''The Woman Suffers'' is a 1918 Australian

silent film A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, when ...

directed by

Raymond Longford Raymond Longford (born John Walter Hollis Longford, 23 September 18782 April 1959) was a prolific Australian film director, writer, producer and actor during the silent era. Longford was a major director of the silent film era of the Australian ...

. It is a melodrama starring

Lottie Lyell Lottie Lyell (born Charlotte Edith Cox, 23 February 1890 – 21 December 1925) was an Australian actress, screenwriter, editor and filmmaker. She is regarded as Australia's first film star, and also contributed to the local industry during the ...

. Two-thirds of the movie still survives.Merv Wasson, "The Woman Suffers: Why Ever Was She Banned?", ''Cinema Papers'', July 1984 p158-160, 196

Plot

The movie consists of eight acts. In Echuca, a woman, Marion Masters (Connie Martyn) is unhappily married to Philip, a former war hero turned abusive drunk. She runs away from her husband with her baby son. Her husband falls on a knife and dies, their home is destroyed in a fire and she collapses in the bush. By the time she is rescued her son has been found by another family who run the station "Kooringa". Marion is taken to a station "Willaroon" owned by widowed Stephen Manton (Charles H Francis), who has two children, Ralph and Marjory. Marion believes her son perished in the bush. She marries Manton and becomes stepmother to his children. Her missing son grows up as Philip Stockdale (Brian Lawrence as a child, Boyd Irwin as a man), the adopted child of the owners of Kooringa Station, who already have a daughter Joan. Twelve years later, Ralph Manton (Roland Conway) is sent to Melbourne by his father, but a flooded river forces him to take refuge at the Stockdale's station, where he seduces Joan (Evelyn Black). He goes to Melbourne and lives a playboy lifestyle, and Joan drowns herself in despair. Her brother Philip (Boyd Irwin) finds the body and vows revenge on Ralph. He decides to seduce Ralph's sister, Marjory (

) and abandons her after she becomes pregnant. She becomes mad and tries to abort her baby. Ralph discovers this and vows revenge on Philip – but is shamed when he discovers Philip's identity. Mrs Manton tells Philip the whole story and realises he is her long-lost son. Philip decides to marry Marjory.

Cast

as Marjory *Evelyn Black as Joan Stockdale * Roland Conway as Ralph Manton *Charles H Francis as Stephen Manton *Ida Gresham as Mrs Stockdale *

Boyd Irwin Boyd Irwin (12 March 1880 – 22 January 1957) was an English stage and film actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1915 and 1948, both silent and "talkies", including a starring role in Australian film ''For Australia'' in 1915. ...

as Philip Stockdale *Connie Martyn as Marion Masters *CR Stanford as John Stockdale *Herbert Walsh as Rev. Mr. Payne *Harry Beaumont as swagman *Guy Hastings as clergyman *Brian Lawrence as Little Phillip

Production

The movie was the first film from the

Southern Cross Feature Film Company Southern Cross Feature Film Company was a short lived film production company that made some of Australia's most famous silent films, mostly directed by Raymond Longford. One of the key figures behind it was Sir David Gordon. History The company w ...

, who hired

to direct. It was shot in South Australia in late 1917 and early 1918.

Release

The premiere of ''The Woman Suffers'' was held at the Theatre Royal in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

on 23 March 1918, and earned an excellent review in '' The Advertiser''. It was also in other states."Raymond Longford", ''Cinema Papers'', January 1974 p51 However, after running for seven weeks in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, it was banned by the NSW censor on 22 October 1918. No reason was ever given despite pleas from Longford and questions put to the Chief Secretary in the Legislative Assembly."Raymond Longford", ''Cinema Papers'', January 1974 p51 In Adelaide, Southern Cross Features ran a competition for best opinion on the questions "Was Ralph Manton guilty of murder?" and was "Philip Masters justified?" with a prize of £2 for "the best opinion ventured."

References

External links

*
''The Woman Suffers''
at

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

Surviving clips of film
at

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''The Woman Suffers''
at

Australian Screen Online The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

''The Woman Suffers''
at Oz Movies {{DEFAULTSORT:Woman Suffers, The 1918 films Australian drama films Australian silent feature films Australian black-and-white films Films directed by Raymond Longford 1918 drama films Silent drama films