Shoes

Lois Weber, 1916: Eva Meyer (Mary MacLaren) stands all day in a five-and-dime and walks home on soles that have given out. The family eats on her wage; the father does not work; a new pair of shoes becomes a moral crisis. Weber shoots working-class life without the usual sermon — the shoes are the plot. From Stella Wynne Herron's story. The year Weber was among the highest-paid directors in America.