''The Bells'' is a 1911 Australian feature-length silent film directed by

W. J. Lincoln William Joseph Lincoln (1870 – 18 August 1917) was an Australian playwright, theatre manager, film director and screenwriter in the silent film, silent era. He produced, directed and/or wrote 23 films between 1911 and 1916. One obituary calle ...

. It is based on the famous stage melodrama by

Erckmann-Chatrian Erckmann-Chatrian was the name used by French authors Émile Erckmann (1822–1899) and Alexandre Chatrian (1826–1890), nearly all of whose works were jointly written.Mary Ellen Snodgrass, ''Encyclopedia of Gothic Literature''. New York, Facts ...

, adapted by Leopold Lewis, which in turn had been adapted for the Australian stage by W. J. Lincoln before he made it into a film. It is today 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 ...

. It was one of several films Lincoln made with the Tait family, who had produced ''

The Story of the Kelly Gang ''The Story of the Kelly Gang'' is a 1906 Australian bushranger film that traces the exploits of 19th-century bushranger and outlaw Ned Kelly and his gang. It was directed by Charles Tait and shot in and around the city of Melbourne. The origin ...

''. According to Lincoln's obituary in ''The Bulletin'' it was one of Lincoln's best films.

Plot

Mathias (Arthur Styan) is an innkeeper in a village in

Alsace Alsace (, ; ; Low Alemannic German/ gsw-FR, Elsàss ; german: Elsass ; la, Alsatia) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In 2020, it had ...

, happily married to Catherine (Miss Grist) and with a daughter Annette (Nellie Bramley). However he is greatly in debt, so on Christmas Day 1833, he murders a Polish Jew (Mr Cullenane) who visits the inn for his gold. He uses this to pay off his debts and rise in society, becoming the burgomaster of the town – however he is always tormented by guilt. Fifteen years later on Christmas Day, Mathias becomes delirious and hears the sound of the Jew's sleigh bells. He dreams he is being tried for the murder and is found guilty. He awakes and dies, leaving his family none the wiser.

Cast

Production

The film was an adaptation of a well known play and featured the only known screen appearance of stage actor

Nellie Bramley Ellen "Nellie" Odelle Bramley (4 February 1890 – 9 June 1982) was an Australian stage actress who gained prominence during the early 20th century as a leading actress on stage and opened the Palace Theatre, Melbourne around 1914. Bramley was ...

. It was shot partly on location of

Mount Donna Buang Mount Donna Buang is a mountain in the southern reaches of the Victorian Alps of the Great Dividing Range, located in the Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. Approximately from Melbourne with an elevation of , Mount Donna Buan ...

in Victoria. Sam Crews was the scenic artist, and John Ennis was the stage manager. Stage scenery was hired from J.C. Williamson Ltd. It was shot at a studio in St Kilda.

Release

Screenings of the film were often accompanied by a lectured from J Ennis, who was in the film. The film was released in the US in 1914 by Sawyers Inc.

References

External links

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''The Bells''
at

AustLit AustLit: The Australian Literature Resource (also known as AustLit: Australian Literature Gateway; and AustLit: The Resource for Australian Literature), usually referred to simply as AustLit, is an internet-based, non-profit collaboration betwee ...

''The Bells''
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 ...