Sunshine Molly

Lois Weber enters Oilfield, which consists of a big dining hall, a few shacks, and a zillion oil derricks. She goes to work in the dining hall, where Phillips Smalley tries to goose her. She breaks a plate over his head.

This feature by Weber & Smalley is in poor shape: a couple of reels are missing, and there's extensive bubbling in the beginning and near the end. However, it's clear that this movie is about a couple of things: the power of a helpful, pleasant personality and about single women trying to deal with young men. The ending is a bit awkward and unsatisfactory, imposed by the strictures of convention, but a lot of what comes earlier is interesting.

Of note is that this feature has a credited cinematographer, Dal Clawson, and that Weber & Smalley are no longer playing with the screen shape to make their cinematic points. Instead, they're using setting and camera placement. There are several shots of people in narrow doorways, and one lovely composition of Miss Weber on the left of a doorway, a vertical post in the middle, and Mr Smalley trudging away in the distance on the right.

This was shot for Bosworth, releasing through Paramount, away from the Smalleys' home base at Universal. Was it a loan-out or were they leaving, only to go back after negotiating a better deal?