The Empire Builders was the fifth of Snowy Baker’s American films made between 1921 and 1924, and the fourth he made with Poverty Row producer Phil Goldstone. Snowy’s impact in Hollywood had been modest after his initial appearance in Sleeping Acres (Bertram Bracken, 1921), a one-reel short, and fan magazine comment (Picture-Play, January 1922) that “The Australian possesses a magnetic screen personality. His novel stunts, thrilling athletic feats, and superb horsemanship feature in his American debut.”
To augment his income, bearing in mind that his wife Ethel and two stepdaughters were also enthusiastically embracing the Hollywood lifestyle, Snowy worked the Los Angeles vaudeville circuit. His stepdaughter Joan was part of the act, and his brother Frank, who was also venturing into Hollywood at the time, provided some extra help, along with a very young Charles Chauvel, later to become one of Australia’s major film directors. The act included whip-cracking, boxing displays, and stunt horse work. (Snowy had brought Boomerang, his favourite mount, from Australia. “Boomerang the Wonder Horse” featured in many of his films.) This successful sideline and Snowy’s obvious prowess eventually led to his active involvement in the Riviera Country Club, polo tournaments, and personal fencing and horsemanship instruction to many stars. In an oral history interview conducted by Joan Long for the NFSA in 1973, his brother Frank recalled Snowy in those days: “Snowy did have a terrific personality … they used to swear by him over there. He was a great favourite.”
In 1924, Snowy starred in a total of four Goldstone productions. The others,  The White Panther (Alan James), The Sword of Valor (Duke Worne), and Fighter’s Paradise (Alvin J. Neitz), were made with low budgets and limited sets and production values, but nevertheless provided ample opportunities for Snowy’s physical talents to be showcased. At the age of 40, his acting skills were static, but the energy of the man, in company with Boomerang the Wonder Horse, and the valiant efforts of his fellow actors, allowed for this final period of significant starring activity, with modest results at the box office.
The Empire Builders, promoted as a “thrilling story of the African veldt”, and noted in Tasmania’s Mercury newspaper as “… a remarkable story of South Africa and its history”, sees Snowy’s familiar persona now as Captain William Ballard of the British Territorials post-Boer War, on a mission to form an alliance with the Marunga tribe via their warrior king Karui, to open up the land to British colonization. Ballard faces attack by bad natives incited by bitter Boer Fritz van Roon; whip-cracking and fisticuff fights; horse chases with Boomerang the Wonder Horse; a cliff-top fight with King Karui which results in a spectacular dive to save the king and seal eternal friendship and respect (“We are your friends…as long as white men dwell safely in your lands”). There is more wrestling on horseback and hand-to-hand battle when van Roon abducts Ballard’s love interest Katryn. Right triumphs; Ballard is aided by Karui and his people; Katryn is saved; and van Roon meets a grisly end. Mixed into this plot are Katryn’s much more reasonable Boer uncle Hendrik van der Poel and incurable misogynist Scot Sandy McGregor, who provide some light and shade to the drama. The notion of the rightness of colonization is summed up in the intertitle “Claw, fang, club, spear and fly-borne sleeping death – none can halt the chariot of the empire builder – the rumbling ox cart of the trader.”
The scenario is one of J. F. Natteford’s first film efforts. Crafting this full-bodied colonial western, he established a particular style which served the needs of this type of production, and stood him in good stead within the industry for many years. – Meg Labrum