The first ever film re-enactment of the 1915 Gallipoli landings, ‘The Hero of the Dardanelles’, is now available on DVD, just in time for the 100th anniversary of its premiere at Melbourne’s Majestic Theatre on 17 July 1915.
Directed by Alfred Rolfe, The Hero of the Dardanelles was filmed only weeks after the Gallipoli events. The landing sequence was staged at Sydney’s Tamarama Bay, with the participation of hundreds of soldiers from the Army’s Liverpool Training Camp.
An NFSA spokesperson explained that over the years this re-enactment footage has been incorrectly re-used by others films and media, as if it were actual footage of the Gallipoli landing on 25 April 1915. No footage of the real historical event exists, as there were no film cameras allowed at Gallipoli.
The story of The Hero of the Dardanelles, written by Phil Gell and Loris Browne, is based on published reports and photographs of Gallipoli. It follows a young man (Guy Hastings) who enlists in the Australian Army, and ultimately participates in the Gallipoli landing. He is repatriated home wounded and marries his sweetheart. The film ends with a call to Australian men to do their duty and join up.
The Spokesperson explained that only 22 minutes of the original one-hour film have survived. Adding that the DVD The Hero of the Dardanelles: Gallipoli Centenary Edition is a reconstruction by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA) and historian Dr Daniel Reynaud, using the surviving footage, documentaries and newspaper stills from the era.