Australasian Cinema > films > The Martyrdom Of Nurse Cavell
Martyrdom Of Nurse Cavell, The (John Gavin, C. Post Mason, 1916) Australian Famous Feature Company, wr. Agnes Gavin, dp Lacey Percival; Vera Pearce, Harrington Reynolds, C. Post Mason, Percy Walshe, John Gavin, Charles Villiers, George Portus, Roland Stavely, James Martin, Robert Floyd, George Farrell, Ethel Bashford, Clare Stephenson, Nellie Power; lost film
This is one of three Australian films specifically on the subject of Edith Cavell (1865-1915). She was a British nurse celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides during the First World War without discrimination. She also helped some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium, for which she was arrested. She was accused of treason, found guilty, and shot by a German firing squad. Her execution received worldwide condemnation and extensive press coverage. (Wikipedia, edited) This was a very popular film. Gavin claimed that it made £20,000 though costing only £500. It is, however, lost.
Scene from the film (from Long) presumably with Vera Pearce getting pointed at, and John Gavin, the director, on the extreme left - said to have been a big man, weighing 18 stone (250lb or 114kg)
Long, Joan & Martin Long 1982, The Pictures That Moved: A Picture of the Australian Cinema 1896-1929, Hutchinson, Melbourne: 45 (image 2).
Pike, Andrew & Ross Cooper 1998, Australian Film 1900-1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, OUP, Melbourne: 59-60 (image 1).
Reade, Eric 1975, The Australian Screen: A Pictorial History of Australian Film-making, Lansdowne Press, Melbourne: 74.
Routt, William, in McFarlane, Brian, Geoff Mayer & Ina Bertrand 1999, The Oxford Companion to Australian Film, Oxford University Press, Melbourne: 284.
Martyrdom Of Nurse Cavell, The (John Gavin, C. Post Mason, 1916) Australian Famous Feature Company, wr. Agnes Gavin, dp Lacey Percival; Vera Pearce, Harrington Reynolds, C. Post Mason, Percy Walshe, John Gavin, Charles Villiers, George Portus, Roland Stavely, James Martin, Robert Floyd, George Farrell, Ethel Bashford, Clare Stephenson, Nellie Power; lost
Nurse Cavell (W. J. Lincoln, 1916) aka Edith Cavell; lost
La Revanche (W. J. Lincoln, 1916) based on Nurse Cavell story; probably used material from the previous film; lost
Dawn (Herbert Wilcox, 1928) Sybil Thorndike (Edith Cavell) - a British film, which survives, as does a novelisation with the same title by Reginald Berkeley, 1928; banned on release
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