Search for Captain Thunderbolt

Australia's National Film and Sound Archives has launched an international search for a full copy of the Australian film Captain Thunderbolt. I have mentioned the movie before because it has both New England and family connections.
 

Captain Thunderbolt Trailer Sneak Peek from NFSA on Vimeo.

Filmed around Armidale and Uralla in 1951, the film made its international debut at the Capitol Theatre in Armidale in 1953. It attracted little interest from Australian cinemas, but finally made its money back from international sales.

Never a long movie, around 69 minutes in the original, the only copy that survives is a shortened TV version.
NFSA is looking for a full copy because it was one of a very few feature films made in Australia at the time, and is also seen as social commentary.

While the film does tell the story of one of Australia's bushrangers, one who has since acquired almost mythic proportions, it should not be read as history: New England historian Robin Walker rudely remarked that the film only connected with fact by accident!

From my perspective, the film was a very big thing. I don't remember it being made, I was very young, but I do remember the showing at the Capitol Theatre. Later I saw it again at school, but I don't know whether the second was the full or shortened version.

It wasn't just the fact that it dealt with a New England story, but also the interlocked connections between the film and all the extras that appeared in it, including my father and aunt. I was very young, but I should record my full memories at some point, including the things that I was told. Who knows whether or not the information was accurate, but it provides a feel.

When I went through the stills provided by the NSFA, I could remember some of the locations.