The Blot

Rating:
Summary: Powerful window into a different world
Review: Lois Weber gets a lot of attention these days as the preeminent American woman director of the silent era, much of which overlooks the fact that most of her films were made in collaboration with her husband Philips Smalley, and we don't really know who wore the jodhpurs in the family. The Blot, however, makes a strong case for having been directed by a woman or at least strongly shaped by the women who wrote it, because the most keenly felt thing in the picture by far is the quiet despair of the housewife trying to keep house with too few resources. At those moments, a simple message picture about why college professors should be paid more than subsistence wages (apparently mainly so they aren't quite so envious of the spoiled young bloods who take their classes) rises to a Stroheimian, even Zolaesque level of intensity in its depiction of the bitter effects of poverty on the spirit.

A striking example of the socially-minded silent (which producer Kevin Brownlow documented in his landmark book Behind the Mask of Innocence), very different from the usual image of silent escapism or melodrama-not to mention proof that Louis Calhern really was young enough once to play an undergraduate.

Rating:
Summary: A Glimpse Into Weber's World
Review: Lois Weber was a giant in early films, running her own studio and producing hundreds of films with Phillips Smalley, her husband and partner in the business. At one time she was the richest director in cinema, earning more than anyone else in the world ~ and by putting out the movies that she wanted to make, without too many nods to popular public opinion. Her films were not fluff pieces, but brave, intelligent works on weighty, important topics, which earned her great respect with peers and viewers. She created films on subjects that mattered to her, and to the world at large, and was unafraid to center her energies on what might be considered taboo, or not regularly discussed in polite society.

In this film Weber approaches the subject of the unfairly paid, disrespected academic/intellectual who serves the needs of the mind vs those who cater to the materialistic world and whims of the fickle consumer. Who is the more important, she challenges her audience, who performs the greater duty, the one more worthy ~ at the very least worth a living wage?

The intellectual/academics in this film are represented by a college professor who struggles to feed and clothe his family on a pittance salary, and an idealistic minister with a fine, inquiring mind. Crass consumerism arrives in the form of a lively immigrant family with a shoemaker father who makes fancy lady's slippers which cost dearly, more than the professor's family probably ever saw at one time. The two families are neighbours and conflicts arise from the start. The shoemaker's family are proud, they flaunt what they have, deeply wounding the sensitive professor's wife, played to perfection by Margaret McWade. McWade brilliantly embodies the utter despair of one well-raised who, at that point, hasn't enough to meet even the basic needs of her family. McWade's mannerisms and her expressive face beautifully tell the entire story ~ here is a woman who loves her family but has been slowly beaten down by life and is entirely distraught.

Enter into this her frail, lovely daughter (the exquisite Claire Windsor) who works at the library to supplement the meagre family income. Windsor attracts the attention of a rich college fellow (Louis Calhern), who finds himself intrigued. As Calhern gets to know Windsor and begins to understand her home situation, his devil-may-care heart is truly touched. Superficial attraction deepens into something greater, perhaps ultimately life-altering. The sincere minister is also in love with Windsor, with a true and heartbreaking sort of love that the viewer yearns to see reciprocated. To further complicate matters, the young son of the immigrant neighbours also loves Windsor, but never musters enough courage to make even the most preliminary of contacts; this is the proverbial love from afar ~ he adores and worships most touchingly. And therein lies the signature genius of Weber: she creates a complete and entire world of emotion within her films.

To briefly summarize the plot, the professor's daughter falls ill, setting a chain of events into motion that culminates in the professor's family enduring all sorts of trials, and the daughter facing a decision. Which of her suitors shall she choose? The rich Calhern with his fine prospects, or the minister with his fine mind? She's in love with one of them ~ but whom? And thus the memorable ending, one of the most unusual and indelible in all of film, which concludes with a haunting final scene that ~ as stated another reviewer ~ shall remain with you for a very long while.

A satisfactory film with a deep and complex message filmed on actual locations ~ I recommend 'The Blot' to those who wish for a look into a most talented, sadly forgotten director of early cinema. Lois Weber truly is a neglected genius.


Rating:
Summary: "The Female D.W. Griffith"
Review: The story of Lois Weber is one of the saddest in all of early American cinema. One of two prominent women producer-directors to emerge during the silent era (the other Alice Guy Blache' has a very similar story), she was at one time considered to be the equal of D.W. Griffith and by 1916 was actually the highest paid director in the world. She had total control over her films tackling such inflammatory material as religious hypocrisy, drug addiction, birth control and abortion. Along with her husband Phillips Smalley she ran her own studio where THE BLOT was filmed. By 1921 when this film was released her career was in decline (this was her last independent production) and the studio system with its old world patriarchal attitude began to take hold creating the Hollywood of legend where most women could be stars but little else. Very few of her films survive but this is one of the best (only the controversial THE HYPOCRITES of 1915 is better in my opinion) as it shows how Weber approached filmmaking. THE BLOT's emphasis is on story and character as opposed to action or spectacle and features solid work from Claire Windsor and Louis Calhern as the young couple with a finely detailed performance from Margaret McWade as the mother. The film is well photographed with sophisticated editing for maximum impact. The bittersweet ending is well handled and stays with you long after the film is over. By the end of the decade Weber had lost her studio, her husband, and the opportunity to direct. She died in 1939 at the age of 60 and within a few years was completely forgotten along with virtually all of her films. Only in the past few years has a proper reevaluation begun to take place with three of her films coming out on video. THE BLOT remains her best known feature and is given a first class DVD release thanks to the restoration efforts of Photoplay Productions and Milestone Films. It's the least that this pioneer woman director deserves. Give it a try along with anything else you can find by her and discover why Lois Weber was once known to her contemporaries as "the female D. W. Griffith" then ask yourself why you haven't heard of her.

Rating:
Summary: just ok
Review: This may have been made by one of the first woman directors Lois Weber but it is not flawless. Too many characters are thrown in the beginning of the picture making it hard to follow along. The pace doesn't pick up until the middle of the picture. The leading actress Claire Windsor who plays the poor girl shows some promise. The one thing I liked about the picture was how the neighbor next door started to treat the family with warmth, only after they apologized and made themselves look inferior to her. It showed how people are. More like 2.5. I liked the over dramatic scene with the chicken. Although several sites list this as being fifty so minutes, it's more around 80.