“The Hero of the Dardanelles”
“Produced with the wholehearted co-operation of the military and naval authorities,” The Hero of the Dardanelles, was a feature-length narrative film made to encourage men to enlist. It premiered at Melbourne’s Majestic Theatre on 17 July 1915, unfortunately, only the first 11 minutes of the 40-minute film survive.
“The Hero of the Dardanelles”
“Produced with the wholehearted co-operation of the military and naval authorities,” The Hero of the Dardanelles, was a feature-length narrative film made to encourage men to enlist. It premiered at Melbourne’s Majestic Theatre on 17 July 1915, unfortunately, only the first 11 minutes of the 40-minute film survive.
Year: 17 July 1915
Length: 02:58
Production Company: Australasian Films
Credits: Producers: Australasian Films – Phil Gell and Loris Browne; Director: Alfred Rolfe; Cast: Mr Guy Hastings plays William Brown; Mr Fred Francis plays Gordon Brown (William’s brother); Miss Loma Rossmore plays Lily Brunton (Willliam’s sweetheart)
Source: National Film and Sound Archive of Australia
Catalogue Reference: NFSA title 6479
People: Guy Hastings (actor) playing William Brown
Location: Martin Place, Sydney
Tags: Australia, film, feature film, Dardanelles
Subject: feature film
The producers of this film staged scenes of fighting at the Dardanelles shot at Tamarama Bay near Sydney, using explosives supplied by the army and extras from the training camp at Liverpool, NSW.
The sequence shown here begins with an Inter-title card “Will appeals to his pals to join up”. Newly enlisted soldier William Brown and friends visit a bar where they toast and admire William’s new military uniform. The gravity of the war is emphasised, using the narrative device of an imagined war scene. Casualties lie motionless in the foreground, and one soldier deserts his position and runs backwards.
William then sticks a recruitment poster up on the hotel wall. The slogan reads, “He has done his duty. Will you do yours?” Suddenly, an unfit, older, chain-smoking pacifist walks over and rips the poster from the wall. William drags the man away and demands he leave the premises. The negative portrayal of the pacifist in this scene warns the audience to watch for any anti-enlistment sentiment.
“The Hero of the Dardanelles”
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Martin Place Sydney, New South Wales and interior of Imperial Hotel public bar
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0:00
Intertitle: Will appeals to his pals to join up
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0:04
Street scene in Martin Place. Two men in conversation. They are joined by Will Brown in uniform
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0:23
Outside the Imperial Hotel. The three men enter
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0:32
Inside the Imperial Hotel. The men go to the bar and greet other men. The men admire Will’s uniform. Will gives them a ‘lecture’.
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1:27
Scenes of soldiers in a field firing rifles
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1:37
Back in the bar. Will continues his ‘lecture’
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1:51
Intertitle: He Did His Duty. Will You Do Yours?
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1:57
Back in the bar. Will unfolds a recruitment poster and tacks it to the wall
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2:35
Another man tears down the poster, Will tries to stop him. Will tells the man to leave the bar
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2:53
The men try to give Will another drink but he leaves.