Directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley • 1916 • United States
Starring Anna Pavlova, Rupert Julian, Laura Oakley
Two trailblazing women artists—filmmaker Lois Weber and Russian ballet superstar Anna Pavlova—joined forces to create this long-unseen landmark of silent cinema, the first blockbuster ever directed by a woman. Adapted from an opera by Daniel Auber, THE DUMB GIRL OF PORTICI tells the story of Fenella (Pavlova), a mute fisher girl living during the seventeenth-century Spanish occupation of Naples, who is seduced and abandoned by a Spanish nobleman. As a result of this betrayal and the oppression of their people, Fenella’s brother foments a revolution. The only feature-film performance that Pavlova left behind, this vital rediscovery offers modern viewers an invaluable chance to experience the energy, the expressive face, and the physical grace of one of the twentieth century’s most revered performers.
Up Next in Directed by Lois Weber
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Shoes
Directed by Lois Weber • 1916 • United States
Starring Mary MacLaren, Harry Griffith, Mattie WittingDecades before the artistic triumph of neorealism and the cultural revolution of the feminist movement, director Lois Weber expressed the seeds of both in what is perhaps her greatest work: an al...
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The Blot
Directed by Lois Weber • 1921 • United States
Starring Claire Windsor, Louis Calhern, Philip HubbardThe last film made under the banner of Lois Weber Productions, this moral drama, also written by Weber, is a biting commentary on economic inequality. Through her portrait of the Griggs family—an...
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Suspense
Directed by Lois Weber and Phillips Smalley • 1913 • United States
Starring Lois Weber, Val Paul, Douglas GerrardLois Weber stars as a young mother who is home alone when a tramp enters the house in this visually captivating and stylistically inventive thriller, featuring a striking chase scene...