Cupid Camouflaged
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Cupid Camouflaged'' is a 1918 Australian silent film directed by Alfred Rolfe. It is a high society melodrama. The film was made to aid fund raising for the
Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 97 million Volunteering, volunteers, members and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ensure re ...
. It is considered a
lost film A lost film is a feature or short film that no longer exists in any studio archive, private collection, public archive or the U.S. Library of Congress. Conditions During most of the 20th century, U.S. copyright law required at least one copy o ...
.


Plot

Rosita Manners (Rosamund Lumsdaine) falls in love with Tony (Captain Saltmarshe) and become engaged on a picnic at Port Hacking. Rosita's mother (Mrs T. H. Kelly) wants her daughter to marry Valentine Loring (J.B.N. Osborne), who she believes is of noble blood. Tony and Rosita elope, so Rosita's mother tries to marry Valentine herself – until she discovers he is not from nobility, just a dress designer.


Cast

* Mrs. T. H. Kelly as Mrs Manners * Miss Rosamund Lumsdaine as Rosita Manners * Miss Madge Hardy as Althea Gardner * Mr. James Osborne as Valentine Loring * Captain Saltmarsh, A.D.C. as Tony Martin * Mr. J. L. Maude as Charles Leslie * Col. and Mrs. Macarthur Onslow * Captain and Mrs. Glossop * Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Allen * Miss Edith Walker * Miss Barbara Bowker * Miss Betty Levy * Miss Nina Massie * Miss Joyce Allen * Mr. K. Austin * Mr. George Merivale * Mr. Ferguson


Production

Scenes were shot at Rona, Bellevue Hill, and Mr. A. W. Allen's well-known Port Hacking house, Moonbara, The cast included many members of Sydney society and production of the film was extensively covered in society columns.


Reception

An early screening of the film earned £1,100 for the Red Cross. According to one review:
''Cupid Camouflaged'' has certainly succeeded in swelling the Red Cross funds ; but it is a poor advertisement for the acting talent of the nobility of Sydney. Cupid used to be a lively little cherub ; this camouflaged Cupid has taken a sleeping draught, and can't stay awake. The slight plot is effectively smothered under about a thousand feet of uninteresting fox-trotting and ungraceful acrobatic dancing, under another thousand of garden party, and an endless amount of tea-drinking.
A writer from the ''Sydney Morning Herald'' said that "This little photoplay... was beautifully photographed, so brightly, and with naturally, acted that it afforded vivacious entertainment to everyone in the theatre." Another review in ''The Sunday Times'' said:
In producing this film, Mr, Alfred Rolfe had much to cope with, but he has made the best of a difficult job, and turned out a creditable piece of celluloid amusement. Though ''Cupid Camouflaged'' is distinctly amateurish, and there is an inclination to gaze into the camera's eyes, still, even professionals are not always free from those weaknesses. Captain Saltmarsh does his best with the role of the hero, and, when he lets himself go makes quite a likeable character. In Miss Rosamunde Lumsdaine's acting there is much to be thankful for. She has not cultivated Mary Pickford's curls, and she behaves like an ordinary girl. Mrs, T. H. Kelly makes a dashing, well gowned figure of the designing matron, and some of the best work of the picture is done by Mr. James Osborne... The photography is good.
Another film to aid the Red Cross, ''
His Only Chance ''His Only Chance'' is a 1918 Australian silent film directed by Dick Shortland. It is a high society melodrama. As with '' Cupid Camouflaged'', the film was made to aid fund raising for the Red Cross The International Red Cross and Red Cres ...
'' (1918), was made in Melbourne. Reviewing both films, ''Moving Picture World'' said that, "from a critical point of view, both subjects are woefully lacking in the essentials of an ordinarily good picture, and the fact they are advertised as "amateur" films does not balance these defects. Plot, acting, photography and direction are mediocre in both pictures.""Australian Notes", ''Moving Picture World'' 6 Jul 1918 – 31 Aug 1918 p. 1128
/ref>


References


External links

*
''Cupid Camouflaged''
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 co ...

''Cupid Camouflaged''
at
AustLit AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource (also known as AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway; and AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature), usually referred to simply as AustLit, is an internet-based, non-profit collaboration betwee ...
{{Alfred Rolfe Australian black-and-white films Lost Australian films 1918 films 1918 drama films Australian silent feature films Films directed by Alfred Rolfe 1918 lost films Lost drama films Films from Australasian Films Silent Australian drama films