''The Wreck of the Dunbar or The Yeoman's Wedding'' 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 ...
directed by
Gaston Mervale
Gaston Mervale (1882–1934) was an Australian director and actor who worked extensively on stage and in films. He directed several films for the Australian Life Biograph Company. After this wound up he went to New York and worked as an actor for ...
starring
Louise Lovely
Louise Lovely (born Nellie Louise Carbasse; 28 February 1895 – 18 March 1980) was an Australian film actress of Swiss-Italian descent. She is credited by film historians for being the first Australian actress to have a successful career i ...
. The plot concerns the shipwreck of the ''
Dunbar
Dunbar () is a town on the North Sea coast in East Lothian in the south-east of Scotland, approximately east of Edinburgh and from the English border north of Berwick-upon-Tweed.
Dunbar is a former royal burgh, and gave its name to an ecc ...
'', one of Australia's worst maritime disasters. 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
A contemporary advertisement claimed the film featured the following scenes:
*the Old English home;
*the Love Intense;
*the terrific struggle, man to man;
*two thrilling Australian Scenes;
*the terrible gap;
*the doomed ship;
*the wreck of the Dunbar in all its awful realism;
*the rescue of the sole survivor;
*the daring feat performed on the actual spot.
Production
The script, written by P.W. Marony, was based on a popular play which had been performed since the 1880s.
The film was the sole feature produced by Universal Films Ltd, a company formed in Sydney in May 1912 (which had no connection to the Hollywood Studio of the same name). It took over the assets of American Australasian Film Service and
Australian Life Biograph with the intention of producing and importing movies.
Reception
The film appears to have been successful, running for three weeks in Sydney. A few years after the film was released the sole survivor of the ''Dunbar'' died.
References
External links
*
1912 films
Australian black-and-white films
Australian silent feature films
Seafaring films based on actual events
Lost Australian drama films
1912 drama films
1912 lost films
Films directed by Gaston Mervale
Silent drama films
Silent adventure films
1910s English-language films
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