Die Suffragette (1913)

Nelly Panburne returns to London after years at boarding school. The child has become a clever young woman, welcomed by her father and her older sister, who is already married and has children. Nelly’s mother is missing, however, and her father initially refuses to give any hint of her whereabouts. It turns out that Mrs. Panburne has joined the suffragette movement and is now rarely with her family. Father and daughter accept an invitation from Nelly’s sister and travel to her country estate. There, Nelly enjoys the surroundings, plays golf, and is soon courted by three young men, all of whom she turns down. Her father introduces her to the young Levy, whom he has chosen as his future son-in-law, but Nelly is cool toward him. In the woods, she has seen a man who fascinates her. Her three suitors will not tell her who he is, however, and the man is not told who Nelly is either. Later, Nelly sees him again while boating on the Thames. She manages to throw one of her cushions into the water to attract his attention, but once again, neither of them is introduced. The gentleman is Lord William Ascue, a politician in the British House of Commons. He is a staunch opponent of the suffragettes and is currently preparing a bill that would allow for the mass arrest of suffragettes. His work prevents Nelly and him from meeting at a garden party. Although he has said he will attend, and the three suitors are eager to introduce them to each other, he is called at short notice to a session of the House of Commons. Nelly refuses Levy’s marriage proposal and returns to the city. There she meets with her mother, who gradually wins her over to the suffragette movement. Her mother tells her about her father’s abuse and shows her the misery of ordinary women, who, even if highly intelligent, are legally inferior to the most stupid man. Among the suffragettes, Nelly is persuaded and undergoes the “baptism of fire of the suffragettes.” She becomes active in the movement. Now she does not even shrink from violence, and is arrested after smashing a shop window during a demonstration. In prison, she goes on hunger strike and is released after an attempt to force-feed her also fails. When she comes home, her father realizes that he has lost his daughter to the suffragettes: made to choose between her father and mother, Nelly chooses her mother and shortly afterward speaks at a suffragette rally alongside her. When police officers try to storm the meeting, the women attack them. The suffragettes now devise increasingly radical plans. Meanwhile, Lord Ascue is visited by his lover, Lola Rodrigues. She complains that he no longer pays attention to her, but Ascue ends the relationship. Lola Rodrigues swears revenge and turns to the suffragettes, knowing of his hatred of the women’s movement. She hands Nelly and her mother love letters from Lord Ascue. They are meant to be used to blackmail the politician, especially since the suffragettes have learned that his bill for the mass persecution of suffragettes is on the verge of passing. Nelly is sent to Lord Ascue with the letters, and her mother also gives her a “hell machine” with a timer, which she is to plant in Lord Ascue’s house. It is to explode at midnight and kill Lord Ascue. The letters get Nelly into Lord Ascue’s house, where she plants the bomb unnoticed in the politician’s study. When Lord Ascue arrives, they recognize each other, and Nelly is both flustered and shocked. Nevertheless, she shows him the letters and threatens to make them public unless Lord Ascue withdraws the planned bill. But the politician refuses to be blackmailed and says that the suffragette movement is now even more hateful to him because of the methods it uses. Nelly is devastated and refuses to give the letters back to her mother. Her father cannot comfort her either. Nelly decides to save Lord Ascue. She invites him anonymously to a midnight rendezvous, but Lord Ascue declines, saying he has a political meeting at that time. Nelly is relieved, but that evening learns that the meeting will be held at the politician’s house. Nelly tries to persuade her mother to save Lord Ascue, but the women remain unyielding. Shortly before midnight, Nelly rushes to Lord Ascue’s house and gets him out of the study on a pretext. The bomb explodes shortly afterward and destroys the room. A suffragette banner has also come loose from the device, demanding votes for women. Several men hold Nelly as the culprit, but she is released when Lord Ascue appears and claims she is his bride. Soon afterward, the two confess their love to each other in conversation and kiss. Several years later, Nelly and Lord Ascue are seen happily surrounded by their four children.