Within Our Gates (1915 film)

Within Our Gates
Directed by Frank Harvey
Written by W. J. Lincoln
Frank Harvey
Monte Luke[1]
Based on The Man Who Stayed at Home
by J. E. Harold Terry and Lechmore Worrall
Starring Cyril Mackay
Frank Harvey
Cinematography Monte Luke
Maurice Bertel
Production
company
Release dates
 19 July 1915[2]
Running time
 3,000 feet[3] or 5,000 feel (75 mins)[4]
Country Australia
Language Silent
English intertitles

Within Our Gates, also known as Deeds that Won Gallipoli, is a 1915 Australian silent film about Australia's fight with Germany and Turkey during World War I, including the landing at Gaba Tepe during the Gallipoli Campaign. The story was partly based on a play The Man Who Stayed at Home.

It is considered a lost film.[5]

Plot

Max Huitzell (Leslie Victor), a German-American clerk in the War Office, is being blackmailed by a German spy (Norman Easty), transmitting information by wireless from his attic. The spy's adopted daughter Freda (Dorothy Cumming) falls in love with Edgar (Cyril Mackay), the son of the War Minister (John Ralston), and exposes her stepfather. Max and Edgar both enlist and meet in the Gallipoli Campaign, where Max gives his life to save Edgar.[6][7]

Cast

Development

This was the first original feature film from the theatrical company J.C. Williamson Ltd. They had become concerned with reports of American films being made from plays which they were producing in Australia, and decided to move into film production themselves.

They bought the studios of Lincoln-Cass Films in Melbourne and hired two of its staff, Maurice Bertel and W. J. Lincoln. After making two play adaptations, Williamson then decided to produce original stories, starting with Within Our Gates.[8]

Although it was the third movie they made, it was the first of their movies to be released.[9][4]

Production

The cast were drawn from J.C. Williamson Ltd's theatrical stock company, many of whom appeared in a production of the play The Man Who Stayed at Home, on which the script was partly based.[10][11][12] The director was English actor Frank Harvey, who moved to Australia in 1914.

W. J. Lincoln later claimed making the film was his idea.[13]

The landing at Gaba Tepe was staged near Obelisk Bay near Sydney. Other location work was shot in Melbourne, and some interiors done at Melbourne's JCW Studio.[4][8]

Reception

Reviews were very positive and the film was a popular success at the box office.[4][14]

The Motion Picture News called it "a really good war story, which is exceptional... Frank Harvey... deserves all the credit that can be given him for making such an interesting picture."[15]

References

  1. ↑ ""WITHIN OUR GATES.".". The Age. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 14 July 1915. p. 15. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  2. ↑ Mary Bateman, 'W. J. Lincoln', Cinema Papers, June–July 1980 p 214
  3. ↑ "Band Concerts.". Brighton Southern Cross. Vic.: National Library of Australia. 8 April 1916. p. 2. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Marsden, Ralph. 'The Old Tin Shed in Exhibition Street': The J.C. Williamson Studio, Melbourne's Forgotten Film Factory [online]. Metro Magazine: Media & Education Magazine, No. 157, 2008: 144-153. Availability: <http://search.informit.com.au/documentSummary;dn=519108300276483;res=IELAPA> ISSN 0312-2654. [cited 15 Nov 14].
  5. ↑ "Gallipoli of Film". National Film and Sound Archive. Retrieved 1 December 2016.
  6. ↑ "AMUSEMENTS.". The Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 27 July 1915. p. 11. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  7. ↑ "Amusements.". The Northern Miner. Charters Towers, Qld.: National Library of Australia. 2 February 1916. p. 4. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  8. 1 2 Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p54
  9. ↑ "AMUSEMENTS.". The Register. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 24 July 1915. p. 12. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  10. ↑ "AMUSEMENTS.". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 27 July 1915. p. 10. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  11. ↑ ""OUR BOYS IN ACTION.".". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 31 July 1915. p. 14. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  12. ↑ "MUSIC AND DRAMA.". The Brisbane Courier. National Library of Australia. 24 April 1915. p. 12. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  13. ↑ "A PICTURE SUCCESS.". The Mildura Cultivator. Vic.: National Library of Australia. 8 September 1915. p. 11. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  14. ↑ "DEEDS THAT WON GALLIPOLI.". The Advertiser. Adelaide: National Library of Australia. 30 July 1915. p. 6. Retrieved 15 April 2012.
  15. ↑ "Film News from Foreign Parts", Motion Picture News 11 March 1916 accessed 23 November 1916
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