All for Gold, or Jumping the Claim

All for Gold, or Jumping the Claim
Directed by Franklyn Barrett
Written by W.S. Percy
Cinematography Franklyn Barrett
Production
company
Release dates
 9 October 1911
Running time
 3,000 feet[1]
Country Australia
Language Silent film
English intertitles

All for Gold, or Jumping the Claim is a 1911 Australian silent film directed by Franklyn Barrett. Only a few frames of the film survive.[2]

Plot

Englishman Jack Cardigan (Herbert J. Bentley) strikes gold and writes a letter to his girlfriend, Nora (Lilian Teece), to tell her of the news. He gives the letter to a friend, Ralph Blackstone (Hilliard Vox) who poisons Cardigan's drink, throws his body in the river and takes over his claim.

However when in Sydney, he accidentally allows the letter to come into Nora's possession and she decides to investigate. While Blackstone goes back to the mine by train, she tries to beat him there by taking a speedboat across Sydney harbour, then driving a fast car. She arrives to find Cardigan still alive and recovering. Cardigan gets his claim back and is reunited with Nora.

Cast

Production

In 1911, the newly established West's Pictures wanted to get into feature production. They offered a £25 prize for a story about Australian life best suited for screen adaptation; bushranging themes were barried.[3] Over 200 entries were received and the winner was stage comedian W.S. Percy for this script.[4]

The car chase scene was shot near Springwood in the Blue Mountains. Lilian Teece had to drive a car alongside the passing of a fast train. The train arrived an hour earlier the scheduled and Teece had to chase after it. "Passengers craned their heads through the windows and urged the driver of the train not to be beaten by a woman," said a contemporary newspaper report. Teece got in front of the train just before the train disappeared in a cutting. "If I had not passed him before I passed the camera I would have followed him to Bathurst," said Teece.[5]

The movie featured an early example of split screen technology, with one scene showing Nora making a phone call, a boatman receiving the call, and Sydney habour in between.[4]

References

  1. ↑ "ROYAL PICTURES.". Williamstown Chronicle (Vic. : 1856 - 1954) (Vic.: National Library of Australia). 11 November 1911. p. 3. Retrieved 9 April 2012.
  2. ↑ All for Gold, or Jumping the Claim at National Film and Sound Archive
  3. ↑ Graham Shirley and Brian Adams, Australian Cinema: The First Eighty Years, Currency Press 1989 p 39
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 26
  5. ↑ "GENERAL NEWS.". The Advertiser (Adelaide, SA : 1889 - 1931) (Adelaide, SA: National Library of Australia). 22 September 1911. p. 6. Retrieved 9 April 2012.

External links