The Cheaters_proposal

A sequined dress bought in Paris by Kathleen Coen in 1925 became part of Australia’s film history through association with Isabel, Paulette and Phyllis McDonagh - the first Australian women to own and run a film production company. In 1929 they produced The Cheaters starring Isabel (billed as, 'Marie Lorraine') as Paula Marsh – a thief planning her retirement from crime, who falls in love with Lee Travers, the man that’s supposed to be her final target! In the scene in which Lee proposes to Paula, she’s wearing Kathleen’s dress.

Isabel had borrowed the flapper-style sequined evening dress from her best friend, who had bought it during a six-month tour of Europe in 1925. It was donated to the NFSA by author Meg Stewart, the daughter of Kathleen’s niece, and the dress has since undergone conservation treatments to stabilise the delicate gelatine sequins and the extremely fragile silk fabric base.