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It Is Never Too Late to Mend (1911 film)

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It Is Never Too Late to Mend
Directed byW. J. Lincoln[3]
Written byW. J. Lincoln[4]
Produced byJohn Tait
Nevin Tait
Millard Johnson
William Gibson
StarringStanley Walpole
CinematographyOrrie Perry[5]
Production
companies
Johnson and Gibson
Distributed byJ & N Tait (Australia)
Sawyer's Pictures (USA)
Release dates
7 January 1911 (Sydney)[1]
August 1914 (USA)[2]
Running time
4,000 feet[6]
CountryAustralia
LanguagesSilent film
English intertitles

It Is Never Too Late to Mend is an Australian feature-length film directed by W. J. Lincoln. It was based on a stage adaptation of the popular 1865 novel It Is Never Too Late to Mend by Charles Reade about convict Australia. The novel has been credited with exposing cruelties in the Australian prison system and having helped end the convict system.[7]

It is considered a lost film.

Plot

George Fielding travels to Australia to make enough money to marry his cousin, Susan Meadows, who is desired by the evil John Meadows. George discovers gold and a bushranger gang tries to rob him but the other miners come to George's rescue.

There is a subplot about a thief acquaintance of George, Tom Robinson, who is sent to gaol and suffers brutal treatment at the hands of the guards. Susan is about to marry the evil Meadows but he is unmasked at the wedding by Isaac Levy. The wedding goes ahead with Susan marrying George instead.

The film consisted of 60 scenes.[8] It was issued with a summary of the story and featured chapter titles which prepared the audiences for incidents before they happened.[9] It was also often accompanied by a lecturer.

According to The Age "Interesting phases of early Australian life are revealed, including the fascinating stories of the gold discoveries... in the construction of the story for picture purposes, the salient features of th novel have been retained and a descriptive address accompanies the production."[10]

Cast

Production

Stage adaptations of the novel had been popular since 1865.[12]

The film was shot in Melbourne and "enacted by a specially-selected company of Victorian artists"[13] who were "a selected metropolitan company of 60 performers."[8]

Reception

Box Office

The movie debuted at the Olympia Theatre in Haymarket, Sydney in January 1911.[14] A lecturer accompanied screenings and would explain the action that took place.

The movie broke box office records at the Olympia.[15][16] It later drew strong crowds in Melbourne as well.[17][18]

Critical

The Sydney Sunday Times said there "was special performances by a company of Australian actors."[19]

Melbourne's Table Talk called it "a most gratifying success in all ways. The pictures are clear and the acting is adequate, while to our ideas it is more natural, for it has not the Gallic mannerisms and excessive gesture noticeable in some of the imported pictorial dramas, which are usually interpreted by French artists."[20]

The Riverine Herald stated "the cast was well chosen and well balanced, and the dramatic action of the play was finely brought out."[21]

The Launceston Examiner said "in its construction the adapter has endeavoured to retain all the main and most salient features of the novel, allowing for the bridging over of many incidents, to make a natural sequence and clear-cut story."[22]

The Launceston Daily Telegraph said the novel had been "exceedingly well adapted by W.J. Lincoln... [a] magnificent pictorial representation, so full of strong human interest".[17]

USA Release

The film was released in the USA in August 1914.[2]

Legacy

The box office success of the film encouraged the Tait brothers and Millard and Johnson to appoint Lincoln as the main director for their new company, Amalgamated Pictures, which operated for over a year.[23]

References

  1. ^ Mary Bateman, 'W. J. Lincoln', Cinema Papers, June–July 1980 p 174
  2. ^ a b http://lantern.mediahist.org/catalog/movingpicturewor21newy_0545
  3. ^ "PORT EMPIRE PICTURE PALACE". Daily Herald (Adelaide, SA : 1910 - 1924). Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia. 20 February 1912. p. 6. Retrieved 18 June 2015.
  4. ^ "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 21 January 1911. p. 2. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  5. ^ "OUR FILM JUBILEE". The Sunday Herald. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 9 September 1951. p. 9. Retrieved 26 October 2014.
  6. ^ "AMUSEMENTS". The Examiner. Launceston, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 20 May 1911. p. 9 Edition: DAILY. Retrieved 12 January 2012.
  7. ^ 'POWERFUL BOOKS. And the Miracles They Performed.' Camperdown Chronicle, Tuesday 20 February 1934 p 3
  8. ^ a b "THE Mildura 'Cultibator.'". The Mildura Cultivator. Vic.: National Library of Australia. 22 July 1911. p. 7. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  9. ^ "Wonderland Pictures". The Mildura Cultivator. Vic.: National Library of Australia. 29 July 1911. p. 9. Retrieved 28 January 2012.
  10. ^ "AUSTRALIAN MADE PICTURES". The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). Melbourne, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 20 February 1911. p. 9. Retrieved 27 July 2015.
  11. ^ "LIFE & LETTERS". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 4 May 1946. p. 5. Retrieved 16 September 2013.
  12. ^ "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 20 August 1867. p. 8. Retrieved 6 December 2012.
  13. ^ "TIVOLI THEATRE". Bendigo Advertiser. Vic.: National Library of Australia. 27 February 1911. p. 7. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  14. ^ "OLYMPIA THEATRE". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 9 January 1911. p. 3. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  15. ^ "Advertising". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 10 January 1911. p. 1. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  16. ^ "OLYMPIA THEATRE". The Sydney Morning Herald. National Library of Australia. 14 January 1911. p. 14. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  17. ^ a b "MUSIC, ART, AND DRAMA". The Daily Telegraph. Launceston, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 24 February 1911. p. 6. Retrieved 25 October 2014.
  18. ^ "Advertising". The Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). Melbourne, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 20 February 1911. p. 1. Retrieved 23 September 2015.
  19. ^ "THE OLYMPIA". The Sunday Times. Sydney: National Library of Australia. 8 January 1911. p. 2. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  20. ^ "TAIT'S PICTURES". Table Talk (Melbourne, Vic. : 1885 - 1939). Melbourne, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 23 February 1911. p. 21. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  21. ^ "The Riverine Herald". Riverine Herald. Echuca, Vic.: National Library of Australia. 27 April 1911. p. 2. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  22. ^ "AMUSEMENTS". The Examiner. Launceston, Tas.: National Library of Australia. 20 May 1911. p. 9 Edition: DAILY. Retrieved 29 September 2013.
  23. ^ Graham Shirley and Brian Adams, Australian Cinema: The First Eighty Years, Currency Press, 1989, p42
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