Limelight Department - Is Soldiers of The Cross The World's First Feature Film?

Is Soldiers of The Cross The World's First Feature Film?

For many years, a question mark has hung over the question of whether Soldiers of the Cross should be counted as the first feature film ever produced. The issues of concern are basically length of the footage, length of the presentation and the continuity of the storyline.

A feature film is generally defined as running for over sixty minutes with a constant storyline running throughout. Placed end to end, the film footage in Soldiers of the Cross equals twenty-two and a half minutes, falling short of the time requirements. Furthermore, the film did not have one long story, but rather a collection of short stories which also seems to disqualify it from contention. However, it has been argued that as the entire presentation, including films strips, lantern slides and live sections, runs for over two hours, Soldiers of the Cross should be considered a feature film.

In 1902, the year after Soldiers of the Cross was made, the Limelight Department produced Under Southern Skies, a film examining life in Australia from European Settlement to Federation. This film ran about one hundred minutes but as it is a documentary, not a dramatised story, it is not considered to be a feature film. Heroes of the Cross ran for about 75 minutes and contained a more defined story thread than its predecessor; however, it was produced in 1909, three years after The Story of the Kelly Gang (1906) which is considered by most people to be the actual first feature film, including the Australian Film Commission.