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The Breaking of the Drought

Name: The Breaking of the Drought
Director: Franklyn Barrett
Released: 1920
Duration: 87 min

Representation Score

1.9/10

Minimal

1920

Director

Franklyn Barrett

Runtime

87 minutes

Average Rating

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New Showbiz Analysis

The film operates as a traditional pastoral drama that upholds the social structures of the 1920s. It emphasizes the preservation of the family estate and the restoration of a conventional moral order through a settler-colonial perspective. While female characters display resilience in managing domestic crises, the narrative relies on male intervention to restore stability. The story lacks complexity in representing diverse identities and focuses on the experiences of the pastoralist class. Overall, the film reflects the socio-cultural norms of its time, prioritizing property ownership and traditional morality over diverse perspectives.

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Category Breakdown

Does The Breaking of the Drought have LGBTQ+ representation?

Minimal

The film follows early 20th-century social norms, focusing on heterosexual marriages. There is no indication of LGBTQ themes or non-binary identities.

How does The Breaking of the Drought portray gender?

Fair

Female characters like Marjorie and Jo's wife show strength during family crises. However, their roles are mainly defined by their relationships to the male protagonists.

How racially and ethnically diverse is The Breaking of the Drought?

Minimal

The story centers on a white settler family in the Australian outback. It portrays a homogeneous colonial society without acknowledging Indigenous peoples.

How does The Breaking of the Drought represent religion and culture?

Limited

The narrative upholds traditional Western values related to property and family life. It uses immoral characters to highlight the virtues of hardworking settlers.

Does The Breaking of the Drought include disability representation?

Minimal

The film does not include any characters with visible or invisible disabilities.

Present on Screen

Female characters show significant resilience in managing the family's survival during the drought.

Limited or Absent

The narrative lacks racial diversity, focusing solely on a white settler family.
Gender roles are primarily defined by relationships to male protagonists.
The film does not include LGBTQ+ themes or non-binary identities.
There is no representation of disability or diverse cultural perspectives.

Official Synopsis

Wallaby Station in the outback is devastated by drought. The sheep are starving, but Jo Galloway (Charles Beetham) and his wife (Nan Taylor) battle on. Their son Gilbert (Rawdon Blandford) falls in with the wrong crowd while studying medicine in Sydney: conman Varsy Lyddleton (John Faulkner) and the seductress Olive Lorette (Marie La Varre). Gilbert forges his mother’s cheques to pay for Olive’s favours, ruining the family. A bank takes ‘friendly possession’ of Wallaby Station. Gilbert’s sister Marjorie (Trilby Clark) keeps her brother out of jail, but he becomes a tramp, after Lyddleton murders Olive and kills himself. Marjorie’s suitor Tom Wattleby (Dunstan Webb) saves Gilbert from a bushfire, just as the drought breaks, restoring the family’s fortunes. Marjorie and Tom can now wed, as the sheep and cattle fatten on rich pasture.

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