Showing posts with label Diary of a Lost Girl. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Diary of a Lost Girl. Show all posts

Thursday, January 11, 2024

Diary of a Lost Girl to screen in UK with Raga pianist

The once controversial and still sensational Louise Brooks film, The Diary of a Lost Girl, will be screened in the UK on June 11, 2024 at the National Centre for Early Music in Tork, England. This screening will feature a live musical accompaniment by New York based Raga pianist Utsav Lal. More on this event can be found HERE.

And here is what the event website says: 

Trailblazing pianist Utsav Lal scores rarely-shown gem starring Louise Brooks.

A masterwork of the German silent cinema whose reputation has only increased over time, Diary of a Lost Girl traces the journey of a young woman from the pit of despair to the moment of personal awakening. Directed with virtuoso flair by the great G.W. Pabst, Diary of a Lost Girl represents the final pairing of the filmmaker with screen icon Louise Brooks, mere months after their first collaboration in the now-legendary Pandora’s Box.

The Music

New York based Raga pianist Utsav Lal’s innovative performances have been acclaimed by audiences at Carnegie Hall, Southbank Centre, and around the world. He will improvise a unique live score for this screening.


THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Saturday, January 6, 2024

Diary of a Lost Girl to screen in the UK with live musical accompaniment by Wurlitza

The once controversial and still sensational Louise Brooks film, The Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), will be shown in the UK on Saturday, January 20, 2024 with live musical accompaniment by Wurlitza. This special event will be held at the Ocean Studios, Royal William Yard in Plymouth. More information may be found HERE.! 

Readers of this blog may well recognize the band's name, as they have accompanied The Diary of a Lost Girl and other silent films a number of times in the past. (The upper left hand corner of this blog contains a search box should you want to look up their past performances.) But what's more, Wurlitza has even released their soundtrack to the G.W. Pabst / Louise brooks film on CD. Your can read about it HERE and HERE


Here is some additional information about the event from the host website:

RAMP (Real Art Make Print) proudly presents a one-of-a-kind event featuring the critically acclaimed five-piece band, Wurlitza, on Saturday, January 20th, 2024. After a festive break, we are thrilled to reopen Ocean Studios with an unforgettable experience that combines the enchanting allure of silent film with the mesmerizing live soundtracks of Wurlitza.

FEATURED PERFORMANCE: “Diary of a Lost Girl” (1929)
Get ready to be transported to the golden age of cinema with “Diary of a Lost Girl,” a captivating silent film tracing the journey of Thymian, portrayed by the iconic Louise Brooks. Wurlitza will weave their musical magic, offering a unique blend of live soundtracks that bridge the gap between centuries. The film’s story, coupled with Wurlitza’s eclectic mix of music from Beethoven to Kylie Minogue, promises an experience like no other.

ABOUT WURLITZA:
Hailing from St Germans in South East Cornwall, Wurlitza has been enchanting audiences since 2006 with their distinctive live soundtracks. With keyboards, guitars, clarinet, bass, drums/percussion, and 4-part vocal harmonies, they bring a modern twist to classic silent films, seamlessly blending genres from different eras.

Date: Saturday, January 20th, 2024
Time: 6pm (Bar open from 4pm)
Venue: Ocean Studios, Royal William Yard

Tickets: £10 (plus fee)


 

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Friday, October 27, 2023

Diary of a Lost Girl with Louise Brooks and a harpist in the UK

The Diary of a Lost Girl, the once controversial and still sensational silent film starring Louise Brooks, will be shown on Sunday, October 29th as part of the Stroud Art Festival in the UK. This special screening will be accompanied, uniquely so, by a harpist, Elizabeth-Jane Baldry. More information about this event can be fond HERE.

According to its website, the "unabashedly eclectic" Stroud Festival "weaves music, movement, song and film" in a journey across a the arts. Here is what they say about this event:

Stroud Arts Festival Presents

Silent Film: Diary of a Lost Girl

With live accompaniment from harpist Elizabeth-Jane Baldry


venue - Lansdown hall


Silent film with live music – why is it such a good night out? 


Ask last year’s Stroud audience – it’s the sheer, extraordinary talent of Elizabeth-Jane Baldry!


This year we welcome her back to the Lansdown Hall with another iconic black and white silent film, powerfully enhanced by her specially composed score which she plays live throughout the screening.
A late masterpiece of the silent era, and a tragic story of corruption and middle class hypocrisy in pre-Nazi Germany, this film and its star, Louise Brooks, has gained cult status with film-lovers through the ages. 

Notice: not suited to under 12s 

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Monday, October 31, 2022

A Halloween post - an almost scary Louise Brooks

As most everyone agrees, Louise Brooks was a beautiful women. She was lovely, and it is hard to imagine a depiction of the actress which might depict her so poorly as to make her almost unrecognizable, even a bit "scary." And yet, there exists just such a depiction. As best I can tell, this poster dates from 1930, and comes from France. It is a poster for Loulou, the French title of Pandora's Box. The artist is Marcel Gaillard. (I couldn't find much else about him.)

The scene shown on the poster above comes from Pandora's Box, at the moment when Alwa places his head in the lap of Lulu. If one has seen the film, then one knows this scene. Yet, the poster artist has so clumsily rendered Brooks' face as to make her unappealing, almost "ugly - I am not sure what other word to use. This is, in my opinion, one of the worst depictions of Brooks, at least, one of the worst I have ever seen.

Another clumsy depiction of Brooks also comes from France. This one is by F. Gaboit, and it adorned a 1980 poster for Loulou issued by Connaissance duCinema (as shown below). Based on the famous Eugene R. Richee photographic portrait of Brooks, this illustration also falls short, especially in the way the artist has elongated the fingers which hold the strand of pearls. There is also something about the way Gaboit has rendered Brooks' face that doesn't appeal to me. I can't say what exactly, but that is the way I feel. Maybe it is because Richee's portrait is so perfect, and that this drawn illustration is so imperfect. I have seen another adaption of this poster art, and it is similarly lacking.

Gaboit was not a bad artist, it is just that I think the Loulou poster falls short. On the other hand, Gaboit's poster for Le Journal d'une fille perdue (the French title for Diary of a Lost Girl) is appealing and I think successful in capturing the lovely allure of Brooks.

 
The Louise Brooks Society blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society. (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2022. Further unauthorized use prohibited.

Friday, October 21, 2022

Diary of a Lost Girl starring Louise Brooks screens Sunday in Washington DC

The sensational 1929 Louise Brooks film, Diary of a Lost Girl, will be shown this Sunday, October 23, at the Atlas Performing Center in Washington D.C. More information about this event, which will feature live musical accompaniment by pianist Andrew Earle Simpson, can be found HERE

As well, this and other silent film screenings the Atlas Performing Center featuring Simpson will include a pre-show intro and a post-show discussion with Andrew Earle Simpson.

As the webpage for the event puts it, quoting your's truly, who then quotes Kevin Brownlow, "The second and final collaboration of actress Louise Brooks and director G.W. Pabst (Pandora’s Box), Diary of a Lost Girl is a provocative adaptation of Margarethe Böhme’s notorious novel, in which the naive daughter of a middle-class pharmacist is seduced by her father’s assistant, only to be disowned and sent to a repressive home for wayward girls. She escapes, searches for her child, and ends up in a high-class brothel, only to turn the tables on the society which had abused her. It’s another tour-de-force performance by Brooks, whom silent film historian Kevin Brownlow calls an “actress of brilliance, a luminescent personality and a beauty unparalleled in screen history.” – Thomas Gladysz

This event also received a short write-up in the Washington City Paper, in which Pat Padua insightfully commented, "Her second film with German director G. W. Pabst, the 1929 silent drama Diary of Lost Girl features one of her most vivid performances—those 1920s eyes seeming to cast knowing looks at the following century.... While her character endures all manner of tragedy... Brooks remains a model of strength and compassion in a world where, as one character tells her, 'all are lost'."

Tickets to this afternoon screening are $25.00, and are available through the above mentioned link. The Atlas Performing Arts Center is located at 1333 H St NE Washington, DC 20002.


Incidentally, the event description which quotes me comes from the liner notes to the must-have Kino Lorber DVD, for which I provided the audio commentary. My commnentary was in turn based on my 2010 Louise Brooks edition of Margarete Bohme's book, The Diary of a Lost Girl, which I edited and wrote the introduction to. Bohme's book is something of a forgotten classic of German literature, highly controversial, and one of the bestselling books of its time. Every Louise Brooks fan will want to own the DVD and read the book. 


Both the Kino Classics DVD / Blu-ray and my book are available through Amazon.com around the world. 

Diary of a Lost Girl DVD / Blu-ray BUY HERE

The Diary of a Lost Girl book (Louise Brooks edition) BUY HERE

This blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2022. Further use prohibited.

Sunday, May 1, 2022

Diary of a Lost Girl with Louise Brooks shows in the UK three times in May

The sensational 1929 Louise Brooks film, Diary of a Lost Girl, will be shown three times this month in the United Kingdom. And what's more, each of these screenings will feature live musical accompaniment by the musical group, Wurlitza. (Thanks Meredith.)

The three screenings are set to take place on 

Friday 6th May 2022 at the The Burrell Theatre, Truro in Cornwall. More info HERE.

Friday 13th May 2022 at the Plymouth University Arts Institute, Plymouth in Devon. More info HERE.

Saturday 14th May 2022 at the Noss Mayo Village Hallin Devon. More info HERE.


Wurlitz posted this statement: "We're delighted to be returning to Truro, this time to The Burrell Theatre. The performance starts at 7.30 and we very much hope to see some of you for what may be our last performance in Cornwall of Diary of a Lost Girl for some considerable time.

If you haven't seen it, Diary of a Lost Girl is a wonderful silent film; action packed and full of drama that shocks and surprises. The cinematography is just stunning, with beautiful Louise Brooks at her most mesmerising. It's a story of love in unusual places, as well as capturing some of the most extraordinary scenes ever seen in silent cinema. Heavily censored at the time, we are lucky to be able to see the film as Pabst intended it to be seen, with all its black humour and vibrant storytelling.

Our soundtrack includes music by Leonard Cohen, Chopin, The Magic Numbers, Passenger, Eric Satie, The Wire, Portishead and XTC. The album of Diary of A Lost Girl is on Spotify - either follow the link, or search for Wurlitza

We are also performing Diary of a Lost Girl at Plymouth University Arts Institute on the 13th May, and on the 14th May at Noss Mayo Village Hall.

After this we will be working on Charlie Chaplin's The Kid, which will be debuted at Little Big Festival in Ashburton in August."


Sunday, March 6, 2022

Diary of a Lost Girl starring Louise Brooks screens in UK on March 19

Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), starring Louise Brooks, will be shown in Devon, England on Saturday March 19, 2022 with live musical accompaniment by the stellar musical group, Wurlitza. More information about this event can be found HERE.

From the venue website: 

Director: G W Pabst | Cast: Edith Meinhard, Fritz Rasp, Josef Rovensky, Louise Brooks, Franziska Kinz, Vera Pawlowa

1h 56m | 1929  | Silent Film | *Please note the film was originally certified ‘A’ due to adult themes.

£12. Pricing and concessions information 

The Barn Cinema (Dartington, Totnes, Devon, TQ9 6EL) offers a truly unique experience: a wide-ranging film programme, including independent arthouse, world and mainstream cinema, all within a truly beautiful, renovated 15th century barn. The Barn Cinema are taking over The Great Hall for a night to invite Cornish band Wurlitza to perform their magical musical accompaniment to one of silent cinema’s classics: ‘Diary of a Lost Girl’.

After two years in the making, Wurlitza’s present their soundtrack for GW Pabst’s 1929 movie Diary of a Lost Girl.

Diary of a Lost Girl was made in Germany at a time of great artistic freedom. Fast moving and at times shocking, the film traces the story of Thymian, played by the mesmerising screen idol Louise Brookes, as her life yoyos between episodes of lightness and innocence, darkness and despair. Moments of great comedy involve life in a reform school for fallen girls headed by a villainous nun, and a modern dance lesson with an incompetent buffoon.

This gripping film defies convention, confounding expectations, as joy and compassion are found in the most unlikely places.

Repertoire for the live soundtrack includes music by Django Reinhardt, Fun Boy Three, Portishead, Wire, Chopin and Leonard Cohen.


Diary of a Lost Girl has been very well received in venues throughout Cornwall and Devon. They’ve celebrated the film by making a soundtrack which can be enjoyed on Soundcloud and Spotify.

"The music was expertly chosen to run seamlessly with the film. It enhanced the experience. It reflected mood and added nuance. The musicianship was excellent. The performance fitted superbly with the images...Why does Wurlitza work? Because they bring magic. And that is never a bad thing." - Ian Craft ‐ Calstock Arts

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Want to learn more about Diary of a Lost Girl and the book that was the basis for the film? Check out the 2010  Louise Brooks Society publication, the Louise Brooks edition of Margarete Bohme's The Diary of a Lost Girl, edited and with an informative introduction by Thomas Gladysz.


The 1929 Louise Brooks film,
Diary of a Lost Girl, is based on a controversial and bestselling book first published in Germany in 1905. Though little known today, it was a literary sensation at the beginning of the 20th century. By the end of the 1920s, it had been translated into 14 languages and sold more than 1,200,000 copies - ranking it among the bestselling books of its time.


Was it - as many believed - the real-life diary of a young woman forced by circumstance into a life of prostitution? Or a sensational and clever fake, one of the first novels of its kind? This contested work -
a work of unusual historical significance as well as literary sophistication - inspired a sequel, a play, a parody, a score of imitators, and two silent films. The best remembered of these is the oft revived G.W. Pabst film starring Louise Brooks.

This corrected and annotated edition of the original English language translation brings this important book back into print after more than 100 years. It includes an introduction by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society, detailing the book's remarkable history and relationship to the 1929 silent film. This special "Louise Brooks Edition" also includes more than three dozen vintage illustrations.

The Louise Brooks edition of Diary of a Lost Girl is available at Amazon Canada and Amazon USA and elsewhere around the world

"Long relegated to the shadows, Margarete Böhme's 1905 novel, The Diary of a Lost Girl has at last made a triumphant return. In reissuing the rare 1907 English translation of Böhme's German text, Thomas Gladysz makes an important contribution to film history, literature, and, in as much as Böhme told her tale with much detail and background contemporary to the day, sociology and history. He gives us the original novel, his informative introduction, and many beautiful and rare illustrations. This reissue is long overdue, and in all ways it is a volume of uncommon merit." - Richard Buller, author of A Beautiful Fairy Tale: The Life of Actress Lois Moran 

Read today, it's a fascinating time-trip back to another age, and yet remains compelling. As a bonus, Gladysz richly illustrates the text with stills of Brooks from the famous film. - Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

In today's parlance this would be called a movie tie-in edition, but that seems a rather glib way to describe yet another privately published work that reveals an enormous amount of research and passion. - Leonard Maltin

Thomas Gladysz is the leading authority on all matters pertaining to the legendary Louise Brooks. We owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing the groundbreaking novel,
The Diary of a Lost Girl, back from obscurity. --Lon Davis, author of Silent Lives

It was such a pleasure to come upon your well documented and beautifully presented edition. -- Elizabeth Boa, University of Nottingham (UK)

Sunday, February 20, 2022

Louise Brooks film Diary of a Lost Girl set to screen in Toronto, Canada

The 1929 Louise Brooks' film, Diary of a Lost Girl, will be shown in Toronto, Canada on February 27 at the recently reopened Revue Cinema, Ontario's favourite independent cinema. And what's more, the film will be shown on the big screen with love musical accompaniment by Marilyn Lerner. More information about this special event, along with ticket availability, can be found HERE.

Diary of A Lost Girl

GERMANY | 1929 | 112 mins | NR

“Louise Brooks is the only woman who had the ability to transfigure no matter what filmi nto a masterpiece…She is much more than a myth, she is a magical presence, a real phantom, the magnetism of the cinema.” – Ado Kyrou, Amour-eroticisme et cinema

Based on Margarethe Böhme’s scandalous novel, DIARY OF A LOST GIRL is Louise Brooks and director G.W. Pabst’s follow-up to the iconic PANDORA’S BOX. No less sensuous, controversial, or provocative, DIARY showcases Brooks at her most transfixing.

The story of an innocent young girl disowned and sent away by her family after she is seduced and abandoned by her father’s assistant, Pabst’s film never succumbs to melodrama, but rather turns the table on the tormentors of women.

With showers of champagne set in the high-class brothels of Berlin, DIARY is Weimar at its most powerful. DIARY is a silent masterwork released at the era’s death knell and a film that further reinforced Brooks’ status as an icon, even if it ended up being her last major work and final silent film. – ALICIA FLETCHER

Digital Restoration Courtesy of Kino Lorber


Director: G.W. Pabst
Cast: Louise Brooks; Fritz Rasp; Valeska Gert



DETAILS

Doors Open 30 minutes before showtime.


PRICING

General Admission: $17
Bronze/Loyalty Members, Students & Seniors: $14
Silver Members: $13
Gold/Individual/Family Members: FREE

For INDIVIDUAL MEMBERSHIPS ($350) and FAMILY MEMBERSHIPS, please email us at info@revuecinema.ca to get your ticket!

Prices include taxes. All membership benefits are available.

 


Want to learn more about Diary of a Lost Girl and the book that was the basis for the film? Check out the 2010  Louise Brooks Society publication, the Louise Brooks edition of Margarete Bohme's The Diary of a Lost Girl, edited and with a long introduction by Thomas Gladysz.

 

The 1929 Louise Brooks film,
Diary of a Lost Girl, is based on a controversial and bestselling book first published in Germany in 1905. Though little known today, it was a literary sensation at the beginning of the 20th century. By the end of the 1920s, it had been translated into 14 languages and sold more than 1,200,000 copies - ranking it among the bestselling books of its time.

Was it - as many believed - the real-life diary of a young woman forced by circumstance into a life of prostitution? Or a sensational and clever fake, one of the first novels of its kind? This contested work -
a work of unusual historical significance as well as literary sophistication - inspired a sequel, a play, a parody, a score of imitators, and two silent films. The best remembered of these is the oft revived G.W. Pabst film starring Louise Brooks.

This corrected and annotated edition of the original English language translation brings this important book back into print after more than 100 years. It includes an introduction by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society, detailing the book's remarkable history and relationship to the 1929 silent film. This special "Louise Brooks Edition" also includes more than three dozen vintage illustrations.

 

The Louise Brooks edition of Diary of a Lost Girl is available at Amazon Canada and Amazon USA and elsewhere around the world.

 

"Long relegated to the shadows, Margarete Böhme's 1905 novel, The Diary of a Lost Girl has at last made a triumphant return. In reissuing the rare 1907 English translation of Böhme's German text, Thomas Gladysz makes an important contribution to film history, literature, and, in as much as Böhme told her tale with much detail and background contemporary to the day, sociology and history. He gives us the original novel, his informative introduction, and many beautiful and rare illustrations. This reissue is long overdue, and in all ways it is a volume of uncommon merit." - Richard Buller, author of A Beautiful Fairy Tale: The Life of Actress Lois Moran 

Read today, it's a fascinating time-trip back to another age, and yet remains compelling. As a bonus, Gladysz richly illustrates the text with stills of Brooks from the famous film. - Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

In today's parlance this would be called a movie tie-in edition, but that seems a rather glib way to describe yet another privately published work that reveals an enormous amount of research and passion. - Leonard Maltin

Thomas Gladysz is the leading authority on all matters pertaining to the legendary Louise Brooks. We owe him a debt of gratitude for bringing the groundbreaking novel,
The Diary of a Lost Girl, back from obscurity. --Lon Davis, author of Silent Lives

It was such a pleasure to come upon your well documented and beautifully presented edition. -- Elizabeth Boa, University of Nottingham (UK)
 

Sunday, July 11, 2021

Talking Louise Brooks and Diary of a Lost Girl on the Cinematary podcast

I was recently a guest on Cinematary, a podcast devoted to film history & film criticism. On episode #359, I spoke about Louise Brooks and her sensational 1929 film Diary of a Lost Girl. Check it out HERE or below.

 
Episode 359 - Diary of a Lost Girl (Young Critics Watch Old Movies v.7) 
 

Part 1: Zach, Andrew and Jessica discuss movies they saw this week, including: Zola, No Sudden Move, Fear Street Part One: 1994 and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Part 2 (40:25): The group continues their Young Critics Watch Old Movies series with a look at 1929's Diary of a Lost Girl with guest Thomas Gladysz.

Learn more about the Louise Brooks Society here and buy Diary of a Lost Girl on Kino Lorber.

See movies discussed in this episode here.

Don't want to listen? Watch the podcast on our YouTube channel.


Monday, June 28, 2021

Louise Brooks podcasts - past and forthcoming

There have been a few Louise Brooks related podcasts in the past. The most recent streamed just a few days ago, on Soundcloud. It is titled "The Fire in the Eyes of Louise Brooks," episode #262, from the Important Film Club. The first half or so of this 41 minute podcast is devoted to Brooks, with the rest centering on direct-to-video action actor Steven Seagal. That is quite a range, beauty to the beast.

I will be the guest on an upcoming episode of Cinematary, whose current series, "Young Critics Watch Old Movies," will feature an episode on the 1929 Louise Brooks' film, The Diary of a Lost Girl. The episode will stream July 9th. I hope you will tune-in via the Cinematary website, or through one of the various streaming channels such as iTunes, Spotify, Sticher, YouTube, etc....

As well, I am looking forward to listening to the July 23 episode on Madchen in Uniform (1931), a favorite film of mine. Madchen in Uniform was recently released on DVD and BluRay by KINO, with an insightful audio commentary by Jenni Olson. If you like the two films Brooks made in Germany, you will also like -- even love, Madchen in Uniform. Check it out.

Diary of a Lost Girl is a film near and dear to my heart. And I also have a lot to say about it.... 

In 2010, I brought the book that was the basis the for film back into print in the United States (after more than 100 years of being out-of-print). Besides rare illustrations, my corrected and annotated "Louise Brooks edition" of Margarete Bohme's The Diary of a Lost Girl features an introduction detailing the remarkable history of the 1905 book along with its relationship to the 1929 film. My efforts received good reviews:

"Read today, it's a fascinating time-trip back to another age, and yet remains compelling. As a bonus, Gladysz richly illustrates the text with stills of Brooks from the famous film." - Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

"In today's parlance this would be called a movie tie-in edition, but that seems a rather glib way to describe yet another privately published work that reveals an enormous amount of research and passion." - Leonard Maltin

"Thomas Gladysz makes an important contribution to film history, literature, and, in as much as Böhme told her tale with much detail and background contemporary to the day, sociology and history. This reissue is long overdue, and a volume of uncommon merit." - Richard Buller, author of A Beautiful Fairy Tale: The Life of Actress Lois Moran

And in 2015, I provided the audio commentary to the KINO Lorber DVD and BluRay of Diary of a Lost Girl. It was project that came about because of my work on bringing the book back into print. The KINO reissue is the best going, and a necessary addition to the collection of any Louise Brooks fan. Get it HERE before it too goes out-of-print (and as with Pandora's Box on DVD, costs and arms and a leg.)

Sunday, June 20, 2021

G. W. Pabst gripes about censorship of his two Louise Brooks films

While looking through Parisian newspapers while working on Around the World with Louise Brooks (my forthcoming two volume transnational look at Brooks' career), I came across a couple of noteworthy interviews with director G. W. Pabst. In one of them (the second piece, shown below), he complained about French censorship of his films, including the two films he made with Louise Brooks. 

The occasion for Pabst's complaint was his visit to Paris in January 1931, which prompted a few Parisian newspapers to profile and interview the Austrian-born director.  The article pictured to the right was published in Comœdia on January 30, 1931.

Why were French journalists interested in Pabst? At this point in his career, there were few directors as esteemed by French critics than Pabst. His silent and early sound films were highly regarded, especially Joyless Street (1925), The Love of Jeanne Ney (1927), Loulou / Pandora's Box (1929), Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), and Westfront 1918 (1930). Despite the high regard in which they were held, French censors still excised so much of Pabst's two Brooks' films that it annoyed both the director and French critics, who complained time and again about the sorry state of each film. (I have run across a number of articles about the two Brooks' films in which newspaper and magazine writers said they were aware each film had been cut.)

In France, Pandora's Box went under the titles Le Boite de Pandore, or Loulou, while The Diary of a Lost Girl went under the title Le Journal d'une Fille perdue and Trois pages d’un journal. The latter was a huge success, showing continuously for more than a month after debuting in Paris. (This was at a time when most films showed for only a week.)

I won't translate the entire article pictured left; it appeared in Le Quotidien on February 6, 1931 and takes the form of a profile, within which are interspersed Pabst's answers to various questions asked by "L.D.", the author of the piece.

The article begins by stating that everyone was pleased that the acclaimed director was in Paris, where he was considering taking on the direction of a French film.

The second to last paragraph is of special interest. In translation, it reads: "I have never been lucky in France with my films. None escaped the censor's chisel. Two of my films: The Diary of a Lost Girl and Pandora's Box (Loulou) have been altered in their fundamental meaning. Even in Germany I was not immune from such severity; thus The Diary of a Lost Girl was cut by nearly three hundred meters, all in small pieces. But at least the meaning of the film remained the same."

The article concludes, "There is no bitterness in Pabst's voice. He is no longer fixed on the past. He stretches his strength and his heart towards the next work which will be a great humane film. Ten minutes later he jumps on the train which brings him back to Berlin."

To me, Pabst's comments are revealing. It had been well more than a year that both of his Brooks's had shown in Paris, and even longer since their German debut. Yet, they were still on his mind, or on the mind of French journalists.

Does anyone know if French censorship records still exist, or or accessible?

 

 

Thursday, June 3, 2021

Three Louise Brooks films among best of all time, according to 1932 French magazine

Today, lists of the best films are commonplace. There are lists of the all-time best movies (usually headed by Orson Welles' Citizen Kane), the best comedies, the best dramas, best film noir, best pre-code, and also best silent films. Louise Brooks' films rarely figure on any of these lists, except for Pandora's Box, which occasionally makes the top ten or twenty best films of the silent era. 

Back in 1932, just a couple-three years after the end of the silent era, the popular French film magazine Pour Vous attempted to establish a listing of the best films up until that time. It was a kind of curated "reader's poll" which seemingly calls for the preservation of "repertory films," or what were even then seen as classic films from the past. The results are surprising, especially for fans of Louise Brooks, as three of her films, A Girl in Every Port, Beggars of Life, and Diary of a Lost Girl, all made the list. Each were very popular in France, with the first mentioned film, Howard Hawks' buddy bromance, spending nearly a year in various Parisian theaters. Left off the list was Pandora's Box, today Brooks' most celebrated film. (The list of films ends with those released in 1929, and thus it doesn't include Prix de beaute, which was released in 1930 and was as celebrated in France as the four previously mentioned films.)


This article, with illustration from a handful of the many films mentioned, is titled "Sauvons les films de repetoire," and subtitled "Pour Vous "Établit une liste ideale en s'inspirant des suggestions de ses lecteurs" (which translates as "Pour Vous establishes an ideal list based on the suggestions of its readers"). The introductory paragraphs by Lucienne Escoube (a critic and author) translate thus: 

"The question of a film directory remains on the agenda; our colleagues have, in their turn, taken up the cause of this undertaking of an importance and a seriousness that true cinephiles have not failed to underline. But, before we meet and consult together on the essential decisions to be taken, it would be important to know how this cinematographic repertoire should be put together.

First of all, let's not forget two important points: the repertoire must be put together for the public, of course, but also for specialists, for all those 'in the house'; what we think should be included on the list are not only works which have been proven successes on the screen (provided that they are beautiful and significant), but also works which have not had the reputation they deserve but which, by their intrinsic value, their technique, their tendencies, brought to the screen new directives, a particular style, an atmosphere not yet put forth. This repertoire, a true museum, must be of high quality, let us not forget. It must retrace, in a way, the entire history of cinema, its ages, styles, eras and various trends: early cinema, cinema theater, pre-war cinema (French, Russian, Italian, German), American cinema, war cinema, Swedish era, German era, American era, French post-war cinema, everything that was significant on the screen must find its place in a well-understood repertoire.

Also in this choice of films, the main works of the great directors, of those who brought to the screen the novelty of their genius, works of those who were innovators, must find a place; (Gance, Stiller. Griffith, and how many others! Finally, the works of artists who, by their personality, have created a genre, a character who. animated by them, has become a living entity: including William Hart, Hayakawa. Nazimova, so many names that I cannot name here!

And all the work of the perfect genius: Chaplin.

The list that we publish here. and which we have established from our personal recollections, the documentation offered to us by old journals, and on the basis of suggestions from our readers who responded to our referendum, is only a first attempt at selection that we propose to develop and complete as our research progresses."

Following the lists of films, there is a brief concluding paragraph which states: "Finally, let us mention a few other films suggested by our readers: Senorita, The Image Hunters, The Lily of Life, Towards Happiness (Stiller), The Earth, The Arsenal (Dovjenko), and by almost unanimous request Monsieur Beaucaire (Rudolph Valentino)."

There are, of course, a handful of films by the likes of Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Mary Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, Rene Clair, Mauritz Stiller, Ernst Lubitsch, and Fritz Lang. Other films are credited to Nazimova, Garbo, and Gloria Swanson. There are a number of French films, along with German, Swedish and Russian productions. G.W. Pabst's Joyless Street makes the list, as does Erich von Stroheim's Wedding March and King Vidor's The Big Parade. And so does Carl Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc and F.W. Murnau's Nosferatu the Vampire. Some of the surprise entries (in that they are little remembered today) include The Miracle Man, starring Thomas Meighan, and a William Wyler directed film here titled Far-West. Off-hand, I am not sure which film the latter that might be. 

The three Brooks' films include Les Mendiants de la vie (Beggars of Life, released in the United States in 1928, the film is mistakenly listed under 1927, though it played in France in 1929 and 1930); A Girl in Every Port (which kept it's English-language title in France, though is mistakenly credited here to Josef von Sternberg); and under 1929 Trois pages d'un journal (Diary of a Lost Girl). Curiously, Loulou is left off the list!

Here is a close-up of the film lists, for those who might to look for their favorite, and to see who was included, and who was left off.




Friday, September 25, 2020

Another Louise Brooks related film to watch online

Alan Boyle pointed out on the Louise Brooks Society Facebook page the recent availability of Dance with Death: The Ufa Star Sybille Schmitz (2000), a ten year old documentary about the once popular 1930s German actress who not only had a small featured role in the Louise Brooks film, The Diary of a Lost Girl, but was also the inspiration for the title character Veronika Voss in Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s celebrated film of the same name. 

Sybille Schmitz and Louise Brooks in The Diary of a Lost Girl
 

Besides Pabst's Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), Schmitz's other early roles include Carl Th. Dreyer's Vampyr (1932), and eventually F.P.1 (1932), where she played her first leading role. I don't speak German, but was able to watch this fascinating documentary with the closed captions turned on, as if it were subtitled.

In The Diary of a Lost Girl, Schmitz plays Elisabeth, the pregnant housekeeper who is thrown out of the house by Thymian's father. Elisabeth is soon found dead, setting in motion a chain of events with tragic consequences. As Dance with Death notes, it was Schmitz's second film role, and already her second on-screen death. The documentary also notes the dark atmosphere which seemed to hang around the actress. The Wikipedia entry on Schmitz states, "Coincidentally, the last film she made less than two years before taking her own life (1953's The House on the Coast, now considered a lost film) had Schmitz's character committing suicide as a last act of desperation. A much earlier film, Frank Wisbar's The Unknown (1936) ends with the suicide of Schmitz's character, also in a final act of desperate hopelessness.) 

Despite it's gloom, I recommend Dance with Death: The Ufa Star Sybille Schmitz. It is interesting to say the least. For example, with the rise of Nazism, the film suggests Schmitz felt a frustration with a film industry which increasingly devalued her dark features. As her Wikipedia entry states, "... her explicitly non-Aryan appearance relegated her mostly to femme-fatales or problematic foreign women." That got me wondering about Brooks' dark features and what role they may have played in her acceptance among German film goers.

Another documentary about another supporting player in The Diary of a Lost Girl is Prisoner of Paradise, the story of Kurt Gerron. In the Brooks film, Gerron plays Dr. Vitalis, who is featured in the nightclub scene where Brooks' character, Thymian, is auctioned off.

Kurt Gerron and Louise Brooks in The Diary of a Lost Girl

Prisoner of Paradise is a 2002 documentary about one of the great German actors of the 1920s and 1930s. He appeared in many films and stage productions, but today is best remembered for a key supporting role in The Blue Angel (1930), with Marlene Dietrich. After being sent to a concentration camp, Gerron was forced by his captors to direct the pro-Nazi propaganda film, The Fuhrer Gives a City to the Jews. In addition to exploring his life, Prisoner of Paradise details a remarkable detective story in which Gerron's film, lost for decades after World War II, was tracked down and painstakingly put back together.


Friday, February 7, 2020

Diary of a Lost Girl, starring Louise Brooks, screens in Tulsa, Oklahoma

The once controversial 1929 Louise Brooks film, Diary of a Lost Girl, will be shown in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Saturday, February 8th. My apologizes for the last minute notice, but I was just made aware of this screening. More information about the event can be found HERE.


The Kansas-born Louise Brooks plays the title role — the “lost girl” — in Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen, or Diary of a Lost Girl. The film is a sensational story of a young woman who is seduced and conceives a child, only to be sent to a home for wayward women before escaping to a brothel. Beneath its melodramatic surface, the film is a pointed social critique aimed at society at large. It is notable that this film screening is co-sponsored by Tulsa Kids.

Diary of a Lost Girl is the second film Brooks made under the direction of G.W. Pabst. The first, Pandora’s Box, was also released in 1929. Like Pandora’s Box, this second collaboration was also based on a famous work of literature. Diary of a Lost Girl was based on the bestselling book of the same name by Margarete Böhme. At the time of its publication, one critic called the book “the poignant story of a great-hearted girl who kept her soul alive amidst all the mire that surrounded her poor body.” That summation applies to the film as well. And like the book, the film was the subject of attack - criticized by various groups and ultimately censored.


Though Brooks' American films were shown in Tulsa in the 1920s and 1930s, I wonder if the German-made Diary of a Lost Girl was shown there earlier  - sometime during the last few decades? (Diary was not shown anywhere in the United States until the late 1950s, and not in 1930 as the Circle Cinema website suggests. In fact, the film was first shown in New York state, and didn't debut elsewhere until the 1970s and 1980s.)

According to a notice in the Tulsa World, “The Circle’s 'Second Saturday Silents' series of monthly silent films continues with an 11 a.m. Saturday, Feb. 8, screening of this 1929 drama starring Louise Brooks. Live theater pipe organ accompaniment will be provided by the Sooner State Chapter of the American Theatre Organ Society."



The Circle theater (located at 10 S Lewis Ave) bills itself as Tulsa’s Connection to Film History Experience. The Circle Cinema is Tulsa’s oldest-standing movie theatre. It originally opened in 1928 and now operates as the only nonprofit cinema in the area. As such, it celebrates creativity, the arts and filmmakers from around the corner and the world. Their regular series of silent films are shown with musical accompaniment played on a restored 1928 Robert Morton theatre pipe organ.

Tuesday, February 4, 2020

New G.W. Pabst DVD Blu-ray set features Louise Brooks

A new 16 disc set featuring the films of the Austrian-born German director G.W. Pabst has been released in France. And what's more, this gorgeous looking box set features Louise Brooks on the cover.
The set, released by Tamasa Diffusion and titled G.W. Pabst-Le Mystère d'une Âme, features 12 of the acclaimed director's best films, including Joyless Street (1925) and The Loves of Jeanne Ney (1927) as well as The White Hell of Pitz Palu (1929), The Three Penny Opera (1931), and Kameradschaft (1931). And of course, there is also Pandora's Box (1929) and The Diary of a Lost Girl (1929). The set, which runs 1289 minutes, focuses on Pabst's early efforts, but regrettably omits Secrets of a Soul (1926). Likewise, it includes Don Quixote (1933), but omits L'Atlantide (1932).

The set proclaims: "witnesses of his mastery of staging and his permanent inventiveness." The more than three and one-half hours of bonus material scattered over the various discs includes short documentary presentations, alternative versions, archival material and more. A bonus disc includes the 60 minute documentary Looking for Lulu. Also included is a 132 page book, Imaginary correspondence with Georg Wilhelm Pabst, written by Pierre Eisenreich.

I haven't yet seen this recently released set, but hope to acquire a copy soon. I need to save up my Euros! As of now, G.W. Pabst-Le Mystère d'une Âme seems only to be available via amazon France or directly (and at a better price) from its distributor, Tamasa.

Wednesday, August 28, 2019

Two Louise Brooks films to screen in Berlin this weekend

Two Louise Brooks films will be shown in Germany this coming weekend at the New Babylon Berlin GmbH (located at Rosa-Luxembourg-Str. 30, 10178 in Berlin, Germany).


Pandora's Box will be shown twice on Friday, with live musical accompaniment. More information can be found HERE.
 D 1929. R: Georg Wilhelm Pabst mit Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Franz Lederer, 110 Min
Fr, 30.8. 19:15 Live an der Orgel Anna Vavilkina, Eintritt Frei / gratis!
FR 6.09. 17:15 Live an der Orgel Fedor Stroganov, Eintritt gratis!
Das junge, attraktive Showgirl Lulu ist die Geliebte des prominenten Chefredakteurs Schön. Seiner sozialen Stellung entsprechend, möchte er eine Frau aus seinen Kreisen heiraten und sich von Lulu trennen. Durch einen Skandal platzt die Hochzeit. Schön heiratet stattdessen Lulu, stirbt aber schon in der Hochzeitsnacht durch eine Kugel. Lulu wird wegen Mordes angeklagt, entkommt aber aus dem Gerichtssaal und setzt ihre Affäre mit dem Sohn des Verstorbenen fort. Ihre Flucht vor der Polizei führt sie ins Ausland. Damit beginnt Lulus eigentliche Odyssee… Freie Adaption des gleichnamigen Theaterstücks von Frank Wedekind und seines Bühnendramas „Erdgeist“ mit Louise Brooks als Lulu. Einer der ersten Filme, die lesbische Liebe bzw. Bisexualität offen zeigten.
D 1929. R: Georg Wilhelm Pabst with Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Franz Lederer, 110 min

Fri, 30.8. 19:15 Live at the organ Anna Vavilkina, Admission Free / Free!
FR 6.09. 17:15 Live at the organ Fedor Stroganov, admission free!

The young, attractive showgirl Lulu is the mistress of the prominent editor-in-chief Schön. According to his social position, he wants to marry a woman from his circles and to separate from Lulu. Due to a scandal, the wedding is bursting. Schön marries Lulu instead, but dies on the wedding night by a bullet. Lulu is charged with murder, but escapes from the courtroom and continues her affair with the son of the deceased. Her escape from the police leads her abroad. This is the beginning of Lulus' actual odyssey ... Free adaptation of the eponymous play by Frank Wedekind and his stage drama "Erdgeist" with Louise Brooks as Lulu. One of the first films to show lesbian love or bisexuality.



Diary of a Lost Girl will be shown twice on Saturday, also with live musical accompaniment. More information can be found HERE.

D 1929. R: Georg Wilhelm Pabst mit Louise Brooks, Fritz Rasp, Valeska Gert, 104 Min
Sa, 31.08. 20:00 Live am Klavier Ekkehard Wölk, Eintritt gratis!
Sa, 07.09. 20:15 An der Orgel Live Fedor Stroganov, Eintritt gratis!
Die junge Apothekerstocher Thymian wird vom Angestellten ihres Vaters verführt und wird nach der Geburt ihres Kindes in ein Heim gesteckt, wo sie unter der Strenge der sadistischen Erzieher zu leiden hat. Sie flüchtet und landet im Bordell einer Großstadt.

D 1929. R: Georg Wilhelm Pabst with Louise Brooks, Fritz Rasp, Valeska Gert, 104 min

Sat, 31.08. 20:00 live on the piano Ekkehard Wölk, admission free!
Sat, 07.09. 20:15 At the organ live Fedor Stroganov, admission free!

The young apothecary Thymian is seduced by the employee of her father and is put after the birth of her child in a home, where she has to suffer from the severity of the sadistic educators. She flees and ends up in the brothel of a big city.

Saturday, August 17, 2019

Diary of a Lost Girl screens at Oslo Silent Film Festival on August 24

The sensational 1929 Louise Brooks film, Diary of a Lost Girl, will be screened at the Oslo Silent Film Festival on August 24. More information about this screening can be found HERE.

The Oslo Silent Film Festival, which runs August 22 through August 25, will also be showing Metropolis, A Cottage on Dartmoor and other notable silent films starring the likes of Buster Keaton and Charlie Chaplin. More information about the festival can be found HERE.


According to the website for the Norwegian film festival: "Man skal lete lenge i filmhistorien for å finne en skuespiller med like mye kameratekke som Louise Brooks. Likefullt slet hun i Hollywood. I 1927 sa hun opp en gullkantet kontrakt med Paramount for å reise til Berlin hvor hun skulle spille i G.W. Pabst’ Pandoras eske. I denne og deres andre film sammen, Diary of a Lost Girl, finner man denne sjeldne, nesten magiske kjemien som kan oppstå mellom skuespiller og regissør. Brooks spiller Thymian Henning, som i likhet med karakteren Lulu i Pandoras eske er en ung, vakker kvinne med en problematisk moral. Hun havner på en rehabiliteringsanstalt drevet med militær disiplin, og kommer snart i opposisjon til bestyrelsen. Hun rømmer – og ender opp som prostituert i et bordell.

Ikke overraskende fikk verdens sensurmyndigheter en real håndfull da de fikk Diary of a Lost Girl i fanget. Den ble stort sett sønderklippet i alle land den ble tillatt oppsatt, og fikk kritikker deretter. Når den da i tillegg var særdeles uheldig med timingen – den hadde premiere i oktober 1929, en liten måned før den første lydfilmen The Jazz Singer fikk sin første oppsetning i Berlin – ble den raskt en glemt film og blant de som druknet i lydfilmens suksess. Ikke før på 1960-tallet ble den og Pandoras eske gjenoppdaget, da filmene ble restaurert i henhold til Pabst egen, usensurerte versjon, og fikk en verdig oppreisning. Begge filmene regnes i dag blant den sene stumfilmperiodens genuine mesterverk.

For Louise Brooks gikk ikke karrieren like godt. Etter oppholdet i Berlin dro hun til Paris, før hun returnerte til Hollywood i et forsøk på å gjenoppta karrieren. Stemmen hennes ble ikke funnet god nok, og etter å ha spilt i flere samlebånds-westernfilmer fikk hun nok, og la skuespillerkarrieren på hyllen. Hun flyttet til New York, før hun på 1950-tallet igjen gjorde seg bemerket i filmens tjeneste da hun flyttet til Rochester, der det enorme filmarkivet til George Eastman House ligger, og begynte å utgi grundige og velskrevne artikler om den filmindustrien hun hadde vært en del av på 1920-tallet."


 Which roughly translates as...

"One has to look long in the history of film to find an actor with as much coverage as Louise Brooks. No matter how much she struggled in Hollywood. In 1927, she terminated a gold-lined contract with Paramount to travel to Berlin where she would play in G.W. Pabst's Pandora's Box. In this and their other film together, Diary of a Lost Girl, one finds this rare, almost magical chemistry that can arise between actor and director. Brooks plays Thymian Henning, who, like the character Lulu in Pandora's Box, is a young, beautiful woman with a problematic morality. She ends up in a rehabilitation facility powered by military discipline, and will soon be in opposition to the board. She escapes - and ends up as a prostitute in a brothel.

Not surprisingly, the censors of the world got a real handful when they got Diary of a Lost Girl in their lap. It was largely cut in all the countries it was allowed to set up, and received criticism thereafter. In addition, when it was particularly unlucky with the timing - it premiered in October 1929, a month before the first sound movie The Jazz Singer got its first set in Berlin - it quickly became a forgotten movie and among those who drowned in the success of the sound film. It was not until the 1960s that it and Pandora's Box were rediscovered, when the films were restored according to Pabst's own, uncensored version, and received a worthy restoration. Both films are today considered among the late silent period genuine masterpieces.

For Louise Brooks, her career did not go so well. After her stay in Berlin, she left for Paris, before returning to Hollywood in an attempt to resume her career. Her voice wasn't found well enough, and after starring in several comic book western movies, she had enough, leaving her acting career on the shelf. She moved to New York before reappearing in the film in the 1950s when she moved to Rochester, where George Eastman House's huge movie archive began, and began publishing thorough and well-written articles about the film industry she had been a part of the 1920s."

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