Two Minutes Silence

Last updated

Two Minutes Silence
Directed by Paulette McDonagh
Written by Les Haylen
Based onplay by Les Haylen
Produced by Paulette McDonagh
Phyllis McDonagh
StarringFrank Bradley
Campbell Copelin
Marie Lorraine
CinematographyJames Grant
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal [1]
Release dates
  • 18 October 1933 (1933-10-18)(Canberra premiere)
  • 2 February 1934 (1934-02-02)(Sydney)
Running time
75 mins
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Box office£225 (Australia) [2]

Two Minutes Silence is a 1933 Australian melodrama set during World War I based on Les Haylen's anti-war play. It was the fourth and last feature film by the Sydney-based McDonagh sisters, Paulette, Isobel and Phyllis, who called it "by far the best picture we produced". [3] It is considered Australia's first anti-war movie and is a lost film. [4]

Contents

Synopsis

On Armistice Day, some years after World War I has ended, four people gather in General Gresham's London drawing room. As the clock strikes eleven, they think back to their experiences of the way. Mrs Trott (Ethel Gabriel), a charlady, recalls hearing her son has died in action. The general (Frank Bradley) remembers making an error of judgement that led to the death of his men. Denise (Marie Lorraine), the French governess to the general's grandchildren, relives the return of her war hero lover, Pierre (Campbell Copelin), from the front; Pierre could not forgive Denise for having a child to a German officer who had raped her. The general's butler, James (Leonard Stephens), recollects living as a beggar on the Thames embankment after the war and seeing the suicide of an ex-soldier.

Cast

Original play

The play was written by Les Haylen, an Australian journalist who later became an MP. It was originally produced in 1930 at the Community Playhouse in Sydney and ran for 26 performances over 13 weeks. [5] The McDonagh sisters saw the play and bought the film rights before the run ended. [6] There was also a production in Townsville the following year, and another one in Sydney in 1939. [7] [8]

The play was published in 1933 featuring an introduction from Billy Hughes. [9]

Production

Filming took place in a studio in Centennial Park, Sydney in late 1932. It was logistically difficult because of the difficulty sourcing sound recording equipment and two of the cast, Leo Franklyn and Frank Leighton, had to juggle shooting with their theatre commitments for J. C. Williamson Ltd. In addition, Campbell Copelin was still recovering from his plane crash the previous year. [10] Ethel Gabriel reprised her role from the play version. [3] [11]

"Two Minutes Silence, I think, was the hardest job we've ever tackled", said Paulette McDonagh at the time. "Obstacle after obstacle crowded in on us. ... at times it seemed almost impossible to continue. But we realised we had to, and.. well... we just did. Difficulties and delay were a nightmare. But we managed to pull through." [12]

The McDonagh sisters promoted the movie by speaking at special luncheons about the filmmaking process. [13] There was a private preview in Sydney in January 1933 which was introduced by Ted Theodore. [14]

Release

The film had trouble getting distribution but was eventually picked up by Universal, who arranged for it to be re-cut. [5] The world premiere took place in Canberra in 1933, in front of Governor General Sir Isaac Isaacs and various parliamentarians. [15] Initial critical reception was generally positive, [16] The Canberra Times praising it as "a welcome... in the subjects adopted by Australian film producers. [17] and it received a minor release in Sydney the following year. [18]

The critic from The Sydney Morning Herald was less enthusiastic than his earlier colleagues, calling it:

A production in which the skill of the acting far exceeds the value of the dramatic material on which it has been bestowed... even when allowance is made for the cramped studio conditions under which the film has been prepared... Apart from the scenes from war-time newsreels which have been interpolated, there are only five or six settings; and these are of the most limited nature. The camera once having been established, the actors begin, and go through their scenes without interruption, as though they were on a theatrical stage. There are no changes of angle, and very few changes of distance, to give variety... The weakness of Mr. Haylen's play is that it revives all that is dreary and horrible in wartime memories without developing any significant leading idea... Mrs. Gabriel... represents a cockney charwoman with a realism and a persistent sympathy which almost triumphs over the emptiness of the dramatic situation... Mr. Franklyn... has succeeded in toning down his exuberant stage methods into the greater restraint demanded by the camera. Mr. Leighton and Mr Bradley's parts give the same impression of ease and naturalness which these actors always convey in the theatre. Mr Campbell Copelin and Miss Marie Lorraine both show the same weakness – a colourless, monotonous method of delivering their lines. [5]

The reviewer from the Australian Women's Weekly said:

That the characters chosen by the author were not Australian is a defect, inasmuch as he constantly betrays his ignorance of their natural speech and behaviour. The film adaptation has removed some incongruities, but not all. And to make a really successful film much more action and movement is required to break up the rather lengthy conversational passages between characters grouped in the same small scene. In fact, the direction as a whole is too amateurish for so ambitious a scheme, and the same thing might be said of some of the acting. Marie Lorraine, in particular, is miscast. [19]

The movie only enjoyed a short run. [20] It was the final film made by the McDonagh sisters. Isobel (Marie Lorraine) moved to London to marry and Phyllis went to work as a journalist in New Zealand. [21] "We gave up because we thought we'd done our bit and we wanted to move on to other things separately", said Phyllis later. [3]

Plans by the McDonaghs to make a short about Canberra called The Heart of a Nation appear to have not come to fruition. [22]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cinesound Productions</span> Australian film production company

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Les Haylen</span> Australian politician

Leslie Clement "Les" Haylen, also known by the pen-name Sutton Woodfield, was an Australian politician, playwright, novelist and journalist.

The Cheaters is a 1930 Australian silent film directed by Paulette McDonagh and starring Isabel McDonagh. Phyllis McDonagh worked as art director. The McDonagh sisters made a number of self-funded films together in the late 1920s and early 1930s.

<i>The Far Paradise</i> 1928 film

The Far Paradise is a 1928 Australian silent film directed by Paulette McDonagh and starring Marie Lorraine the stage name of Isabel McDonagh. This is the second feature from the McDonagh sisters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Harvey (Australian screenwriter)</span> Australian screenwriter (1885–1965)\

Frank Harvey was a British-born actor, producer, and writer, best known for his work in Australia.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Raymond Longford</span> Australian filmmaker and actor (1878–1959)

Raymond Longford was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer, and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian cinema. He formed a production team with Lottie Lyell. His contributions to Australian cinema with his ongoing collaborations with Lyell, including The Sentimental Bloke (1919) and The Blue Mountains Mystery (1921), prompted the Australian Film Institute's AFI Raymond Longford Award, inaugurated in 1968, to be named in his honour.

<i>Heritage</i> (1935 film) 1935 Australian film

Heritage is a 1935 Australian historical film directed by Charles Chauvel.

The Silence of Dean Maitland is a 1934 Australian film directed by Ken G. Hall, and based on Maxwell Gray's 1886 novel of the same name. It was one of the most popular Australian films of the 1930s.

<i>Strike Me Lucky</i> 1934 Australian film

Strike Me Lucky is a 1934 Australian comedy musical film starring popular stage comic vaudevillian Roy Rene in his first and only film. It was the fourth feature film from Cinesound Productions but proved a box office disappointment. Director Ken G. Hall claimed it was the only one of his features not to go into profit within a few years of release, although the film eventually covered costs.

Harmony Row is a 1933 Australian musical comedy directed by F. W. Thring and starring popular stage comedian George Wallace. It marked the film debut of Bill Kerr.

A Ticket in Tatts is a 1934 musical comedy film starring popular stage comedian George Wallace as an accident-prone stablehand. It was the last of three films Wallace made for F. W. Thring.

Splendid Fellows is a 1934 Australian film from director Beaumont Smith about an Englishman who comes to Australia. The cast includes Eric Colman, brother of Ronald Colman, and Sir Charles Kingsford Smith, who has a cameo as himself. It was Smith's last film.

Campbell Copelin was an English actor, who moved to Australia in the 1920s and worked extensively in film, theatre, radio and television. He had a notable association with J.C. Williamson Ltd and frequently collaborated with F. W. Thring and Frank Harvey. He often played villains.

<i>The Streets of London</i> (1934 film) 1934 Australian film

The Streets of London is a 1934 Australian film directed by F. W. Thring. It was a filmed version of a play by Dion Boucicault which Thring had produced on stage the previous year. It was the last film made by Efftee Film Productions – Thring ceased production afterwards with the aim of resuming it later but died in 1936 before he had the chance.

Clara Gibbings is a 1934 Australian film directed by F.W. Thring about the owner of a London pub who discovers she is the daughter of an earl. It was a vehicle for stage star Dorothy Brunton.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Paulette McDonagh</span> Australian film director

Paulette de Vere McDonagh, was an Australian film director, who often worked in collaboration with her sisters Phyllis McDonagh and Isabel McDonagh. In 1933 it was claimed she was one of only five female film directors in the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Phyllis McDonagh</span> Australian film producer, production designer and journalist

Phyllis Glory McDonagh was an Australian film producer, production designer and journalist, who often worked in collaboration with her sisters Paulette and Isabella.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Lorraine</span> Australian actress

Isabella Mercia McDonagh, also known as Marie Lorraine, was an Australian actress who often worked in collaboration with her sisters Paulette and Phyllis. Isabella, alongside her two sisters made history by owning and running a film production company, therefore becoming the first Australian women to do so.

Those Who Love is a 1926 silent film, produced in Australia, about the son of a knight who falls in love with a dancer. Only part of the film survives today and it is held by the National Film and Sound Archive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leo Franklyn</span> English actor (1897–1975)

Leo Franklyn was an English actor. Much of his early career was in Edwardian musical comedy; in his later career he was chiefly associated with farce.

References

  1. ↑ "NEW AUSTRALIAN FILMS". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 13 October 1933. p. 15. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  2. ↑ "Counting the Cash in Australian Films"', Everyones 12 December 1934 p 19
  3. 1 2 3 "WHEN THREE DASHING SISTERS MADE A MOVIE". The Australian Women's Weekly . National Library of Australia. 21 April 1971. p. 4. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  4. ↑ Australia's 'Lost' Films at National Film and Sound Archive
  5. 1 2 3 "FILM REVIEWS". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 5 February 1934. p. 6. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  6. ↑ "AMUSEMENTS". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 18 November 1930. p. 4. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  7. ↑ ""TWO MINUTES' SILENCE."". Townsville Daily Bulletin . Qld.: National Library of Australia. 13 November 1931. p. 3. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  8. ↑ "MUSIC AND DRAMA". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 11 November 1939. p. 12. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  9. ↑ "OTHER NOTICES". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 1 July 1933. p. 8. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  10. ↑ "AUSTRALIAN FILM". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 5 August 1932. p. 7. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  11. ↑ "PERSONAL". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 14 June 1934. p. 9 Supplement: Women's Supplement. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  12. ↑ "PRIVATE VIEWS". The Australian Women's Weekly . National Library of Australia. 28 October 1933. p. 32. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  13. ↑ "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 7 November 1932. p. 1. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  14. ↑ "AUSTRALIAN FILM". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 17 January 1933. p. 5. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  15. ↑ "WORLD'S PREMIERE". The Canberra Times . National Library of Australia. 3 October 1933. p. 4. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
  16. ↑ "WORLD'S PREMIERE". The Canberra Times . National Library of Australia. 3 October 1933. p. 4. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  17. ↑ "AUSTRALIAN FILM". The Canberra Times . National Library of Australia. 19 October 1933. p. 2. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  18. ↑ "AMUSEMENTS". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 2 February 1934. p. 7. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  19. ↑ "PRIVATE VIEWS". The Australian Women's Weekly . National Library of Australia. 10 February 1934. p. 20. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  20. ↑ "CIVIC—"TWO MINUTES SILENCE."". The Sydney Morning Herald . National Library of Australia. 10 February 1934. p. 8. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
  21. ↑ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p162-163
  22. ↑ "FILM OF CANBERRA". The Canberra Times . National Library of Australia. 24 October 1933. p. 2. Retrieved 28 March 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.