Joan the Woman

Joan the Woman is a 1916 American epic silent drama film directed by Cecil B. DeMille and starring Geraldine Farrar as Joan of Arc. The film premiered on Christmas Day in 1916. This was DeMilles first historical drama. The screenplay is based on Friedrich Schillers 1801 play Die Jungfrau von Orelans The Maid of Orleans. This film was considered to be the first cinematic spectacle about Joan of Arc.

A British officer Bosworth in World War I has a dream of the life of Joan of Arc Farrar. The officer pulls a sword out of the wall of the trench he is in, the sword used to belong to Joan of Arc. Removing the sword conjures up the ghost of Joan, leading to her telling her story. The setting then changes to France where the story of Joan of Arc is told, of her leading the French troops to victory and her subsequent burning at the stake. The story ends back in the trench with the officer deciding to go on a suicide mission, using Joans story and sword as inspiration The film has been criticized by some as propaganda for World War I. The film begins and ends with the story of a British officer in the trenches fighting in WWI. He is prompted with the decision to participate in a suicide mission. He discovers a sword that belonged to Joan, and after hearing her story, decides to go on the mission. Robin Blaetz in his book Studies in Medievalism points out the sexism that exists in the film. While Joan was the inspiration for the British soldiers heroic acts, it is ultimately him who is the hero in the end of the film. Blaetz points out that this sends the message that women and war do not mix, alluding to the idea that in WWI women should stay behind the front lines, but still be supportive of those at war. ........

Source: Wikipedia