The Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell
Encyclopedia
The Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell is a 1916 Australian silent film about the execution of nurse Edith Cavell
during World War I
.
(Vera Pearce
) before the war, then jumps forward six years to a Belgium hospital. The war has started and Nurse Cavell is tended wounded British, German and Belgium soldiers. Lt Renard (Post Mason), the newly-wedded husband of a friend of hers, has been captured and imprisoned at Brussels. He makes an escape with the help of friends and visits his wife and parents. Nurse Cavell advises his wife to send her husband to the Cafe Francaise and give the password "Liberty" to Monsieur Fouchard, the proprietor, in exchange for false passports. Renard succeeds but a spy and Captain Hoffberg (John Gavin
) report his escape to Baron von Bissell (Percy Walshe), Military Governor of Brussels. The spy finds a letter from England incriminating the Nurse for assisting another prisoner of war to escape. She is captured by the Germans and refused legal advice, being secretly tried and sentenced to death. The American Ambassador pleads for her life and the Reverend Gerard demands the right of see her and administer communion. The German officer Von Bissell grants a permit. She is sentenced and shot at 2am, her last words being: "Tell my friends I give my life willingly for my country. I have no fear or shrinking. I have seen death so often, it is not fearful or strange to me."
Edith Cavell
Edith Louisa Cavell was a British nurse and spy. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from all sides without distinction and in helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War I, for which she was arrested...
during World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
.
Synopsis
The story is told in four parts. The film starts at the English home of Edith CavellEdith Cavell
Edith Louisa Cavell was a British nurse and spy. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from all sides without distinction and in helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War I, for which she was arrested...
(Vera Pearce
Vera Pearce
-Filmography:* The Shepherd of the Southern Cross * Just My Luck * Yes, Mr. Brown * That's a Good Girl * So You Won't Talk * Royal Cavalcade * Heat Wave * Southern Roses...
) before the war, then jumps forward six years to a Belgium hospital. The war has started and Nurse Cavell is tended wounded British, German and Belgium soldiers. Lt Renard (Post Mason), the newly-wedded husband of a friend of hers, has been captured and imprisoned at Brussels. He makes an escape with the help of friends and visits his wife and parents. Nurse Cavell advises his wife to send her husband to the Cafe Francaise and give the password "Liberty" to Monsieur Fouchard, the proprietor, in exchange for false passports. Renard succeeds but a spy and Captain Hoffberg (John Gavin
John Gavin (director)
John F. Gavin, born as John Francis Henry Gavin was an Australian film director, who was one of the early film makers of the 1910s. He was born and died in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and was also known by the nickname "Jack"....
) report his escape to Baron von Bissell (Percy Walshe), Military Governor of Brussels. The spy finds a letter from England incriminating the Nurse for assisting another prisoner of war to escape. She is captured by the Germans and refused legal advice, being secretly tried and sentenced to death. The American Ambassador pleads for her life and the Reverend Gerard demands the right of see her and administer communion. The German officer Von Bissell grants a permit. She is sentenced and shot at 2am, her last words being: "Tell my friends I give my life willingly for my country. I have no fear or shrinking. I have seen death so often, it is not fearful or strange to me."
Reception
The film was very successful at the box office, achieving release in the US and the UK.Cast
- Vera PearceVera Pearce-Filmography:* The Shepherd of the Southern Cross * Just My Luck * Yes, Mr. Brown * That's a Good Girl * So You Won't Talk * Royal Cavalcade * Heat Wave * Southern Roses...
as Edith CavellEdith CavellEdith Louisa Cavell was a British nurse and spy. She is celebrated for saving the lives of soldiers from all sides without distinction and in helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium during World War I, for which she was arrested... - John GavinJohn Gavin (director)John F. Gavin, born as John Francis Henry Gavin was an Australian film director, who was one of the early film makers of the 1910s. He was born and died in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, and was also known by the nickname "Jack"....
as Captain von Hoffberg - C. Post Mason as Georges Renard, a Belgian
- Harrington Reynolds as Rev Gerard
- Percy Walshe as Baron Von Bissell
- Charles Villiers as Herr Cries
- George Portus as Dr Schultz
- Roland Stavey as American Ambassador
External links
- The Martyrdom of Nurse Cavell at the National Film and Sound ArchiveNational Film and Sound ArchiveThe National Film and Sound Archive is Australia’s audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national collection of audiovisual materials and related items...