Dope (1924 film)
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| Dope | |
|---|---|
 Everyones 30 July 1924 | |
| Directed by | Dunstan Webb |
| Written by | Con Drew[1] |
| Starring | Gordon Collingridge Lorraine Esmond Charles Villiers |
| Cinematography | Lacey Percival |
Production company | Australasian Picture Productions |
| Distributed by | A. R. Shepherd |
Release date |
|
| Country | Australia |
| Languages | Silent film English intertitles |
Dope is a 1924 Australian silent film about a respected citizen who is blackmailed by someone from his past. It is considered a lost film.[3]
Hugh Murnin, a pillar of Sydney society, has a secret past as a pearler on Thursday Island, 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.[3]
Cast
- Gordon Collingridge as Tom Searle
- Lorraine Esmond 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.[4] (This script was copyrighted in December 1922.[5])
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."[6] 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.[3][7][8] The Bulletin commented "if the pitcher is up to the standard of Drew’s racing yarns it will do."[9]
Reception
The film received poor reviews and unenthusiastic public reception.[3][10] The Sydney Truth did refer to a "recordbreaking run at the Lyric Wintergarden".[11]
The film appeared at the Lyric on a bill with a stage show involving jui jitsu set at an opium den.[12][13]
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."[14]