Bill Rahmann films

Title on cannister: 'Brisbane: various locations (1948-1949)'

Two black and white films on one reel:

• 'Unicorn Magazine' compiles film footage of Brisbane and surrounds from 1948-1949. The film is broken into segments by intertitles. 'Around Brisbane: the scenic Pine River District' shows driving scenes in the Pine Rivers area mostly on unsurfaced roads, Cash's Crossing on the Aspley-Clear Mountain Rd, and a visit to Clear Mountain lookout; 'Bitumen Dump at Virginia catches fire' shows footage of the large fire, crowds of onlookers and fire brigade services; 'The Bardon Motor Cycle Club holds a "scramble"' shows footage of an off-road motorcycle race; 'Down to the sea'  shows footage of the ship "Binnaburra" being launched from the Evan Deakins wharves on the Brisbane River. 'Derailment at Toombul' shows footage of derailed carriages, onlookers and gangs clearing the line.' 
• 'Show fever' shows footage of the "Ekka", including local industry, stock parades, wood chopping, rides and other entertainments.

From the film maker: "The old Cash's Crossing bridge was the last composite timber and steel Pratt Truss bridge when it was demolished. There was a bitumen dump fire at Virginia around behind the Virginia State School. The train derailment was between Toombul and Virginia (in the days when you could walk onto railway lines - which I did to film it)."

Title on cannister: St Francis Anglican Parish, Nundah, 1948-1949'

Black and white film showing events associated with the Anglican parish of Nundah. Intertitles describe the events in the footage. Footage shows a 'stump-capping' ceremony at Northgate East, March 26. The ceremony was performed by Archdeacon Birch; the Mothers' Union having a "get together", April 21; May Day Sunday School event at Boyd Park showing games, food and singing; the wedding of Miss Esme Salisbury to Mr Jack Watts, September 24.

From the film maker: "Anglican parish of Nundah (old church before the present one). 1948-1950. Most with an old hand turned Pathe 'Baby' 9.5mm camera. Rector was Bob Mullen."

Colour film showing flooding in Marybourogh in the wake of Cyclone Bertha, March 1955. 

From the film maker: "This was, and still is, the second highest flood on record in the Mary River at Mbro after 1893. (Gympie has exceeded it). I was City Engineer Mbro at the time and was up at 4 am working out how high it was going to come when we realised from upstream levels that it was going to be a good one. The cyclone was 'Bertha' and came for about three days at the end of March 1955. Not too many 'characters' but the bloke near the end whose house was washed away was Garney (Garnet) Crowe, a local builder who lived in Mary Street, where the water came high enough to short circuit a large meander called "The Pocket", and had a much higher velocity across the shorter path".

Colour film showing an off-road motoring trip made by Alf Scott, Nev McPhee, Roy Gambie and Cedric Bliss to Fraser Island in 1958. A 16mm version of this film with audio has been digitised (29226/8).

From the film maker: "Cedric Bliss was a motor mechanic who, as did others, built up a buggy to drive around Fraser Island..... This was long before people had four wheel drives, and most of the trippers had home made vehicles. I remember Ford T back axles were popular because they had a worm drive diff. Some had tractor tyres on the back, but large smooth tyres were preferred - large enough to spread the load, and smooth to avoid 'digging into' the sand - it was easy to get bogged on the sand tracks. This was also in the days of logging on Fraser - Cedric used to leave his truck at the camp of a logger whom he knew."

Three short black and white films:  

• "Smile please": the story of a shutterbug" shows footage of a photographer taking photographs around Maryborough. Included are scenes of Maryborough Swimming Pool and Golf Club as well as street scenes.
• "The search for oil: 'spudding in' the Cherwill No. 1 drill" (beginning at 3 min. 16 sec.) shows an oil well being drilled on the Cherwell River. From the film maker: "They drilled a couple of exploratory oil wells around then. First was at Cherwell River north of Mbro. They did drill a second one later in the Susan River basin (towards Hervey Bay). Nothing came of them."
• "From here and there" (beginning at 5 min. 14 sec.) contains footage from a number of touristic locations around South East Queensland and Northern New South Wales. Included is footage of Cunningham's Gap, Lahey's Lookout, Richmond River Crossing, Minyon Falls and Somerset Dam.

Compiled black and white film footage with intertitles separating different segments:

• Includes 'Welcome to sunny Margate' showing swimming, beach play and boating;
• 'Inspirations' featuring Lloyd Williams and young Lloyd riding a motorbike in suburban streets; 'Lassie, go home!!' featuring "Gyp" the dog playing;
• untitled footage of a trip to Maleny showing scenes around the Maleny area including Glass House Mountains, dairy farm, Maleny Co-operative Dairy Association, Maleny Hotel and swimming in a creek;
• untitled footage of a trip up the City Hall clock tower in Brisbane included views across the city.

Colour film footage of the Queen mother at the opening of the commencement of extensions at St John's Cathedral, Brisbane. 

From the film maker: "I lived in Maryborough at this time (late 50s). The QM (present Queen's mother) opened the start of extensions when they just had the concrete slab down for the western extension. I think most of the 'guard of honour' were cadets from Churchie (then Church of England Grammar School, now Anglican Church Grammar School."

16mm version of the film 'Bombs Away' (Item 29226/4) with added soundtrack and commentary.

Film showing an off-road motoring trip made by Alf Scott, Nev McPhee, Roy Gambie and Cedric Bliss to Fraser Island in 1958. 

From the film maker: "Cedric Bliss was a motor mechanic who, as did others, built up a buggy to drive around Fraser Island..... This was long before people had four wheel drives, and most of the trippers had home made vehicles. I remember Ford T back axles were popular because they had a worm drive diff. Some had tractor tyres on the back, but large smooth tyres were preferred - large enough to spread the load, and smooth to avoid 'digging into' the sand - it was easy to get bogged on the sand tracks. This was also in the days of logging on Fraser - Cedric used to leave his truck at the camp of a logger whom he knew."

Colour film showing historic buildings of Brisbane including Parliament House, The Mansions, Bellevue Hotel, The Queensland club, Chinese Joss House, Customs House and St Martin's Hospital. 

From the film maker: "(The film) starts with my mother speaking with a couple of our kids and commenting on high rise buildings - this was when high buildings were just starting".

Colour film footage of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip visiting Brisbane in 1970. The footage shows crowds at King George Square, Queen Elizabeth inspecting a uniform guard of honour, the royal couple visiting children, the royal couple riding in a car and waving to crowds in Lang Park, and the royal motorcade passing along Brisbane streets. The footage is intercut with television footage of the visit.

Colour film documenting a trip by car in North Queensland visiting historic mining towns and mine locations. The film includes some historic still images. Contains footage of: Charters Towers, Townsville, Ravenswood, Herveys Range, Cooktown, Laura Railway track, Palmer River, Irvinebank, Mt Garnet, aerial views over North Queensland and mining sites in the region.

The film is narrated by Bev Rahmann and includes voiceover by John Banks, former Charters Towers Mines Inspector, and Charlie Brightcrew, Dalrymple Shire Overseer and others.

From the film maker: "This was in 1966 when I was relieving in the Main Roads Townsville District. We drove round some of the old mining sites round there. The title and theme song were from the Old Palmer Song (Palmer River was an early goldfield). The song was a parody on the song 'Then Thousand Miles Away' about the early Australian convict transportation days."

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

Colour film highlighting car usage and congestion in Brisbane. Includes footage of vehicles on Brisbane streets, traffic congestion, freeways, housing developments, shopping centres and Brisbane suburbs. The narration discusses Brisbane's traffic issues and proposes solutions.

From the film maker: "I was a bit of a heretic in the engineering profession and developed a line of thought that you could not eliminate road congestion. I still believe this as no city anywhere in the world has managed to. You can transform it into vehicle km if you insist on building rural design standard in cities, instead of low speed high volume ones with managed queueing. This was a bit of a plug for that line of thought after I came back from a Churchill Fellowship where I studied it in other countries."

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

Black and white film showing the last days of Brisbane trams including a trip on the Oriel Park route. There are also views of trams running along Brisbane streets and the old Victoria Bridge as well as an old ladder vehicle working on overhead tram lines.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

Colour film footage of events around Brisbane in the mid to late 1980s. Includes footage of the National Trust Fair 1986 and an open day held at Brisbane Airport in 1987 when the new location opened with new runways and a new terminal.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

Colour film showing a family trip to Girraween National Park in 1974 with a camper trailer.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

Colour film showing a family trip to Heron Island in the early 1980s. The footage shows arrival by 'Heltrans' helicopter and return by boat. Also included are views of beaches, forests, underwater scenes, and turtle hatchlings.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

The film is broken into segments by intertitles:

• “Down the slips” shows the launch celebration of the South Esk cargo ship built by Walkers into the Mary River, Maryborough, 1958.  Crowds watch as a bottle is smashed against the hull, a band plays and the ship sails into the river. 
• “Orange time” shows footage from the Gayndah Orange Festival, 1959, marking 100 years since Queensland became a separate state.  It begins with crowds watching children in uniform maypole dancing.  It then shows the parade and surrounding crowds.
• “Royal visit” shows Princess Alexandra’s visit to Maryborough, 1959.  Footage depicts crowds on the street watching her arrival, her attendance at an event in the town where she is presented with a wreath of flowers and watches a youth pipe band and Scottish marching band and crowds on the street watching her departure past the Lamington Hotel.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

The film is broken into segments by intertitles:

• “Thirsty city” shows the Teddington Weir in flood, a man constructing a weatherboard wall, Teddington Waterworks controls and equipment (including booster pump), city street views featuring people and cars and aerial views of Maryborough featuring several buildings including the Stuparts Ltd building.
• “Scale models aid design” shows various plans relating to the construction of a model to be used to determine the design of a new sewage treatment plant. This includes plans for a model Imhoff tank.  The completed model is tested for design faults and modified accordingly.  It also shows footage of a designer at his desk drawing plans.
• “Memorial pool commenced” shows a perspective drawing of the Maryborough War Memorial Olympic Pool and concretors using hand mixers and wheelbarrows to start construction ca. 1959-1961.
• “Children’s road patrol” in Education Week shows older children assisting younger children and other people to cross a busy road safely to a building holding a flower show/fete.
• “Loco at a Pension Point” shows an engine moving on railway tracks, a train with carriages of burnt sugarcane on its way to the sugar mill for crushing and children playing on a retired train loco in a children's park.
• “Maryborough on the airwaves” shows a camera man from ABQ Channel 2 filming the dedication of the new Warriors Chapel, St Pauls Church.  It then shows a couple at home watching news footage of the event.
• “Zoo who’s who” shows peacocks, emus, guinea pigs, leopard/cheater, kangaroo, monkeys and pelicans at a zoo.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

This film reel contains two films:

• The first film “Floral Festival” shows various flower arrangements using flowers, dolls and gnomes etc. as well as people looking at or photographing the arrangements.
• The second film “Faces and places” is broken into segments by intertitles: 
  • “Olympic pool opened” shows crowds at the opening of the Maryborough War Memorial Olympic Pool complex and children playing in a shallow pool.  The pool was opened by the honourable H.W. Noble, Minister for health and home affairs, 16 September 1961.
  • “Talegalla track” shows a Holden ute driving through bush then a man crossing a small man-made waterfall to the top.
  • “Carpentaria bound” shows a group fare welling a minister and a woman at Maryborough airport before they depart on a TAA Friendship plane.  It also shows the plane flying away.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

The film mostly shows detailed footage of the machinery and process involved with winching the Stradbroke Car Ferry “Myora” into Peters Slipway, Kangaroo Point, Brisbane. 

Towards the end of the film another boat can be seen starting to be winched into the slipway.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

The film records a holiday to Lindeman Island, one of the islands in the Whitsundays.  Footage includes: 

• controls in an air traffic control tower at Mackay airport and views of airplanes from the tower.
• views of Whitsunday beaches and forested areas and the surrounding water from a light aircraft.
• the plane landing on Lindeman Island.
• activities on and around Lindeman Island including water-skiing behind a motorised dingy, bush walking and a boat trip around the island where they saw dolphins, fishing, reef creatures and went snorkeling on the reefs.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

The film contains footage of Maryborough and some surrounding areas:

• local industries:
  • Maryborough Airport entrance.
  • State Forest, Fraser Island entrance and people on the back of a vehicle driving through the forest.
  • Pauls Ice Cream Factory building and staff leaving on push bikes.
  • Walkers Limited Engineers factory building, machinery and the Eugowra (ship) leaving the dock.
  • Hyne Timber building, yards, machinery and a Wilson Hart and Co timber mover. 
  • Maryborough drain pipe factory machinery.
  • W Oaves and Sons machine shop machinery.
  • Howard Power Station building and machinery.
  • Maryborough City Council Teddington Waterworks Teddington Weir, controls and Water Purification Plant machinery.
  • Tuan Plantation and Nursery entrance and trees.
• city centre street views featuring cars, people and a number of buildings and shop fronts including:
  • the Bank of New South Wales and Commonwealth Bank.
  • Coles, Yared bros, Hings, Woolworths and Wintergarden.
  • fire station.
  • Arkana Motel and Private Hotel.
  • City Hall and City Hall Clock Tower.
  • various churches.
  • gardens including one with a pond with black swans.
• people ringing the bells at St Paul’s Church tower and footage of associated machinery.
• Point Lookout cairn, erected 1856.
• sailing boats on the Mary River.
• Aldridge family home.
• Hervey Bay beach scenes including people sitting on the sand and swimming in the water, water skiing, children building sandcastles, motorboats and kayaks/canoes on the beach and sailing boats on the water. 
• aerial views of suburbia and forest.
• crane loading and unloading cargo from a ship.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

The film shows the Brisbane city area and some suburbia in flood.  Footage includes:

• aerial views of flooded suburbia.
• men cleaning up after the flood using shovels, brooms and pumps.
• Brisbane city area in flood with footage of:
  • the Brisbane River.
  • Creek St and Exford St.
  • Festival Hall, Southside Motors and Pauls Ice Cream & Milk Ltd.
  • Victoria and William Jolly bridges, cars.
  • people milling around and traversing flooded streets in motorboats.
• Riverside Expressway under construction.
• Channel 9 footage of floods.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

The film shows a trip to Townsville in 1964. Bill attended a conference there while Mrs Rahmann and their young child explored the sights, Bill joining them when he could.  Footage includes:

• The Rahmanns viewing slides of night views of The Stand water fountain.
• city centre street views featuring cars, people and several buildings and shop fronts including the Bank of New South Wales and the T & G clock tower.
• industrial buildings including Copper Refineries Pty Ltd and North Australian Cement Ltd. (and machinery).
• General Hospital building.
• White cab.
• Queen’s Gardens, North Ward where Mrs Rahman pushes her small child in a pram finding fountains and bird’s nests.
• quarry and the construction of a reservoir.
• engineering department and associated machinery, University College, Gulliver.
• Tobruk Memorial baths.
• Castle Hill, aerial views of Townsville from the top and the Robert Towns Monument.
• Cleveland Bay (ship) in the harbour.
• brolgas.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

Film includes some archival footage and also:

• Ansett and Trans Australia planes on the tarmac at an airport, a Trans Australia plane unloading and people watching the arrival of a plane from inside the airport building.
• the light aircraft “VH-UNO” and “VH-UMF” taking off and flying
• the light aircraft “Southern Cross” in a building and footage of pictures related to the “Southern Cross”
• the Story bridge being built and in completion.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

Footage includes:

• children examining the steam train Locomotive 444, class PB15, built by Walkers, Maryborough, July 1908
• passenger tour on the “Woolloongabba” steam train 750, class PB15, through Brisbane suburbs such as Indooroopilly and Woolloongabba (featuring the Five Ways and Brisbane City Council’s tramway signal box, Woolloongabba and the train being spun on the turntable at the Woolloongabba Loco)
• a miniature steam train model train on tracks.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

The film features archival footage of the construction of the Story Bridge and celebrations at its opening. The creator of this film is unknown. It was not made by Bill Rahmann. 

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

Film footage of Brisbane showing:

• Bowen Hills Rail Tunnel reconstruction 
• Completing the final span of the Merivale Rail Bridge
• Pile of rubble remaining after the demolition of the Bellvue Hotel, 1979
• New AMP building, Aug. 1979
• First stage of electric trains in Brisbane showing Ferny Grove line passenger train crowded with passengers traveling to  Ferny Grove station.  The train has advertising on its end “Working for 1982 Brisbane Commonwealth Games”. 
• The Houghton Highway just before opening in Dec. 1979 including footage from a car crossing the bridge.
• CBD area street views of:
  •  Warana festival banners.
  • Queen and Adelaide Streets during the beginning of construction on the Queen St Mall, 1981.
  • Her Majesty’s Theatre.
  • Sheraton Hotel and Central Station, July 1982.
  • High rise construction on Adelaide Street featuring cranes, July 1982.
  • Park lands  and Anzac Square, July 1982
  • Gateway Bridge under construction, 1983-1984, and shortly before opening, late 1985.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.

Footage of the Rahmann’s and Victor, their Vauxhall motorcar on a drive:

• washing “Victor” before the journey.
• driving along the Bruce Highway.
• Mt Cooroora.
• Maroochy Shire rest points along the road.
• exploring Nambour on foot with street views of the Whalley’s Motor and Engineering Works building.
• driving towards Didillibah.
• traveling on dirt roads, observing cultivated fields containing sugar cane etc, a train loco and a train loco pulling a load of burnt sugarcane.
• views from road to Montville including the view from Dulong Lookout.
• bush walk through Kondalilla National park with views of the falls.
• Wappa Dam.

Digitised with support of donors through the Queensland Library Foundation Reel Rescue campaign.