''Officer 666'' is a 1916 silent film made in Australia, based on a successful Broadway comedy of 1912. The film was directed by

Fred Niblo Fred Niblo (born Frederick Liedtke; January 6, 1874 – November 11, 1948) was an American pioneer film actor, director and producer. Biography He was born Frederick Liedtke (several sources give "Frederico Nobile", apparently erroneously) in Yo ...

who would go on to direct '' The Mark of Zorro'', ''

The Three Musketeers ''The Three Musketeers'' (french: Les Trois Mousquetaires, links=no, ) is a French historical adventure novel written in 1844 by French author Alexandre Dumas. It is in the swashbuckler genre, which has heroic, chivalrous swordsmen who fight f ...

'', ''

Blood and Sand Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

'' and over forty more films.

Plot

In New York, millionaire Travers Gladwin (

) learns of a plot to steal his collection of paintings by some art criminals led by Alfred Wilson (Sydney Stirling). Gladwin pretends to leave to go on holiday, but actually remains in the area disguised as a policeman. Wilson and his gang arrive, with Wilson posing as Gladwin, and a young lady as his fiancee. Gladwin tries to stop the robbery but eventually lets Wilson go in order to save the honour of the young lady.

Cast

as Travers Gladwin *

Enid Bennett Enid Eulalie Bennett (15 July 1893 – 14 May 1969) was an Australian silent film actress, mostly active in American film. Early life Bennett was born on 15 July 1893 in York, Western Australia, the daughter of Nellie Mary Louise (''née'' Wa ...

as Helen Burton * Marion Marcus Clarke as Mrs. Burton *Sydney Stirling as Alfred Wilson *Maurice Dudley as Watkins * Henry Matsumoto as Bateato * Pirie Bush as Whitney Barnes *Edwin Lester as Detective Kearney * George Bryant as Captain Stone * Matee Brown as Sadie * Reine Connelly as Celeste

Original play

The film is an adaptation of Augustin MacHugh's 1912 comedy play which was produced on Broadway by

George M. Cohan George Michael Cohan (July 3, 1878November 5, 1942) was an American entertainer, playwright, composer, lyricist, actor, singer, dancer and theatrical producer. Cohan began his career as a child, performing with his parents and sister in a vaudev ...

and

Sam Harris Samuel Benjamin Harris (born April 9, 1967) is an American philosopher, neuroscientist, author, and podcast host. His work touches on a range of topics, including rationality, religion, ethics, free will, neuroscience, meditation, psychedelics ...

, then toured the United States during 1912 and 1913. Niblo toured with the play in Australia in 1912-13. The play was based on the 1912 novel by

Barton Currie Barton Wood Currie (March 8, 1877 – May 7, 1962) was an American journalist, author, and book collector. Writer of hundreds of articles and stories for publications such as ''New York Evening World'', ''New York Evening Sun'', ''Harper's Week ...

and Augustin MacHugh. The play was also filmed in 1914 and 1920.

Production

The movie was shot shortly after '' Get-Rich-Quick Wallingford'' (1916) and was completed shortly before Niblo returned to America in June 1915.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p61 It was mostly shot at J. C. Williamson's film studio in Melbourne with some location work.Marsden, Ralph. 'The Old Tin Shed in Exhibition Street': The J. C. Williamson Studio, Melbourne's Forgotten Film Factory nline Metro Magazine: Media & Education Magazine, No. 157, 2008: 144-153. Availability: . ited 15 Nov 14

Reception

Although completed by late May 1915 the film was not released until nearly a year later. It was not a success at the box office. The ''Sunday Times'' called it "a happy piece of farce acting, cleverly photo graphed, and excellent in its sustained fun" and "the most successful icturethat has been issued from the Williamson studios." The ''Moving Picture World'' called it "a very fine comedy, and one of the best produced in this country. Fred Niblo still retains his great personality on the screen."Tom Imrie, "Australian Notes", ''Moving Picture World'' 5 April 1916
Retrieved 23 November 2014 Unlike most Australian silent movies, some of it survives, and the original print is located at the National Screen and Sound Archive in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

, Australia.

Notes

External links

*
''Officer 666''
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 ...

Original story
at

Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a Virtual volunteering, volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the ...

''Officer 666''
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 ...

{{Fred Niblo 1916 films Australian comedy films Australian silent feature films Australian black-and-white films Films directed by Fred Niblo 1916 comedy films Silent comedy films