''Two Minutes Silence'' is a 1933 Australian melodrama set during World War I based on

Les Haylen Leslie Clement "Les" Haylen (23 September 1898 – 12 September 1977), also known by the pen-name Sutton Woodfield, was an Australian politician, playwright, novelist and journalist. Early life Haylen was born on 23 September 1898 at Gundaroo, ...

's anti-war play. It was the fourth and last feature film by the Sydney-based McDonagh sisters, Paulette, Isobel and Phyllis, who called it "by far the best picture we produced". It is considered Australia's first anti-war movie and is 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 ...

Synopsis

Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark Armistice of 11 November 1918, the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I a ...

, some years after World War I has ended, four people gather in General Gresham's London drawing room. As the clock strikes eleven, they think back to their experiences of the way. Mrs Trott (Ethel Gabriel), a

charlady A charwoman (also chargirl, charlady or char) is an old-fashioned occupational term, referring to a paid part-time worker who comes into a house or other building to clean it for a few hours of a day or week, as opposed to a maid, who usually ...

, recalls hearing her son has died in action. The general (Frank Bradley) remembers making an error of judgement that led to the death of his men. Denise (

Marie Lorraine Isabella Mercia McDonagh (3 January 1899 – 5 March 1982), also known as Marie Lorraine, was an Australian actress who often worked in collaboration with her sisters Paulette and Phyllis. Isabella, alongside her two sisters made history by ow ...

), the French governess to the general's grandchildren, relives the return of her war hero lover, Pierre (

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. ...

), from the front; Pierre could not forgive Denise for having a child to a German officer who had raped her. The general's butler, James (Leonard Stephens), recollects living as a beggar on the Thames embankment after the war and seeing the suicide of an ex-soldier.

Cast

*Frank Bradley as General Gresham *

as Pierre *

as Denise *

Frank Leighton Frank Leighton (1908–1962) was an Australian actor best known for two leading roles in films for Ken G. Hall, ''Thoroughbred'' (1936) and '' Tall Timbers'' (1937). Biography Leighton was born in Sydney and studied at St John's School, Darlinghur ...

as Captain Lessups *

Leo Franklyn Leo Franklyn (7 April 1897 – 17 September 1975) was an English actor. Much of his early career was in Edwardian musical comedy; in his later career he was chiefly associated with farce. In the years between the First and Second World Wars, ...

as Private Simpson *Ethel Gabriel as Mrs Trott *Victor Gouriet as Corporal Smith *Leonard Stephens as James *Eva Moss as Miss Tremlitt *Peggy Pryde as Mrs Breen *Arthur Greenaway as cure *Frank Hawthorne as Reverend Thomas *Bert Barton as Toby *Katie Towers as nun *Fred Kerry as flower seller *Hope Suttor *

Dorothy Dunckley Dorothy Harriette Dunckley (27 February 1890 – 7 March 1972) was an Australian make-up artist, actress and writer. Life Born Dorothy Harriette Fraser in Bacchus Marsh, Victoria on 27 February 1890, Dunckley was the daughter of Mary Charlot ...

* Peggy Pryde

Original play

The play was written by

, an Australian journalist who later became an MP. It was originally produced in 1930 at the Community Playhouse in Sydney and ran for 26 performances over 13 weeks. The McDonagh sisters saw the play and bought the film rights before the run ended. There was also a production in Townsville the following year, and another one in Sydney in 1939. The play was published in 1933 featuring an introduction from

Billy Hughes William Morris Hughes (25 September 1862 – 28 October 1952) was an Australian politician who served as the seventh prime minister of Australia, in office from 1915 to 1923. He is best known for leading the country during World War I, but ...

Production

Filming took place in a studio in Centennial Park, Sydney in late 1932. It was logistically difficult because of the difficulty sourcing sound recording equipment and two of the cast, Leo Franklyn and

, had to juggle shooting with their theatre commitments for J. C. Williamson Ltd. In addition,

was still recovering from his plane crash the previous year. Ethel Gabriel reprised her role from the play version. "''Two Minutes Silence'', I think, was the hardest job we've ever tackled", said Paulette McDonagh at the time. "Obstacle after obstacle crowded in on us. ... at times it seemed almost impossible to continue. But we realised we had to, and.. well... we just did. Difficulties and delay were a nightmare. But we managed to pull through." The McDonagh sisters promoted the movie by speaking at special luncheons about the filmmaking process. There was a private preview in Sydney in January 1933 which was introduced by

Ted Theodore Edward Granville Theodore (29 December 1884 – 9 February 1950) was an Australian politician who served as Premier of Queensland from 1919 to 1925, as leader of the state Labor Party. He later entered federal politics, serving as Treasurer in ...

Release

The film had trouble getting distribution but was eventually picked up by Universal, who arranged for it to be re-cut. The world premiere took place in Canberra in 1933, in front of Governor General

Sir Isaac Isaacs Sir Isaac Alfred Isaacs (6 August 1855 – 11 February 1948) was an Australian lawyer, politician, and judge who served as the ninth Governor-General of Australia, in office from 1931 to 1936. He had previously served on the High Court of A ...

and various parliamentarians. Initial critical reception was generally positive, ''The Canberra Times'' praising it as "a welcome... in the subjects adopted by Australian film producers. and it received a minor release in Sydney the following year. The critic from ''The Sydney Morning Herald'' was less enthusiastic than his earlier colleagues, calling it:

A production in which the skill of the acting far exceeds the value of the dramatic material on which it has been bestowed... even when allowance is made for the cramped studio conditions under which the film has been prepared... Apart from the scenes from war-time newsreels which have been interpolated, there are only five or six settings; and these are of the most limited nature. The camera once having been established, the actors begin, and go through their scenes without interruption, as though they were on a theatrical stage. There are no changes of angle, and very few changes of distance, to give variety... The weakness of Mr. Haylen's play is that it revives all that is dreary and horrible in wartime memories without developing any significant leading idea... Mrs. Gabriel... represents a cockney charwoman with a realism and a persistent sympathy which almost triumphs over the emptiness of the dramatic situation... Mr. Franklyn... has succeeded in toning down his exuberant stage methods into the greater restraint demanded by the camera. Mr. Leighton and Mr Bradley's parts give the same impression of ease and naturalness which these actors always convey in the theatre. Mr Campbell Copelin and Miss Marie Lorraine both show the same weakness – a colourless, monotonous method of delivering their lines.

The reviewer from the ''

Australian Women's Weekly ''The Australian Women's Weekly'', sometimes known as simply ''The Weekly'', is an Australian monthly women's magazine published by Mercury Capital in Sydney. For many years it was the number one magazine in Australia before being outsold by th ...

'' said:

That the characters chosen by the author were not Australian is a defect, inasmuch as he constantly betrays his ignorance of their natural speech and behaviour. The film adaptation has removed some incongruities, but not all. And to make a really successful film much more action and movement is required to break up the rather lengthy conversational passages between characters grouped in the same small scene. In fact, the direction as a whole is too amateurish for so ambitious a scheme, and the same thing might be said of some of the acting. Marie Lorraine, in particular, is miscast.

The movie only enjoyed a short run. It was the final film made by the McDonagh sisters. Isobel (Marie Lorraine) moved to London to marry and Phyllis went to work as a journalist in New Zealand.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p162-163 "We gave up because we thought we'd done our bit and we wanted to move on to other things separately", said Phyllis later. Plans by the McDonaghs to make a short about

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

called ''The Heart of a Nation'' appear to have not come to fruition.

References

External links

*
''Two Minutes Silence''
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 ...

''Two Minutes Silence''
at Oz Movies {{Paulette McDonagh 1933 films Lost Australian films Australian films based on plays Australian World War I films Australian drama films 1933 drama films Films directed by Paulette McDonagh Films set in London Australian black-and-white films Melodrama films 1933 lost films Lost drama films