Robbery Under Arms (1920 film)
Robbery Under Arms | |
---|---|
Directed by | Kenneth Brampton |
Produced by | Pearson Tewksbury |
Written by | Kenneth Brampton |
Based on | novel by Rolf Boldrewood |
Starring | Kenneth Brampton S.A. Fitzgerald |
Cinematography | Lacey Percival |
Production
company |
|
Distributed by | Union Theatres |
Release dates
|
2 October 1920 |
Running time
|
5,200 feet |
Country | Australia |
Language | Silent |
Budget | ₤3,000 |
Box office | ₤16,000[3] |
Robbery Under Arms is a 1920 Australian film directed by Kenneth Brampton. The film was financed by mining magnate Pearson Tewksbury.[4]
Plot
Two brothers, Dick and Jim Marsden, become involved with the bushranger, Captain Starlight. They romance two girls, work on the goldfields, and are captured by the police after Starlight is shot dead.[5]
Cast
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- Kenneth Brampton as Captain Starlight
- S. A. Fitzgerald as Ben Marsden
- Roland Conway as Dick Marsden
- Cliff Pyatt as Jim Marsden
- Roy Redgrave as Dan Moran
- William Pearson as Sir Frederick Moranger
- Stuart MacRae as Inspector Goring
- Jackie Anderson as Warrigal
- Vera Archer as Jennie Morrison
- Betty Crook as Miss Falkland
- Hilda Dorrington as Kate Morrison
- Tien Hogue as Aileen Marsden
- Austral Nichol as Mrs. Knightley
- Wilton Power as George Storefield
- Phyllis Ruthven as Grace Storefield
- Sybil Shirley
- Nan Taylor as Mrs. Marsden
- H. D. Wise as Mr. Knightley
- Charles Chauvel
Production
There had been several attempts to make films based on the Rolfe Boldrewood novel since the bushranging ban by the New South Wales government in 1912. In particular there were attempts by Stanley Crick in 1916 and Alfred Rolfe in 1918. However Kenneth Brampton managed to secure permission for this 1920 version, mostly likely because it stressed the moral lessons of the story.[6]
Kenneth Brampton and actress Tien Hogue managed to persuade the mining magnate Pearson Tewksbury to raise the budget and act as producer.[3]
Brampton was acting in the play Lightnin' which he left to make the film.[7]
The film was shot on location at Braidwood and in the Araluen Valley near Canberra. The bushrangers the Clarke brothers reportedly worked in this region.[8][9]
Renowned horseman "Top" Hassall doubled for Brampton on the horse riding scenes.[10]
Future director Charles Chauvel was working around the Sydney studios and attending to horses on the film. He has a bit part.
Reception
The movie was reportedly successful at the box office[6] and grossed up to ₤16,000. However returns were so slow and the distributor and exhibitor took so much that Pearson Tewksbury was dissuaded from further film production.[3]
Variety said the film was "of only fair quality, the picture just gets by."[11]
Preservation status
A "copy comprising about three quarters of the film" was found and combined with already known footage to produce a near-complete version.[12] A five-minute sequence is still missing.[12]
References
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Graham Shirley & Brian Adams, Australian Cinema: The First Eighty Years, Angus & Robertson, 1989 p 70-71
- ↑ Pearson Tewksbury at Australian Dictionary of Biography
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 101.
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- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
- ↑ http://lantern.mediahist.org/catalog/variety61-1921-01_0008
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
External links
- Use Australian English from March 2013
- All Wikipedia articles written in Australian English
- Silent films
- Pages using div col with unknown parameters
- Articles with Internet Archive links
- Use dmy dates from January 2011
- 1920 films
- Australian films
- Australian Western (genre) films
- Black-and-white films
- Films based on Australian novels
- 1920s drama films