Lois Weber
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.
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."
Acting
Movie
Suspense.
as The Wife
1913
Movie
How Men Propose
as The Maid
1913
Movie
The Women Who Run Hollywood
as Self (archive footage)
2016
Movie
The Rosary
as The Soldier's Sweetheart
1913
Movie
The Price
as Ann
1911
Movie
Fate
as Flora Brown
1911
Movie
The Twins
as The Twin Sisters
1911
Movie
Idle Wives
as Anne
1916
Movie
A Heroine of '76
as The Tavern Keeper's Daughter
1911
Movie
The Pursuit of Hate
as Diana Grave
1914
Movie
Sherlock Holmes, Jr.
as Mrs. Brown
1911
Movie
Fine Feathers
as Mira, the Artist's Model
1912
Movie
A Japanese Idyll
1912
Movie
Alone in the World
1917
Movie
On the Brink
as Tess
1911
Movie
Lost by a Hair
as Summer Girl
1914
Movie
From Death to Life
as Aratus' Wife
1911
Movie
Eyes That See Not
as The Millionaire's Wife
1912
Movie
The Picture of Dorian Gray
1913
Movie
The Spider and Her Web
as Madame DuBarr
1914
Movie
Lost Illusions
as Grace - The Wife
1911
Movie
Scandal
as Daisy Dean
1915
Movie
Sunshine Molly
as Sunshine Molly
1915
Movie
The Eye of God
as Renie
1916
Crew
Movie
Suspense.
Director
1913
Movie
Hypocrites
Director
1915
Movie
Where Are My Children?
Director
1916
Movie
The Blot
Director
1921
Movie
Tarzan of the Apes
Writer
1918
Movie
Shoes
Director
1916
Movie
The Dumb Girl of Portici
Producer
1916
Movie
How Men Propose
Director
1913
Movie
Too Wise Wives
Director
1921
Movie
Discontent
Director
1916
Movie
Sensation Seekers
Director
1927
Movie
The Rosary
Director
1913