The Church and the Woman | |
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Directed by | Raymond Longford |
Written by | Raymond Longford |
Based on | the novel 'A Priest's Secret' by Edmund Finn |
Produced by | Humbert Pugliese |
Starring | Lottie Lyell |
Cinematography | Ernest Higgins |
Edited by | Ernest Higgins |
Production company | Longford-Pugliese [1] |
Distributed by | Caroline Frances Pugliese |
Release date |
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Running time | 7,000 feet |
Country | Australia |
Languages |
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The Church and the Woman is a 1917 Australian silent film directed by Raymond Longford set against the background of sectarianism in Australia. It is considered a lost film.
Eileen Shannon falls in love with Dr Burton. However he is a Protestant and her strongly Catholic father John refuses to give his consent to marriage between them.
Eileen pleads to her brother Darcy, a Catholic priest, for his help, but he does not support mixed marriages either.
John is murdered and Dr Burton is arrested for the crime and sentenced to death. The real murderer confesses to Darcy in the confessional. Unable to break the confidence of the confessional, Darcy admits to the murder and Dr Burton is freed. The murderer eventually confesses and Eileen marries Dr Burton. [2]
The movie was the first of three financed by exhibitor Humbert Pugliese and his mother Caroline. Shooting began in March 1917 with location filming at the Sacred Heart Church, Darlinghurst, Catholic Riverview College, Sydney, and Wentworth House, Vaucluse. A scene depicting a Catholic mass was filmed not by Protestant Longford but by his Catholic assistant, Pat McGrath. [3]
The production and distribution of the film was notable for the large number of lawsuits associated with it.
The producer of the film The Monk and the Woman sued Humbert Pugliese for copyright infringement. This was resolved when Pugliese agreed not to advertise The Church and the Woman in the press or on noticeboards without adding the words: "The film must not be confused with the film of the play entitled The Monk and the Woman." [4]
Later on the writer Edmund Finn succeeded in getting an injunction stopping the film being distributed on the grounds it was adapted from his novel, The Priest's Secret. [5] [6] Pugliese denied he had ever read the novel but Justice Street in the Equity Court of New South Wales found that there were too many similarities and ordered that Finn was entitled to an injunction, an account of profits, and an order for the delivering up of negatives. [7]
Pugliese appealed this decision in the Supreme Court but was unsuccessful. The court held that after comparing the film's script with the novel, it was clear the former had been adapted from the latter – the main incidents of the plot were the same, long passages in the script were taken verbatim from the novel, and there was one passage on page seven of the script where Longford used the name "Martin" when speaking of the character in his scenario, "Mike Feeny", who was obviously taken from the character, "Martin Sullivan", in the novel. [8] [9]
The film was re-released with Edmund Finn credited as the author of the original novel. [10]
Pugliese and his Brisbane exhibitors sued a company for exhibiting a film under the title of The Church and the Nun. The court ruled in their favour, deciding that the other film had to make clear in advertising it was a different movie from The Church and the Woman. [11]
The cinematographer of the film, Ernest Higgins, sued Pugliese for unpaid wages of almost £700, mostly for work on this film, and the jury found in his favour. [12]
Despite its legal troubles, the film was a popular success at the box office. [3]
D'Arcy Francis Niland was an Australian farm labourer, novelist and short story writer. In 1955 he wrote The Shiralee, which gained international recognition in its depictions of the experiences of a swagman and his four-year-old daughter. It was made into a 1957 film, starring Peter Finch, and a 1987 TV mini-series, starring Bryan Brown. Niland married fellow writer Ruth Park (1917–2010) on 11 May 1942 and the couple had five children: Anne, Rory, Patrick and twin daughters, Kilmeny (1950–2009) and Deborah (1950–present). Niland died on 29 March 1967 of a myocardial infarction, aged 49.
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Lottie Lyell 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 silent era through her collaborations with director and writer Raymond Longford.
Raymond Longford 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 cinema. He formed a production team with Lottie Lyell. His contributions to Australian cinema with his ongoing collaborations with Lyell, including The Sentimental Bloke (1919) and The Blue Mountains Mystery (1921), prompted the Australian Film Institute's AFI Raymond Longford Award, inaugurated in 1968, to be named in his honour.
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The Monk and the Woman is a 1917 Australian silent film directed by Franklyn Barrett. It is considered to be lost.
Humbert Pugliese (1884–1955) was an Australian film exhibitor and producer. A chain of cinemas had been established by his father Antonio and wife Caroline and Humbert became general manager when his father died in 1916. His chain was often supportive of Australian films and Humbert produced three features.
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The Dark Abyss is a 1951 novel. It is about Captain Saunders who is injured in the Korean War then falls in love with Dr Balant.
John Nicholas Pedler was an Australian politician. He was a member of the South Australian House of Assembly from 1918 to 1938, representing the electorate of Wallaroo.
John Albert Southwood was an Australian politician, newspaperman and trade unionist. He represented the South Australian House of Assembly multi-member seats of Wallaroo from 1912 to 1915 and East Torrens from 1915 to 1921. He was a member of the United Labor Party until 1917, when he joined the National Party after the 1917 Labor split, but sat as an independent from 1920 until his retirement in 1921.
The District Council of Bute was a local government area in South Australia from 1885 to 1997.
The Corporate Town of Wallaroo was a local government area in South Australia from 1874 to 1997, centred on the town of Wallaroo.
The District Council of Kadina was a local government area in South Australia from 1888 to 1984.