''The Women House of Brescia'' () is a 1920 German-language

silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...

directed by Hubert Moest. The film's alternative name was ''The House of Pillory''. The film was considered highly controversial for the depiction of prostitution. The film's story was set in medieval Europe during the fourteenth century. The film was based on Karl Hans Strobl's novel ''Das Frauenhaus von Brescia''. The Pillory houses were the places where enemy women captured during wartime were imprisoned so that the people could exploit them as they wished. The depiction of prostitution was the basis for the picture's rejection by the

British Board of Film Classification The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) is a non-governmental organization, non-governmental organisation founded by the British film industry in 1912 and responsible for the national classification and censorship of films exhibited ...

in 1921 and its being banned in Germany.

Plot

In 1311 the coronation of King Henry of the Lombards takes place. After becoming the king he wages war against Italy and

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

(ruled by Francesco de Barbiano). While campaigning, he sends for his queen,

Margaret Margaret is a feminine given name, which means "pearl". It is of Latin origin, via Ancient Greek and ultimately from Iranian languages, Old Iranian. It has been an English language, English name since the 11th century, and remained popular thro ...

( Gertrude Welcker), who along with her ladies-in-waiting is captured and imprisoned by Barbiano. Barbiano orders the women to be sent to the House of Pillory. One of her maids, Roswitha (

Hedda Vernon Hedda Vernon (born Hedwig Klara Kemp; 27 October 1888 – 1961) was a German actress, screenwriter, and film producer. She was a prominent star of the early Weimar Republic, and had her own film production company. Early life Hedwig Klara Kemp wa ...

), impersonates the queen and asks him to leave the other women safe and capture only her. As a result, she is brought to the house of pillory where people hold a mock coronation with a crown of straw to humiliate her. She is forced into

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

. Two captured men, Gottwald (the queen's escort) and Herbolo (Roswitha's fiancé), flee from the house and inform Henry of the event. He is agitated after hearing all the information and vows to attack Brescia in vengeance. Meanwhile, in Brescia, Roswitha quickly gains popularity among the menfolk for her beauty and this makes their wives grow jealous of her. The women demand that Roswitha be handed over to them. They attack the pillory. Luigi, the local hangman, is killed during the struggle and Roswitha is led to the public stocks. Before anything happens to her, a nobleman, Alessandro, who knows her true identity and is in love with her, comes to rescue her. Henry attacks the city and Alessandro is slain by Herbolo. When the local women come to know of her true identity they ask for Roswitha's forgiveness. In the end Roswitha and Herbolo's marriage takes place and the queen along with the other captives is freed and taken to the palace.

Cast

* Gertrude Welcker as Queen Margaret * Ernst Deutsch as Luigi * Eduard von Winterstein as Francesco *

as Roswitha * Olga Limburg as Barbara * Josef Peterhans * Julius Roether * Toni Zimmerer * Maria Forescu * Fritz Jessner * Joseph Klein * Fritz Delius * Gerda Frey as Adelheid * Blandine Ebinger * Paul Bildt

Rejection

In 1921 the film was submitted to the

for approval. The censor was very strict regarding the depiction of prostitution in films. Many films had been denied certification on grounds of depiction of prostitution. This was the first time that the Board had to consider a film in which a woman takes to prostitution in order to save other women. The board rejected the film on 23 March 1921 and the film's distributors- Elijah Day & Sons Ltd- accepted the decision and did not attempt to challenge it. The board specified in its 1921 report that depicting the loss of

virginity Virginity is a social construct that denotes the state of a person who has never engaged in sexual intercourse. As it is not an objective term with an operational definition, social definitions of what constitutes virginity, or the lack thereo ...

for any purpose would be grounds for rejection. The film was never screened in Britain though the

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

bought a print of the film in 1937.

Ban in Germany

The film was first screened at Lessing Theater in Hamburg in August 1920 and in September in Berlin. On 27 July 1921 the film was banned by the Film Censor Board following a resolution. An appeal was made to the board which allowed the film's screening from 21 September 1921 only to have the Board ban it again on 5 August 1923 even though the film company had removed a large number of scenes to which the Board objected.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Women House Of Brescia, The 1920 films Films of the Weimar Republic German silent feature films German black-and-white films Films set in 14th-century Holy Roman Empire Films set in medieval Italy Films about prostitution in Italy Films based on Austrian novels Films based on works by Karl Hans Strobl 1920s historical films German historical films Films directed by Hubert Moest 1920s German films 1920s German-language films German-language historical films