Captain Frank Hurley was possibly the most famous Australian photographer of the Twentieth Century. While his still photos demonstrate that he was an accomplished, imaginative technician, we must be thankful that commentators have been spared his live presentations of which this is a rarely seen record. It knocks a hole in Hurley's status.
Covering the 1929-30 Sir Douglas Mawson Antarctic Expedition, a return to the locale of their previous explorations for both Hurley and Mawson, his feature documentary starts well enough with good coverage of the crew manning the last British sailing ship, leaving Cape Town.
Unfortunately SIEGE OF THE SOUTH immediately takes on the form of the Australian Newsreel, recognisable for decades, with feeble jokes, loads of animal footage and minimal science. They even violate the no faking rule by having Mawson repeat his dedication for the synch. camera. Hurley is not an engaging narrator. His material has been thrown together crudely and the work is notable overshadowed by Herbert Ponting's 90 DEGREES SOUTH on the Scott expedition
