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SOLDIERS OF THE CROSS • CENTENARY Colin J. Daniels

On the 13th September 1900 the Salvation Anny's "Sol- Herbert Booth and his wife Corpelie in an elegant horse
diers of the Cross" had its premiere at the Melbourne Town drawn carriage. After introductory speeches, a re-enact-
Hall before an audience of 2300, who filled the audito- ment of some of the scenes from the original production
rium. showed the Roman Consul condemn the recalcitrant Chris-
tians to die in tbe mouths of the lions in the Coliseum.
"The house lights then went down. The audience were During the luncheon, early films shot by the Limelight
bushed into breathless silence as the immense pictures were Depattment were shown, these were followed by informa-
thrown upon the canvas. The Commandant's voice alone tive yet humourous speeches by historians and archivists.
broke the stillness, thrilling the enthralled audience with
burning words fitted into compact sentences, forming an Four film excerpts were screened. These were shot by
eloquent and beautiful tribute to the heroic deeds and un- Lumiere Studios in France and formed part of the action
flinching endurance of the saints whose pictorial repro- in the Australian epic.
duction riveted every eye. ("The War Cry" 22.9.1900)

So stark and graphic were the images in Soldiers of the
Cross that members of the audience fainted." ("The War
Cry" 22.9 .1900)

... The rttost. ..
Original, Fascinating:, Elevating, and
Instructive Production of t he Year I Joseph Pen·y and Limelight equipment

THE The twenty piece orchestra and the small choir were ab-
sent, but the small Army Band and the Salvationists in
Commandant's attendance replaced them with their enthusiasm. [n attend-
ance also were at least twenty relatives of Major Joseph
NEW HISTORIC lECTURE.
Perry, the photographer and head of the Limelight De-
Soui·Thrilling Stories ol the J\lartyrs, illustrated by the ,\lost partment, whose achievements are now well documented.
Beautiful living l>icturcs by Kinematorraphe and Limelight. produ,~d
under the personal Superintendence of our Lender, and
Although the photographic and film studios were unavail-
HfYfR 8[f00[ WIIHESSffi IN IHIS OR RNY OIHfR COUNTRY.
able for inspection, a very vivid description was given of
their layout and the fact that all processing was carried
Soldiers Of The Cross Poster out by the department. In fact they were the only ones in
Australia able to develop movie film at the time.
The Centenary celebrations, held at the Salvation Army
Headquarters in Bourke Street Melbourne, did not cause
members of the audience to faint and was not the spec- The Melbourne Age newspaper reported on September 13,
tacular as seen at the premiere, as most of the moving 2000, that the grandson of Australia's first feature cin-
images as originally screened have been lost. Only most ematographer, Joseph Perry, is working on a film about
of the coloured slides used to enable the change of reels, the golden age of cinema, which burnt briefly but brightly
yet integral to the story~ have survived, thanks to Com- in Melbourne I 00 years ago.
mander Booth retaining them for his own evangelical tours
and their retention by his family and their donation to the Michael Wollenberg returned to Adelaide two months ago
National Film Library. to work with author Graham Watson on a film about the
making of the Soldiers Of The Cross. Woolenberg says
At the Centenary celebration a number of these slides were that many Australians are unaware of the nation's glori-
shown, whilst others have been reproduced as wall hang- ous early film history. "We are making a film about the
ings, together with the history of the Limelight Depart- start oftheAustralian film industry" says Wollenberg, who
ment of the Army which includes many interesting photo- believes that Soldiers of the Cross was the world's first
graphs most of which were taken by the department. full-length feantre film. "What we are saying is that there
was an industry in Australia before Hollywood, and be-
The celebration commenced with the arrival of Commander fore France and Italy had big industries" he said.

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