The Miner's Curse

The Miner's Curse, or the Bush Wedding
Directed by Alfred Rolfe
Production
company
Release dates
 27 November 1911[1]
Running time
 3,000 feet[2]
Country Australia
Language Silent film
English intertitles

The Miner's Curse, or the Bush Wedding is a 1911 Australian silent film directed by Alfred Rolfe set during the Australian Gold Rush.[3][4]

It is considered a lost film.

Plot

Sam Flood, a gambler in a little Western mining town, was in love with May, the daughter of Harper, who ran the local pub. However May was in love with a handsome young miner named Dick Taylor.

Flood induces Dick to have a game of poker, and while the game is proceeding, Dick sees Flood slipping four cards up his sleeve. Dick immediately rises and calls Flood a cheat; the latter draws a revolver and covers Dick.There is a fight; the revolver goes off, but nobody is hurt, and at last Dick secures the weapon, calmly takes the cartridges out, and returns it to Flood.

Dick challenges Flood to fight him and they go outside. Dick punches out Flood. Tess Jones, who loves Flood, tries to cheer him up but he hits her

A few days later Flood follows May into the bush and attempts to kiss her, but, Dick has followed, and Flood is forced to escape.

Flood and three accomplices arrange to stick up the gold escort, and their plan is overheard by May and her little brother Jack. The men see May and seize her, but Jack has hidden behind a tree and has not been seen.

They take May with them, and after they are gone, Jack comes from his hiding place and runs home, where he tells his parents and the miners what has happened.

The miners, led by Dick, start out in pursuit. May is tied to a tree and left there while Flood and his party leave for the place arranged for the attack on the escort.

A tree is felled across the track, and the men await the arrival of the escort. A mounted trooper appears and rides up to the tree and dismounts. Directly he does so, Flood hits him over the head, stunning him, then drags him into the bush.

They are just in time, for the coach comes swinging round a bend, the driver pulling up as he gets to the fallen tree. Flood and his companions open fire, two troopers fall, and the others surrender. The robbers overturn the coach and drive the horses into the bush.

While getting out the gold boxes and mail bags, Dick and the miners ride up, firing a volley as they do so, and the men, with the exception of Flood, are captured. Flood, slipping away in the excitement, gets back to where his horse was left and makes his escape, although the miners were hot on his track.

A week later Dick and May are to be married. In the meantime Flood, who has evaded capture, returns to the township to have revenge on Dick, although Tess tries to dissuade him.

The wedding day arrives, and by Dick's wish they are to be married in the bush. The minister has just made them one, when Flood rushes on, revolver in hand. Just as he fires, Tess steps forward and receives the bullet meant for Dick. The miners seize Flood and nearly tear him to pieces before handing him over to the police.[5]

Reception

A contemporary critic called it "a powerful drama taken from the early days of Australian gold mining" which "supplies plenty of excitement and sensation and it possesses a good moral lesson."[6]

References

  1. ↑ "Advertising.". The Evening News (Sydney: National Library of Australia). 27 November 1911. p. 1. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  2. ↑ "Advertising.". The Evening News (Sydney: National Library of Australia). 25 November 1911. p. 2. Retrieved 14 September 2013.
  3. ↑ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p 31
  4. ↑ "AMUSEMENTS.". The Advertiser (Adelaide: National Library of Australia). 16 December 1912. p. 19. Retrieved 26 February 2012.
  5. ↑ "The Miner's Curse.". Jerilderie Herald and Urana Advertiser (NSW: National Library of Australia). 23 February 1912. p. 5. Retrieved 10 November 2014.
  6. ↑ "THEATRE AUSTRAL.". Port Pirie Recorder and North Western Mail (SA: National Library of Australia). 3 August 1912. p. 2. Retrieved 14 September 2013.

External links