Louise Brooks at the 2018 San Francisco Silent Film Festival

I'm back from the recently concluded San Francisco Silent Film Festival. (Read my PopMatters preview of the event on HERE.) I saw some good films, signed copies of my books, and chatted with friends both old and new. I had a good time, despite the fact that no Louise Brooks films were shown this year. However, to the discerning film buff, the actress did have a certain "presence" at the event.

In fact, Brooks was pictured on page eleven of the Festival program, amidst an essay by Nina Fiore titled "Silent but not Silenced: Outsiders Outcasts of Silent Cinema." The image of Brooks is a still from Diary of a Lost Girl, the sensational 1929 German film directed by G.W. Pabst. But what's more, two of the stars of that film were starred in two of the other films shown at this year's event.

One of those stars is Fritz Rasp, who played the ever so creepy pharmacist Meinart in Diary of a Lost Girl. He was featured as the just-as-creepy butterfly collector Stapleton in Der Hund von Baskerville (1929). Based on the famous Sherlock Holmes story by Arthur Conan Doyle, this was the last silent Holmes story filmed in Europe. It was also the film Rasp made before Diary. Rasp as Stapleton is pictured left - Rasp as Meinart is pictured right.

The other Diary cast member featured in a film at the Festival is Andrews Engelmann, who played the also creepy director of the reform school for girls. His large bald head defined him in that film. At the Festival, he was seen as André von Engelman, a German U-boat commander in Mare Nostrum (1926). And again, his large bald head defined him.

Both of these actors were recognizable to me (and how interesting it was to see them in something else besides Diary), as well as to Ira Resnick, a fellow Louise Brooks devotee and collector and the author of the must have coffee table book, Starstruck. I have known Ira for a few years now, since 2010, when he first came to the Festival. Here is a snapshot of Ira and I, who stopped by to chat during my book signing.

During my book signing, I had the distinct privilege of signing alongside Academy Award honoree Kevin Brownlow, the author of The Parade's Gone By and the film historian who knew Brooks as well as anyone in her later years. Brownlow is legend to those who love silent film, and not surprisingly, he outsold me ten to one. Nevertheless, it was a pleasure to see Kevin again. He has been helpful to me, and generous in sharing his material and memories of Brooks.

And that's not all. I spotted Louise Brooks fan art for sale at the merchandise table, and spoke with musician Stephen Horne about Prix de Beaute. We have a mutual desire to see the silent version of that film released, and we chatted about the prospects. Stephen has accompanied the silent version a number of times, and he told me about an usual UK screening where the theater brought in a female vocalist to sing the film's lyrical theme song. Perhaps one day....

New and old UK reviews of the 1929 Louise Brooks film Pandora's Box - now showing across the UK

The British Film Institute (BFI) is giving Pandora’s Box (1929) a theatrical re-release in England. That's a big deal for any classic film, let alone a silent film. Notably, but not surprisingly to the many fans of Louise Brooks, this old film is generating a lot of new buzz....

Pamela Hutchinson wrote a must-read piece on the BFI website titled "How the Lulu bob became cinema’s most imitated haircut." And Peter Bradshaw wrote a piece in the Guardian newspaper, "Pandora's Box review – intensely erotic silent-era classic," which called the film a "Weimar danse macabre."  Meanwhile, Mark Kermode, one of England's best known film critics, had this to say.

Pandora’s Box, directed by G.W. Pabst, will open at the BFI Southbank and select cinemas UK-wide starting June 1. Among the cities where the film will be shown are London, Leicester, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dublin, and Belfast. Click through to the linked pages to see a schedule of screenings.

Today, Pandora’s Box is considered a masterpiece of the silent era and a landmark work in the history of world cinema. Its reputation is due largely to the riveting, red hot performance given by its star, Louise Brooks, in the role of Lulu. It wasn't always so.

In fact, the film received poor to middling reviews when it premiered in Berlin in February, 1929 -- as it did when it debuted in New York City in December, 1929. It also received somewhat tepid reviews when it was first shown in London in 1930, despite the fact that one of England leading film journals, Close-Up, had built-up expectations around the film. In April, 1929 the Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer ran this bit.

Despite Close-Up's enthusiasm, the English trade journal, Kinematograph Weekly, expressed a certain critical reserve, stating that the picture "can hardly be expected to appeal to the average audience."

In April, 1930, when the film was shown in London, the Guardian critic noted how badly it was cut. Later, when the film was shown in August, 1930 at the Gaiety theater, Tottenham Court-road, the London Observer similarly commented, calling the censored film a "piece of work nervous and intelligent in conception, and photographically emotional, but presented, at least to the British public, in a chaotic form which reduces it from an entertainment to a study."

(I believe the critic "C.A. L." is Caroline Alice (C. A.) Lejeune. She appreciated Pabst's work, and in her 1931 book, Cinema, she noted " . . . no director on two continents has found so much personality in Louise Brooks.") References to Pandora's Box continued to surface in British publications in the 1930s, largely in reference to G.W. Pabst. The film was not forgotten, but also not that well regarded. The years passed.... Though the film was still in shambles, it was revived in London in 1957.

It would take decades for film historians and preservationists to restore it to its more-or-less original form. The many screenings taking place in England in June give contemporary viewers the chance to see the film as close to its original state as we may ever get.

BFI presents Louise Brooks in Pandora's Box in UK

The British Film Institute (BFI) is giving Pandora’s Box (1929) a theatrical re-release in June. The version that will be shown is a 2K DCP of the 1997 Munich Film Museum restoration.

Pandora’s Box, which was directed by G.W. Pabst and stars the one-and-only Louise Brooks as Lulu, will open at BFI Southbank and “selected cinemas UK-wide” on June 1. Among the cities where the film will be shown are London, Leicester, Aberdeen, Glasgow, Dublin, and Belfast. The DCP comes with a score by Peer Raben, who has worked with Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

June

From 1 June
BFI Southbank
Barbican
Filmhouse Edinburgh
QFT Belfast
7 June
Stoke Film Theatre
From 8 June
IFI Dublin
Phoenix, Leicester
Belmont, Aberdeen
From 15 June
Glasgow Film Theatre
From 16 June
Mareel Shetlands Arts
From 23 June
Hippodrome Bo’ness
24 June
Palace Cinema Broadstairs
30 June
Penarth Pier Pavillion

July

From 1 July
Triskel Arts Cork
8 July
Rich Mix, London
From 15 July
Cine Lumiere
From 17 July
Artrix Bromsgrove

August

4 August
The Poly, Falmouth, Cornwall
5 August
Regent Street Cinema, London


Pandora’s Box is considered a classic, a masterpiece of the silent era and a landmark work in the history of world cinema. Its reputation is due largely to the riveting, red hot performance given by its star, Louise Brooks, in the role of Lulu.

Few can match Brooks’ intensity and erotic allure. Pauline Kael called her Lulu “The archetype of the voracious destructive women.” Brooks is that, and more. In fact, she’s stunning—and those who see the film for the first time often say they can’t take their eyes off the actress.

In his acclaimed 1989 biography of Brooks, Barry Paris wrote: “A case can be made that Pandora’s Box was the last of the silent films—not literally, but aesthetically. On the threshold of its premature death, the medium in Pandora achieved near perfection in form and content.”

If you want to learn more about Pandora's Box, be sure and check out the recently released book by Pamela Hutchinson. Pictured below, it is highly recommended by the Louise Brooks Society.

 

Pamela Hutchinson's Pandora's Box (BFI Film Classics) is available on amazon (UK and USA).  It is, no doubt, also available at better bookstores including the bookshop at BFI Southbank.

It’s that “near perfection in form and content”—dark and riveting, that draws audiences time and again. Here is the newly prepared BFI trailer for the film.

Pandora’s Box is also, as the trailer states (quoting yours truly in the Huffington Post), "one of the great masterpieces of the silent era."

Louise Brooks stars in Pandora's Box in Belfast June 1 - 7

Iconic silent film star Louise Brooks adorns the cover of QFT's June program. That's because Brooks' best known film, Pandora's Box, will be shown at the Queen's Film Theater for a week starting June 1. More information about this special event can be found HERE.

From the QFT:  "One of the greatest silent films, G.W. Pabst’s Pandora’s Box is renowned for its sensational storyline, sparkling Weimar-period setting and the legendary lead performance of its iconic star Louise Brooks.

Following the rise and fall of Lulu (Louise Brooks), a spirited but innocent showgirl, whose sheer sexual magnetism wreaks havoc on the lives of men and women alike, Pandora’s Box was controversial – it features one of the first screen appearances of a lesbian character – and unsuccessful in its day, and then underappreciated for decades. It was only after recognition of Louise Brooks began to grow from the late 1950s, when she was championed by admirers like Henri Langlois, co-founder of the Cinémathèque Francaise, that the film was looked at anew. It now stands as an incredibly modern movie, and few stars of any era dazzle as brightly as Louise Brooks. Her beautiful features, trademark sharply cut, shiny black bobbed hair and extraordinarily charismatic onscreen presence, turned a silent movie actress into a timeless icon of both cinema and style.

Previously only shown on the big screen in the UK on 35mm, with cinemas having to hire a pianist or musicians to perform a live score, this new digital version features an orchestral score by the German composer Peer Raben, known for his work with Rainer Werner Fassbinder."

The 5th Silent Film Festival in Thailand starts tomorrow.

The 5th Silent Film Festival in Thailand starts tomorrow, and runs May 24 through May 31 at the Scala and Lido Theaters. Here is some further information. (How thrilling it is to see silent film appreciated all around the world. This Festival has screened a Louise Brooks films in the past.)

 

กำหนดการเทศกาลภาพยนตร์เงียบ ประเทศไทย ครั้งที่ 5
The 5th Silent Film Festival in Thailand’s Schedule

*Accompanied by บรรเลงดนตรีประกอบโดย Maud Nelissen
** Accompanied by บรรเลงดนตรีประกอบโดย Richard Siedhoff

โรงภาพยนตร์สกาลา / Scala Theater
Thursday 24 May
19.30 The Passion of Joan of Arc (France / 1928 / 81 min)*

โรงภาพยนตร์ลิโด / Lido Theater
Friday 25 May
18.30 Dutch Types (France / 1915 / 4 min)*
The Secret of Delft (Netherlands / 1917 / 70 min)*

20.00 Journey into the Night (Germany / 1921 / 81 min)**

Saturday 26 May
12.00 45 Minutes from Hollywood (USA / 1926 / 22 min)**
Sherlock JR. (USA / 1924 / 45 min)**

14.30 The House on Trubnaya (Soviet Union / 1928 / 64 min)*

17.00 สนทนากับนักดนตรีประกอบหนังเงียบ Talk with Musicians

19.00 The Devious Path (Germany / 1928 / 107 min)**

Sunday 27 May
12.00 Foolish Wives (USA / 1922 / 101 min)*

14.30 Dutch Types (France / 1915 / 4 min) *
The Secret of Delft (Netherlands / 1917 / 70 min)*

17.00 The Grey Automobile (Mexico / 1919 / 223 min)**

Monday 28 May
18.30 The Goddess (China / 1934 / 85 min)*

20.00 The Devious Path (Germany / 1928 / 107 min)**

Tuesday 29 May
18.30 The House on Trubnaya (Soviet Union / 1928 / 64 min)*

20.00 Journey into the Night (Germany / 1921 / 81 min)**

Wednesday 30 May
18.30 The Passion of Joan of Arc (France / 1928 / 81 min)**

20.00 The Goddess (China / 1934 / 85 min)*

Thursday 31 May
18.30 Foolish Wives (USA / 1922 / 101 min)*

20.30 45 Minutes from Hollywood (USA / 1926 / 22 min)**
Sherlock JR. (USA / 1924 / 45 min)**

ภาพยนตร์ทุกเรื่องมีคำบรรยายภาษาไทยและอังกฤษ
Film Screenings with Thai and English Intertitles

บัตรราคา 120 บาท ยกเว้น The Grey Automobile ราคา 200 บาท
Ticket is 120 baht except The Grey Automobile is 200 baht

And yet more of the lost Louise Brooks film, The American Venus

The 1926 Frank Tuttle-directed film, The American Venus, is considered lost. The film was the second in which Louise Brooks had a role, though the first for which she received a screen credit. The budding actress received a good deal of attention for her supporting role as a beauty contestant, Miss Bayport. That supporting role effectively launched Brooks' career. More about The American Venus can be found HERE.

Back in the late 1990s, a few minutes of footage from The American Venus was found in Australia. The surviving material includes fragments, variously in black and white, tinted and in Technicolor, from two coming attraction trailers. These surviving trailers, each about 180 feet in length, are housed at the Library of Congress and at the Pacific Film Archive. The two trailers were screened at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival in 2002, and can be found on the DVD box set, More Treasures from American Film Archives 1894 – 1931. This material can also be found on YouTube HERE.

And just recently, the British Film Institute announced it had found a three second technicolor fragment which featuring Brooks. More about that remarkable discovery can be found HERE, which the clip itself can be found HERE.

Well, it turns out, that's not all there is of Louise Brooks and The American Venus. A couple of brief scenes not included in any of the above material may also be found in the trailer embedded below, which can also be found on YouTube (where it has been, hiding in plain sight, since 2007).

The brief bit of contestant Miss Bay Port flirting with Ford Sterling is especially fresh and wholly unknown to me. (Though I am not certain, this particular scene was likely shot in Atlantic City, around the time of the 1925 Miss American beauty contest.) There is also a bit of footage of Esther Ralston, Lawrence Gray, and Fay Lanphier (the actual 1925 Miss America), as well as an unknown actress at the very end. The tvdays trailer is part of a compilation of trailers from lost films.

I am curious, can anyone identify the unknown actress at the very end of the trailer? Here is a technicolor image of that actress.

New paper doll book features Louise Brooks and other silent screen stars

A new paper doll book features Louise Brooks. Silent Screen Stars Paper Dolls by David Wolfe was released about one month ago by Paper Studio Press. The 10 page book also features paper dolls of Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Gloria Swanson, Clara Bow, and Greta Garbo.

The publisher's description reads, "The lights dim, the piano plays and the film projector clicks as the first title card appears on the screen. It's the silent film era--the three-decade period at the beginning of the 20th century that gave birth to the film industry, Hollywood and movie stars. The 5th in "David Wolfe's History of Hollywood Fashions" series celebrates six of our earliest stars--Mary Pickford, Lillian Gish, Gloria Swanson, Clara Bow, Louise Brooks, and Greta Garbo--and costumes from their silent films. This super-sized volume provides 6 paper dolls on a cardstock centerfold and 10 pages of costumes for the silent screen stars, plus authoritative commentary by David Wolfe, the popular artist and Hollywood fashion historian."

More about David Wolfe and his work can be found on https://paperdollywood.com/

Beggars of Life, starring Louise Brooks, screens May 18th in England

On May 18, the Yorkshire Silent Film Festival in Scarborough, England will screen the now classic 1928 Louise Brooks' film, Beggars of Life. More information about this event can be found HERE.

The Festival describes the film thus: "In this rarely-seen Hollywood classic, the great Louise Brooks stars as a train-hopping hobo who disguises herself as a boy and goes on the run. With dramatic American landscapes, a lyrical love story, and a daring, desperate final scene atop a speeding train, this is classic silent film entertainment."

Want to learn more about the film? Last Spring saw the release of my new book, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film, and this past Summer saw the release of a new DVD / Blu-ray of the film from Kino Lorber. If you haven't secured your own copy of either the book or the DVD / Blu-ray, why not do so today? The book is also available on amazon.com in the UK at this link.

Dates announced for Pandora's Box showings in London and elsewhere (starring Louise Brooks)

Earlier, the British Film Institute (BFI) announced it is giving Pandora’s Box (1929) a theatrical re-release starting in June. Today, a number of dates and venues were announced.

1 June - 14 June
BFI Southbank
1 June
Filmhouse Edinburgh
QFT Belfast
7 June
Stoke Film Theatre
8 June
IFI Dublin
15 June
Glasgow Film Theatre
16 June
Mareel Shetlands Arts
23 June
Hippodrome Bo’ness
24 June
Palace Cinema Broadstairs


1 July
Triskel Arts Cork
8 July
Rich Mix, London
15 July
Cine Lumiere
17 July
Artrix Bromsgrove

Pandora’s Box, which was directed by G.W. Pabst, is now considered a classic, a masterpiece of the silent era and a landmark work in the history of world cinema. Its considerable reputation is due largely to the riveting, red hot performance given by its star, Louise Brooks, in the role of Lulu.

Pandora’s Box is also a problematic film. It was censored when released, and cut in many of the countries where it was first shown; the surviving prints which have come down to us today are worse for wear. The version of Pandora’s Box presented is a 2K DCP of the 2007 Munich Film Museum restoration. According to reports, the DCP comes with a score by Peer Raben, a composer who has worked with director Rainer Werner Fassbinder.

BFI Southbank screenings on Monday 4 June 18:00 NFT1, Friday 8 June 17:50 NFT2 and Thursday 14 June 17:50 NFT1 will have live piano accompaniment.  Ticket information on these screenings can be found HERE.

Friday 01 June 2018 14:30
NFT1
Friday 01 June 2018 17:40
NFT1
Friday 01 June 2018 20:25
NFT1
Saturday 02 June 2018 15:15
NFT2
Saturday 02 June 2018 17:40
NFT1
Saturday 02 June 2018 20:30
NFT1
Sunday 03 June 2018 15:00
NFT1
Sunday 03 June 2018 17:40
NFT1
Sunday 03 June 2018 20:25
NFT1
Monday 04 June 2018 18:00
NFT1
Monday 04 June 2018 20:15
NFT3
Tuesday 05 June 2018 14:30
NFT2
Tuesday 05 June 2018 17:40
NFT1
Tuesday 05 June 2018 20:30
NFT1
Wednesday 06 June 2018 14:30
Studio
Wednesday 06 June 2018 18:10
NFT1
Wednesday 06 June 2018 20:20
NFT2
Thursday 07 June 2018 14:30
NFT2
Thursday 07 June 2018 17:45
NFT2
Thursday 07 June 2018 20:30
NFT2
Friday 08 June 2018 17:50
NFT2
Friday 08 June 2018 20:30
NFT1
Saturday 09 June 2018 14:30
NFT2
Saturday 09 June 2018 17:20
NFT2
Saturday 09 June 2018 20:10
NFT2
Sunday 10 June 2018 14:50
NFT2
Sunday 10 June 2018 16:50
NFT1
Sunday 10 June 2018 19:40
NFT1
Monday 11 June 2018 18:10
NFT2
Monday 11 June 2018 20:30
NFT1
Tuesday 12 June 2018 18:00
NFT2
Tuesday 12 June 2018 20:25
NFT1
Wednesday 13 June 2018 17:40
NFT1
Wednesday 13 June 2018 20:25
NFT3
Thursday 14 June 2018 17:50
NFT1
Thursday 14 June 2018 20:15
NFT2

From the BFI website: "This sensational silent film follows the rise and fall of showgirl Lulu (Brooks), who goes from a decadent Weimar-era Berlin to a lurid London. When we first meet Lulu she’s the mistress of a middle-aged businessman, who tries to break off their affair in order to marry a respectable socialite, only to be caught red-handed by his bride-to-be. Lulu’s wild nature leads her into affairs with male and female suitors, leaving chaos and heartbreak in her wake. Few actors have such an electrifying screen presence as the 22-year-old Louise Brooks, whose powerful yet naturalistic performance in Pandora’s Box went underappreciated for decades – something we aim to rectify here with this gorgeous new restoration." -- Anna Bogutskaya, Events Programmer

Above is the newly prepared BFI trailer for the film. If you want to learn more about Pandora's Box, be sure and check out the recently released book by Pamela Hutchinson. Pictured below, it is highly recommended by the Louise Brooks Society.

 

Pamela Hutchinson's Pandora's Box (BFI Film Classics) is available on amazon (UK and USA).  It is, no doubt, also available at better bookstores including the bookshop at BFI Southbank.