Caroline Frances Pugliese (February 17, 1865 – May 4, 1940) was an Australian theatre proprietor. She was involved in creating three early Australian films.
Caroline Frances Pugliese | |
|---|---|
| Born | Caroline France Donaldson 17 February 1865 Five Dock, New South Wales, Australia |
| Died | 3 May 1940 Coogee,New South Wales, Australia |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Occupation(s) | Entrepreneur and film producer |
| Known for | owning cinemas and making films |
| Spouse | Antonio Pugliese |
| Children | seven |
Life
editPugliese was born in the Sydney suburb of Five Dock in 1865. Her parents were both immigrants, her mother Mary (born Vidler) was English and her father James Donaldson was a gardener who was born in Ireland.[1]
In 1883 she married an Italian born labourer named Antonio Pugliese at St John's, Ashfield in Sydney. She was his second wife and he already had two children.
In 1909 the family owned three cinemas in New South Wales. These were the Alhambra in the Haymarket, the Star Theatre in Bondi, and the Broadway in Leichhardt.[1] The Alhambra had been Sydney's first Music Hall in the 1890s.[2] It was Caroline Pugliese who decided that the business should do and she contolled the money. Other members of the Pugliese made the cinemas projectors work and operated front of house.[3] Caroline's husbund, Antonio, died in 1916 and their eldest child Unberto (aka Herbert) was "a charmer". Film distribution was a competitive business and the Pugliese experienced problems in accessing the films they wanted. In 1917 they decided to make their own. Raymond Longford created a script and directed The Church and the Woman about a marriage between a Catholic and a Protestant.
The film faced legal challenges. The first which was suspected to be a publicity stunt was an objection that the title was too similar to another film. The secomd challenge had more weight. It became apparent that Longford had borrowed the story from Edward Finn's book[1] A Priest’s Secret under seal of confession. Finn's book was published in the 1880s.[4] The film had been a major commercial success but this spoilt when the courts ruled in Edward Finn's favour and awarded him a share of the profits and the prints of the film.[5] Longford had infringed the copyright but Caroline's son Herbert was charged with enabling the breach and the Puglieses lost the case.[5]
In 1920 her son Herbert/Umberto went to court to demanf that his wife should return to their home. His wife refused blaming him for being so dependant on his mother.[1]
References
edit- ^ a b c d e Crowley, Bill, "Caroline Frances Pugliese (1865–1940)", Australian Dictionary of Biography, Canberra: National Centre of Biography, Australian National University, retrieved 2024-08-07
- ^ "YESTERDAY". Daily Mirror. 1950-08-10. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
- ^ "Caroline Frances Pugliese – Women Film Pioneers Project". wfpp.columbia.edu. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
- ^ Finn, Edmund; Garryowen (1888). A Priest's Secret: Under Seal of Confession. Alex, M'Kinley & Company.
- ^ a b "IN EQUITY". Sydney Morning Herald. 1918-07-05. Retrieved 2024-08-07.
External links
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