The Life Story of John Lee, or The Man They Could Not Hang (1921 film)
| The Life Story of John Lee, or The Man They Could Not Hang | |
|---|---|
 Everyone's 30 May 1923 | |
| Directed by | Arthur W. Sterry |
| Written by | Arthur W. Sterry |
| Produced by | Arthur W. Sterry Frederick Haldane |
| Starring | Rose Rooney |
| Cinematography | Tasman Higgins |
Production companies | Sterry and Haldane |
Release date |
|
Running time | six reels |
| Country | Australia |
| Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
The Life Story of John Lee, or the Man They Could Not Hang is a 1921 Australian silent film based on the true life story of John Babbacombe Lee. It is a remake of a 1912 film with some extra scenes of Lee's childhood.
Unlike many silent Australian films, a copy of the movie exists.
In 1927 novelist Arthur Wright declared in a piece on the Australian industry that "a picture which perhaps cost the least of all, had no Austarlian interest, is reputed to have proved the most profitable, and that is, be it recorded with sorrow, The Man They Could not Hang."[1]
Plot[edit]
John Lee grows up in England and is falsely accused of the murder of Emma Keye at Babbacombe. Characters include his parents; Miss Key's employer, Ned Saw; Eliza Harris and Jane, servants of Miss Keye; Kate Farmer, Lee's sweetheart.
He is sentenced to be executed but the executions fail three times. Eventually, Lee is set free and is reunited with his mother and sweetheart at home.[2]
Cast[edit]
- Carlton Max as John Lee
- Kate Rooney
Production[edit]
Sterry and Haldane enjoyed enormous success with the 1912 version of this story, so they decided to remake it. They added extra scenes of Lee's childhood and extra piety.[3]
In August 1921 it was announced Carlton Max, the vetriloquist, signed to play the title role.[4] Kate Rooney, the female lead, was from vaudeville.[5]
It was registered for copyright on 8 September 1921.[6]
Sterry registered a play for copyright in 1927 called The Life Story of John Lee or The Babbacombe Tragedy.[7]
Reception[edit]
Critical[edit]
Everyone's magazine said:
The original film having outlived its usefulness, so far as quality goes, a new cast has been secured for the present screening. The present company do well enough with this very melodramatic story, which, to say the most of, is a story most flimsily constructed, and lacking in many essentials. But the title carries a punch, and there is enough morbid interest in the theme to assure for it a wide measure of patronage. The captious critic, reviewing the film from the angle of what is anticipated in a production, will have something to think over. But the answer is in the box-office, and this, after all is what the exhibitor wants to hear. It is a safe bet that stories of the Man They Could Not Hang type will pull business, when the finest picture ever reeled would flop.[8]
Triad magazine called it:
An Australian production which looks like an old picture taken off the shelf and gently dusted. The hero, Mr. Carlton Max, played with great conviction throughout the whole play. His father, whose name does not appear, also acted well, and did some fine work in several scenes. The other characters were simple, but all suitable to the long and intricate plot...The various sea effects were well done, and the titles adapted from the "Ballad of Reading Jail" were suitable and well adapted. The photography was patchy in parts, but the general effect, even for an old film, was good.[9]
Box Office[edit]
The movie proved very popular at the box office. Sterry and Haldane would often appear at screenings, delivering an oration.[10]
In May 1922 Everyones called it "a remarkable draw everywhere, capable of converting any week night into a Saturday, as can be vouched for by those showmen who have handled it."[11]
In March 1923 the film was called "a big money-spinner through most of Australia during the past fifteen months."[12] In June it was reported Sterry "had cleaned up everywhere with The Man They Could Not Hang... financially, but since his departure Mr. Mervyn Barrington has received many applications from suburban and country exhibitors, all anxious to obtain this picture. In fact, three managers have re-booked it for the second time; something rather unusual for an Australian production."[13]
Haldane also toured the English speaking world showing this film and providing the oration that accompanied it.[14]
According to The Bulletin in May 1923:
Six months ago Hugh D. Wilson, sometime general manager of the Union Picture Theatre, Brisbane, and Haldane, one of Phillip Lytton’s mummers, left for South Africa with the calamitous made-in-Australia film, The Man They Could Not Hang. They reached Jo’burg justwhen the leaders of the Red Rebellion were about to be executed. Owing to the electrical atmosphtere prevailing, the authorities intervened, and “The Man” wasn’t permitted, to hang or flicker either. Wilson and Haldane moved on to England, and have since been working steadily through the U.K. with the celluloid catastrophe. The Man They Could Not Hang is at present advertising Australia in Wales. What’s the usa of having a cinematograph censorship if films, like this unpleasant thing are not only suffered to be made and exhibited here, but are allowed to go forth to the ends of the earth?[15]
In November 1924 Everyone's said the film "is proving one of the biggest successes in the film world."[16]
In 1926 Everyones reported the film was still playing in Britain for several years[17]
The film was banned in South Africa.[18]
References[edit]
- ^ "Australian Moving Pictures. An Industry Which Has Failed to Grow Up. Some Reminiscences.", Everyones., 6 (357 (5 January 1927)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-576826185, retrieved 26 February 2024 – via Trove
- ^ "Union Pictures". Newcastle Morning Herald and Miners' Advocate. No. 15, 295. New South Wales, Australia. 20 October 1925. p. 6. Retrieved 18 August 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 111.
- ^ "Performers in Australia.", Everyones., 2 (76), Sydney (published 1920), 17 August 1921, nla.obj-584367777, retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Performers Here and Abroad", Everyones., 2 (80), Sydney (published 1920), 14 September 1921, nla.obj-556657869, retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Proceedings Under the Copyright Act 1912". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. 85. Australia. 3 November 1921. p. 1616. Retrieved 18 August 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Proceedings Under the Copyright Act 1912". Commonwealth of Australia Gazette. No. 89. Australia. 25 August 1927. p. 1738. Retrieved 18 August 2017 – via National Library of Australia.
- ^ "Recent Film Releases", Everyones., 2 (96 ( 4 January 1922)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-557079477, retrieved 1 March 2024 – via Trove
- ^ "The Shadow Show", The Triad, 7 (4) (Australian ed.), Sydney, 10 January 1922, nla.obj-1207973764, retrieved 1 March 2024 – via Trove
- ^ "Victoria.", Everyones., 3 (163), Sydney, 18 April 1923, nla.obj-561907980, retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ ""The Man They Could Not Hang"", Everyones., 3 (116 ( 24 May 1922)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-557595714, retrieved 29 February 2024 – via Trove
- ^ "Personalities.", Everyones., 3 (157), Sydney (published 1920), 7 March 1923, nla.obj-561897124, retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Victoria.", Everyones., 3 (173 (27 June 1923)), Sydney, nla.obj-562053661, retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "The Gippsland Times". Gippsland Times (Vic.: 1861–1954). Victoria: National Library of Australia. 15 January 1920. p. 3. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
- ^ "Poverty Point L.T. Piver. Paris. The Face Powder de Luxe", The Bulletin, 44 (2255), Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 3 May 1923, nla.obj-632875090, retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "Hugh Wilson in Canada", Everyones., 4 (244 (5 November 1924)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-574761755, retrieved 1 March 2024 – via Trove
- ^ "Whisperings of William", Everyones., 5 (330 (30 June 1926)), Sydney, 1920, nla.obj-578007803, retrieved 1 December 2023 – via Trove
- ^ "South Africa Bans Australian- Made Film.", Everyones., 3 (141 ( 15 November 1922)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-555120702, retrieved 29 February 2024 – via Trove
