The Sick Stockrider | |
---|---|
Directed by | W. J. Lincoln Godfrey Cass |
Written by | W. J. Lincoln [1] |
Based on | original poem by Adam Lindsay Gordon |
Starring | Roy Redgrave Godfrey Cass |
Cinematography | Maurice Bertel |
Production company | |
Release date |
|
Running time | 2,000 feet [3] |
Country | Australia |
Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
The Sick Stockrider is a 1913 film directed by W. J. Lincoln based on the 1870 poem of the same title by Adam Lindsay Gordon. It was the first production from Lincoln-Cass Films and is one of the few Australian silent films to survive in its entirety. [4]
The film presents the verses of the poem one by one, separated by illustrated tableaux. It tells the story about a dying stockman.
Adam Lindsay Gordon's ballad was first published in 1870, the year of his death. The movie was the first from Lincoln-Cass Films, established in 1913. [5] It was shot at the company's studio in Elsternwick, Melbourne and near Healesvulle. It was finished by August 1913 [6]
The cast performed a show for the people of Healesville during production. [7]
It was the first of the company's film's released "though it was not the largest of their productions, they thought they had something which would appeal to all present. They were Australians, and hopeful of interesting the public in Australian pictures." [8]
Screenings were often accompanied by a lecturer who would recite the poem. [9]
The movie screened to thirty full houses in Victoria. It has been described as "solid and stagey with shaking canvas sets, an exaggerated alcoholic scene and a bull-goring sequence in which an actor tumble turns across an animal all too obviously at rest." [10]
Contemporary reports said it was a box office success. [11]
A contemporary review said that:
The views wore very life-like and distinct, and illustrated the stockrider reeling from lm saddle, and as his mate tended him beneath the trees, recalling the scenes of his past life 'wheeling through the wild scrub the cattle in the wood,' Yarding the cattle gave opportunity for a fine and animated bush scene, with exhibitions of buckjumping, and was followed by the exciting chase of the bush ranger, 'Starlight.' and his gang, by the troopers' and bush men, the Tjnsrl ranaer at bay, and the struggle in the watercourse.. The lights and shades, the tragedies and comedies of bush life, were followed by the death of the stock rider, with the sturdy bush children romping over his crave — altogether a very fine and vivid production, which elicited a round of applause. [8]
Another review said:
The only drawback to it is that there is no connected 'story ' in the poem, only a series of incidents of bush life, so that the attention of the audience cannot be oarried to a culminating climax; but that the feature which does not apply to other films by the same company, where the dramatic interest is sustained through out. [12]
Harry Southwell also announced plans to film the poem but no movie resulted. [13]
Healesville is a town in Victoria, Australia, 64 km north-east from Melbourne's central business district, located within the Shire of Yarra Ranges local government area. Healesville recorded a population of 7,589 in the 2021 census.
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.
Godfrey Cass was an Australian actor in the silent era. Between 1906 and 1935 he acted in nineteen film roles. He played Ned Kelly three times, and also had roles in a number of other bushranger movies including A Tale of the Australian Bush (1911) and Moondyne (1913).
Moondyne is an 1879 novel by John Boyle O'Reilly. It is loosely based on the life of the Western Australian convict escapee and bushranger Moondyne Joe. It is believed to be the first ever fictional novel set in Western Australia. In 1913, Melbourne film director W. J. Lincoln made a silent film of the same name.
Adam Lindsay Gordon was a British-Australian poet, horseman, police officer and politician. He was the first Australian poet to gain considerable recognition overseas, and according to his contemporary, writer Marcus Clarke, Gordon's work represented "the beginnings of a national school of Australian poetry".
Rip Van Winkle is a 1912 Australian feature-length film directed by W. J. Lincoln about Rip Van Winkle. It was arguably Australia's first fantasy film.
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 Wreck is an Australian film directed by W. J. Lincoln based on a poem by Adam Lindsay Gordon about the ride to help by a farmhand who has witnessed a shipwreck. It is considered a lost film.
The Crisis is an Australian melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln. It was inspired by a painting, The Crisis by Frank Dicksee, and is considered a lost film.
The Remittance Man is an Australian melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln about a thief's reformation.
Transported is an Australian convict melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln.
The Road to Ruin is an Australian melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln. It was one of the first movies from Lincoln-Cass Films and is considered a lost film.
The Reprieve is a 1913 Australian melodrama film directed by W. J. Lincoln about a man on trial for killing his unfaithful wife. It is considered a lost film. Contemporary reviews were positive.
Lincoln Cass Films was a short-lived Australian film production company.
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.
Amalgamated Pictures was a film exchange company in Australia.
After Sundown is a 1911 Australian film directed by W. J. Lincoln set in the Australian bush.
Maurice Bertel was a French-born cinematographer who worked mostly in Australia. He moved to Australia in 1890 and learned his trade with local film companies. From 1907 he supervised the weekly newsreel made by Pathe Freres in Melbourne, staying with them for a number of months when they merged with Australasian Films in 1913. He then went to work for Lincoln-Cass Films and J. C. Williamson Ltd on their feature films, before joining Herschell's in Melbourne as a technical adviser.
The Austral Photoplay Company was a short lived Australian production and distribution company. It was established in Melbourne in 1913 by A. C. Tinsdale and later transferred to Sydney in 1917. It initially sought to raise £10,000 to make a film about the goldfields.
The Sick Stockrider is a poem by Australian poet Adam Lindsay Gordon. It was first published in Colonial Monthly magazine in January 1870, although the magazine was dated December 1869. It was later in the poet's second and last poetry collection Bush Ballads and Galloping Rhymes (1870).