The Crime and the Criminal

The Crime and the Criminal
18 February 1912 issue of Sunday Times
Directed byAlfred Rolfe
StarringCharles Villiers
Production
company
Release date
  • 19 February 1912 (1912-02-19)
[1]
Running time
3,000 feet[3]
CountryAustralia
LanguagesSilent film
English intertitles

The Crime and the Criminal is a 1912 Australian silent film directed by Alfred Rolfe. It features the same railway collision as the climax in Do Men Love Women? (1912) which had come out only a few weeks prior. However the plots of the movies are different.[4][5]

The film was set in Sydney and the Kimberley.[6]

It is considered a lost film.[7]

Premise

According to the Sydney Truth the film "deals with an intensely thrilling story, pictured with true melodramatic emphasis. Local coloring is faithfully introduced, and % big sensation is provided in a realistic railway smash. The jealous hatred of the unscrupulous criminal for bis successful brother provides a strong plot."[8]

Reception

The film debuted at the Alhambra Theatre in Sydney on 19 February. That theatre had just shown A Daughter of Australia.[9]

The Sun said "the subject and plot are well constructed: : It should command the attention of picture lovers."[10]

The Bulletin said the film "pulls the public leg to excess, and drags the long arm of coincidence out of joint and all reason."[11]

References

  1. ^ "Advertising". Sunday Times. No. 1361. New South Wales, Australia. 18 February 1912. p. 1. Retrieved 11 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  2. ^ "Lyric Theatre". Daily Herald. Vol. 3, no. 876. South Australia. 11 January 1913. p. 3. Retrieved 11 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "Advertising". The Barrier Miner. Broken Hill, NSW: National Library of Australia. 3 February 1913. p. 3.
  4. ^ Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p 32
  5. ^ "Advertising". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 9 March 1912. p. 5.
  6. ^ "Brook's Pictures". Forbes Advocate. NSW: National Library of Australia. 3 May 1912. p. 5.
  7. ^ Vagg, S., & Reynaud, D. (2016). Alfred Rolfe: Forgotten pioneer Australian film director. Studies in Australasian Cinema, 10(2),184-198. doi:10.1080/17503175.2016.1170950.
  8. ^ "Alhambra Theatre, Ltd". Truth. No. 1074. New South Wales, Australia. 18 February 1912. p. 2. Retrieved 11 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "Alhambra Theatre". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 23, 121. New South Wales, Australia. 19 February 1912. p. 4. Retrieved 11 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  10. ^ "Stage Song and Show". The Sun. No. 512. New South Wales, Australia. 19 February 1912. p. 2 (CRICKET EDITION). Retrieved 11 December 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  11. ^ "Sundry Shows.", The Bulletin, John Ryan Comic Collection (Specific issues)., 33 (1675 (21 Mar 1912)), Sydney, N.S.W: John Haynes and J.F. Archibald, 1880, ISSN 0007-4039, nla.obj-644403112, retrieved 11 December 2023 – via Trove


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