How We Beat the Emden is a 1915 Australian silent film directed by Alfred Rolfe about the Battle of Cocos during World War I.Andrew Pike and Ross Cooper, Australian Film 1900–1977: A Guide to Feature Film Production, Melbourne: Oxford University Press, 1998, p. 56 It features footage shot on Cocos Island.Vagg, S., & Reynaud, D. (2016). Alfred Rolfe: Forgotten pioneer Australian film director. Studies in Australasian Cinema, 10(2),184-198. doi:10.1080/17503175.2016.1170950
Plot Jack enlists in the Royal Australian Navy (RAN) and after training on the Tingira, joins the crew of . He takes part in the Battle of Cocos, where the Australian cruiser destroys the German light cruiser .
Cast Charles Villiers
Production The film incorporates footage from the documentary How We Fought the Emden.
It was shot at the Rushcutters Bay studio.
Release The film was popular at the box office. Actor C. Post Mason took a print with him to Canada in 1916 and screened the film over there. It was also known as How We Fought the Emden and The Sydney-Emden Fight.
The Motion Picture News said the film was put on "principally with the idea of drawing patrons from" For Australia and was "merely a succession of interest and topical subjects woven together, and a plot that does not reflect much credit on either the author or producers".Hal Carleton, "Film News From Foreign Parts", Motion Picture News, 16 January 1916 Retrieved 23 November 2014
The movie was later combined with another Australian war film, For Australia (1915) to create a new movie, For the Honour of Australia (1916).
See also The Exploits of the Emden, a 1928 film by Ken G. Hall, also about the Battle of Cocos
References
External links
Clip from film at Australian Screen Online How We Beat the Emden at National Film and Sound Archive How We Beat the Emden at AustLit