Women directors of Silent film

• The early development in film in the early 1900’s included many women directors and producers. The Hollywood industry had over 30 female directors. The contribution of women filmmakers in the silent period, particularly

• The first woman film maker---- Dorothy Arzner, Lois Weber and Elsie Jane Wilson.

• Lois Webber is one of the most well known and was a favourite with Universal studios and mentored the famous John Ford .

Weber's films are usually revived in the context of her role as one of the American cinema's first female pioneers.

Lois Webber Films

• Although she made a wide range of films between 1913 and 1926, Weber is perhaps best known as the director of social dramas with moral themes.

• These films dealt with such serious and controversial issues such as birth control and abortion ("Where are My Children" - 1916), capital punishment ("The People vs. John Doe" - 1916), and generational conflict ("Discontent" - 1916).

• Her best known feature-length film, The Blot (1921), dealt with the economic challenges facing a young couple surviving in a society that offers great potential for capitalistic skills but meagre rewards for intellectual and moral efforts.

Billie Dove worked hard to become a serious actress She sought out the best directors working in Hollywood. She found a female director, Lois Weber, for whom she would always hold extreme respect.

In 1926, Weber cast Billie in The Marriage Clause, as an actress who almost suffers a fatal breakdown, this role made her a famous serious actresses. Billie emerged as a new symbol of freedom, modernity and feistiness.

An Angel on Broadway