Upcoming Film Restoration: “Mothers of Men” (1917), starring Dorothy Davenport Reid!

In collaboration with the BFI, San Francisco Film Festival, and Library of Congress, film archivist James Mockoski has announced the upcoming restoration of Mothers of Men (1917), which stars film pioneer Dorothy Davenport Reid.

“Mothers of Men, made in 1917, is one the few surviving women’s suffrage films…Starring Dorothy Davenport, Mothers of Men is a melodrama at its finest, penned by Hal Reid (father of silent film actor Wallace Reid), who knew his way around the art of crafting a melodrama. A suffrage film made just three years before the 19th Amendment was ratified, allowing women the right to vote, Mothers of Men attempted to enter into the suffrage campaign by showing the nation how strong women can be if allowed to hold a political office…

In 1921 Mothers of Men resurfaced, this time under a new title, Every Woman’s Problem. Nat Levine (producer and former employee of Lowes Theater) purchased the film and attempted to exploit it once again. He re-titled the picture as Every Woman’s Problem, most likely because just one year before a film based on a popular WWI novel was released under the title Mothers of Men.”

Check out the November 12, 2015 KSBW 8 interview with UCSC Professor (and WFPP contributor) Shelley Stamp, local Santa Cruz historian Ross Eric Gibson, and UCSC Graduate James Mockoski!

For more information on the restoration project, click here!