In 1992, actress-turned-director Penny Marshall became the first woman to direct two films to gross over $100 million. The first of those films was Big, a Tom Hanks comedy about a boy who, through carnival magic, is turned into an adult overnight. The second of these films is A League of Their Own. This was not a story based in fantasy but one based on the oft untold story of the AAGPBL, the women’s baseball league that was formed during the years when all of their male counterparts were off fighting in World War II.

My whole life, I’ve considered myself a pretty well rounded and knowledgeable film fan. From the Best Picture winners and the Star Wars franchise to the odd Hungarian or even Tunisian film. However, when it comes to Lois Weber, I was completely blindsided. Though not given the same praise as her contemporaries, she was one of the most popular filmmakers during the 1910s and took the opportunity to make what she felt were important films. Her name may not be familiar to you but her accomplishments are impressive.

So far, the women I have focused on in this series have benefited greatly from the advent of the women’s liberation movement. Sure, the women working in the 1960s and 70s had to carve out their own path with very little help, but the women who came before had to machete their way through the rigid Old Hollywood system. Ida Lupino was such a woman. Often forgotten in conversations about great women directors, Lupino was the only working woman director in the 1950s and the first to direct a film noir movie.