The Silent Suffering – Millicent’s Unforgettable Punishment

Mrs Smiths Method
Millicent Heaton’s behaviour is out of control. Her hapless mother brings her to Oakfield Road Academy, where disciplinarian Mrs Smith conducts her notorious method for reforming intractable girls.An epic historical spanking film written by Henry Labouchere, and based on the (nearly) true story of Victorian disciplinarian Mrs Walter Smith. Oakfield Road Academy has a notorious reputation – aided by the pamphlets written by the proprietress Mrs Smith, and distributed by her trusted maidservant, Hayes. When young Mrs Heaton despairs of her stepdaughter Millicent’s bad behaviour, she visits Mrs Smith and makes an appointment to bring Millicent in for an interview. Millicent’s impertinence is so habitual that she begins an argument with her mother as they approach Mrs Smith’s house; which develops into a full blown tantrum that Mrs Smith arrives just in time to witness. Millicent is out of control – and she is a perfect subject for Mrs Smith’s patented method for reforming intractable girls. Mrs Smith interviews both Millicent and her mother, and discovers everything she needs to know: that the girl is rude and disobedient, and the mother perfectly useless in imposing discipline. Millicent is sent upstairs with Hayes to prepare for her ‘interview’, while Mrs Smith speaks to the mother and explains her method: a sound birching on the bare bottom (or as Mrs Smith prefers to say, the "orthodox surface"). Mrs Smith shows Mrs Heaton the instruments of correction, the straps to hold the girl in place, and leaves no doubt that Millicent is in for a terrible shock. Upstairs, Hayes orders Millicent to strip, and gleefully torments her with horror stories of what awaits her. The girl is ordered to put on a dressing gown backwards, so that it can be parted to expose her buttocks (or in Mrs Smith speak, "the part that nature ordained for the purpose"). Mrs Heaton’s curiosity is piqued, leading her to make the unusual request to stay and watch the punishment, so she can learn what she must do to keep Millicent in check in future. Mrs Smith gives her permission to hide, since Millicent will be more easy to control if she thinks she and Mrs Smith are alone. And so, step by step, the pieces fall into place; each part of the process leading inexorably to the moment when Millicent is bent over the table, gown parted to reveal her round bottom, her wrists and knees bound with leather straps, as Mrs Smith prepares to give her a punishment she will never forget. As if the pain of the strokes wasn’t enough, Millicent must bear them in silence; and if she wriggles too much, Hayes is brought in to hold her down, adding to her humiliation. Little does Millicent know that her mother is watching everything, growing ever more eager to try administering corporal punishment herself. Truly contrite, after her birching Millicent begs for forgiveness – but her ordeal isn’t over yet. Mrs Smith hands her mother a thick three-tailed tawse, instructing her to use it on Millicent herself – after all, mothers are the proper persons to administer discipline to girls, if they have the stomach for it. Life at home for Millicent will never be the same again. But Millicent Heaton isn’t the only visitor to be reformed by Mrs Smith’s method. Her mother is undergoing a transformation of her own… A full-length feature film starring four icons of the UK spanking scene, Dreams of Spanking is proud to present this extraordinary historical production, based on the life of the infamous Mrs Walter Smith. See the full behind the scenes for this film here