Trooper O’Brien (1928)

Interesting facts

Trooper O'Brien is a 1928 Australian silent film from the team of John and Agnes Gavin. It was a melodrama set during the "Ned Kelly era" about an orphaned girl raised by a policeman in the bush. It is one of the rare early Australian films that still exist in its entirety.

Production

Gavin made the film after spending several years in Hollywood, and was reunited with his old associate Herbert Finlay. Together they formed Australian Artists Company to make the movie, which was originally shot under the title The Key of Fate. The film was made in late 1926.

The movie features extracts from old 1920 silent films, The Kelly Gang and Robbery Under Arms. Several changes had to be made to appease the censor, including the shooting of Sergeant O'Brien's brother by bushrangers, insertion of scenes depicting police training and a foreword praising the police, and changing the title to Trooper O'Brien. Herbert Finlay said the film was a tribute to police.

Violet Ellis and Will Harris played comic aboriginal characters in black face.

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