The Pearlers

1949 11 min

Overview

Beautifully filmed in black and white, this classic short film looks at pearling in the late 1940s. It goes on board the boats that work off the coast of Broome, Western Australia, from March to December each year. Crewed mainly by Aboriginal, Malay and Chinese men, they work six days a week from sun up to sun down—replenished occasionally by supply boats that also take away their hauls of pearl shell. The film captures the atmosphere, the detail and the danger involved in the search for shell as the divers in huge metal helmets and layers of clothing under their suits dive two at a time, each with one person tending their airhose and another their lifeline.

Genres

Documentary

Production Countries

Australia

Spoken Languages

English en

No streaming providers available for this content

Cast

Crew

Frank Bagnall

Cinematography

Dulcie Holland

Music

Lee Robinson

Director

Posters

External Links

IMDB