The Relief of Lucknow (1912 film)

The Relief of Lucknow is a 1912 American silent film about the Relief of Lucknow during the Indian Rebellion of 1857. Filmed in 1911 by the Edison Company at locations in the Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda, including the Prospect Camp Garrison Golf Links clubhouse (originally a private home built around 1700, and now a Bermuda National Trust property named "Palmetto House" due to the still-extant ornamental stand of palmettos visible in front of it in the film),^[1] "Walsingham House" (an historic home built in 1652 that is currently the location of the "Tom Moore's Tavern" restaurant),^[2] and the walled streets of St. George's town.

Soldiers from the 2nd Battalion, The Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment, based in Bermuda, playing the role of Scottish Highland infantry in the film (at Walsingham House)

The director was J. Searle Dawley, who relocated to Bermuda with a crew in 1911 and 1912, and the production was based at "Villa Monticello", an estate near to Flatts Village. The film makers received considerable assistance from the Bermuda Garrison of the British Army, with the 2nd Battalion of The Queen's (Royal West Surrey) Regiment providing extras. The film was released in 1912.^[3][4][5][6] The Imperial fortress colony of Bermuda and its garrison was also used as the location for another Edison film, For Valour, in which two army officers vie for the affections of a Bermudian woman during the Second Boer War.^[7]

References

1. "Protected Buildings". Bermuda National Trust. Paget Parish, Bermuda. Retrieved 1 October 2022. Location: 74 North Shore Road, Devonshire NOT OPEN TO THE PUBLIC
   
   This handsome stone house was built around 1700 by William Williams, the third or fourth of that name to own the land on which it sits. It is roughly cruciform in shape and has hipped roofs rather than the more usual gable. The welcoming arms steps, the mounting block below, the double-flue chimneys and windows tucked under the eaves, are all typical early 18th century features. Palmetto House was one of many buildings in Devonshire appropriated by the War Department. Over the years it fell into serious disrepair until 1948 when Hereward Watlington came to the rescue, reinstating the house to its former glory.
2. "Tom Moore's Tavern". Tom Moore's Tavern. Walsingham, Hamilton Parish, Bermuda. Retrieved 1 October 2022.
3. "RELIEF OF LUCKNOW: Dinna Ye Hear It?". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. 13 August 1912. it was created by the Edison artistes who made their headquarters last spring at Villa Monticello, Flatts.
4. "HUMANOPHONE COMPANY. Famous Historic Picture Shown-Relief of Lucknow". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. 17 August 1912. To Bermudians this picture has peculiar interest; for it was at Flatts while Mr. Dawley and his company were there that they produced this most remarkable picture.
   The Highlanders, Sepoys, Artillery-men &c. who appear in the scene are men of The Queen's Regiment whose services were secured for the occasion.
5. "Relief of Lucknow". www.colonialfilm.org.uk. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
6. "RELIEF OF LUCKNOW (Indian Mutiny) - A mute film from The Tornos Studio's Collection". Youtube: tornosindia. CREDITS FOR THIS VIDEO: The Arts and Humanities Research Council, British Film Institute, The Imperial War Museum and the British Empire and Commonwealth Museum. (UK). Retrieved 1 May 2022. CONTEXT: The Relief of Lucknow was produced by the Edison Company for the British market. Around 1911, Edison began to make films on specifically European themes to increase sales in Britain. The company also started sending actors and personnel to shoot films in outdoor locations, away from its New Jersey studio (Musser 1995, 49). Serle J. Dawley, director of The Relief, led several of these trips. In the year that he directed The Relief, Dawley shot The Charge of the Light Brigade in Cheyenne, Wyoming, adapting Alfred Lord Tennyson's poem to depict the Battle of Balaclava as a tale of British loyalty and sacrifice. The Relief was shot in Bermuda, which offered the advantages of tropical scenery and the presence of the 2nd Battalion of the "Queen's Own" Regiment, stationed on site
7. "HUUMANOPHONE COMPANY. "FOR VALOUR". Beautiful Bermuda Film". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. 15 May 1913. p. 2. This evening the Humanophone Company offer as the central attraction of their moving picture exhibition at the Colonial Opera House the Edison, Bermuda film "For Valour," made while Mr. Dawley and his company were at work last year at the Villa Montecello, Flatts. The story concerns the loves of a pretty Bermuda maiden who finds herself unable to choose between two representatives of the British Army until they are on the eve of departure for the South African War. Her choice falls upon one who eventually turns out to be a mean coward. But the other undertakes to bring him back to her and fulfils the self-imposed task although the coward has won a medal for an act which his rival performed. Eventually the truth, becomes known, and the Bermuda beauty rectifies her mistake. It is a pleasing picture and, the local setting lends it a peculiar interest for Bermudians. There was a large attendance of the lovers of good moving pictures at the Town Hall, St. George's on Monday night to see the splendid exhibition given by the Humanophone Company. There are a large number of young boys and girls who regularly attend the Monday night shows and Master Arthur said on Monday night' that Mr. Kaplan might put a real funny one in for their benefit. The Humanphone Co's. pictures are of a very high class, but a little nonsense now and then is relished by the best of men. Miss Silverstone delighted the audience With her performance at the piano and the people of St. George's appreciate her playing more and more as the season advances.