| Screenplay: | Glen Dolman |
| Director: | Shawn Seet |
| Country: | Australia |
| Language: | English |
| Executive Producer: | Ewan Burnett |
| Producer: | Margot McDonald |
| Location: | Melbourne |
| Network: | ABC |
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is a 2012 Australian television movie about the events surrounding the murder of Oliver Whyte whose body is discovered in a hansom cab in 19th century Melbourne. The investigation is conducted under the leadership of Detective Samuel Gorby, who soon arrests Brian Fitzgerald who had hoped to marry Whyte's betrothed, rich wool merchant Mark Fittelby's daughter, Madge. Brian is defended by barrister Duncan Calton and Detective Kilsip, who eventually discovers secret blackmail against the Fittelbys which leads to the discovery of an illegitimate daughter, Sal Rawlins. It is an adaption of the 1886 novel of the same name,[1] created by Fergus Hume, who wrote it as an examination into the evils of the 'Big City' and the corruption that can be found inside it.[2]
Directed by Shawn Seet, with the screenplay written by Glen Dolman, The Mystery of a Hansom Cab was released on 28 October on ABC1 as an ABC-exclusive drama telemovie. As the fourth film adaptation of the Hume novel, the telemovie received moderate praise for its work in “bringing colonial Melbourne to life with wonderful detail” but overall received mixed reviews.[3] [4]
In colonial Melbourne, two men named Oliver Whyte and Roger Moreland, are in a public house, having a discussion with Whyte lamenting his circumstances. Whyte ends the conversation stating "this poet's time has come". After stumbling, drunk, through the streets, Oliver eventually collapses in a stupor, where he is helped by a man who recognises him into a hansom cab before leaving. Awakening in the cab, Whyte discovers that the man has returned, but is soon killed through the use of chloroformed rag by him, who steals a written paper from his jacket and flees the scene through another cab.
Two weeks earlier, Oliver Whyte is attending a lavish party hosted by Mark Frettlby, where he meets Duncan Calton, a well-renowned barrister, Frettlby's daughter Margaret ('Madge'), Brian Fitzgerald, a rich wool merchant whom he offends, Felix Rolleston, a journalist and socialite. While there, Whyte tries and fails to make conversation with Madge. After the party he presents a sealed note to Frettlby, implied to be blackmail. Mark Frettlby soon after informs Madge she is betrothed to Whyte, which she is displeased with as she is in love with Fitzgerald, who promises that he “won’t let this happen”.
With advice from Calton, Frettlby breaks the betrothal, which drives Whyte to go to and become intoxicated at the pub on the night of the murder. On the same night, Fitzgerald is given a note that causes him to leave his poker game and take to the streets, where he meets a drunk Whyte and soon helps him onto the cab before leaving and then returning, but whose face is not shown when he returns. Whyte’s body is initially unrecognised, and Detective Samuel Gorby begins to investigate his murder. At his home in the morning, Fitzgerald burns the paper he took from Whyte. Detective Gorby soon finds the identity the body of Whyte and sees Fitzgerald as the prime suspect. Fitzgerald and Madge soon become engaged to one another
In a run-down boarding house, owned by Mother Guttersnipe, a girl dies in the night from fever, whose necklace is taken by her friend, Sal Rawlins, who flees the house.
With evidence stacking against him Fitzgerald is soon arrested, with Calton defending him, a rival police detective, Detective Kilsip, aids him by seeking new evidence to aid Fitzgerald, which includes Sal bringing him the note on the night of the murder. During the trial, Calton is able to successfully defend Fitzgerald and soon he is declared innocent and freed. Despite this, Fitzgerald refuses to say what was in the note in order to protect Madge. Soon, Frettlby is considered the most likely suspect. Upon further investigation by Calton, it is discovered that Mark Frettlby had an affair with Rosanna Moore, a famous burlesque dancer whom he married during a passionate encounter in his youth, which soon resulted in a child being produced. They would soon divorce, leaving behind a blackmail document of their marriage certificate. This child is revealed as being Sal, who was taken by her mother back to England in disgrace.
After these events, Mark Frettlby suffers from a heart attack after he discovers that Sal had taken up work as a maid in his house. During the reading of his will, he admits to Sal that she is his daughter, but claims that he did not kill Whyte. The killer's true identity is revealed to be Roger Moreland, Whyte’s friend who he was drinking with on the night of the murder, who discovered that Whyte had come upon Frettlby’s marriage document to Rosanna Moore and was planning to use it to blackmail Frettlby into allowing for him to become engaged to Madge. On the night of the murder, Moreland used the chloroform with the intent to steal the papers and blackmail Frettlby himself for money but used too much in the process and killed him. Despite claiming it was an accident, Moreland is soon arrested and placed into jail, where he would commit suicide before he would stand trial, which would reveal Frettlby’s disgrace.
On his deathbed, Frettlby discloses to Calton his secrets and asks that Sal is given an income so that she may "do whatever she wishes". This money is eventually used by Sal to create a woman's shelter, something inspired by her previous works in the Salvation Army.
Madge and Fitzgerald marry soon after and would sail back to Europe on their honeymoon.
Production for The Mystery of a Hansom Cab began on 30 April 2012.[5] Created on behalf of ABC TV Fiction and Film Victoria, Burberry Entertainment, a multi award-winning television production company, was chosen to make the telemovie, hiring Director Shawn Seet, famous for his work on the Underbelly television series, to make the adaptation.[6] Writer Glen Dolman was chosen to create the screenplay for the telemovie, a known writer, he had received many accolades for his work on the 2012 Network Ten Drama ‘Hawke’.[7] Funded by ABC TV Fiction, the head of ABC TV Fiction, Carole Sklan, wrote that ABC was “delighted to be bringing this compelling Australian murder mystery to ABC TV. It is a true classic, the story keeps surprising, and the creative team at Burberry have brought together a wonderful cast.”
Casting decisions included John Waters, most famous for his work in the Australian Drama-Comedy Offspring, Shane Jacobson who had been in previous Australian Telemovies and Chelsie Preston Crayford and Anna McGahan of fame. The decision to include brief nudity and depictions of prostitution during several scenes was done in order to ensure historical accuracy during the filming.[8]
In comparison to previous efforts, the film making techniques were far more advanced when compared to the productions made in 1911, 1915 and 1925, using modern audio-graphical techniques and HD cameras. Filming was conducted in Melbourne itself, the purpose of which was to give credence to the colonial Melbourne setting that The Mystery of a Hansom Cab took place in. Historical accuracy was attempted wholesale by Seet, during production, there was a major effort put “to convey a convincing sense of place and situatedness… [the telemovie] deploys a sophisticated blend of period location shooting, CGI, and precisely researched production design.” And similarly “The Mystery of a Hansom Cab team combined location work in North Melbourne with digitally altered shots of the central areas of the city that play such an important role in the narrative”, ensuring that the movie itself attained high standards of truthfulness to colonial Melbourne.[9]
The production was followed closely by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, who would utilize aspects of the creation of the film for their archival purposes, including “DVDs, scripts stills and promotional material”, useful, in their words, “so that future generations can see this popular Australian story’s translation to the screen.”[10]
Filming for The Mystery of a Hansom Cab finished on 25 May, after less than a month’s worth of production, with trailer advertisements for the film releasing from 9 October[11]
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab released on 28 October 2012 at 8:30pm on ABC1, marketed as a Romantic Murder-Mystery and released as part of their Drama section. Their endorsement for the movie, as placed on the ABC website, was phrased thusly:
“A man is murdered in 19th Century Melbourne. The investigation uncovers a trail of secrets and scandal spreading from opium dens and brothels to the cream of society. Based on the novel by Fergus Hulme."[12]
After the completion of its runtime on the ABC1 television network the telemovie was made available on the ABC website.
‘The Silver Petticoat Review’ an online reviewer of period dramas, with a specific focus on the Victorian era that Mystery of a Hansom Cab is set in, stated that “Once you adjust to the non-linear creative choice, the strategy works as a kind of ‘Gothic’ Victorian. The writing inspires guesswork. Furthermore, the atmosphere of The Mystery of a Hansom Cab is fantastic… Everything that goes into this as a production paints a pretty picture. The acting is good as are the sets and costumes. I enjoyed the discovery of new talent”.[13]
The Mystery of a Hansom Cab depicts a dramatic murder taking place in Colonial Melbourne, detailing the efforts that a detective of the police force must go through in order to solve this crime, serving to inspire thought into the cultural and political context of the mid-1800s. Many of the themes that are involved with the original novel are displayed in the telemovie itself, with the vast majority revolving around the concepts of colonialism, the ‘Big City’ and the ‘White Settler’, specifically in how they corrupt the human condition.
Lucy Sussex’s ‘Blockbuster!: Fergus Hume and the Mystery of a Hansom Cab’ examines the film adaptations of the novel itself, specifically the scenes of the telemovie which make references to the events of the 1800s as well as the symbolism inherent in these scents. Specifically, a great deal of importance is placed on the prostitution scene, which showcases the reputation that such professions would have had in the area itself, they represent the very bottom of the ‘lower class’, however, the burlesque scene that follows proceeds to then anachronously use the modern idealisation of such people. The point of such scene is to show the ‘seedy underbelly’ of Melbourne during this period, the purpose being to show the depths that the Detective was willing to sink to in order to find out the truth of the crime that he is pursuing and the ‘grimy’ nature it has when contrasted with the upper class nature of later scenes.