''£500 Reward'' is a 1918 Australian

silent film A silent film is a film without 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, w ...

starring, written, produced, financed and directed by

Claude Flemming Claude Flemming (1884–1952) was an Australian actor, writer, producer and director of theatre and film whose varied stage career spanned the first half of the 20th century. He performed in Shakespeare and other drama, as well as opera, and bec ...

who later described it as "a very lurid melodrama".

Synopsis

A "five-act" drama about a couple who travel from the

Rocky Mountains The Rocky Mountains, also known as the Rockies, are a major mountain range and the largest mountain system in North America. The Rocky Mountains stretch in great-circle distance, straight-line distance from the northernmost part of Western Can ...

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

then wind up shipwrecked en route to

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

. The heroine Irene is kidnapped by a ship captain and winds up wrecked on the Queensland coast. She is rescued by the hero.

Cast

as Jack *

John Faulkner John Philip Faulkner (born 12 April 1954) is an Australian former Labor Party politician who was a Senator for New South Wales from 1989 to 2015. He was a Cabinet Minister in the Keating, Rudd and Gillard governments. After his election to ...

as Captain Wolff Forrest *

Renée Adorée Renée Adorée (; born Jeanne de la Fonte ; 30 September 1898 – 5 October 1933) was a French stage and film actress who appeared in Hollywood silent movies during the 1920s. She is best known for portraying the role of Melisande, the love inte ...

as Irene * Barry Lupino *Lorna Ambler *David Edelsten

Production

The film was written, produced, directed and financed by

. It was reported to be the first feature film to include footage of

Mount Kosciuszko Mount Kosciuszko ( ; ; Ngarigo: ) is the highest mountain of the mainland Australia, at above sea level. It is located on the Main Range of the Snowy Mountains in Kosciuszko National Park, a part of the Australian Alps National Parks and ...

, which stood in for Canada. Scenes were also shot at Bermagui, on board an American sailing ship visiting Sydney, and at Rushcutters Bay studio. The cast included

, who was then a dancer touring Australia on the

Tivoli circuit The Tivoli Circuit was a successful and popular Australian vaudeville entertainment circuit featuring revue, opera, ballet, dance, singing, musical comedy, old time black and white minstrel and even Shakespeare which flourished from 1893 to th ...

with an act called "The Magneys", and subsequently went on to star in ''

The Big Parade ''The Big Parade'' is a 1925 American silent war drama film directed by King Vidor, starring John Gilbert, Renée Adorée, Hobart Bosworth, Tom O'Brien, and Karl Dane. Written by World War I veteran Laurence Stallings, the film is about an ...

'' (1925). John Faulkner and Claude Flemming reputedly clashed during the film over interpretation.

Reception

The film ran for two weeks in a cinema in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Flemming then had to go overseas to London and by the time he came back he was unable to locate a copy of the negative and the movie was thought to be lost until a copy was found in a basement in 1938. During the 1920s Flemming tried to re-register the film under a different, more saleable title, but was refused six times by the New South Wales censorship board. The other titles he attempted to use were, ''The Lure of a Woman'', ''Primal Passion'', ''When Men Desire'', ''The Auction of Virtue'', ''The Reckless Lover'', and ''A Romance of Two Worlds''.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, ''Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production'', Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, 84.

References

External links

*
''£500 Reward''
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 c ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:500 pound Redward 1918 films Silent Australian drama films Australian black-and-white films Australian silent feature films 1910s rediscovered films 1918 drama films 1910s melodrama films Rediscovered Australian films Films directed by Claude Flemming 1910s English-language films English-language drama films