''The Murder of Captain Fryatt'' is a 1917 Australian silent film about the execution of Captain

Charles Fryatt Charles Algernon Fryatt (2 December 1872 – 27 July 1916) was a British merchant seaman who was court martialled by the Imperial German Navy for attempting to ram a German U-boat in 1915. When his ship, the , was captured off occupied Belgium ...

during World War I from

John John is a common English name and surname: * John (given name) * John (surname) John may also refer to: New Testament Works * Gospel of John, a title often shortened to John * First Epistle of John, often shortened to 1 John * Secon ...

and

Agnes Gavin Agnes Gavin (1872–1947), was an Australian actor and screenwriter in the silent film era. She worked in collaboration with her husband John Gavin throughout her career. She wrote the majority of his films and was arguably the first specialist s ...

. 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

The Gavins claimed the plot "followed closely the facts contained in the official report of the

British Admiralty The Admiralty was a department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for the command of the Royal Navy until 1964, historically under its titular head, the Lord High Admiral – one of the Great Officers of State. For much of it ...

" about the Fryatt incident, with a Belgian love story added. The film begins after Fryatt, the commander of a merchant ship, has rammed a German submarine, and has returned to London a hero. German spies seek to track him down. Fryatt goes on another voyage, is captured by the Germans and executed.

Cast

Harrington Reynolds Harrington Reynolds was an English actor who appeared on stage and in a number of movies. He was best known for ''Old English Old English (, ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and ...

as Captain

John Gavin John A. Gavin (born Juan Vincent Apablasa; April 8, 1931 – February 9, 2018) was an American actor who was the president of the Screen Actors Guild (1971–73), and the United States Ambassador to Mexico (1981–86). Among the films he appeared ...

as Von Kehlen *Olive Proctor as Mrs. Fryatt *

Augustus Neville Augustus Neville was a New Zealand-born actor who appeared in a number of the early films for director Raymond Longford but was best known for his stage career in Australia, particularly in works by William Shakespeare. He worked for many years wit ...

* Charles Villiers *Roland Watts-Phillips *Mabel Fish as Baby *Percy Walshe *Clara Stevenson *Elsie Prince

Production

Fryatt's murder was one of the three best known German atrocities of World War I, the others being the sinking of the ''

RMS Lusitania RMS ''Lusitania'' (named after the Roman province in Western Europe corresponding to modern Portugal) was a British ocean liner that was launched by the Cunard Line in 1906 and that held the Blue Riband appellation for the fastest Atlanti ...

'' and the execution of Nurse

Edith Cavell Edith Louisa Cavell ( ; 4 December 1865 – 12 October 1915) was a British nurse. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from both sides without discrimination and for helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Be ...

. Gavin sought official approval from the New South Wales Chief Secretary prior to making the film. This was given, provided the actual execution of Fryatt was not shown. Production was very swift – Fryatt was killed on 27 July 1916 and the film was ready for screening in February 1917. The script was reportedly based on British admiralty naval reports. Agnes Gavin copyrighted her script on 17 February 1917. The film was a follow-up to Gavin's popular hit ''

The Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell ''The Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell'' is a 1916 Australian silent film about the execution of nurse Edith Cavell during World War I. Although one of the most popular Australian silent movies ever made, it is considered a lost film. Synopsis The st ...

'' (1916), the success of which enabled Gavin to take out a lease at a studio in North Sydney. He announced plans to make four films continuously, of which this was to be the first. During filming a sequence in North Sydney where soldiers raid a haunt of German spies, some bystanders joined in and had to be restrained by the police and John Gavin from smashing the plate glass in front of the shop. Reportedly over five hundred people were involved in the production.

Reception

Although the film's tone was similarly anti-German to ''Nurse Cavell'' it was not as successful at the box office.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 67.

References

External links

*
''The Murder of Captain Fryatt''
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 ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Murder of Captain Fryatt, The 1917 films Australian black-and-white films Australian silent feature films Films directed by John Gavin World War I films based on actual events Lost Australian films Silent war films 1917 lost films Lost war films