| The Mystery of a Hansom Cab | |
| Director: | Arthur Shirley |
| Producer: | Arthur Shirley |
| Based On: | novel by Fergus Hume |
| Starring: | Arthur Shirley Godfrey Cass |
| Cinematography: | Lacey Percival |
| Studio: | Pyramid Pictures |
| Distributor: | Alec Hellmrich |
| Runtime: | 10,000 feet |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | Silent film English intertitles |
| Budget: | £2,500 |
| Gross: | £15,000[1] |
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is a 1925 Australian silent film directed by and starring Arthur Shirley based on the popular novel which had already been filmed in 1911. It is considered a lost film.
Oliver Whyte is found murdered in a hansom cab in Melbourne. Brian Fitzgerald (Arthur Shirley) is arrested for the crime and brought to trial, but is acquitted at the last minute by Sal Rawlin, a missing witness who produces an alibi. The mystery involves Brian's fiancée, Madge (Grace Glover).
This was Shirley's directorial debut. He had started filming a South Seas romance called The Throwback in 1920 but had been unable to complete it. He subsequently sued his cinematographer, Ernest Higgins, but lost the case and had to declare bankruptcy.
Shirley managed to recover and establish a new company, Pyramid Pictures, with the backing of several Melbourne businessman, including Gilbert M. Johnson.[2] Pyramid signed Shirley to a seven-year contract in April 1924, at £20 a week while making a movie, £15 a week otherwise.[3]
Cora Warner, who appeared in the support cast, ran the theatrical boarding house in Woolloomooloo where Shirley was staying.
Filming began in February 1924 and took five months to photograph. Many of the scenes were in Melbourne on the steps of Parliament House, in the Fitzroy Gardens, and also St. Kilda Road. Interiors were shot in Sydney at a studio in Rushcutters Bay. It was the first movie in Australia to run for ten reels and use double exposure.
The movie received good reviews and was a major commercial success, with The Sydney Morning Herald saying that it played "to a greatly interested audience."[4] [5]