Until recently with film releases such as Sigourney Weaver in "Aliens" and Gal Gadot in "Wonder Woman," females in action movies were for most part acting like damsels in distress, where macho males would come to their rescue. In cinema's early days, however, women took on more heroic, courageous roles (And that was before they got the right to vote in 1920.). A prime example of the female heroine during that era is Biograph Studio's "The House With Closed Shutters," directed by D. W. Griffith and released in August 1910.
The movie, set during the Civil War, has a brother, who has a love affair with the bottle, sign up for the Confederacy. He volunteers to ride a message through the Union lines to a rebel force. After an initial confrontation with the enemy, he retreats to his home, where the mother and sister witness him shirking from his assignment. The sister takes the message and does what the brother should have done--and more.
Numerous short one-reeler movies released during the 1910-1918 time frame showing females in action films clearly having more of a courageous prominent roles than after World War One. The main reason was the large number of women involved in all phases of filmmaking before the war. After the Armistice, women's role as the heroine in action films diminished as feature films took over and men began to dominate the cinematic industry. This caused female heroic roles in action movies drying up where they ultimately ended up playing second fiddle to their male counterparts. Now cinema is seeing a resurgence of female heroes in action roles, a mantle women are inheriting after decades of neglect.
The movie, set during the Civil War, has a brother, who has a love affair with the bottle, sign up for the Confederacy. He volunteers to ride a message through the Union lines to a rebel force. After an initial confrontation with the enemy, he retreats to his home, where the mother and sister witness him shirking from his assignment. The sister takes the message and does what the brother should have done--and more.
Numerous short one-reeler movies released during the 1910-1918 time frame showing females in action films clearly having more of a courageous prominent roles than after World War One. The main reason was the large number of women involved in all phases of filmmaking before the war. After the Armistice, women's role as the heroine in action films diminished as feature films took over and men began to dominate the cinematic industry. This caused female heroic roles in action movies drying up where they ultimately ended up playing second fiddle to their male counterparts. Now cinema is seeing a resurgence of female heroes in action roles, a mantle women are inheriting after decades of neglect.