Bread on AllMovie

The title of the 1918 silent film Bread was meant to be allegorical. The fate of a loaf of bread is paralleled with that of farm girl Mary MacLaren. Heading to the bright lights of the big city, MacLaren becomes an actress, which leads to her being exploited by one no-good man after another. Left with only three cents to her name, the starving MacLaren uses that sum to buy a loaf of bread. During a heavy rainstorm, she loses the bread, then traces it to the very café owned by the guys who've done her dirt. Unusual for its time was the fact that Bread was both written and directed by a woman.