''Within Our Gates'', also known as ''Deeds that Won Gallipoli'', is a 1915 Australian silent film about Australia's fight with the German Empire and the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

during

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, including the landing at

Gaba Tepe Kabatepe, or Gaba Tepe, is a headland overlooking the northern Aegean Sea in what is now the Gallipoli Peninsula National Historical Park ( tr), on the Gallipoli peninsula in northwestern Turkey. During the First World War, the headland was the ...

during the Gallipoli campaign. The story was partly based on a play '' The Man Who Stayed at Home''. It is considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

Plot

Max Huitzell (Leslie Victor), a German-American clerk in the War Office, is being blackmailed by a German spy (Norman Easty), transmitting information by wireless from his attic. The spy's adopted daughter Freda (Dorothy Cumming) falls in love with Edgar (Cyril Mackay), the son of the War Minister (John Ralston), and exposes her stepfather. Max and Edgar both enlist and meet in the Gallipoli campaign, where Max gives his life to save Edgar.

Cast

*Cyril Mackay as Edgar Ferguson *Leslie Victor as Max Huitzell * Frank Harvey as Carl Heine *Norman Estey as Heinrich Henschell *John Ralston as Andrew Ferguson *Dorothy Cummings as Freda Henschell *Raymond Lawrence *Charles Morse *Frank East

Development

This was the first original feature film from the theatrical company J. C. Williamson Ltd. They had become concerned with reports of American films being made from plays which they were producing in Australia, and decided to move into film production themselves. They bought the studios of

Lincoln-Cass Films Lincoln Cass Films was a short-lived Australian film production company. History Formed in July 1913, its principal filmmakers were W. J. Lincoln and Godfrey Cass and the managing director of the company was H. Dean Stewart. Charles Wheeler was ...

in Melbourne and hired two of its staff,

Maurice Bertel Maurice Bertel (1871 – 17 May, 1930) was a French-born cinematographer who worked mostly in Australia. He moved to Australia in 1890 and learned his trade with local film companies. From 1907 he supervised the weekly newsreel made by Pathe F ...

and W. J. Lincoln. After making two play adaptations, Williamson then decided to produce original stories, starting with ''Within Our Gates''.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p54 Although it was the third movie they made, it was the first of their movies to be released.Marsden, Ralph. 'The Old Tin Shed in Exhibition Street': The J. C. Williamson Studio, Melbourne's Forgotten Film Factory nline Metro Magazine: Media & Education Magazine, No. 157, 2008: 144-153. Availability: . ited 15 Nov 14

Production

The cast were drawn from J. C. Williamson Ltd's theatrical stock company, many of whom appeared in a production of the play '' The Man Who Stayed at Home'', on which the script was partly based. The director was English actor Frank Harvey, who moved to Australia in 1914. W. J. Lincoln later claimed making the film was his idea. The landing at

was staged near Obelisk Bay near Sydney. Other location work was shot in Melbourne, and some interiors done at Melbourne's JCW Studio.

Reception

Reviews were very positive and the film was a popular success at the box office. The ''Motion Picture News'' called it "a really good war story, which is exceptional... Frank Harvey... deserves all the credit that can be given him for making such an interesting picture.""Film News from Foreign Parts", ''Motion Picture News'' 11 March 1916
accessed 23 November 1916

References

External links

*
''Within Our Gates''
at AustLit
''Within Our Gates''
at National Film and Sound Archive {{W. J. Lincoln 1915 films Australian black-and-white films Australian silent feature films Australian World War I films Lost Australian films 1915 war films 1915 lost films Silent war films Lost war films 1910s English-language films English-language war films ksh:Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford