Lois Weber weaves a beautifully simple story of one shop girl’s struggles into a heartbreaking cinematic masterpiece. Filmed on the streets of Los Angeles — including a remarkable scene in Pershing Square and another in front of Woolworth’s on Broadway — Weber follows the daily travails of Eva Meyer, whose meager wages from her job at a five-and-dime store are the sole financial support for three younger sisters, a struggling mother, and a father who prefers beer and penny dreadfuls to work. When there is barely enough to cover the grocer’s bill, Eva is forced to patch the holes in the soles of her shoes with cardboard. But with each rainy day and every splinter, her plight becomes more painful, and finally intolerable. With no solution in sight, Eva is forced to consider other options.

The Shoes restoration by the EYE Filmmuseum combined a Dutch nitrate print and a 1930s “comedic” short reissue of the film found at the Library of Congress. Thanks to the recent discovery of the original script and intertitles in the 16mm microfilm files at NBC/Universal, the Milestone edition more closely reflects the original film. Prominent musicians and composers Donald Sosin and Mimi Rabson have created a mesmerizing and moving score.

 

• Commentary track by Lois Weber biographer Shelley Stamp
• 1932 spoof Unshod Maiden
• 1971 audio interview of Mary MacLaren
• Richard Koszarski on Unshod Maiden 
• Shoes: Before-and-after video
• 1911 short film, Lost Illusions written by and starring Weber

 

The Dumb Girl of Portici  has been long overdue for recognition as one of pioneer filmmaker Lois Weber’s finest creations and a landmark in women’s cinema. The blockbuster film was Universal’s most expensive to date and featured an enormous cast, large-scale sets, and an ambitious story.
 
For Weber, the film represented a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with Anna Pavlova, the incomparable prima ballerina. Pavlova was appearing with the Boston Opera Company in D. F. E. Auber’s 1829 La Muette de Portici, portraying Fenella, a wordless fisher-girl living during the Spanish occupation of Naples in the mid-17th century who is seduced and abandoned by a Spanish nobleman. In the opera and in Weber’s stirring drama, the betrayal of Fenella and the oppression of her people inspire her brother to foment a revolution.
 
Sadly, over the years The Dumb Girl of Portici has fallen out of distribution. This restoration, with a dazzling new score by the acclaimed composer John Sweeney, offers audiences a chance to experience the energy, brilliance, and the talents of maestras Pavlova and Weber.