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Make More Noise: Suffragettes on Film

"You have to make more noise than anybody else!," cried Suffragette pioneer Emmeline Pankhurst. But how to make more noise in silent film?

Pankhurst's strategy was simple but clever: at every public meeting or gathering, Suffragettes should stand up and shout "votes for women!". But how to make more noise in silent film? With moving images becoming increasingly important, the suffragettes needed to be not just heard, but seen. Newsreels were noticeably more neutral in their reporting than newspapers, so their cameramen were invited to big demonstrations, where banners and placards were carefully placed for the cameras.

Suffragettes (often played by men in drag) were common objects of ridicule in film comedies. But some characterisations were more ambiguous, and comedy could even - sometimes - give its female protagonists the freedom to make one hell of a noise.

24 videos in this collection

The campaign for women's suffrage steps up as Emmeline Pankhurst is arrested at the gates of Buckingham Palace.

Palace Pandemonium

  • Buckingham Palace
  • 1914
Three cheers for women's right to vote! Thousands of 'peaceful, law-abiding Suffragists' - and their hat-waving supporters - converge on Hyde Park.

"Law Abiding" Suffragists

  • Hyde Park
  • 1913
A momentous act of self sacrifice is caught on camera - Emily Davison is trampled by the King's horse at the 1913 Epsom Derby.

The Suffragette Derby of 1913

  • Epsom
  • 1913
The fight for women's suffrage momentarily falters on a gloomy day in January 1913.

Scenes outside the House of Commons

  • Westminster
  • 1913
BFI's silent film curator, Bryony Dixon, explores the BFI National Archive's holdings around women's suffrage.

Meet the Suffragettes: The Original Media-Disruptors

  • 2015
Mischievous sisters Tilly and Sally borrow a fire engine and take it for a joy ride in this spirited film comedy.

Tilly and the Fire Engines

  • 1911
The leading organisation fighting for women's suffrage changes tack, as Christabel and Emmeline Pankhurst launch the Women's Party.

Will There Be Women M.P.s? Topical Budget 324-2

  • London
  • 1917
Three cheers to our gallant soldiers, proclaim suffragette marchers as they rally to show their willingness to help the war effort.

Women's March Through London; Topical Budget 204-1

  • Buckingham Palace
  • 1915
Militant suffragettes torch Levetleigh, St Leonards, former home of Arthur Du Cros, Conservative MP for Hastings and Rye.

St Leonards Outrage

  • St Leonards
  • 1913
Votes for Women protesters swamp Trafalgar Square, brandishing placards and petitions.

Mass Meeting of Suffragettes

  • Trafalgar Square
  • 1910
Left with the kids while his wife campaigns for women's votes, an aggrieved husband dreams of punishing all suffragettes.

Milling the Militants; A Comical Absurdity

  • 1913
The funeral procession of suffragette Emily Davison - fatally injured at the Epsom Derby - passes through London to her final resting place in Morpeth.

Miss Davison's Funeral

  • Bloomsbury
  • 1913
Incendiary images from Plymouth, at the sharp end of the campaign for women's votes.

Suffragettes Again

  • 1913
Multitudes of women protest on the streets of London in a demonstration organised by the Women's Social and Political Union on 18 June 1910.

Scenes in Record Suffragette Demonstration in London

  • London
  • 1910
Supporters of the Women's Social and Political Union campaign in the North East.

Scenes from Suffragette Demonstration at Newcastle

  • Newcastle upon Tyne
  • 1910
Panic on the streets of London: a women's suffrage protest breaks into violence.

Suffragette Riots at Westminster

  • Westminster
  • 1910
A budding mini-suffragette is determined to turn a local policeman into the butt of her jokes.

Didums Diddles the P'liceman

  • 1912
Irrepressible sister act Tilly and Sally throw a party - of sorts - in this chaotic comedy caper.

Tilly's Party

  • 1911

Tilly the Tomboy Visits the Poor

  • 1910
A henpecked husband plots revenge on his boastful bachelor friend by marrying him to a seemingly meek girl who turns out to be anything but.

Wife the Weaker Vessel

  • 1915
Female activists get the blame - unfairly? - for a devastating fire at Yarmouth Pier.

Yarmouth. Suffragettes? Yarmouth Pier and Pavilion Burnt Down

  • Great Yarmouth
  • 1914
Suffragettes advance from Bow to Baker Street, jostling with the London traffic on their way to the Portman Rooms.

Womens March through London Topical Budget 208-1

  • London
  • 1915
Trusted, tried and true? A Labour MP takes a principled stand on women's right to vote

The Suffragette Election

  • London
  • 1912
Women's Suffrage campaigners make their mark in a key by-election

The Bolton Election Result

  • Bolton
  • 1912