For the Term of His Natural Life (1927 film)
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''For the Term of His Natural Life'' is a 1927 Australian film based on the 1874 novel by
Marcus Clarke Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke (24 April 1846 – 2 August 1881) was an English-born Australian novelist, journalist, poet, editor, librarian, and playwright. He is best known for his 1874 novel ''For the Term of His Natural Life'', about the co ...
, directed, produced and co-written by
Norman Dawn Norman O. Dawn (25 May 1884 – 2 February 1975) was an early American film director. He made several improvements on the Matte (filmmaking), matte shot to apply it to motion picture, and was the first director to use rear projection in film pro ...
. It was the most expensive Australian silent film ever made and remains one of the most famous Australian films of the silent era.


Plot

After an argument, Ellinor Devine reveals to her husband, Sir Richard, that he is not actually the father of their son, also named Richard, but that he was fathered by her cousin, Lord Bellasis. Sir Richard throws his son out and storms off in a rage. Shortly afterwards, Richard Junior finds his biological father dead in the forest. Only the viewer and an unidentified witness know that Lord Bellasis has actually been killed by his own son, known as John Rex. However, it is Richard Devine who is found next to the body and arrested. Thinking that his father killed Bellasis, Richard wants to protect his mother's reputation and gives his name as Rufus Dawes. The convict ship that brings Dawes to Tasmania also carries the new governor Vickers and his wife and his daughter Sylvia. The commander of the ship is a brutal man by the name of Maurice Frere. With the Vickers is a young girl, Sarah Purfoy, as a nurse to the child. However, she really is the fiancée of John Rex, convicted for forgery, and tries to help the convicts take the ship. The rebellion is led by a murderer named Gabbett. They fail when Dawes overhears their plans and manages to warn an officer while being brought to a quarantine room for the sick. Gabbett decides to claim that Dawes was the actual ringleader. A few years later, Frere comes to visit Vickers and shows interest in Sylvia, who has grown to be a beautiful young woman. Gabbett has come back after an escape and hints that he cannibalized his comrades to survive. Dawes, who is kept in solitary confinement on an island before the coast, attempts to drown himself. Frere has brought Vickers the order to give up the settlement and move to Port Arthur. Vickers embarks the convicts and sails with them. A smaller boat is supposed to carry Frere, Mrs Vickers and Sylvia, but is taken by John Rex, who maroons the three on the abandoned shore. Dawes finds them there a few days later and manages to inspire in them a new will to live. Sylvia especially takes to him very much and convinces him to make a boat, but Mrs Vickers dies before they can leave and makes Dawes promise to look after her daughter. The three survivors are found later by Vickers who has started to search for them. Frere takes the credit for saving Sylvia, who is herself unable to remember a thing after waking. Dawes is put back into prison. Later again, it is shortly before the wedding of Sylvia and Frere. John Rex has been captured and Sarah Purfoy begs Frere to save his life by saying that he left them food and weapons. She threatens to reveal his past with some of the women in the settlement to Sylvia and Frere complies. Dawes, who also testifies, is shocked to find that Sylvia cannot remember him. He escapes on the night of the wedding to speak to Sylvia but is apprehended. The next day, a young convict named Cranky Brown is sentenced to a flogging for escape despite the protest of the reverend North and Dawes is ordered to carry out the punishment. He refuses to do so after Brown faints and is flogged himself. Upon finding that Brown is dead, Dawes curses Frere. John Rex has planned another escape with the help of Gabbett. Dawes refuses to leave with them but asks Rex to post a letter for him. John Rex manages to escape with Sarah's help, while Gabbett and five other man get lost in the wilderness. Gabbett again starts killing and eating his comrades to survive. When he arrives at the shore, he is found by a group of sailors, who kill him. Rex reads Dawes letter in Sydney and understands his striking resemblance to Dawes, since they have the same father. He returns to England, where Ellinor Devine first accepts him as her son, but begins to become suspicious when he starts spending the family fortune. She confronts him with the fact that Richard was illegitimate, and Rex confesses to what happened. Some years later again, Dawes is on Norfolk Island. Frere is on his way there to restore order. He quickly finds out that Dawes is the core of a rebellious "ring" whose members avenge every punishment through violence. The heavy punishments to which he sentences Dawes break him after some days. Reverend North becomes a close friend of Sylvia and when he visits Dawes in the hospital, the latter begs him to talk to Sylvia. Frere quickly learns about their friendship and after North infuriates him, he revenges it by punishing Dawes. One evening, he finds North and Sylvia in an embrace and suspects his wife to cheat on him. After he strikes her, Sylvia takes the next boat to the mainland; to her father. North goes to visit Dawes and confesses to him that he witnessed the murder of Lord Bellasis but did not tell anyone because Lord Bellasis held banknotes that North had forged. He gives Dawes his coat and tells him to go and see Sylvia. A storm breaks loose. The ship is about to sink as North frees the Norfolk Island convicts, who go after Frere. Sylvia recognises Dawes shortly before the ship sinks; at the same time, the convicts kill Frere. The next morning finds Dawes and Sylvia on a plank in calm waters.


Cast

* George Fisher as Rufus Dawes / John Rex *
Eva Novak Eva Barbara Novak (February 14, 1898 – April 17, 1988) was an American film actress, who was quite popular during the silent film era. Biography On February 14, 1898, Eva Barbara Novak was born in St. Louis, Missouri, to Joseph Jerome No ...
as Sylvia Vickers *
Dunstan Webb Dunstan Webb was an Australian actor and director, who was a particular favourite of Australasian Films. Filmography *''In the Last Stride'' (1916) – actor *''The Breaking of the Drought'' (1920) – actor *''The Man from Snowy River (1920 film ...
as Maurice Frere * Jessica Harcourt as Sarah Purfoy *Arthur McLaglen as Gabbett *
Katherine Dawn Katherine Dawn (1896-1984) (born Katherine Virginia Madden, and sometimes credited as Susan Denis) was an American actress, screenwriter, and editor active during the 1920s through the 1940s. She was married to director Norman Dawn, who she met ...
as Mrs. Vickers *Gerald Kay Souper as Major Vickers *Marion Marcus Clarke as Lady Devine * Arthur Tauchert as Warden Troke *Beryl Gow as Sylvia Vickers as child *Compton Coutts as Reverend Meekin *Mayne Lynton as Reverend North *Carlton Stuart as Commandant Burgess *William O'Hanlon as The Crow *Arthur Greenaway as Lord Bellasis * Edward Howell as Kirkpatrick *Fred Twitcham as Surgeon Pine *Charles Weatherby as Captain Blunt *Steve Murphy as Jeremy Vetch *Jimmy McMahon as convict boy 1 * Hartney Arthur as convict boy 2


Production


Pre-production

The novel had previously been filmed in 1908 and 1911. Australasian Films had made five films since reactivating production in the mid 1920s but none of them had made much international impact. They thought a big budget version of the classic novel might prove popular with overseas as well as Australian audiences. The project was originally budgeted at £15,000 to be directed by
Raymond Longford Raymond Longford (born John Walter Hollis Longford, 23 September 18782 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian ...
and starring Frank Harvey. Australasian, however, wanted an American release, and accordingly hired an American director,
Norman Dawn Norman O. Dawn (25 May 1884 – 2 February 1975) was an early American film director. He made several improvements on the Matte (filmmaking), matte shot to apply it to motion picture, and was the first director to use rear projection in film pro ...
, and imported American stars. Australasian promised Longford work on other films, but soon allowed his contract to lapse. Norman Dawn was in Australia to make a series of scenic shorts and was offered the job by William Gibson of Australasian. The budget was raised to £40,000. During pre-production, questions were asked in the Commonwealth Parliament whether the film should be exported because it depicted Australia's convict past. Hollywood was making an increasing number of films on location around this time such as ''Chang'', ''The Trail of '98'' and ''The Covered Wagon'', and ''For the Term of His Natural Life'' was grouped with these.


Differences from novel

* The end was changed to a slightly more optimistic one. In the book, Dawes and Sylvia are already dead the next morning. * In the book, Maurice Frere is Richard Devine's cousin. * In the movie, North gives Dawes his coat and tells him to see Sylvia. In the book, he simply drops his coat and hat in Dawes' cell, who manages to escape because the guard is drunk. * Frere is not killed in the book. * "The Crow" is James "Jemmy" (not Jeremy) Vetch's nickname. In the movie, they are two different persons. * Sylvia is still a child (eleven years old) at the time of the mutiny, whereas in the movie, she is already a young lady. * In the book, Peter "Cranky" Brown is a twelve-year-old child, who suicides himself. The person named Cranky Brown in the movie is called Kirkland in the book. * John Rex's death after a stroke is left out in the book.


Casting

Gibson claimed he tested Australian actors to play the leads but was unable to find people of sufficient quality. Accordingly, four main roles were given to Americans, Eva Novak, George Fisher, Steve Murphy and Katherine Dawn, who arrived in Australia in August 1926. The cast also included: *Arthur McLaglen, a boxer and vaudeville performer who was touring Australia; brother of
Victor McLaglen Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen (10 December 1886 – 7 November 1959) was a British boxer-turned-Hollywood actor.Obituary ''Variety'', 11 November 1959, page 79. He was known as a character actor, particularly in Westerns, and made se ...
*Marion Marcus Clarke, daughter of
Marcus Clarke Marcus Andrew Hislop Clarke (24 April 1846 – 2 August 1881) was an English-born Australian novelist, journalist, poet, editor, librarian, and playwright. He is best known for his 1874 novel ''For the Term of His Natural Life'', about the co ...
* Jessica Harcourt, female model *
Dunstan Webb Dunstan Webb was an Australian actor and director, who was a particular favourite of Australasian Films. Filmography *''In the Last Stride'' (1916) – actor *''The Breaking of the Drought'' (1920) – actor *''The Man from Snowy River (1920 film ...
, actor and director for Australasian Films


Shooting

Filming began on 10 August 1926. Great attempts were made to ensure the authenticity of sets and costumes with period costumes being borrowed from Hobart museum and duplicated. After some studio scenes shot at Australasian's Bondi studio, the unit shifted to Port Arthur. Dawn had originally planned to film the Hells Gates and
Grummet Island Curtain grommets, used among others in shower curtains. A grommet is a ring or edge strip inserted into a hole through thin material, typically a sheet of textile fabric, sheet metal or composite of carbon fiber, wood or honeycomb. Grommets ar ...
scenes at their original locations in
Macquarie Harbour Macquarie Harbour is a shallow fjord in the West Coast region of Tasmania, Australia. It is approximately , and has an average depth of , with deeper places up to . It is navigable by shallow-draft vessels. The main channel is kept clear by the ...
, but his plans changed during the shoot. According to the Hobart Mercury, "he said the cliffs at the Gate, and the general appearance, were not such as he had visualised for his picture...In regard to the scene where Rufus Dawes is chained to Grummett Rock, this could be got close to his base of operations." Instead, several establishing shots were taken of Macquarie Harbour and the town of Strahan. In October, the unit returned to Sydney to film prison interiors at the studio. An old sailing ship, the ''Inca'', had been reconditioned and was used for scenes in Sydney Harbour. The prison escape scene was shot on the banks of the
Parramatta River The Parramatta River is an intermediate tide-dominated, drowned valley estuary located in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. With an average depth of , the Parramatta River is the main tributary of Sydney Harbour, a branch of Port Jackson. Seco ...
near Ryde at a cost of £1,200 for one day's shooting. Other scenes were shot at the convict-built gaol at Berrima and Wombeyan Caves. Throughout production, a trio of musicians played mood music on the set to help the cast with their performances. The budget eventually blew out to a reported £60,000. Some have even claimed it went as high as £70,000 although Stuart F. Doyle of Australasian put the official figure at £50,000.


Release

The movie was an enormous success at the Australian box office but did poorly overseas, in part due to the emergence of talking films in 1928.


US release

The presence of American stars and directors meant the film was publicized in the US but was not released there until 1929. It was estimated the combined losses of this film and
Norman Dawn Norman O. Dawn (25 May 1884 – 2 February 1975) was an early American film director. He made several improvements on the Matte (filmmaking), matte shot to apply it to motion picture, and was the first director to use rear projection in film pro ...
's follow-up, ''
The Adorable Outcast ''The Adorable Outcast'' is a 1928 Australian silent film directed by Norman Dawn about an adventurer who romances an island girl. The script was based on Beatrice Grimshaw's novel ''Conn of the Coral Seas''. It was one of the most expensive f ...
'' (1928), came to £30,000.
Cinesound Productions Cinesound Productions Pty Ltd was an Australian feature film production company, established in June 1931, Cinesound developed out of a group of companies centred on Greater Union Theatres, that covered all facets of the film process, from produ ...
announced plans to remake it with sound in 1932 but this never seems have been seriously pursued.


Restoration

The movie was restored by Graham Shirley and screened at the 1981
Sydney Film Festival The Sydney Film Festival is an annual competitive film festival held in Sydney, Australia, usually over 12 days in June. A number of awards are given, the top one being the Sydney Film Prize. the festival's director is Nashen Moodley. Histo ...
.Graham Shirley, 'Restoring 'For the Term of His Natural Life' ', ''National Film and Sound Archive''
nfsa.gov.au; accessed 4 August 2012.
It was based primarily on an incomplete Australian release, comprising less than half of the original film; an American release, provided by the
American Film Institute The American Film Institute (AFI) is an American nonprofit film organization that educates filmmakers and honors the heritage of the motion picture arts in the United States. AFI is supported by private funding and public membership fees. Leade ...
, consisting "almost entirely of variant takes and out-takes" which were usually of lesser quality; images reused in the 1933 Cinesound Productions travelogue ''Ghosts of Port Arthur'';
outtakes An outtake is a portion of a work (usually a film or music recording) that is removed in the editing process and not included in the work's final, publicly released version. In the digital era, significant outtakes have been appended to CD and D ...
and stills from the
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 ...
; and new intertitles for the remaining gaps.


References


External links

* *
''For the Term of His Natural Life''
nfsa.gov.au; accessed 5 December 2015.
''For the Term of His Natural Life''
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 ...

1929 Review of film
''Variety'' via archive.org; accessed 5 December 2015. {{Norman Dawn 1927 films Films from Australasian Films Films based on Australian novels Australian silent feature films Australian black-and-white films 1920s adventure films 1920s romance films Films set in Tasmania Films set in colonial Australia Films directed by Norman Dawn Australian adventure films For the Term of His Natural Life Silent drama films Silent adventure films