''The Shepherd of the Southern Cross'' is a 1914 Australian silent film about an Englishwoman torn between two men.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p 50 It was the first feature film produced by Australasian Films. It is considered a

lost film A lost film is a feature Feature may refer to: Computing * Feature (CAD), could be a hole, pocket, or notch * Feature (computer vision), could be an edge, corner or blob * Feature (software design) is an intentional distinguishing char ...

Plot

Lady Helen Reynolds is forced to choose one of her two cousins to be her husband if she wants to inherit a large fortune. She chooses the villainous Ralph Hughes after he discredits the other option, Devon Collins. Collins goes to Australia and becomes a shepherd. Some years later Lady Helen falls sick and is accompanied by her husband on a trip to Australia. While making the final stages of the journey in a coach they are held up by bushrangers. The husband and wife escape and get lost in the bush. They wander around for days and become exhausted. Ralph leaves Helen for dead and winds up at the hut of his cousin, where he is taken in and revived by a girl who is actually his own daughter (the daughter of a previous marriage). Lady Helen is discovered by Collins who takes her to the hut. Ralph admits his flaws and dies.

Cast

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 ...

as Devon Collins *

Vera Pearce Annie Vera Pearce (27 May 1895 – 18 January 1966) was an Australian stage and film actress. Her lengthy career was carried out in both her home country and in England. Biography Born in Broken Hill (New South Wales), Pearce spent much of h ...

as Lady Helen Reynolds * Roland Conway as Ralph Hughes *Clare Stephenson as nurse *

Tien Hogue Tien Hogue was the stage name of Anne Christina Hogue (29 June 1892 – November 1964), an Australian actress of stage and screen in the silent era. She was a popular personality, who, though marriage, became Lady Wyatt. Family The fourth da ...

*Shirley Huxley *P.J. Noonan *Mrs George Lauri – the widow of a top comedian who knew Butler years ago

Production

Australasian Films were reluctant to enter feature film production but were persuaded to do so by Charles Cozens Spencer. Spencer imported the key creative talent: Stanley Twist and Nell Shipman were from Hollywood and Alexander Butler was established in British cinema. Shipman was only eighteen at the time. Butler had previously worked in Australia directing plays for J.C. Williamsons Ltd. The actors were well established Australian stage performers. The lead female role was meant to be played by Bobbie Hunt but she was replaced by

in her first film role. Mrs George Lauri was the widow of a comedian who Butler had worked with years before.

Raymond Longford Raymond Longford (born John Walter Hollis Longford, 23 September 18782 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian ...

was critical of the amount of time Butler spent filming, and said this caused the budget to increase.

Reception

Critical response was mixed. The critic from ''The Referee'' said the film "placed Australian film production on a higher plane". A critic from a Dubbo newspaper stated that the film:

Has done a deal of harm by representing to the untravelled young Sydneyites that the interior of the State is a vast, barren wilderness, where dust storms rage which bury man and beast, and have all the stifling and suffocating and poisonous effects of the African Simoom. But great as is the harm done by exhibiting this picture to Sydney youth, that harm is as a mere nothing compared to the false and harmful impressions that that would be created abroad. This film should be rigorously censored by the Government before it is released from Australia. Otherwise, it should be burnt by the common hangman.

The film was a financial failure, returning under £100 to Australasian Films. This led to them abandoning feature film production and Spencer resigned from the company he had helped establish.

References

External links

*
''The Shepherd of the Southern Cross''
at the National Film and Sound Archive
Still from the film
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shepherd of the Southern Cross, The Australian black-and-white films 1914 films 1914 drama films Australian drama films Australian silent feature films Lost Australian films Films from Australasian Films 1914 lost films Lost drama films Silent drama films