''Typhoon Treasure'' is a 1938 Australian adventure film directed by

Noel Monkman Noel Monkman (1896–1969) was an Australian filmmaker, born in New Zealand, best known for specialising in underwater photography. He was a press photographer in New Zealand before moving to Australia and jointing the Orpheum Theatre orchestr ...

and starring

Campbell Copelin Campbell Copelin (1901–1988) was an English actor, who moved to Australia in the 1920s and worked extensively in film, theatre, radio and television. He had a notable association with J.C. Williamson Ltd and frequently collaborated with F. W. ...

, Gwen Munro, and

Joe Valli Joseph George McParlane (also spelled McFarlane and McPharlane; 13 August 1885 – 29 May 1967), known as Joe Valli, was a Scottish-Australian actor who worked in vaudeville and films. He had a long-running vaudeville partnership with Pat Hanna as ...

. It is set in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

although shot on the

Great Barrier Reef The Great Barrier Reef is the world's largest coral reef system composed of over 2,900 individual reefs and 900 islands stretching for over over an area of approximately . The reef is located in the Coral Sea, off the coast of Queensland, ...

and the

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

coast. It was Monkman's first dramatic feature film after several years making documentaries.

Premise

Alan Richards is the sole survivor of a

pearling lugger Pearling in Western Australia includes the harvesting and farming of both pearls and pearl shells (for mother of pearl) along the north-western coast of Western Australia. The practice of collecting pearl shells existed well before European s ...

which has been shipwrecked on Pakema Reef during a typhoon. He sets out to recover some pearls which went missing in the wreck, crossing through the jungle and fighting headhunters.

Cast

as Alan Richards * Gwen Munro as Jean Roberts *

as Scotty McLeod *Douglas Herald as Buck Thompson *

Kenneth Brampton Kenneth Brampton (died 21 June 1942) was an Australian actor, writer and director. He was an actor in England before coming to Australia. He later ran an acting school. Filmography *''Robbery Under Arms'' (1920) – actor, director *'' The Din ...

as Alfred Webb *Norman French as patrol officer *Utan Walters as Utan *

Marshall Crosby Marshall Crosby (18 February 1882 – 1 January 1954) was a popular Australian actor and singer of film, theatre, radio and TV. He appeared in a number of shows for J. C. Williamson Ltd and was a leading radio actor, remembered for his role ...

*Moncrieff Macallum *Ossie Wenban *Douglas Channell *Benjamin Brown

Production

Development

In the mid-1930s, Noel Monkman was working with

F. W. Thring Francis William Thring (2 December 1882 – 1 July 1936), better known as F. W. Thring, was an Australian film director, film producer, producer, and film exhibitor, exhibitor. He has been credited with the invention of the clapperboard. Early ...

making documentaries. Thring offered to back Monkman in making a dramatic feature, and provided him with a writer, John P. McLeod. In June 1935 Monkman announced he and Alan Mill had bought the film rights to a novel, ''A Recipe in Rubber'' by Robert Stock. It would be filmed as ''The Gloved Hand''. By August 1935 Monkma announced he would make ''Typhoon Treasure'' rather than ''A Recipe in Rubber''. Joe Valli signed on to play a lead role that month. Thring planned to make the movie after visiting Hollywood in 1936 but died that year. Cinesound Productions offered to buy the script but Monkman elected to make it himself. He formed a syndicate with Bruce Cummings and Commonwealth Laboratories, who provided the crew.

Shooting

Filming commenced June 1937. The film was shot mostly on location in North Queensland, on the

, the Yorke Peninsula and

Torres Strait The Torres Strait (), also known as Zenadh Kes, is a strait between Australia and the Melanesian island of New Guinea. It is wide at its narrowest extent. To the south is Cape York Peninsula, the northernmost extremity of the Australian mai ...

started filming in June but Gwen Munro did not arrive until October. Torres Strait Islander Utan had a key role. After the location work was completed, some studio scenes were filmed at Commonwealth Film Laboratories' studio at the Sydney Showground. Music was collated from popular classics including Tchaikovsky's ''Swan Lake''.

Death of crew member

While filming underwater scenes on Green Island in October, one of the divers, James Bell, died of

myocarditis Myocarditis, also known as inflammatory cardiomyopathy, is an acquired cardiomyopathy due to inflammation of the heart muscle. Symptoms can include shortness of breath, chest pain, decreased ability to exercise, and an irregular heartbeat. The ...

. Bruce Cummings, who was in charge of underwater photography, went down in a diving cylinder, followed a few minutes later by Bell, who was his assistant. A few minutes later Cummings noticed something was wrong with Bell. When they brought him to the surface he was dead. An inquest was later held which found no negligence.

Release

Reviews generally found the story formulaic but enjoyed the direction and settings. It was sold to America and a shortened version of the film screened in England in 1943. In the 1950s rights to the film were bought by George Maclolm who cut it down to 40 minutes and reissued it as ''The Perils of Pakema Reef''.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 182.

References

External links

*{{IMDb title, 0032069, title=Typhoon Treasure
''Typhoon Treasure''
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 ...

''Typhoon Treasure''
at Oz Movies 1938 films Australian black-and-white films 1938 adventure films Australian adventure films 1930s English-language films