''The Mystery of a Hansom Cab'' is a 1925 Australian

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

directed by and starring

Arthur Shirley Arthur Shirley (31 August 1886 – 24 November 1967) was an Australian actor, writer, producer, and director of theatre and film. He experienced some success as a film actor in Hollywood between 1914 and 1920. Biography Early life Born Hen ...

based on the popular

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...

which had already been filmed in

1911 A notable ongoing event was the Comparison of the Amundsen and Scott Expeditions, race for the South Pole. Events January * January 1 – A decade after federation, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory ...

. 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

Oliver Whyte is found murdered in a hansom cab in Melbourne. Brian Fitzgerald (

) is arrested for the crime and brought to trial, but is acquitted at the last minute by Sal Rawlin, a missing witness who produces an alibi. The mystery involves Brian's fiancée, Madge (Grace Glover).

Cast

as Brian Fitzgerald *Grace Glover as Madge *Roland Stavey as detective *Cora Warner as Mother Guttersnipe *Isa Crossley as Sal Rawlin *

Godfrey Cass Godfrey Cass (1867 – 14 May 1951) was an Australian actor in the silent era. Between 1906 and 1935 he acted in nineteen film roles. He played Ned Kelly three times, and also had roles in a number of other bushranger movies including '' A Tale ...

*Vera Remee *Isa Millett *Sydney Stirling *Carlton Stuart *Leslie Woods *Frank Barnes *Arthur Orbell *Charles Vincent *John Bruce *Billie Sim

Background

This was Shirley's directorial debut. He had started filming a South Seas romance called '' The Throwback'' in 1920 but had been unable to complete it. He subsequently sued his cinematographer,

Ernest Higgins Ernest Henry Higgins (1871–1945) was an Australian cinematographer during the days of silent film. He was the eldest brother of Arthur and Tasman Higgins. He shot the film '' The Throwback'' (1920) for director Arthur Shirley which resulted ...

, but lost the case and had to declare bankruptcy. Shirley managed to recover and establish a new company, Pyramid Pictures, with the backing of several Melbourne businessman, including Gilbert M. Johnson. Pyramid signed Shirley to a seven-year contract in April 1924, at £20 a week while making a movie, £15 a week otherwise. Cora Warner, who appeared in the support cast, ran the theatrical boarding house in

Woolloomooloo Woolloomooloo ( ) is a harbourside, inner-city eastern suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Woolloomooloo is 1.5 kilometres east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of the City of Sydney. It is in a lo ...

where Shirley was staying.

Production

Filming began in February 1924 and took five months to photograph. Many of the scenes were in Melbourne on the steps of Parliament House, in the Fitzroy Gardens, and also St. Kilda Road. Interiors were shot in Sydney at a studio in Rushcutters Bay. It was the first movie in Australia to run for ten reels and use double exposure.

Reception

The movie received good reviews and was a major commercial success, with ''

The Sydney Morning Herald ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' (''SMH'') is a daily compact newspaper published in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and owned by Nine. Founded in 1831 as the ''Sydney Herald'', the ''Herald'' is the oldest continuously published newspaper ...

'' saying that it played "to a greatly interested audience."Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 125.

References

External links

*
''The Mystery of a Hansom Cab (1925 version)''
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 ...

1925 drama films 1925 films Australian black-and-white films Australian drama films Australian silent feature films Films set in colonial Australia Lost Australian films 1925 lost films Lost drama films Films directed by Arthur Shirley Silent drama films {{Australia-silent-film-stub