Two Minutes Silence (1933)

Interesting facts

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

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

Read on Wikipedia · Text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0. Data from Wikidata.