Her Defiance

Co-directed by Cleo Madison and Joe King, the two-reel Her Defiance (1916) stars Cleo Madison as Adeline Gabler, a pregnant woman who is abandoned by her lover (played by Edward Hearn). Adeline's brother, Theron (Ted Duncan) tries to help his sister by finding her a suitable husband so she isn't forced to raise the child alone. Adeline balks at her brother's suggestion, insisting that she can take care of herself without the help of a man. Moving away, Adeline has her child and accepts work as a cleaning woman in an office, unaware that her former lover works there. While Adeline is unexpectedly reunited with the father of her child, she decides she must confront him and make a decision about her future.

Cleo Madison got her start as an actress on the stage as part of the famous Santa Barbara Stock Company in 1910. In 1913, Madison signed a contract with Universal Film Manufacturing Company (later known as Universal Pictures) starring in the popular film serial The Trey o' Hearts (1914). In 1916, Madison began directing her own films, which included sixteen short films and two feature-length productions, including Her Bitter Cup and A Soul Enslaved, both released in 1916. Most of Madison's films feature themes of past wrongs being corrected by those seeking some sort of redemption. Madison also explored the dire conditions factory workers faced and their struggle for safe labor practices as well as shining a light on the plight of women who had been betrayed by the men in their lives. Of the role of women in society, Madison was quoted in a 1916 issue of Photoplay magazine as saying, "One of these days, men are going to get over the fool idea that women have no brains, and quit getting insulted at the thought that a skirt-wearer can do their work quite as well as they can. And I don't believe that day is very far off."

Unfortunately, Madison's directorial career was short lived for reasons that are not entirely clear. However, many film historians have theorized that her career was negatively affected by mental health issues that plagued Madison for most of her life. But at the same time, there was also major change happening at Universal, who, by 1919, had at least a dozen women directors under contract and had been a bastion for women in Hollywood. Madison attempted to form her own production company called Cleo Madison Film Corporation with Isadore Bernstein, the former General Manager of Universal Pictures, but the production company never got off the ground. And by 1920, the female directors at Universal no longer had a place behind the camera, with men stepping into those roles, in a move that has baffled film historians for decades.

After ending her directorial career, Madison continued to work in Hollywood as an actress, until her retirement in 1924, never to return either to the screen or behind the camera. While Madison's directorial career was short-lived, her impact on cinema and her place as a pioneering female director cannot be understated.

Director: Cleo Madison and Joe King
Screenplay: Harvey Gates
Production Company: Rex Motion Picture Company
Cast: Cleo Madison (Adeline Gabler), Ted Duncan (Theron Gabler), Edward Hearn (Frank Warren), Willis Marks (Old Scapin) and Adele Farrington (Mrs. Warren).
B&W-20min

Sources:

https://wfpp.cdrs.columbia.edu/pioneer/ccp-cleo-madison/


By Jill Blake