''Dope'' is a 1924 Australian

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

about a respected citizen who is blackmailed by someone from his past. It is considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature film, feature or short film in which the original negative or copies are not known to exist in any studio archive, private collection, or public archive. Films can be wholly or partially lost for a number of reasons. ...

.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 121.

Synopsis

Hugh Murnin, a pillar of Sydney society, has a secret past as a pearler on

Thursday Island Thursday Island, colloquially known as TI, or in the Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Kawrareg dialect, Waiben or Waibene, is an island of the Torres Strait Islands, an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait. TI is located approximately ...

, during which time he believes he killed a man in a drunken brawl. He is blackmailed by one of his old drinking mates, Slick Harvey, who also tries to seduce Murnin's daughter, Mildred (Lorraine Esmond). Mildred's fiancé, Tom ( Gordon Collingridge) exposes Harvey as the leader of a gang of opium smugglers and that it was he, not Murnin, who killed the man on Thursday Island. Mildred and Tom get married.

Cast

* Gordon Collingridge as Tom Searle *

Lorraine Esmond Lorraine, also , ; ; Lorrain: ''Louréne''; Lorraine Franconian: ''Lottringe''; ; ; is a cultural and historical region in Eastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of ...

as Mildred Murnin * Charles Villiers *Monica Mack *Robert Purdie *Jack Raymond *William Newman *J.N. Tait

Production

The script was written by Sydney journalist and author Con Drew, and was originally titled ''The Trail of the Twang''. (This script was copyrighted in December 1922.) The film was made by a Queensland company (see below) but shot in Sydney "because no facilities existed in Queensland for producing pictures. There was no studio in Queensland, and all the suitable artists for the company’s purposes were resident in Sydney." The mansion scenes were shot in a mansion owned by Lebbeus Hordern. Shooting took place in April 1923, in part at Rushcutter's Bay and was completed by May but the film was not released until the following year. ''The Bulletin'' commented "if the pitcher is up to the standard of Drew’s racing yarns it will do."

Reception

The film received poor reviews and unenthusiastic public reception. The ''Sydney Truth'' did refer to a "recordbreaking run at the Lyric Wintergarden". The film appeared at the Lyric on a bill with a stage show involving jui jitsu set at an opium den. ''The Bulletin'' said "The story is little better than a sensational front-page scoop in a yellow newspaper and there is a lot wanting on the technical side."

Australasian Picture Productions Scandal

''Dope'' was the only film from Australasian Picture Productions, which is not to be confused with

Australasian Films Australasian Films, full name Union Theatres and Australasian Films, was an Australian film distribution and production company formed in 1913 that was wound up in the 1930s to merge into Greater Union. The Union Theatres and Australasian Films ...

. The company was registered on 1 February 1923 in Queensland by promoters Stephen Perry and Percy McMahon with a capital of £25,000. McMahon later said:

It was always my desire and intention to produce in Australia moving picture plays of a high moral character and in such pictures to propagate Roman Catholic sentiments. Such w'as the chief feature of the appeals made by me to the Roman Catholic clergy when canvassing them to subscribe for shares in the company, and the company’s shareholders consist almost entirely of Roman Catholic clergy.

Under the terms of the corporation, Perry and McMahon were to receive £1,000 in part payment for their services, plus £1,560 annually for seven years and 6,000 fully paid-up shares. By 30 June 1924 the company's profit and loss statement showed director's salaries of £1,705, office salaries of £154 and general expenses of £230. In December of the year the company went into liquidation owing £2,974. The petition to wind up the company was made by

James Duhig Sir James Duhig KCMG (2 September 187110 April 1965) was an Irish-born Australian Roman Catholic religious leader. He was the Archbishop of Brisbane for 48 years from 1917 until his death in 1965. At the time of his death he was the longest- ...

, the Roman Catholic Archbishop of Brisbane. "The investigations satisfy me, that the company was a swindle", said Justice McNaughten in the Supreme Court of New South Wales. "An investigation is necessary...There was a gross fraud on the part of one of the promoters. All they did was to produce one abortive film. There is no doubt that this is a case for the most searching investigation." Litigation concerning the company was still going on in 1928.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0343607, Dope
''Dope''
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting, and providing access to a national c ...

Dope
at Ausstage 1924 films Silent Australian drama films Australian black-and-white films Lost Australian drama films 1924 drama films 1924 lost films 1920s English-language films Films directed by Dunstan Webb 1920s Australian films Films set on Thursday Island