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The co-operation of the military in the making of the film underlines
its importance in recruitment campaigns. These campaigns were vital for
the war effort; enlistment in Australia was voluntary, in spite of two
referendums on the issue. Another very successful recruitment activity
was the long distance march. A number of these were held in different parts
of the country to gather young men in the towns and villages along the
route. The 1915 Kangaroo March was one of the famous recruitment marches.
The original film did not survive intact. The present 23 minute production
from the National Film and Sound Archive, had to be reconstructed from
the original screenplay held in the Australian Archives using what little
of the original did survive plus a segment copied from the original and
used in the 1928 silent movie, “The Spirit of Gallipoli.” To this was added
actual footage from the ANZACS training camp at Mena in Egypt in World
War 1, stills of missing scenes found in newspapers of the period and a
video taping of an original recruitment poster. The poster is a classic
of recruitment propaganda! It portrays an ANZAC at arms beside a fallen
comrade. Bombs blast around the pair. The soldier dreams about home and
footy and wonders when replacements from home will ever come to relieve
them at Gallipoli. A feature of silent movies was the narrative and/or
dialogue text screen. Any inter-titles for “The Hero of the Dardanelles”
that had not survived, were computer generated from the original screenplay.
The Armistice commemorative festival in Yass on 7th November has an
outstanding schedule of events. One of the highlights will be the evening
presentation, “Letters from the Front”. The Yass Historical Society have
put together a memorable program. Yet possibly the gem of the list will
be “The Hero of the Dardanelles 1915” screened under the direction of its
producer, that "raider of the lost archives", Marilyn Dooley. The
film will have its debut in Yass. A world premiere... a first for Yass! |
