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Lois Weber

Director

Lois Weber

Born June 12, 1879 in Allegheny City [now Pittsburgh], Pennsylvania, USADied November 13, 193959 films

Lois Weber (1879 - 1939) was a true American auteur on par with D. W. Griffith. A director, actress, screenwriter, and producer of mostly silent films, she was the first American woman to direct a full-length feature film (1914's The Merchant of Venice), the first American woman director to own her own film studio, and one of the first film directors to experiment with sound. Weber pioneered the split-screen technique in the 1913 short film Suspense, and Hypocrites featured the first non-pornographic full-frontal female nude scene in 1915. Many of her films tackled social issues like abortion, poverty, discrimination, and religion, drawing the attention of censors.

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Only a fraction of her films, estimated to number between 200 and 400, were preserved. In 2022, the American Film Institute announced a new initiative titled "Behind the Veil," after one of Weber's lost films. The initiative "will document 6,000 short films from the silent and early sound eras to uncover the innovative contributions of female and BIPOC storytellers."

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The best way into Lois Weber's work
Suspense posterFirst watchSuspense19137.0Abandoned by her maidservant in an isolated country house, a mother must protect herself and her baby from an invading tramp while her husband races home in a stolen car to save them.View film

Filmography

59 films as director
  1. 1934White HeatDirector
  2. 1927The Angel of BroadwayDirector
  3. 1927Sensation SeekersDirector
  4. 1926The Marriage ClauseDirector
  5. 1923A Chapter in Her LifeDirector
  6. 1921What Do Men Want?Director
  7. 1921The BlotDirector
  8. 1921Too Wise WivesDirector
  9. 1921What's Worth While?Director
  10. 1920To Please One WomanDirector
  11. 1919ForbiddenDirector
  12. 1919HomeDirector
  13. 1919Mary ReganDirector
  14. 1919A Midnight RomanceDirector
  15. 1919When a Girl LovesDirector
  16. 1918Borrowed ClothesDirector
  17. 1918For Husbands OnlyDirector
  18. 1918The Doctor and the WomanDirector
  19. 1917The Price of a Good TimeDirector
  20. 1917The Hand That Rocks the CradleDirector
  21. 1917Even as You and IDirector
  22. 1917The Mysterious Mrs. MDirector
  23. 1916The People vs. John DoeDirector
  24. 1916Idle WivesDirector
  25. 1916Saving the Family NameDirector
  26. 1916ShoesDirector
  27. 1916The Eye of GodDirector
  28. 1916Where Are My Children?Director
  29. 1916John Needham's DoubleDirector
  30. 1916The FlirtDirector
  31. 1916Hop - The Devil's BrewDirector
  32. 1916The Dumb Girl of PorticiDirector
  33. 1916DiscontentDirector
  34. 1915A Cigarette - That's AllDirector
  35. 1915ScandalDirector
  36. 1915Betty in Search of a ThrillDirector
  37. 1915Captain CourtesyDirector
  38. 1915Sunshine MollyDirector
  39. 1915HypocritesDirector
  40. 1915It's No Laughing MatterDirector
  41. 1914False ColorsDirector
  42. 1914Lost by a HairDirector
  43. 1914The Pursuit of HateDirector
  44. 1914The Spider and Her WebDirector
  45. 1914The Merchant of VeniceDirector
  46. 1913The Jew's ChristmasDirector
  47. 1913How Men ProposeDirector
  48. 1913SuspenseDirector
  49. 1913The RosaryDirector
  50. 1912A Japanese IdyllDirector
  51. 1912The Troubadour's TriumphDirector
  52. 1912Eyes That See NotDirector
  53. 1912Fine FeathersDirector
  54. 1911The PriceDirector
  55. 1911FateDirector
  56. 1911On the BrinkDirector
  57. 1911The TwinsDirector
  58. 1911From Death to LifeDirector
  59. 1911A Heroine of '76Director