The Woman Suffers

This 1918 feature by the director of The Sentimental Bloke is one of the most significant, surviving treasures of Australia’s silent film heritage. Three interconnecting storylines weave a dramatic saga of love, honour, betrayal, seduction and revenge. Ralph Manton discovers that his sister Marjorie has been seduced and demands that she tell him the name of her lover. Faithful to him who wronged her, she refuses, but later Ralph discovers his identity and confronts him. The tables are turned…Screenplay by Lottie Lyell and Raymond Longford, The Woman Suffers was a critical and commercial success. The film gave audiences an alternative to the sensational melodrama typical of the day, by exposing the moral double standards that applied when society ostracised unmarried, pregnant women.

NFSA Film Reconstruction 1992

Producer Marilyn Dooley

Musical accompaniment composed and conducted by Donald Hollier. Performed by members of the Canberra Symphony Orchestra and recorded live, Canberra 1992.

Distributed by the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia. © 2015 National Film and Sound Archive of Australia.