The Shattered Illusion

The Shattered Illusion
Directed by	A. G. Harbrow
Written by	A. G. Harbrow
Starring	J. Robertson Aiken
Cinematography	Reg Robinson
Production company	Victorian Film Productions
Release date	January 1928 (1928-01)
Running time	5,000 feet (45 mins)
Country	Australia
Languages	Silent film English intertitles

The Shattered Illusion is a 1928 Australian silent film about a rich financier who is shipwrecked. Unlike many Australian silent films, a copy of it exists today. ^[1]

Plot

Financier Lewis Alden has a nervous breakdown and loses his memory. He joins the crew of a ship and is marooned after a storm at sea, along with Joyce. The shock of this causes him to regain his memory. One day, he discovers a drifting lifeboat containing several newspapers and he reads, to his dismay, that his companies have thrived in his absence and he is not as important as he once thought. He finds comfort from Joyce and after the two of them are rescued, decides to live on her family's plantation in New Guinea.

Cast

• J. Robertson Aiken as Lewis Alden
• Gret Wiseman as Joyce Hilton
• Don Winder as John Galway
• Mary McDermott as Alice Newton
• Jack Hooper as Dr Haynes
• A.G. Harbrow as Dr Haynes
• Alec Sutherland as tramp
• Norman Arthur as John Elsworth
• Clare Dight as Mrs Elsworth

Production

The film was shot in July and August 1927, with interiors filmed in a backyard studio in Abbotsford, Melbourne. ^{[1] [2]}

It was the first movie from Victorian Film Productions, who later made a comedy short, The Tramp (1929), and the feature Tiger Island (1930).

References

1. Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 142.
2. "ITEMS OF INTEREST". The Argus . Melbourne. 19 August 1927. p. 16. Retrieved 6 August 2012– via National Library of Australia.

External links

• The Shattered Illusion at IMDb
• The Shattered Illusion at National Film and Sound Archive