Cirrus@Austlit

'The star picture of the evening was a thrilling Australian drama ''The Attack on the Gold Escort," which portrayed the terrors of the road, during the time when bushranging was rife, in a vivid and realistic manner.'

Source:

'Olympic Pictures', Kapunda Herald, 8 September 1911, p.5.

'The scene is laid on the outskirts of the Indian Reservation, a country made famous by the exploits of the renowned Buffalo Bill, and the story of the play treats of the adventures of the colonel in charge of the milltary post and a notorious cattle stealer whom he eventually makes captive. The play Is well staged, and the acting Is of a high order, and, on the whole, the film augurs well for the success of the industry in the Commonwealth.'

Source:

'Town Hall. Empire Pictures', The Daily News, 11 May 1911, p.5. (Via Trove Australia)

A sundowner thwarts the plans of a scoundrel who seeks revenge on a couple by abducting their infant daughter.

'Willunga Station is the scene, and among the actors are two cousins, Jack Lenton and Dudley Ward, the true and the false. Mr. Lenton refuses to grant permission for his son Jack, to marry Violet Garston, the woodchopper's daughter. Joe Garston is given £200 by old Lenton to take Violet away from the station. Jack is disinherited by his father for refusing to give up Violet. Dudley Ward murders Jack's father with Jack's knife. Jack arrested for his father's murder but charge "not proven." Joe Garston, who knows Dudley Ward is the murderer, scorns his offer to marry Violet. Joe drugged and dragged away to the scrub. Violet finds a letter proving Dudley Ward to be the murderer. Ward's bushranging gang carry Violet off to the Gap. Little Cecil Lenton's birthday. Dudley Ward, who in case of Cecil's death becomes the heir, tries to murder the little chap. Exciting rescue. Jack Lenton falls into the hands of the bushrangers. The denouement; virtue rewarded and vice punished.'

Source:

'The Squatter's Son', Cairns Post, 24 November 1911, p.2.

Based on an actual event: bushranger Ben Hall's raid on the Keightley household near Bathurst in 1863, in which Keightley was held hostage while his friend and wife were given a matter of hours to obtain a sum of money from nearby Bathurst.