This film is part of Free
Keep the Home Fires Burning
Two sisters love the same man - one marries him, but the effects of WWI complicate their relationship
Overview
The survival of relationships as conscription took men from their wives and children was a preoccupation for filmmakers during WWI. This modest drama was one of several produced by husband and wife team Ernest and Ethyle Batley – she directed, he was the producer and actor and their daughter Dorothy was often their juvenile lead (she plays the unmarried sister here). The plot of this one-reel film could easily have been expanded into a feature-length production, and shows ambition in its use of location footage.
As Britain's only female director of the silent era, it's a real shame that we don't have more of Batley's films. Only three survive, but who knows how she may have developed as a filmmaker in the easier post-war era, with longer films and higher production values. Unfortunately, her life was cut short and she died in 1917, mourned as a woman who "won the affection and respect of all who knew her by her kindness and her outstanding capabilities as an artist, and also as a businesswoman."
Related
The Austrian Tragedy The Austrian Tragedy
Non-Fiction 1914 2 mins Silent
A muted newsreel tribute to Austria's Archduke Franz Ferdinand - victim of an assassin's bullet in an event that would soon take Europe to war.
Bully Boy Bully Boy
Animation & Artists Moving Image 1914 6 mins Silent
Lightning sketch propaganda stirs outrage about Reims bombing, and features a British bulldog eating the German sausage
The Warrior Strain The Warrior Strain
War 1920 52 mins Silent
Young Lord Billy sniffs out sneaky German marauders in this flag-waving war drama - thrills for British boys, 1919-style.
Funeral at the Front Funeral at the Front
Non-Fiction 1915 1 mins Silent
Sombre and moving World War I newsreel story.
Christmas at the Front Christmas at the Front
Non-Fiction 1914 1 mins Silent
Poignant scenes of Allied troops enjoying their Yuletide rations at the first Christmas of WWI.
Battle Front in Britain Battle Front in Britain
Documentary 1918 24 mins Silent
Growing potatoes in Green Park plus some handy uses for your old tin cans – it’s all part of the war effort on the home front.
Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion Frederick Wiseman's High School - a discussion
Short documentary 2026 22 mins
Filmmaker Andrea Luka Zimmerman and curator Matthew Barrington discuss Frederick Wiseman’s High School with Sandra Hebron.
A Last Resort A Last Resort
Comedy 2022 17 mins
Rose is desperate to celebrate her 60th birthday in style, but her daughter Genevieve is struggling to ignore some recent tragic news about her mum.
Hard, Cracked the Wind Hard, Cracked the Wind
Horror 2019 17 mins
A haunting with words is the lure between life and death for a young Cornish poet.
The Walk The Walk
Drama 2023 12 mins
Adeel Akhtar portrays a man on a weekly trek to his nearest JobCentre, entering a state of purgatory through barriers put in place by the system.
Seagull Seagull
Horror 2022 6 mins
Seagull is a recovering drug addict who is about to have a very strange night on The English Riviera.
Octopus Octopus
2021 13 mins
Upon returning to her home town for a funeral, a young woman reconnects with the friends she left behind.