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Australia's Peril
Australia's Peril
Directed by	Franklyn Barrett
Written by	Franklyn Barrett; J. Brown
Produced by	Franklyn Barrett; Rock Phillips
Starring	Roland Conway; Maie Baird
Cinematography	Franklyn Barrett
Release date	19 May 1917;
Running time	5 reels
Country	Australia
Languages	Silent film ; English intertitles

Australia's Peril is a 1917 Australian silent film directed by Franklyn Barrett. It is considered a lost film.^[3]^[4]

Plot

Two German cruisers escape to the Pacific and begin to raid the Australian coast. They sink one merchant marine ship, leaving a sole survivor, Jack Rawson (Roland Conway). He drifts on a raft to an island which he discovers is an enemy munitions base and is captured. He overhears plans to raid the Australian coast and manages to escape. He is taken to Sydney but is kidnapped by a German spy, "Fred Smith" (John de Lacy). Smith ties Jack to a chair in a wooden building which he then sets on fire.

Smith helps a German raiding party land near Sydney and it starts wreaking havoc. Jack is rescued from the fire and helps fight the Germans, inspiring some workers who have gone on strike to join in the battle.^[5] He is stranded behind enemy lines when he discovers his fiancée, Marion (Maie Baird), is being held captive. He goes to rescue her and finds her being molested by Smith. Marion shoots Smith and kills him, then marries Jack.

Cast

Roland Conway as Jack Rawson
Maie Baird as Marion Oldham
John de Lacey as Frederich Schmidt/Fred Smith
P.G. Sadler as Colonel Oldham
Olga Willard-Turton as Joyce (credited as Olga Willard)
Rock Phillips as Carl Reichardt
Charles Villiers as Wilhelm Heidel
Lily Rochefort as Aunt Lily
Maud Styan as maid
Claude Turton
Charles Beetham

Chapter titles

Magnificent island scene
The raft at sea
The ride for life
The landing of the enemy
The sacking of the township
The massacre of inhabitants
The news reaches Sydney
Our troops to the rescue
The loyal strikers
The hand-to-hand fight
Victory.^[6]

Production

The film was written by Barrett and Rock Phillips, a stage designer for J. C. Williamson Ltd who also appeared in the cast along with his wife Lily Rochefort.^[7]

Shooting began in early 1917 with the co-operation of the Commonwealth Defence Department and the New South Wales Recruiting Committee.^[8]^[9]

Charles Villiers was injured during the shoot when he fell down a 30-foot cliff. He was hospitalised for two weeks.^[10]

Reception

According to one account, despite generally positive reviews, the film was not a success at the box office, most likely due to war weariness of the public.^[8]

However another account says the film played in cinema for two years.^[11]

Australian Photo Review wrote "Here is a film which, though a local production in every way, compares in technique particularly with the best of the foreign films, the photography in it being of an unusually high order."^[12]

References

^ ""Australia's Peril" At The Royal". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 17 May 1917. p. 9. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
^ Copyright information at National Archives of Australia
^ "Australia's Peril". silentera.com. Retrieved 24 February 2013.
^ "FILMLAND FLICKERS". The Sun. No. 723. New South Wales, Australia. 4 February 1917. p. 20. Retrieved 15 August 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
^ "Australia's Peril". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 27 April 1917. p. 8. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
^ "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 16 May 1917. p. 2. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
^ "Rock Phillips Passes". Townsville Daily Bulletin. Qld.: National Library of Australia. 5 September 1934. p. 11. Retrieved 24 April 2012.
^ ^a ^b Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 83.
^ "Australia's Peril". The Sunday Times. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 25 February 1917. p. 28. Retrieved 10 December 2014.
^ "Personal". The Leader. Orange, NSW: National Library of Australia. 30 March 1917. p. 5. Retrieved 15 November 2014.
^ "Production Of Moving Pictures--In America And Australia". Australian Town and Country Journal. Vol. XCVIII, no. 2555. New South Wales, Australia. 18 December 1918. p. 20. Retrieved 21 November 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
^ Burke, Keast.; Burke, Walter. (15 May 1917), "EDITOR'S LOCKER.", Australasian Photo-Review, Sydney: Baker & Rouse, nla.obj-431292277, retrieved 16 August 2024 – via Trove