Neptune’s Daughter
In Neptune’s Daughter, an “eight-reel spectacular pictorial triumph” made by Hollywood's Universal Studio, Australian celebrity Annette Kellerman plays a mermaid who swears vengeance on the fisherman who trapped and killed her little sister in their nets. Transforming into a human, she seeks the King with the intention of killing him as his laws were responsible for the death. After being discovered, Annette makes her escape and is thrown back into the sea where she realises that she is in love with the King.
Kellerman was internationally famous for long-distance swimming and became a life-long advocate for women’s fitness. It was claimed she had the exact physical measurements of the Venus de Milo statue. Neptune’s Daughter showcases Kellerman’s aquatic skills as well as her “perfect” figure, which was shown, “in the nude—beautifully, chastely in the nude”, as Australian Theatre Magazine commented. She also pioneered changes to female swimwear, even though her close-fitting athletic bathing suit provoked a 1907 arrest for indecency in Boston, USA.
Neptune’s Daughter
In Neptune’s Daughter, an “eight-reel spectacular pictorial triumph” made by Hollywood's Universal Studio, Australian celebrity Annette Kellerman plays a mermaid who swears vengeance on the fisherman who trapped and killed her little sister in their nets. Transforming into a human, she seeks the King with the intention of killing him as his laws were responsible for the death. After being discovered, Annette makes her escape and is thrown back into the sea where she realises that she is in love with the King.
Kellerman was internationally famous for long-distance swimming and became a life-long advocate for women’s fitness. It was claimed she had the exact physical measurements of the Venus de Milo statue. Neptune’s Daughter showcases Kellerman’s aquatic skills as well as her “perfect” figure, which was shown, “in the nude—beautifully, chastely in the nude”, as Australian Theatre Magazine commented. She also pioneered changes to female swimwear, even though her close-fitting athletic bathing suit provoked a 1907 arrest for indecency in Boston, USA.
Year: 1914
Length: 03:10
Production Company: Universal Pictures Corporation
Credits: Cast: Annette Kellerman; Director: Herbert Brenon
Source: National Film and Sound Archive of Australia
Catalogue Reference: 8900 Neptune’s Daughter
People: Annette Kellerman
Location: Bermuda
Tags: Cinema, Feature films, Stars, Hollywood
Filming for Neptune’s Daughter took place in Bermuda with a cast of 200, all transported from the US. Both Kellerman and director Herbert Brenon were injured during production, unfortunate incidents which nevertheless made good publicity.
The two-and-a-half-hour film opened in Australia during March 1915 under the auspices of Canadian Frederick Shipman. This was his first venture into motion pictures. He was a well-known manager of world tours by high-profile singers but, in the war-time context, German contralto Madame Schumann Heink’s Australian appearances had been cancelled.
An odd wartime piece of doggerel in a publicity brochure compared Kellerman’s mythical mermaid to submarines, being used with deadly force at the time by the Germans. (The sinking of the liner Lusitania happened not long after the film’s Australian opening.)
Naming the Submarine
“A submarine can swim and dart
So fast,” said Captain Carter,
“That if I named the craft (he laughed),
I’d call it Neptune’s Darter.”
The submarine that swims and dives
Has such a knack of taking lives,
That by your nomenclature plan
I’d call it Annette Kill-a-man!
Neptune’s Daughter
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00:00
Intertitle: She determines to see the King once more
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00:06
Kellerman as a mermaid slips lies on a rock and slips into the ocean
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00:14
Angry fisherman assemble
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00:21
Kellerman swims ashore
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00:27
Intertitle: Boris incites the people against the King
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00:30
Boris talks to the jeering crowd
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00:41
Kellerman transforms from a mermaid into a woman
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00:57
Boris incites the crowd
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01:02
A naked Kellerman slinks ashore
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01:06
Boris continues to incite the crowd
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01:11
Fisherman scale the palace walls
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01:15
Kellerman runs thought the palace gates
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01:22
Fisherman scale the palace walls
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01:29
Palace guards stand at attention. The see the mob approaching
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01:34
The mob of angry fisherman charge the palace grounds
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01:42
The palace guards rush in formation to protect the King
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01:47
The mob arrives. Their leader beseeches the guards to let them through
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02:05
The King, in his palace, hears the commotion and looks outside
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02:10
The mob continue to yell their grievances
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02:12
The King is worried
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02:20
Kellerman makes her way through the palace gardens
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02:26
The King appears on the terrace
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02:29
Intertitle: The Royal Guard is won over by the fishermen
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02:37
The guards stand down
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02:42
Kellerman conceals herself behind some bushes watching the events
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02:46
The fisherman and the guards storm the palace
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02:48
The mob arrive at the terrace where the King is
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02:57
Intertitle: They refuse to hear the King
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03:02
The mob shout down the King
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03:05
Kellerman, watching from the bushes, covers her eyes in despair