Celebrating Silent Movie Day
It’s national Silent Movie Day, so we’re joining in with this 108-year-old film (!!!) directed by Lois Weber, just before Hollywood basically froze women out of the director’s chair for the next few decades.
Shoes is a socially conscious picture, the story of a working woman trying to support a family on $5 a week, desperate for a $3 pair of shoes that is always just out of reach, and the downward economic spiral that leads her into despair and prostitution.
Weber was one of the most important and prolific directors of the silent film era, as well as a writer, producer, actress, and head of her own production company. In an era when it was tough for women to get behind the camera (preceding the era when it was actually impossible), Weber forged the way for filmmakers, women, and men, who saw film as an opportunity to create art imbued with their own ideas and philosophies.
A wealth of details fills every frame, while remarkable effects and dream sequences enhance the story. The tinting is particularly beautiful, with a yellow tint throughout the store and home scenes with blue tinting to signal night shots.