The trailblazing McDonagh sisters were the first women in
Australia to form their own film production company. Between
1926 and 1933, this remarkable trio produced four feature
films and a number of documentaries. The youngest, Paulette,
was one of only five women film directors in the world. Phyllis
produced, art directed and conducted publicity. And the eldest,
Isabel, under her stage name Marie Lorraine, acted in all the
female leads. Together, the sisters transformed Australian
cinema’s preoccupations with the outback and the bush —
and what they mocked as ‘haystack movies’ — into a thrilling,
urban modernity.
In
Those Dashing McDonagh Sisters
, Mandy Sayer reveals
the sisters’ remarkable story, from daughters of a respected
Sydney surgeon with a love of theatre and the arts, to their first
feature film,
Those Who Love
(1926), an instant hit, to their
controversial final film,
Two Minutes Silence
(1933).
Today, their most famous feature,
The Cheaters,
is frequently
screened at international film festivals around the world.