The Wreck of the Dunbar or The Yeoman's Wedding | |
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![]() The Sun 9 June 1912 | |
Directed by | Gaston Mervale |
Written by | P.W. Marony |
Starring | Louise Lovely |
Production company | Universal Films Ltd |
Release date |
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Running time | 3,500 feet [1] |
Country | Australia |
Languages |
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The Wreck of the Dunbar or The Yeoman's Wedding is a 1912 Australian silent film directed by Gaston Mervale starring Louise Lovely. The plot concerns the shipwreck of the Dunbar , one of Australia's worst maritime disasters. It is considered a lost film.
Jack Glenster, son of Farmer Glenster, is in love with Dorothy, daughter of the squire. She rejects a marriage proposal from her cousin, Ralph, and decids to elope with Jack.
The two leave England and are married by a friendly blacksmith. Dorothy's father finds out and disineheits her. Jack's father falls behind on his rent.
Jack leaves Dorothy with his parents and travels to Australia on a ship also carrying Ralph. Ralph, heavily in debt, had tried to steal from the squire, been caught in the act, and ordered to leave.
In Australia, Jack makes his fortune. His wife and parents sail out to Sydney on the Dunbar. Jack travels to Sydney to meet them. He is held up by bushrangers, who include Ralph, who is killed by Winnie, the squatter's daughter.
The Dunbar crashes on the rocks outside Sydney and only one survivor lives. Jack rescues the sole survivor and finds out he is the squire's old servant, who brings a message of forgiveness. Jack discovers his wife and parents did not sail on the Dunbar after all and returns home to be reunited with them. [2] [3]
A contemporary advertisement claimed the film featured the following scenes:
"The Yeoman's Wedding" was "the romance surrounding the wreck". [5]
The script, written by P.W. Marony. [7]
The film was the sole feature produced by Universal Films Ltd, a company formed in Sydney in May 1912 (which had no connection to the Hollywood Studio of the same name). It took over the assets of American Australasian Film Service and Australian Life Biograph Company with the intention of producing and importing movies, and J.S. McCullough to be manger and Sir Albert Gould chairman of directors. [8] [9]
The film appears to have been successful, running for three weeks in Sydney. [10]
The Sun said the film "is admirable in every way." [7]
The Evening News said "It is an excellent production, and for over an hour It kept many persons interested... Repeatedly there was applause but the scene at the South Head Gap came In for special recognition." [11]
A few years after the film was released the sole survivor of the Dunbar died. [12]
The Dunbar was a full-rigged ship designed and built from 1852 to 1853 by James Laing & Sons of Deptford Yard in Sunderland, England and used for maritime trade, as a troop ship and transport. The Dunbar was wrecked near the entrance to Sydney Harbour, Australia in 1857 with the loss of 121 lives. The wreck of the Dunbar ranks as one of Australia's worst maritime disasters, with the event still retained in the social history of Sydney and New South Wales.
Louise Lovely was an Australian film actress of Swiss-Italian descent. She is credited by film historians as being the first Australian actress to have a successful career in Hollywood, signing a contract with Universal Pictures in the United States in 1914. Lovely appeared in 50 American films and ten Australian films before retiring from acting in 1925.
The SS Cawarra was a paddle-steamer that sank on 12 July 1866 in Newcastle harbour, New South Wales, Australia sending sixty people to their deaths. The sinking was one of the worst maritime disasters in Australian history.
William Cossar was a small 20 ton wooden New South Wales Colonial Government schooner that was wrecked in 1825.
Elizabeth Reef, located at 29°57′25″S159°4′32″E, is a coral reef in the Coral Sea. The reef is separated by a deep oceanic pass, some 47 km wide, from nearby Middleton Reef, both of which are part of the underwater plateau known as the Lord Howe Rise. It is around 150 km from Lord Howe Island and 600 km from the New South Wales coast of Australia. The Environment, Sport and Territories Legislation Amendment Act 1997 included Elizabeth Reef in Australia's Coral Sea Islands Territory.
The Fitzroy was a steel-hulled steamship built in 1912 at Old Kilpatrick, Scotland in 1912. Thirty-one people were killed when Fitzroy capsized in a gale whilst carrying a general cargo between Coffs Harbour and Sydney off Cape Hawke, New South Wales on 26 June 1921.
Lottie Lyell was an Australian actress, screenwriter, editor and filmmaker. She is regarded as Australia's first film star, and also contributed to the local industry during the silent era through her collaborations with director and writer Raymond Longford.
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".
The Sydney Mail was an Australian magazine published weekly in Sydney. It was the weekly edition of The Sydney Morning Herald newspaper and ran from 1860 to 1938.
Red Sky at Morning is a 1944 Australian melodrama set during the 19th century based on a play by Dymphna Cusack. It features an early screen performance by Peter Finch, who plays a convict who falls in love with the wife of a sea captain.
The Shadow of Lightning Ridge is a 1920 Australian silent film starring renowned Australian sportsman Snowy Baker. It has been called the most "Western"-like of the films Baker made in Australia.
The Lady Outlaw is a 1911 Australian silent film set in Van Diemen's Land during convict days.
Australia's Peril is a 1917 Australian silent film directed by Franklyn Barrett. It is considered a lost film.
Gaston Mervale (1866–1959) was an English-born director and actor who worked on the English, Australian and US stage and directed Australian films. Born Gaston Mistowski in Torquay, Devon, England in 1866, after performing on stage in the UK he came to Australia in late 1897 to work for J.C. Williamson's. After returning to England he then appeared on stage for several years in New York. He returned to Australia in 1904 with the Tittell Brune Company. Early in 1911 he was employed to direct several films for the Australian Life Biograph Company, which featured actors Louise Lovely and Godfrey Cass. He worked in the US for the five years 1912-1917, on stage, acted in several films and was director of The Stubbornness of Geraldine in 1915. He returned to Australia in 1917 to produce plays. He died in Heidelberg, Victoria, Australia in 1959.
One Hundred Years Ago is a 1911 Australian silent film directed by Gaston Mervale. It features an early screen performance from Louise Lovely and is considered a lost film.
£500 Reward is a 1918 Australian silent film starring, written, produced, financed and directed by Claude Flemming who later described it as "a very lurid melodrama".
Strike is an Australian film directed by George Young. It is considered a lost film.
Ernest Henry Higgins was an Australian cinematographer during the days of silent film. He was the eldest brother of Arthur and Tasman Higgins. He shot the film The Throwback (1920) for director Arthur Shirley which resulted in Shirley unsuccessfully suing Higgins for breach of contract.
Drums of Mer is a 1933 Australian novel by Ion Idriess set in the Torres Strait in present-day Queensland, Australia.
Wilton Welch was an Australian comic actor and dramatist, husband and collaborator of Louise Carbasse, best known as Louise Lovely.