Rip Van Winkle is a 1912 Australian feature-length film directed by W. J. Lincoln about Rip Van Winkle. It was arguably Australia's first fantasy film.
It is considered a lost film.
Plot
Rip Van Winkle is a lazy man who likes to wander around with his dog, Wolf. One day, he ventures into the Kaatskill mountains, where he encounters a strange group of men drinking and playing bowls. He drinks their mysterious brew and falls asleep. When he wakes up, he is shocked to discover that 20 years have passed, and everything has changed.
The story is a charming tale that depicts how America changed during the Civil War, but in a more subtle way. Rip's experiences show how the war affected the people and the country. It also portrays the changing values and attitudes towards work and leisure time.
Cast
Arthur Styan as Rip Van Winkle
Production
The film was made in the wake of a successful Australian season of Joseph Jefferson and Dion Boucicault's theatre adaptation of Washington Irving's 1819 short story "Rip Van Winkle".
One reviewer said that star Arthur Styan "has figured in several of the previous productions of the Amalgamated Pictures Ltd., and who makes quite a success of this."
Assisting Lincoln was Sam Crews.
Reception
The film appears not to have been widely released. The Bendigo Advertiser said that "the famous story is most effectively explained in the picture production."
In April 1912 The Bulletin said "Rip Van Winkle is biographed in Melbourne excellently, by an Australian company, with Styan as Winkle."
References
External links
Rip Van Winkle at AustLit
Full text of Rip Van Winkle by of Joseph Jefferson and Dion Boucicault at Internet Archive