Franklyn Barrett

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".

Biography

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.