''The Betrayer'' is a 1921 Australian-New Zealand

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. ...

from director

Beaumont Smith Frank Beaumont "Beau" Smith (15 August 1885 – 2 January 1950), was an Australian film director, producer and exhibitor, best known for making low-budget comedies. Smith made his first film, ''Our Friends, the Hayseeds,'' in 1917. He went on ...

about an interracial romance between a white Australian man and a

Māori Māori or Maori can refer to: Relating to the Māori people * Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group * Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand * Māori culture * Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...

girl.

Plot

Australian Stephen Manners (Cyril Mackay) travels to New Zealand and has sex with a

girl. He goes home and she dies giving birth to their daughter, Iwa. Iwa is raised by her grandfather Hauraki (Mita), who explains to Manners what happens when he returns to New Zealand twenty years later. Manners takes Iwa (now played by Stella Southern) back to Sydney, Australia, but does not tell her that he is her father. Travelling with Manners is John Barris (John Cosgrove), whom Hauraki tells on his deathbed that Iwa's real father is a missionary, not Manners. Barris keeps this information to himself and makes advances on Iwa, which are stopped by Manners. Iwa tells Manners she is in love with him, so Manner explains he is her father and she returns to Rotarua. Barris' wife (Bernice Vere) tells Manners the truth so he returns to New Zealand and is reunited with Iwa, this time as a romantic couple.

Cast

* Stella Southern as Iwa * Cyril Mackay as Stephen Manners * John Cosgrove as John Barris *Marie D'Alton as Mrs Manners *Mita, Chief of the Arawa as Hauraki *

Bernice Vere Bernice Vere (1 July 1900 – 13 March 1972) was an English-born stage, playwright, director, and film actress. She emigrated to Australia when she turned 12. She started performing on stage in Australia until the movie-producing team of E.J. Ca ...

as Eleanor Barris *Maggie/Bella Papakura *Guide Susan *Herbert Lee *Raymond Hatton *

Dunstan Webb Dunstan Webb was an Australian actor and director, who was a particular favourite of Australasian Films. Filmography *''In the Last Stride'' (1916) – actor *''The Breaking of the Drought'' (1920) – actor *''The Man from Snowy River (1920 fil ...

Production

The film was shot on location in

Rotorua Rotorua () is a city in the Bay of Plenty region of New Zealand's North Island. It is sited on the southern shores of Lake Rotorua, from which it takes its name. It is the seat of the Rotorua Lakes District, a territorial authorities of New Zea ...

and Auckland, New Zealand, at Coogee Beach and the Wentworth Hotel in Sydney,Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 104. with about twelve cast and crew. Among them was Smith's assistant,

Rudall Hayward Rudall Charles Victor Hayward (4 July 1900 – 29 May 1974) was a pioneer New Zealand filmmaker from the 1920s to the 1970s, who directed seven feature films and numerous others. Biography Hayward was born in Wolverhampton, England, and died i ...

, who later became one of New Zealand's most prolific directors. Most stories of interracial romance at this time ended unhappily but this one finished with a white man marrying a Māori woman.

Release

The movie was originally entitled ''Our Bit o' the World'', but this was changed out of fear audiences would think it was a travelogue. In 1922, Smith re-edited the film for the British market, adding a racecourse scene and a chase between a car and a train, probably taken from his earlier movie, ''

Desert Gold Desert Gold may refer to: * ''Geraea canescens'', a wildflower also known as Desert Sunflower * Desert Gold (horse), a New Zealand Thoroughbred racehorse **Desert Gold (1919 Australian film), ''Desert Gold'' (1919 Australian film), an Australian fil ...

'' (1919). He retitled the movie ''The Maid of Maoriland'', a title under which the film was re-released in Australia.

References

External links

Betrayer''
in the

Internet Movie Database IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

''The Betrayer''
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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Betrayer, The 1921 films Australian silent feature films Films directed by Beaumont Smith New Zealand silent films Lost Australian films Lost New Zealand films Australian black-and-white films 1921 lost films