AustLit

Queensland newspapers (and some newspapers in other regions) widely reported an incident at a screening in Toowoomba:

The following, clipped from a Queensland exchange, may be swallowed with double the usual quantity of salt:—During the screening of 'The Mark of the Lash' at the Walhalla Hall on Monday night, a grey haired son of Erin provided the audience with an unexpected and effective interlude. There is a scene in this picture melodrama, which shows Murphy (a convict) being strapped to the triangle and flogged for a trivial breach of regulations. The old Irish spectator, who, from his seat in the back of the hall, had watched the story with gradually increasing excitement, suddenly rose up: 'Phwat, floggin' Murphy, my mate! Begorrah, not while I'm here.' And, muttering threats and imprecations, he forged his way towards the picture screen. He arrived at the foot of the steps just at the moment when the warder raised his cat-of-nine tails for the first blow. With one jump 'Paddy' was on the stage, with murder in his eye, and with upraised fist he made a dive for the warder. His own wildly gesticulating shadow on the sheet brought him back to his senses. When one of the hall attendants conducted him back to his seat, tears were in his eyes, and for quite a time he could be heard sobbing and muttering: 'The brutes! floggin' Murphy, my mate!' And the spectators roared with laughter for many minutes, the humorous phase outweighing the pathetic.

Source:

'All the Way from Queensland', The Richmond River Herald and Northern Districts Advertiser, 9 August 1912, p.2.