Maybe the one star is unfair considering the year it was made and the fact it was Australian but this is still a bit of a slog, even under an hour. Bushranger films were the most popular genre during the early years of the Aussie industry, but the NSW government banned them in 1912. This one seemed to skirt around it somehow – presumably due to its highly moralistic tone. Mind you, that’s not inconsistent with the novel, where the robbing Marston brothers don’t commit that many crimes but spend forever regretting it. Also consistent is the sympathetic depiction of Captain Starlight – dashing, romantic, a gentlemen, a caring lover – and a better father figure than the Marston brothers’ real dad. He’s the one who encourages his boys to go into crime; they go a big cattle duff, then head to Melbourne and romance two sisters. They wind up on the gold fields but are unable to go straight. They’re betrayed by the bitchy Kate and are imprisoned; Starlight is killed but both sons are allowed to live (in the novel only one makes it), and go on to marry their sweethearts. Starlight’s girlfriend becomes a nun. Awww…
It was written and directed by stage actor Kenneth Brampton, who also plays Starlight. It’s not particularly well made – Brampton doesn’t seem to have discovered the close up and shoots in mid shots and long shots (not untypical for directors with a stage background). There is some decent action – horses galloping past, shoot outs – and a lot of arms flinging up to foreheads by the women, false beards from the men, and general emoting. At least Starlight’s sidekick is played by a genuine Aborigine. The cast also includes Roy Redgrave, Michael’s father (who left England after his son’s birth to work in Australia for JC Williamsons and died out here, shortly after this film in fact) – he plays Dick Marton, the rival nasty bushranger (not featured enough here, although apparently he’s in some of the footage that’s missing). And Charles Chauvel also apparently has a small role.
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