Two Minutes Silence (1933 film)

Two Minutes Silence is a 1933 Australian melodrama set during World War I based on Les Haylen's anti-war play. It was the fourth and last feature film by the Sydney-based McDonagh sisters, Paulette, Isobel and Phyllis, who called it "by far the best picture we produced". It is considered Australia's first anti-war movie and is a lost film.

On Armistice Day, some years after World War I has ended, four people gather in General Gresham's London drawing room. As the clock strikes eleven, they think back to their experiences of the way. Mrs Trott (Ethel Gabriel), a charlady, recalls hearing her son has died in action. The general (Frank Bradley) remembers making an error of judgement that led to the death of his men. Denise (Marie Lorraine), the French governess to the general's grandchildren, relives the return of her war hero lover, Pierre (Campbell Copelin), from the front; Pierre could not forgive Denise for having a child to a German officer who had raped her. The general's butler, James (Leonard Stephens), recollects living as a beggar on the Thames embankment after the war and seeing the suicide of an ex-soldier.

The play was written by Les Haylen, an Australian journalist who later became an MP. It was originally produced in 1930 at the Community Playhouse in Sydney and ran for 26 performances over 13 weeks. The McDonagh sisters saw the play and bought the film rights before the run ended. There was also a production in Townsville the following year, and another one in Sydney in 1939.

The play was published in 1933 featuring an introduction from Billy Hughes.

Filming took place in a studio in Centennial Park, Sydney in late 1932. It was logistically difficult because of the difficulty sourcing sound recording equipment and two of the cast, Leo Franklyn and Frank Leighton, had to juggle shooting with their theatre commitments for J.C. Williamson Ltd. In addition, Campbell Copelin was still recovering from his plane crash the previous year. Ethel Gabriel reprised her role from the play version.