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THE CAST OF SOLDIERS OF THE CROSS
Herbert Booth estimated that the production cost
about £550 and used a cast of ‘not fewer than 150
characters’, mainly Salvation Army officers or officer
cadets.
Lieut. Colonel Harold Graham recalled that when he
and another cadet, John Jones, were tied to a stake at
the rear of the Limelight Studios at Bourke Street, clad
in light clothes, they nearly froze to death during the
filming of their supposedly fiery demise.
Graham also recalled that his father played the role
of Polycarp and almost succumbed to smoke during the
filming of his burning at Murrumbeena.
Death by burning was a well-covered theme in Soldiers
of the Cross, particularly the casting of Christians
into the pit of fire. The martyrs were assembled on a
raised platform and prodded by spears to make them jump.
Colonel Charles Rixon recalled that as each martyr
jumped onto a concealed mattress a metre below, a steam
boiler operated by young assistants sent a puff of ‘smoke’
into the air. The last to jump was Lily Burgess, who,
hesitating on the brink, caused Herbert Booth to order,
‘Quick Burgess, quick!’ Training took over, she
snapped to attention in obeyance of her Commandant’s
order, saluted and jumped at the salute.
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The War cry of
September 22, 1900 reported:
‘The audience was
hushed into breathless silence as the immense pictures
were thrown upon the canvas.
The commandants voice alone broke the stillness,
thrilling the enthralled audience with burning words
fitted into compact sentences, forming an eloquent and
beautiful tribute to the heroic deeds and unflinching
endurance of the saints whose pictorial reproduction
riveted every eye.’
The
next day the Melbourne Argus reported:
"Opening with
the last days of the life of Christ, Commandant Booth
dealt with the lives of the disciples. Bold as the
lecture was in conception, the illustrations were even
more daring."
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