Lois Weber

Biography

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."

Directed

1. Suspense. (1913) — Director
2. Hypocrites (1915) — Director
3. Where Are My Children? (1916) — Director
4. The Blot (1921) — Director
5. Shoes (1916) — Director
6. The Dumb Girl of Portici (1916) — Director
7. How Men Propose (1913) — Director
8. Too Wise Wives (1921) — Director
9. Discontent (1916) — Director
10. Sensation Seekers (1927) — Director
11. The Rosary (1913) — Director
12. The Price (1911) — Director
13. Home (1919) — Director
14. White Heat (1934) — Director
15. Fate (1911) — Director
16. A Chapter in Her Life (1923) — Director
17. The Twins (1911) — Director
18. What Do Men Want? (1921) — Director
19. Idle Wives (1916) — Director
20. Betty in Search of a Thrill (1915) — Director
21. The Pursuit of Hate (1914) — Director
22. A Heroine of '76 (1911) — Director
23. Eyes That See Not (1912) — Director
24. The Angel of Broadway (1927) — Director
25. The Marriage Clause (1926) — Director
26. Fine Feathers (1912) — Director
27. A Japanese Idyll (1912) — Director
28. A Midnight Romance (1919) — Director
29. On the Brink (1911) — Director
30. From Death to Life (1911) — Director
31. Lost by a Hair (1914) — Director
32. Mary Regan (1919) — Director
33. What's Worth While? (1921) — Director
34. Forbidden (1919) — Director
35. When a Girl Loves (1919) — Director
36. To Please One Woman (1920) — Director
37. The Spider and Her Web (1914) — Director
38. False Colors (1914) — Director
39. Captain Courtesy (1915) — Director
40. It's No Laughing Matter (1915) — Director

Also appeared in

1. Suspense. (1913) — The Wife
2. How Men Propose (1913) — The Maid
3. The Women Who Run Hollywood (2016) — Self (archive footage)
4. The Rosary (1913) — The Soldier's Sweetheart
5. The Price (1911) — Ann
6. Fate (1911) — Flora Brown
7. The Twins (1911) — The Twin Sisters
8. Idle Wives (1916) — Anne
9. A Heroine of '76 (1911) — The Tavern Keeper's Daughter
10. The Pursuit of Hate (1914) — Diana Grave
11. Sherlock Holmes, Jr. (1911) — Mrs. Brown
12. Fine Feathers (1912) — Mira, the Artist's Model
13. A Japanese Idyll (1912)
14. Alone in the World (1917)
15. On the Brink (1911) — Tess
16. From Death to Life (1911) — Aratus' Wife
17. Lost by a Hair (1914) — Summer Girl
18. Eyes That See Not (1912) — The Millionaire's Wife
19. The Picture of Dorian Gray (1913)
20. The Spider and Her Web (1914) — Madame DuBarr
21. Lost Illusions (1911) — Grace - The Wife
22. Scandal (1915) — Daisy Dean
23. Sunshine Molly (1915) — Sunshine Molly
24. The Eye of God (1916) — Renie
25. Hop - The Devil's Brew (1916) — Lydia Jansen
26. The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1917) — Mrs. Broome
27. The Merchant of Venice (1914) — Portia
28. The Jew's Christmas (1913) — Leah - Isaac's Daughter
29. False Colors (1914) — Mrs. Moore
30. Early Directors on Directing (2009) — Self