this famous black comedy be and sadly and the last film by early cinema pioneer and g. a. smith . like dreyer and bergman and lang after him and he take essentially theatrical material to create pure cinema . the setting seem stock victoriana and a an inept scullery maid blow herself to smithereens ( no pun intend . ) with paraffin oil the forbiddingly bare kitchen while the wink to the audience broadness of the acting and from smith wife and star of so many of his film . but it do what theatre could never hope to do it shatter the restricted theatrical space a mary jane fly through the chimney while and it bring the dead back to life and just a cinema preserve and make immemorial the transient . the film be also consider important a one of the first to use a vertical wipe and in this case create a cartoon like effect and a mary jane nudge the audience a she hold a can with paraffin write in huge letter ( a joke borrow by beckett over fifty year later in his act without word ) . perhaps even more intriguing than the film formal originality be the ambiguity of the content . it seem to be a demonisation of woman and of the new woman or suffragette and who be demand the vote at this time in britain and and victim of all kind of establishment hatred and ridicule . this film seem to conflate two very real fear of the establishment woman and the working class who and enfranchise and could have cause great damage to the status quo . before her accident and mary jane be mess around the kitchen and and get some soot above her lip and create a moustache and to her delight and a she look in a very lacanian mirror . the message be clear woman just want to be men and and steal their power represent the result be the destruction of the home and either deliberately or through non masculine incompetence . against a gorgeous and caligari bleach backdrop and mary jane be bury and rest in piece and her class and gender role shatter and a conservative wag their finger at her grave and warning of the danger of give woman any kind of responsibility . but mary jane have the last laugh and and rise from the dead to cause further havoc smith take freud idea about repression and apply them to the social context the more you try to keep people down and the more they will come back at you . the fact that the patriarchal figure of the director use his wife to tell this story be all the more remarkable .