During the mid 1860s, brothers Dick and Jim Marston are drawn into a life of crime by their ex-convict father Ben and his friend, infamous cattlethief Captain Starlight. Making their way to Melbourne with the proceeds of a recent raid, the brothers meet and romance the Morrison sisters, Kate and Jean, whom they eventually marry; but just as they are poised to start a new life in America, Captain Starlight and his gang arrive in town, planning a raid at the local bank.
In 1941, The advancing Japanese army captures a lot of British territory very quickly. The men are sent off to labor camps, but they have no plan on what to do with the women and children of the British.
A poem of unrequited love: the studio's first puppet production. Based on a poem by Cosbie Garstin, the film tells the story of a carved wooden saint who is painted to look like a soldier and used as a figurehead on a sailing ship. The ship sinks and the figurehead is saved by a beautiful mermaid who falls in love with him. Her love is not returned because despite his dashing looks he has the wooden heart of a saint.
In commissioning Halas & Batchelor, the War Office recognised the potential of cartoons as an unobtrusive and entertaining medium by which official messages could be conveyed - in this case some rather unsavoury warnings pertaining to foot rot, dysentery and VD. Aimed at soldiers serving in the Far East, the antics of six sprightly soldiers stationed in the jungle illustrate with humour and clarity the potential pitfalls of poor personal hygiene.
