Shoes

“Shoes,” a 1916 drama directed by Lois Weber, tells the story of a poor girl working hard at a five and dime to support her family.  Her pay envelope barely keeps her family together and her father refuses to apply himself to find a job.  That leaves our heroine, Eva, in shabby clothing and shoes.  Eva passes a shoe store and ogles a pair of expensive shoes.  “Caberet” Charlie offers to help but at a great cost, Eva must sell herself to obtain the shoes.

Mary Maclaren in "Shoes."

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Lois Weber specialized in these social stories and became an early movie pioneer.  She made dozens of silent films but only one sound picture, 1934’s “White Heat,” which is believed lost.  The star of Shoes, Mary Maclaren, who plays Eve, lived like a bag lady in her old age and died in poverty.  Both Weber and Maclaren come from the Pittsburgh area.  Weber’s birthplace, Allegheny, Pennsylvania (now part of Pittsburgh), is also the birthplace of Mary Cassatt and Gertrude Stein.  That makes it a great and historic place for female artists and pioneers.

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