The Hound of the Deep
1926 film by Frank Hurley
The Hound of the Deep is a 1926 British–Australian silent drama film directed by Frank Hurley and starring Eric Bransby Williams, Lilian Douglas and Jameson Thomas. Unlike many Australian silent films, a copy of it survives today.
It was one of the first Australian films set on Thursday Island.
Plot
Under the terms of his uncle's will, John Strong must go to Thursday Island and find a pearl within two years or the Reuben Strong pearling station and his great wealth will revert to another, Black Darley. Eventually Strong finds the pearl, defeats Darley and discovers romance with the daughter of an island trader.
Cast
Eric Bransby Williams as John Strong
Lilian Douglas as Marjorie Jones
Jameson Thomas as 'Black' Darley
W. G. Saunders as 'Cockeye' Jones
Molly Johnson as Lady Cynthia
Dallas Cairns as Mr. Bullyer
Production
After the disappointing reception to his documentaries in America, Hurley decided to go into dramatic feature films. He succeed in persuading the Australian-born British theatre magnate Sir Oswald Stoll to provide £10,000 and several actors and technicians to make two films in Papua and Thursday Island, this and Jungle Woman.
Hurley and his crew left Sydney in August 1925 and travelled to Thursday Island where they shot The Hound of the Deep.
Release
Reviews generally praised the photography but had reservations about the story.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “The Hound of the Deep” as 1926 film by Frank Hurley. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the arts & letters register because the source frames it as 1926 film by Frank Hurley. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Dec 27, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q7740465. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1926 and 1925.
Rights, attribution and provenance may remain disputed even when a general reference summary presents a stable account. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
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This entry incorporates text from “The Hound of the Deep” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.