproduced film projectors in shop windows, and practically
here with the kind permission of the author. anything else to do with the cinema. This was in
spite of his father's attitude toward the young
collector, which was to discourage any interest in
Although written over 30 years ago, and either film or radio:
before the formation of Screensound / I was always told off by my father. He would
NFSA, many of the comments made by come home when The Search for the Golden
Harry Davidson remain, and are of concern Boomerang was on at a quarter past six, walk up
to collectors and potential donors to the and turn it off and say, "Get rid of that rot". It's
National Collection. funny, but my father hated films, just the thought
of it was stupid and he couldn't understand why I
was even vaguely interested in it.
When we arrived at Harry Davidson's home in Davidson, however, pursued his interest, which
the Melbourne suburb of Ivanhoe he had just gradually began to assume the appearance of
returned from one of his frequent film scavenging something more obsessive than a mere hobby.
trips to the country, this time investigating an old His life began to become increasingly oriented
cinema at Yackandandah. A friendly, genial man round film. With his mother and brother he went
of 43, with a delightful faculty for anecdotes, to the cinema about twice a month, while he read
Davidson has devoted much of his life to the such weeklies as Film Fun, and arranged slide
collection of films and cinema bric-a-brac such shows at home for his friends. Although he
as 35 mm projectors, posters, papier-mâché describes himself as being "just an average kid",
masks, and photographs. His cluttered house is during this period film was gradually dominating
a collector's paradise, the culmination of a hobby his life:
which began with films purchased over-the- I just liked it. An aunt of mine had a projector at
counter during the War while he was still at home that she had bought for her nephew.
school. Today it is a major collection of well over Whenever he used to go to her place she'd show
one million feet of film. Amongst the stacks of films for him. I knew she had this and so
rusting cans are the only surviving prints of many whenever I went there I'd beg and plead and ask
Australian and overseas silent films. But it is a if she'd show some films. She never did until
hazardous collection; most of the films are on finally she put something on for me to stop me
nitrate stock and an accident could destroy the whimpering and carrying on.
prints of many silent classics. Seated amongst
these films Davidson told us about his career as
a collector of "music antiquity". Apart from
providing insights into the motives of a film
collector, Davidson reminded us of something
more important: His collection is of inestimable
value to a study of the cinema, as well as being
of considerable historical and cultural
importance. As such it must be preserved. More
now than ever before the necessity for an
adequately financed and competently staffed film
archive in Australia to accommodate and
document such collections was made
immediately and urgently apparent.
Exactly where or when Harry Davidson
developed his interest in films is difficult to

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