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Some movies attempted to change social attitudes from the very beginning, and director Lois Weber made that goal her specialty, with a great many enormously popular films of the ‘teens and ‘twenties. Milestone’s disc of a Dutch restoration of this 1916 gem is a major find in terms of film culture: it helps write women filmmakers back into the historical record.

Shoes

Blu-ray

The Milestone Cinematheque

1916 / B&W / 1:33 Silent Ap / 60 min. / Street Date February 6, 2018

Starring: Mary MacLaren, Harry Griffith, Mrs. A.E. Witting, Jessie Arnold, William V. Mong.

Cinematography: King D. Gray, Stephen S. Norton , Allen G. Siegler

New Music: Donald Sosin, Mimi Rabson.

Written by Lois Weber from a story by Stella Wynne Herron, from a book by Jane Addams

Produced by Phillips Smalley, Lois Weber

Directed by Lois Weber

One of the last discoveries in film school was finding out that all silent films didn’t use exaggerated expressionistic acting.

Kathryn Bigelow’s Detroit first to go under deal.

Annapurna and Twentieth Century Fox Film announced on Tuesday a multi-year home entertainment deal.

Under the terms of the partnership, Fox will service the Us home entertainment rights for all features produced by Annapurna across physical, digital HD and Tvod platforms.

Kathryn Bigelow’s (pictured) Detroit will be the first film released under the agreement. The crime thriller set against the backdrop of the 1967 Detroit Rebellion is set for theatrical release on August 4.

“We are very excited to partner with Twentieth Century Fox Film to extend the reach of our films beyond the in-theater experience,” Erik Lomis, Annapurna’s president of distribution, said. “We are confident that our films are in the best possible hands, and we look forward to a strong collaboration to bring them to market.”

Mary McLaren, worldwide COO at Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment, added: “Annapurna is taking their approach to creating critically and commercially...

'The Doll' with Ossi Oswalda and Hermann Thimig: Early Ernst Lubitsch satirical fantasy starring 'the German Mary Pickford' has similar premise to that of the 1925 Buster Keaton comedy 'Seven Chances.' 'The Doll': San Francisco Silent Film Festival presented fast-paced Ernst Lubitsch comedy starring the German Mary Pickford – Ossi Oswalda Directed by Ernst Lubitsch (So This Is Paris, The Wedding March), the 2017 San Francisco Silent Film Festival presentation The Doll / Die Puppe (1919) has one of the most amusing mise-en-scènes ever recorded. The set is created by cut-out figures that gradually come to life; then even more cleverly, they commence the fast-paced action. It all begins when a shy, confirmed bachelor, Lancelot (Hermann Thimig), is ordered by his rich uncle (Max Kronert), the Baron von Chanterelle, to marry for a large sum of money. As to be expected, mayhem ensues. Lancelot is forced to flee from the hordes of eligible maidens, eventually...

Shoes (1916) screens along with the short film Suspense (10 minutes – 1910) Sunday December 11th beginning at 7:30pm at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood).

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of two of Lois Weber’s most important films, Milestone Films has released restored versions of Shoes and The Dumb Girl Of Portici. Working with the Netherland’s Eye Filmmuseum, the Library of Congress, archivist Lori Raskin and composers Donald Sosin and John Sweeney, these films will both be screening at Webster University. The small but magnificent ensemble Shoes, with Weber’s star discovery Mary MacLaren was released the same year as her epic blockbuster The Dumb Girl Of Portici featuring the legendary dancer, Anna Pavlova. The two films show brilliantly the tremendous range Weber had as a film director.

“Lois Weber was the most successful of all the women directors in the first quarter of the 20th century and, at the time,...

The Dumb Girl Of Portici (1916) Screens Sunday December 4th at 7:30pm at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood).

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of two of Lois Weber’s most important films, Milestone Films has released restored versions of Shoes and The Dumb Girl Of Portici. Working with the Netherland’s Eye Filmmuseum, the Library of Congress, archivist Lori Raskin and composers Donald Sosin and John Sweeney, these films will both be screening at Webster University. The small but magnificent ensemble Shoes, with Weber’s star discovery Mary MacLaren was released the same year as her epic blockbuster The Dumb Girl Of Portici featuring the legendary dancer, Anna Pavlova. The two films show brilliantly the tremendous range Weber had as a film director.

“Lois Weber was the most successful of all the women directors in the first quarter of the 20th century and, at the time, was placed...

Stream Market: The president of Awesomeness TV identified a section of the Millennial demographic as woefully underserved during a panel at the two-day digital conference on Thursday.

Speaking during a session dedicated to the making of his company’s 2014 social smash Expelled, Brett Bouttier explained how the film’s success was not entirely unexpected.

“There are very few films being made for teens,” said Bouttier, adding: “Digital has created a new TV for them.

“We knew there was that opening in the marketplace and we knew the stars had the ability to be the marketers and not just the stars.”

Expelled opened at number one on iTunes in December and stayed there for four weeks to keep the likes of rival new releases such as Guardians Of The Galaxy and The Equalizer at bay. The film drew approximately 15bn social impressions during active release.

Writer-director Alex Goyette commenced production on the high school comedy starring Vine celebrity...

'To Each His Own' movie with Olivia de Havilland and John Lund 'To Each His Own' movie review: Best Actress Oscar winner Olivia de Havilland stars in Mother Love tearjerker Olivia de Havilland, who had starred in the 1941 melodrama Hold Back the Dawn, returns to the wartime milieu in To Each His Own (1946), once again under the direction of Mitchell Leisen, who guides the proceedings with his characteristic sincerity while cleverly skirting the Production Code's restrictive guidelines. In To Each His Own, de Havilland plays Jody Norris, a small-town woman who falls quickly in love – much like her character in Hold Back the Dawn – but this time during World War I, when Jody's brief liaison with daredevil flying ace Captain Cosgrove (John Lund) results in an out-of-wedlock child. When Cosgrove is killed in battle, the young mother anonymously gives up her baby to a childless couple in her hometown, remaining...

Pioneering woman director Lois Weber socially conscious drama 'Shoes' among Library of Congress' Packard Theater movies (photo: Mary MacLaren in 'Shoes') In February 2015, National Film Registry titles will be showcased at the Library of Congress' Packard Campus Theater – aka the Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation – in Culpeper, Virginia. These range from pioneering woman director Lois Weber's socially conscious 1916 drama Shoes to Robert Zemeckis' 1985 blockbuster Back to the Future. Another Packard Theater highlight next month is Sam Peckinpah's ultra-violent Western The Wild Bunch (1969), starring William Holden and Ernest Borgnine. Also, Howard Hawks' "anti-High Noon" Western Rio Bravo (1959), toplining John Wayne and Dean Martin. And George Cukor's costly remake of A Star Is Born (1954), featuring Academy Award nominees Judy Garland and James Mason in the old Janet Gaynor and Fredric March roles. There's more: Jeff Bridges delivers a colorful performance in...

Jean Arthur films on TCM include three Frank Capra classics Five Jean Arthur films will be shown this evening, Monday, January 5, 2015, on Turner Classic Movies, including three directed by Frank Capra, the man who helped to turn Arthur into a major Hollywood star. They are the following: Capra's Mr. Deeds Goes to Town, You Can't Take It with You, and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington; George Stevens' The More the Merrier; and Frank Borzage's History Is Made at Night. One the most effective performers of the studio era, Jean Arthur -- whose film career began inauspiciously in 1923 -- was Columbia Pictures' biggest female star from the mid-'30s to the mid-'40s, when Rita Hayworth came to prominence and, coincidentally, Arthur's Columbia contract expired. Today, she's best known for her trio of films directed by Frank Capra, Columbia's top director of the 1930s. Jean Arthur-Frank Capra...

TBS welcomed "Cougar Town," its new star acquisition, Wednesday morning at the TNT/TBS 2012 Upfront presentation.

"Cougar Town" is "the only show that consumes more red wine at the upfronts than you do," TBS executive vice president and head of programming Michael Wright quipped when he introduced the comedy -- which Turner saved from it's not-so-bright future with ABC -- to assembled media and advertisers.

As the show's cast took to the stage, Courteney Cox spoke warmly about "Cougar Town's" move from ABC to TBS. "Everyone at 'Cougar Town' is thrilled to be a part of this new home at TBS. This network is a destination for new comedy and we know that 'Cougar Town' and TBS will be a perfect fit."

The other major development of the upfront presentation was Turner's plan to accelerate original programming to a year-round schedule on both networks.

As part of that strategy,...