''The Strangler's Grip'' is a 1912 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 ...

shot by

Franklyn Barrett Walter Franklyn Barrett (1873 – 16 July 1964), better known as Franklyn Barrett, was an Australian film director and cinematographer. He worked for a number of years for West's Pictures. It was later written of the filmmaker that "Barrett's visu ...

. 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 movie featured a "furious motor ride in the night"

Cast

*Sidney Stirling as Squatter John Dalton *Cyril Mackay as his friend Frank Wood *Leonard Willey as Mike Logan, the tramp *Chas Laurence as Old Simon, John's Butler *Master Willey as Bill Dalton, John's Son *Irby Marshall as Maurice Dalton, John's wife

Production

It is likely that the film was directed jointly by the three lead actors, Sydney Stirling, Cyril Mackay and Leonard Willey. It was the first of four movies they made for

West's Pictures West's Pictures was a short-lived Australian film production and exhibition company during the silent era. It was established by English theatrical entrepreneur Thomas James West (1885-1916) who helped turn the company into one of Australia's large ...

in 1912. Cyril Mackay (d. 1923) was a London stage actor brought out to Australian by J.C. Williamson in 1906.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 31

Reception

The film was described as being a "splendid draw" with the public. It was likely the first thriller film made in Australia.Richard Kuipers, ''Horror in Australian Cinema''
at

Australian Screen Online 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 ...

Trivia

Willey and Irby Marshall were real life husband and wife. They later moved to the US and had successful stage careers there.

References

External links

* 1912 films Silent Australian drama films Australian black-and-white films 1912 drama films Lost Australian films 1912 lost films Lost drama films {{Australia-silent-film-stub