Robbery Under Arms | |
---|---|
Based on | Robbery Under Arms by Rolf Boldrewood |
Produced by | John Tait Nevin Tait Johnson & Gibson |
Release date |
|
Running time | over 5,000 feet [2] or nearly two hours [3] |
Country | Australia |
Languages | Silent English intertitles |
Robbery Under Arms is a 1907 Australian film based on the popular 1888 novel. It was from the team of John and Nevin Tait and Millard Johnson and William Gibson, who had just made The Story of the Kelly Gang . [4] [5] [6] It is considered a lost film.
Another film based on the same the book came out the same year, from the MacMahon brothers, which was filmed in Sydney. [7] [8] [9] This has led to some confusion as to whether the Tait-Johnson-Gibson film even existed.
According to a contemporary newspaper report, "All the incidents of the romantic bushranger Starlight are enacted, from the first incident, the branding of stolen cattle, to the "Last stand of Starlight and the Marston boys." [10] An advertisement for the film, to be shown at the Oddfellows' Hall in Wagga Wagga on the 8th and 9 January 1908, describes Robbery Under Arms as "The Greatest Series of Dramatic moving Pictures Ever Taken". It details the major scenes in the film as "such well-known and famous incidents as – The First Downward Step, Captain Starlight Wounded by Police, The Cattle Sale, Terrible Hollow, The Runaway and Rescue, The Marstons at St. Kilda, Berrima Gaol, Sticking up the Goulburn Mail, Kate Morrison's Revenge, Robbing the Gold Escort, The Bushranger's Last Stand, and numerous other great and dramatic situations". [11]
The action was condensed into six scenes. [3]
The film was completed by 10October 1907. [12] It was shot in Melbourne [13]
The film was reportedly made at "enormous expense" and included location filming. [14]
The film was typically screened on a program including film of the 1907 Melbourne Cup and a film of snake catching. [15] [16]
The film often screened in the same city as the 1907 Charles MacMahon version.
Table Talk wrote the film had "an almost startling realism." [17]
The Age said "The pictures were clear and convincing, and the series was well arranged and capitally shown." [18]
The Fremantle Empre said "the scenes are entirely Australian. They give one a most compreheusive and picturesque series of scenes of the bush of our own land, and the incidents of the bushranging drama enacted in this gi£at wild naturetheatre is thrilling in. its realism, and true even to the minutest details. The story is elaborately told on the screen, and so numerous are the incidents that the major part of the programme is devoted to it, and/yet one tires not, and -rttien the end comes wished for more." [19]
The West Australian called it "undoubtedly the finest Australian picture yet exhibited." [20]
Bushrangers were armed robbers who hid from authorities in the bush of the British colonies in Australia. The earliest use of the term applied to escaped convicts in the early years of the British settlements in Australia. By the 1820s, the term had evolved to refer to those who took up "robbery under arms" as a way of life, using bases in the bush.
Thunderbolt is a 1910 Australian feature film based on the life of the bushranger Captain Thunderbolt. It was the directorial debut of John Gavin who later claimed it was the first "four-reel movie" made in Australia. It has also been called the first film made in New South Wales.
The Story of the Kelly Gang is a 1906 Australian Bushranger film directed by Charles Tait. It traces the exploits of 19th-century bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly and his gang, with the film being shot in and around Melbourne. The original cut of this silent film ran for more than an hour with a reel length of about 1,200 metres (4,000 ft), making it the longest narrative film yet seen in the world. It premiered at Melbourne's Athenaeum Hall on 26 December 1906 and was first shown in the United Kingdom in January 1908. A commercial and critical success, it is regarded as the origin point of the bushranging drama, a genre that dominated the early years of Australian film production. Since its release, many other films have been made about the Kelly legend.
Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was an Australian feature film production company. Established in June 1931, Cinesound developed out of a group of companies centred on Greater Union Theatres that covered all facets of the film process, from production to distribution and exhibition. Cinesound Productions established a film studio as a subsidiary of Greater Union Theatres Pty Ltd based on the Hollywood model. The first production was On Our Selection (1932), which was an enormous financial success.
Robbery Under Arms is a bushranger novel by Thomas Alexander Browne, published under his pen name Rolf Boldrewood. It was first published in serialised form by The Sydney Mail between July 1882 and August 1883, then in three volumes in London in 1888. It was abridged into a single volume in 1889 as part of Macmillan's one-volume Colonial Library series and has not been out of print since.
Henry Arthur Readford, was an Australian stockman, drover and cattle thief.
Robbery Under Arms is a 1920 Australian film directed by Kenneth Brampton and financed by mining magnate Pearson Tewksbury. It is an early example of the "Meat pie Western".
Moonlite is a 1910 Australian bushranger film about Captain Moonlite, played by John Gavin, who also directed for producer H.A. Forsyth. It was also known as Captain Moonlite and is considered a lost film.
Ben Hall and his Gang is a 1911 Australian film about the bushranger Ben Hall, played by John Gavin, who also directed. It is considered a lost film.
Alfred Rolfe, real name Alfred Roker, was an Australian stage and film director and actor, best known for being the son-in-law of the celebrated actor-manager Alfred Dampier, with whom he appeared frequently on stage, and for his prolific output as a director during Australia's silent era, including Captain Midnight, the Bush King (1911), Captain Starlight, or Gentleman of the Road (1911) and The Hero of the Dardanelles (1915). Only one of his films as director survives today.
Robbery Under Arms is a 1907 Australian silent western/drama film based on the 1888 novel by Rolf Boldrewood about two brothers and their relationship with the bushranger Captain Starlight. It was the first film version of the novel and the third Australian feature ever made.
For the Term of His Natural Life is a 1908 Australian silent film based on the 1874 novel by the same name by Marcus Clarke. The film is an adaptation of MacMahon's stage adaptation of the novel.
The Life and Adventures of John Vane, the Notorious Australian Bushranger is a 1910 Australian silent film about the bushranger John Vane, who was a member of Ben Hall's gang. It was the first dramatic film from Charles Cozens Spencer who was a key producer of early Australian movies.
Charles Cozens Spencer was a British-born film exhibitor and producer, who was a significant figure in the early years of the Australian film industry. He produced films under the name Spencer's Pictures and was an early backer of the films of Raymond Longford. He was also instrumental in the creation of "The Combine".
Captain Midnight, the Bush King is a 1911 Australian silent Western film about the fictitious bushranger Captain Midnight. It was the directorial debut of actor Alfred Rolfe. The film is based on the play of same name by W. J. Lincoln and Alfred Dampier. Captain Midnight, the Bush King is now considered lost.
Captain Starlight, or Gentleman of the Road is a 1911 Australian silent film about the bushranger Captain Starlight. It was based on Alfred Dampier's stage adaptation of the 1888 novel Robbery Under Arms. It is considered a lost film.
Dan Morgan is a 1911 Australian film from Charles Cozens Spencer about the bushranger Daniel Morgan. It was said to be starring "Alfred Rolfe and company". Rolfe directed three movies for Spencer, all starring himself and his wife Lily Dampier so there is a chance he may have directed this one and that it starred his wife. A prospectus for the Australian Photo Play Company said he directed it. It is considered a lost film.
The bushranger ban was a ban on films about bushrangers that came into effect in parts of Australia in 1911–12. Films about bushrangers had been the most popular genre of local films ever since The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906). Governments were worried about the influence this would have on the population and bans against films depicting bushrangers were introduced in South Australia (1911), New South Wales and Victoria (1912).
Attack on the Gold Escort is a 1911 Australian silent Western film which is considered lost. It was sometimes known as Captain Midnight, King of the Bushrangers, or Attack of the Gold Escort, or Captain Starlight's Attack on the Gold Escort.
Bluecap was an Australian bushranger. Born and raised in New South Wales, he began bushranging in 1867, leading a gang responsible for robberies throughout the Riverina region. He suffered from ophthalmia, and earned his alias on account of a piece of cloth he wore to protect his eyes from sunlight. Captured in November 1867, Bluecap was tried and convicted of armed robbery. He was imprisoned in Parramatta Gaol and released in 1874.