The Blot is an American silent

Silent film

A silent film is a film with no synchronized recorded sound, especially with no spoken dialogue. In silent films for entertainment the dialogue is transmitted through muted gestures, pantomime and title cards...

 drama film directed by Lois Weber

Lois Weber

Lois Weber was an American silent film actress, screenwriter, producer, and director, who is considered "the most important female director the American film industry has known", and "one of the most important and important and prolific film directors in the era of silent films". Film historian...

 with her husband Phillips Smalley

Phillips Smalley

Wendell Phillips Smalley was a prolific American silent film director and actor.Born in Brooklyn, New York, Smalley began his career in vaudeville and acted in more than 200 films between 1910 until his death in 1939...

 in 1921

1921 in film

-Top grossing films :-Films released in 1921:U.S.A. unless stated*$10,000 Under a Pillow, silent film directed by Frank Moser*The Ace of Hearts, silent film directed by Wallace Worsley*Across the Divide, silent film directed by John Holloway...

. The film tackles the social problem of genteel poverty

Poverty

Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...

, focusing on a starving family. It stars Claire Windsor

Claire Windsor

Claire Windsor was a notable American film actress of the silent screen era.-Early life:Windsor was born Clara Viola Cronk in 1892 to George Edwin and Rosella R. Fearing Cronk in Marvin, Phillips County, Kansas of Scandinavian heritage. Her parents later moved to Cawker City, Kansas when she was...

, Louis Calhern

Louis Calhern

Louis Calhern was an American stage and screen actor.- Early life :Louis Calhern was born Carl Henry Vogt on February 19, 1895 in Brooklyn, New York. His family left New York City while he was still a child and moved to St. Louis, Missouri where he grew up...

 and Marie Walcamp

Marie Walcamp

Marie Walcamp was an American actress of the silent film era.-Biography:Born in Dennison, Ohio, Walcamp headed to the East Coast in search of acting jobs on the stage after she finished her formal education. After landing various roles in New York, she eventually landed a role in 1913's The...

.

Weber filmed in real locations, using as much natural lighting as possible. Many supporting roles were given to non-professionals. Along with its bleak and unglamorous settings, the film ends on an ambiguous note, in which unrequited love

Unrequited love

Unrequited love is love that is not openly reciprocated or understood as such, even though reciprocation is usually deeply desired. The beloved may or may not be aware of the admirer's deep affections...

, convenience, and even the characters' desperation are all factors. If this is a universe where people live in real, cramped houses with thread-bare carpets, then their need for security and desire for comfort supersedes their want for true love. The film also suggests that something greater than charity is needed to aid the impoverished. Scenes were filmed on location around Los Angeles, particularly at the old University of Los Angeles campus, now Los Angeles City College

Los Angeles City College

Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...

.

The Blot was restored by Kevin Brownlow

Kevin Brownlow

Kevin Brownlow is a filmmaker, film historian, television documentary-maker, author, and Academy Award recipient. Brownlow is best known for his work documenting the history of the silent era. Brownlow became interested in silent film at the age of eleven. This interest grew into a career spent...

 and David Gill

David Gill (film historian)

David Ian Gill was born in Papua New Guinea, the son of Cecil Gill, a missionary doctor. His uncle was the sculptor Eric Gill. The family returned to England in 1933 where Gill attended the Belmont Abbey School, Hereford...

 for British television. Brownlow also singles out the film for praise in his book Behind the Mask of Innocence (1990). The Blot, which is currently available on DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 and VHS

VHS

The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

, was exhibited at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

Cast

• Philip Hubbard as The Professor, Andrew Theodore Griggs
• Margaret McWade as His Wife, Mrs. Griggs
• Claire Windsor
  Claire Windsor
  Claire Windsor was a notable American film actress of the silent screen era.-Early life:Windsor was born Clara Viola Cronk in 1892 to George Edwin and Rosella R. Fearing Cronk in Marvin, Phillips County, Kansas of Scandinavian heritage. Her parents later moved to Cawker City, Kansas when she was...
  
   as His Daughter, Amelia Griggs
• Louis Calhern
  Louis Calhern
  Louis Calhern was an American stage and screen actor.- Early life :Louis Calhern was born Carl Henry Vogt on February 19, 1895 in Brooklyn, New York. His family left New York City while he was still a child and moved to St. Louis, Missouri where he grew up...
  
   as His Pupil, Phil West
• Marie Walcamp
  Marie Walcamp
  Marie Walcamp was an American actress of the silent film era.-Biography:Born in Dennison, Ohio, Walcamp headed to the East Coast in search of acting jobs on the stage after she finished her formal education. After landing various roles in New York, she eventually landed a role in 1913's The...
  
  as The Other Girl, Juanita Claredon