The Luck of Roaring Camp | |
---|---|
Directed by | W. J. Lincoln |
Written by | W. J. Lincoln [1] |
Based on | stage adaptation by Mark Blow and Ida Molesworth of the novel The Luck of Roaring Camp by Francis Bret Harte [2] |
Produced by | William Gibson Millard Johnson John Tait Nevin Tait |
Starring | Ethel Buckley Robert Inman George Marlow's Dramatic Company |
Cinematography | Orrie Perry |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Tait's Pictures [3] |
Release date | 24 March 1911 (Melbourne) [4] [5] |
Running time | 4,000 feet [6] |
Country | Australia |
Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
The Luck of Roaring Camp is a 1911 Australian feature-length film directed by W. J. Lincoln now considered a lost film. It was highly regarded in its day, in part because it was based on a play that was popular with audiences. [7]
It was one of several films Lincoln made with the Tait family, who had produced The Story of the Kelly Gang . [8] [9]
The setting is California during the California Gold Rush. On the California goldfields, Will Gordin is falsely accused of murder and is about to be lynched when his girlfriend rides to the rescue. Scenes included:
It was based on a stage adaptation of the story by Francis Bret Harte which had proved popular with Australian audiences as performed by George Marlow's Dramatic Company since 1910. [12]
In February 1911 the Bulletin reviewed a George Marlow production at the Princess Theatre in Melbourne saying:
When "The Luck of Roaring Camp ” was staged in Sydney •by George Marlow, Ltd., a year ago. The Bulletin remarked that the bellow drama had taken the name of Bret Harte’s novel in vain. Probably the audience at Melb. Princess’s last Saturday didn’t seek for Bret Harte’s story in the drama that wore its title, but was merely looking for a mining camp and listening for roars. In which case the audience’s expectations were fulfilled. The mine, located in America, provides Diver with lurid opportunities in the way of murder and false accusation; but he is ultimately brought to grief by a hero who wins the girl and secures the property, and, in fact, gets the Luck. Many things, including some stirring episodes of comic relief, happen before the ends of poetic justice are served. If the people who goto the Princess’s are fond of this sort of melodrama, this is the sort of melodrama which should suit them down to the ground and up to the roof. [13]
The partnership of Millard Johnson and Willard Gibson decided to make a film version. [14]
The George Marlow company provided the cast for the film, with the lead played by Marlow's wife Ethel Buckley. A cast of over a hundred was reportedly used. [15] [16]
The movie premiered at the Glacarium Theatre in Melbourne, where it attracted strong crowds, then the Palace in Sydney. [17] [18]
It followed the release of Lincoln's earlier film The Mystery of the Hansom Cab . [19]
Reviews were generally strong. The critic from the Sydney Morning Herald called it:
A thrilling story without words that is complete in itself without the words and that makes the drama more realistic than ever it could be on a stage without the aid of the pictures. The play has been carefully selected for this method of portrayal because it teems with exciting episodes and thrilling incidents in the life of the hard-living westerners. One part in particular that could never be seen on a stage without the camera is the splendid exhibition of horsemanship shown by a team of rough riders who were specifically employed for the purpose... almost every foot of it [the film] is bristling with exciting incidents. [20]
Everyone's later said Buckley's performance in this film and Driving a Girl to destruction "was so marked, even in those early efforts, that she received several flattering offers to continue the work, but it was a medium which did not suit the electric temperament of one who had proved herself to be one of the most versatile soubrettes of the Australian stage, and she preferred to rest on her laurels." [21]
Thunderbolt is a 1910 film in the genre of "outlaw" films at the time that tended to glorify the life of the outlaw "Bushrangers" that roamed the Australian outback in pre-commonwealth days. Shortly after this film was made, the government of New South Wales banned the manufacture of this type of film on the basis that they were promoting crime.
William Joseph Lincoln was an Australian playwright, theatre manager, film director and screenwriter in the silent era. He produced, directed and/or wrote 23 films between 1911 and 1916.
John F. Gavin was a pioneer Australian film actor and director, one of the early filmmakers of the 1910s. He is best known for making films about bushrangers such as Captain Thunderbolt, Captain Moonlite, Ben Hall and Frank Gardiner. Known informally as 'Jack', Gavin worked in collaboration with his wife Agnes, who scripted many of his films.
"The Luck of Roaring Camp" is a short story by American author Bret Harte. It was first published in the August 1868 issue of the Overland Monthly and helped push Harte to international prominence.
George Marlow was an Australian theatrical entrepreneur born in London of Jewish extraction, noted for bringing melodrama and pantomime to Sydney audiences in the early 1900s. His name has been frequently mis-spelled as "George Marlowe".
Moonlite is a 1910 bushranger film about Captain Moonlite, played by John Gavin, who also directed. It was also known as Captain Moonlite and is considered a lost film.
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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.
It Is Never Too Late to Mend is an Australian feature-length silent film written and directed by W. J. Lincoln. It was based on a stage adaptation of the popular 1865 novel It Is Never Too Late to Mend: A Matter-of-Fact Romance by Charles Reade about the corrupt penal system in Australia. It was called "certainly one of the best pictures ever taken in Australia."
The Mystery of the Hansom Cab is an Australian feature-length film directed by W. J. Lincoln based on the popular novel, which had also been adapted into a play. It was one of several films Lincoln made with the Tait family, who had produced The Story of the Kelly Gang.
The Life's Romance of Adam Lindsay Gordon is a 1916 Australian feature-length film directed by W. J. Lincoln, based on the life of poet Adam Lindsay Gordon.
The Lost Chord is a 1911 Australian feature-length film directed by W. J. Lincoln based on the famous song The Lost Chord by Sir Arthur Sullivan.
The Double Event is a 1911 Australian feature-length film directed by W. J. Lincoln based on the first novel by Nat Gould, which had been adapted several times for the stage, notably by Bland Holt.
Called Back is a 1911 Australian feature-length film directed by W. J. Lincoln based on a popular play which was adapted from an 1883 novel by Hugh Conway. Although the movie was a popular success it is now considered a lost film.
The Life of Rufus Dawes is a 1911 Australian silent film based on Alfred Dampier's stage adaptation of the 1874 novel For the Term of His Natural Life produced by Charles Cozens Spencer.
The Cup Winner is a 1911 Australian silent film directed by Alfred Rolfe. It is set against a backdrop of horseracing and the finale involves real footage from the 1911 Melbourne Cup.
The Monk and the Woman is a 1917 Australian silent film directed by Franklyn Barrett. It is considered to be lost.
Driving a Girl to Destruction is an Australian film directed by George Marlow. It is considered a lost film.
Amalgamated Pictures Ltd was a film exchange company in Australia.
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