Eureka Stockade (1907 film)

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Eureka Stockade
Directed by George Cornwell
Arthur Cornwell
Production
company
Australasian Cinematograph Company
Release dates
19 October 1907 (Melbourne)[1]
Country Australia
Language Silent film
English intertitles
Budget ₤1,500[2]

Eureka Stockade is a 1907 Australian silent film about the Eureka Rebellion. It was the second feature film made in Australia, following The Story of the Kelly Gang.

It was made by George Cornwell, a motor mechanic, and his brother Arthur.[3]

Synopsis

The surviving seven-minute fragment (original length unknown) shows street scenes of Ballarat is believed to be part of the 1907 film, the second feature film made in Australia (after the 1906 production, The Story of the Kelly Gang). Other scenes in the lost reels of the film were believed to have included gold seekers leaving London; the issuing of licences; the rush at Canadian gully; the arrival of the first women at the goldfields; licence hunting; diggers chained to logs and rescued by mates; the murder of Scobie; diggers burning Bentley's Hotel; the Rebellion; Peter Lalor addressing the miners; burning the licenses; building the stockade; troops storming the stockade; the stockade in ruins; and a look at Ballarat 55 years later[4]

Release

The film was first screened in the Athenaeum Hall, Melbourne on 19 October 1907. It impressed critics of the time and was found to be a stirring portrayal of the events surrounding the Eureka Stockade, but failed to connect with audiences during the two weeks it was screened. The Cornwells wound up their film company in March 1908. The movie was forgotten until Ealing Studios decided to make a film about the story in 1946.[5]

The surviving 307 feet (94 m) of the 35mm film (5 mins @ 18fps) is stored at the National Film and Sound Archive.

See also

References

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  2. Graham Shirley and Brian Adams, Australian Cinema: The First Eighty Years, Currency Press, 1989 p 25.
  3. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 7
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External links


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