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Milling The Militants

1913

Cat no. 213034

A comical absurdity about the dream-time revenge of a suffragette's husband.

Taking a satirical approach to both suffragettes and their opponents, this comic short features a hen-pecked husband and his dream-time desires to rid the world of suffragettes. A weary Mr Brown sits in his front room, nursing two small children. Mrs Brown enters, preparing to attend a suffragette march and wearing a pinafore which reads 'Women's Suffragette. Be Militant.' With Mrs Brown gone and the children in the cot, Mr Brown settles down for an afternoon nap, his dreams consumed by a desire to become Prime Minister and finally legislate for the suppression of the suffragettes. Mr Brown dreams of a range of misdemeanors and their possible punishments, from hard labour or a spell in the stocks, to six weeks in trousers. The film concludes with the punishment of a hunger striker, sentenced to a witch-like dunking. The woman is tied to the chair, and just as she is dunked in the lake, Mr Brown awakes with a start, his wife dousing him with a bucket of water, throwing him straight back into his 'miserable' reality.

Keywords

Feminism; Hunger strikes; Men; Social history; Suffragettes

Intertitles

Brown sleeps and dreams that he is the Prime Minister. He legislates for the suppression of the suffragettes. "Gentlemen! We'll make the punishment fit the crime." Later Brown's new laws are put into effect. Misdemeanor No. 1. Punishment for striking policeman. 14 days hard labour in the streets. Misdemeanor No. 2. For annoying cabinet ministers. Misdemeanor No. 3. For firing pillar boxes. Six weeks in trousers. Misdemeanor No. 4. For hunger strikers.

  • Maker : Arthur Melbourne-Cooper

  • Maker : Percy Stow

  • Production company : Clarendon Film Company

Manifestations

Milling The Militants

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