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The Kingdom of Twilight

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The Kingdom of Twilight
Directed byAlexander Macdonald
Written byAlexander Macdonald
Produced byAlexander Macdonald
StarringWendy Osborne
CinematographyWalter Sully
Lacey Percival[1]
Edited byWalter Sully
Production
company
Seven Seas Screen Productions[2]
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • December 1929 (1929-12) (UK)
Running time
92 minutes
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
Budgetmore than £5,000[3]

The Kingdom of Twilight is a 1929 British-Australian film directed by British author and explorer Alexander MacDonald.[4]

It was filmed under the title Tanami, meaning "white feather".[5]

It was one of the few Australian films made during the late 1920s, when local production went through a major slump. The movie was financed in Britain.[6]

Plot

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Jim Carrington leaves England with his daughter Dorothy after a scandal, and seeks his fortune as a gold prospector in northern Australia. He learns of a mysterious tribe of aborigines but is wounded and captured by the drive. He is given up for dead by everyone except for Dorothy who continues to search for him. She is captured by the tribe as well and discovers her father is alive. They return together to white civilisation where Dorothy is reunited with a young gold miner who loves her.

Cast

[edit]
  • Wendy Osborne as Dorothy Carrington[7]
  • John Faulkner as Jim Carrington
  • Robert Leslie Shepherd
  • Rex Arnot as McCrimmon[8]
  • David Wallace as Reginald Carewe
  • Len Norman as Tanami
  • Laurel Macdonald as baby
  • Herrick Corbett as Puggy Markham
  • Jean Seton

Production

[edit]
Everyeon's 17 October 1928

MacDonald had previously made a film called The Unsleeping Eye (1928) in Papua, which was a commercial success. He reused many cast and crew on this film, including his wife, actor Wendy Osborne.[9][10][11] MacDonald and Osborne also bought along their three year old daughter Laurel.[12]

Jane Seton was a Scottish socialite.[13]

The script appears to use elements of MacDonald's 1928 novel The Mystery of Diamond Creek.[14]

MacDonald called the film "an attempt to capture the spirit of Australia, The bush prospector is the most romantic figure in Australia, but the world hears little of- him. It is the spirit of his work and service I shall try to portray."[15]

Filming started in London in May 1928.[16] MacDonald and his crew then travelled to Sydney. In June he said "I believe there is a great future for films'of the British-Empire; they can play a big part in knitting the Empire together, and in pushing the British name abroad."[17]

The unit was based at Chillagoe in Queensland.[18] Filming took reportedly three months on location with a crew of fourteen. Six of these were locals, the rest bought by MacDonald.[19]

Local settlers and a reported 35 Aboriginal people helped out.[20]

Scenes were shot at an old mining camp with an aboriginal corroboree staged in the Mungana Caves nearby. According to one report, "Scores of Newman flares were shot up in lighting these wonderful limestone formations, while the cameraman had narrow es- capes from serious injuries when dynamiting huge boulders for effect shots in sections of the story."[21] There were also scenes shot at Walsh River.[22]

Shooting was finished by September 1928.[4][23] MacDonald was back in London by November.[24]

Post production took place in Glasgow. In January 1929 it was announced the film's title had changed from Tanami to Kingdom of Twilight and that MacDonald and his crew would return to Australia later that year to make a third movie, based in the Solomon Islands.[25]

Release

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The film was trade screened in London in January 1930.[4] Liverpool Post praised the cinematography but called it "extremely old fashioned material."[26]

The movie was never commercially released in Australia but was given some screenings. Reviewing a screening in Chillagoe in January 1932, the Cairns Post said "the picture stands on its own. The photography is clear. The acting natural and the scenery superb. Quite equal, if not, superior to anything turned out by America. All the local talent were easily recognised and loudly applauded. The aborigines' corroboree and imitation kangaroo hunt was very good."[27]

The film was given some private screenings in 1933.[28]

In September 1933 MacDonald returned to Australia and announced he planned to add sound to the film, and The Unsleeping Eye.[29][30] This did happen for The Unsleeping Eye by 1937.[31]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Percival Joins Seven Seas Co. to Film "Tanami"", Everyones., 9 (434 (27 June 1928)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-577032413, retrieved 7 March 2024 – via Trove
  2. ^ "RUGCED BUSHMEN". Cairns Post. No. 8245. Queensland, Australia. 26 June 1928. p. 5. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  3. ^ "SNIPING THE SHOWS". Sunday Times (Perth). No. 1599. Western Australia. 16 September 1928. p. 8 (First Section). Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. ^ a b c Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p148
  5. ^ "The Bulletin. MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 1978". Townsville Daily Bulletin. Vol. L, no. 208. Queensland, Australia. 3 September 1928. p. 6. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  6. ^ "Australian Production Budget Drops Ninety Thousand Pounds This Year.", Everyones., 9 (459 (12 December 1928)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-590190846, retrieved 7 March 2024 – via Trove
  7. ^ "MISS WENDY OSBORNE". Cairns Post. No. 8254. Queensland, Australia. 6 July 1928. p. 10. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  8. ^ "Glad to Know Them". Truth. No. 2019. New South Wales, Australia. 16 September 1928. p. 12. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  9. ^ "THE KINEMA". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 12 May 1928. p. 7. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  10. ^ "KINGDOM OF TWILIGHT". The Daily News. Perth: National Library of Australia. 28 November 1928. p. 7 Edition: HOME FINAL EDITION. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  11. ^ "AN AUSTRALIAN FILM". The Age. No. 22, 818. Victoria, Australia. 25 May 1928. p. 11. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  12. ^ "MISS WENDY OSBORNE". The Northern Herald. Vol. LXII, no. 797. Queensland, Australia. 11 July 1928. p. 35. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  13. ^ "Scotch Society Girl in McDonald's 'Tanami'", Everyones., 9 (447 (26 September 1928)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-587990748, retrieved 7 March 2024 – via Trove
  14. ^ "THE BOYS CORNER". Observer. Vol. LXXXIV, no. 7, 730. South Australia. 24 December 1927. p. 57. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  15. ^ "AUSTRALIAN FILM ROMANCE". The West Australian. Vol. XLIV, no. 8, 093. Western Australia. 25 May 1928. p. 8. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  16. ^ "TABLE TALK OF THE WEEK". Table Talk. No. 3133. Victoria, Australia. 24 May 1928. p. 6. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  17. ^ "KINGDOM OF TWILIGHT". The South Eastern Times. No. 2216. South Australia. 26 June 1928. p. 1. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  18. ^ ""TANAMI."". The Sydney Morning Herald. No. 28, 290. New South Wales, Australia. 5 September 1928. p. 10. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  19. ^ ""RUGGED BUSHMEN."". The Brisbane Courier. No. 21, 965. Queensland, Australia. 20 June 1928. p. 6. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  20. ^ "FILM MADE AT CAPE YORK". The Argus (Melbourne). No. 25, 637. Victoria, Australia. 11 October 1928. p. 16. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  21. ^ ""Tanami" Company Back from Location", Everyones., 9 (445 (12 September 1928)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-587975386, retrieved 7 March 2024 – via Trove
  22. ^ "TAKING FILMS". Cairns Post. No. 8303. Queensland, Australia. 1 September 1928. p. 7. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  23. ^ "AUSTRALIAN FILM TO BE RELEASED IN LONDON". The Daily Telegraph. No. 15, 226. New South Wales, Australia. 27 September 1928. p. 3. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  24. ^ "FILM OF AUSTRALIA". News. Vol. XI, no. 1, 678. South Australia. 29 November 1928. p. 9 (HOME EDITION). Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  25. ^ "Solomon Island Film MacDonald's Next", Everyones., 10 (464 (16 January 1929)), Sydney: Everyones Ltd, nla.obj-577765501, retrieved 7 March 2024 – via Trove
  26. ^ "Silent Films of Adventure". Liverpool Daily Post. 22 January 1930. p. 6.
  27. ^ "CHILLAGOE NOTES". The Cairns Post. Qld.: National Library of Australia. 8 January 1932. p. 6. Retrieved 7 August 2012.
  28. ^ "PRIVATE SCREENING[?]". Cairns Post. No. 9863. Queensland, Australia. 13 September 1933. p. 3. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  29. ^ "News In Brief". The Herald. No. 17, 566. Victoria, Australia. 1 September 1933. p. 2. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  30. ^ "NATIVE LIFE". Sunday Mail. No. 537. Queensland, Australia. 10 September 1933. p. 23. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
  31. ^ "NEW GUINEA FILM". Cairns Post. No. 11, 012. Queensland, Australia. 29 May 1937. p. 6. Retrieved 7 March 2024 – via National Library of Australia.
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