Away with Words - a NEW silent film featuring Louise Brooks

To contemporary audiences, the silent films of the past may well require a kind of suspension of disbelief in order to come to terms with them as both as works of art as well as the gone world from which they sprang. That's true for Away with Words, a new silent production "starring" Louise Brooks. It is a joyful must watch for any fan of the actress, or of silent film.

Made from original and archival footage, Away with Words tells the story of Abel Lively, a lonely dreamer obsessed with Brooks who must come to terms with the too-safe bubble of his imagination. Set in London around 1931, Abel Lively is broke, alone, and terrified of going outside his one-man film studio -- and he couldn't be happier in not doing so. When his life is upended by a chance encounter with Penelope Peabody -- an unemployed painter with a taste for lock picking (played by the charming Jessica Still), Abel will have to choose between two worlds, the one in his head, and the one in which he has a chance at real love. 

Away with Words (Reshoot Productions, 2026) is the work of Sam Pothier, a U.K. filmmaker who wrote, edited, co-directed, co-produced and stars (as Abel Lively) in this quite clever romantic comedy-drama which also happens to be a silent movie. As anyone who has watched silent films will realize, Away with Words is indebted to the poetic logic of the silent era. It also leans into the dream-logic premise of Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. Wallace Beery (as Oklahoma Red) and Edward G. Robinson (as Caesar) feature in "supporting" roles.

However, it is Louise Brooks (as Lulu) who is the focus of Away with Words. Most all the footage of Brooks comes from Beggars of Life (by far the most-used archival source at a little over eight minutes worth), as well as her two German movies from 1929, Pandora’s Box (just under five minutes) and Diary of a Lost Girl (just under two minutes). There is also a bit of It's the Old Army Game, and plenty of Brooks’ imagery in the form of photos and posters.

As Pothier stated, there are Easter eggs for silent movie enthusiasts, including a scene that merges footage from a Charlie Chaplin film and a Harold Lloyd film, along with three Buster Keaton cameos. All together, there is footage from some 30 silent and early sound films as well as six public domain Betty Boop shorts. All are credited at the film's end. 

It is also worth noting that nothing in this 99 minute film is A.I.-generated. Pothier and co-director / co-producer Husam Taha (who also served as the cinematographer) used lots and lots and lots of effects, but they're all of the "traditional kind" and all done by the two filmmakers. And what's more, these many effects are practically seamless to those in the right frame of mind, or in other words, those who suspend their disbelief. The inter-titles are likewise well presented. And a shout-out to Andrew Cowie, who has composed an exceptional and appropriate piano score. Away with Words is greatly enhanced by his accompaniment. Bravo future maestro!

Away with Words is available to stream on Amazon Prime in the United States and other parts of the world, including the United Kingdom, Australia and some countries in Europe. It can also be viewed on Google Play and YouTube. Screenings in England are in the works. More about the film can be found at its website and its IMDb page.

If pastiche can be art, even high art -- then Away with Words is a near masterpiece. 

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  

Writings of Louise Brooks page updated

The "Writings of Louise Brooks" page on the Louise Brooks Society website has been significantly updated. This page includes Brooks' essays and letters, as well as statements and other miscellaneous literary efforts. If you have read Lulu in Hollywood and think you know Brooks' writings (either published or unpublished), this page will likely prove a revelation. 

quoted in Billboard in September, 1925

 
Included among the latest entries on this updated page are these:

"Louise Brooks, in a letter to Pauline Kael, dated 26 May 1962--." Psychological Masterpieces : G.W. Pabst's Pandora's Box, UCLA Committee on Fine Art Productions, 1962. 
--- one page statement, which according to the series' prospectus, "Miss Brooks has sent us her impressions of the role of Lulu, for use as program notes for this presentation." 

"The Influence of Movie Stars on the Freedom of Women." April 12, 1963.
--- feminist-themed speech delivered to the Catholic Women's Clubs of Rochester; presumed lost 

"Malcolm St. Clair," unpublished manuscript, January - February 1966. 
--- approximately 25 page typescript manuscript additionally annotated by hand - marked "First draft"

"The Mystery of Mal St. Clair." unpublished manuscript, February 1968.
--- approximately 25 page typescript manuscript additionally annotated by hand; this piece is distinct from the above mentioned work

"A Corrected View of Howard Hawks" undated 
-- a very brief fragment survives, which suggests Brooks started or envisioned a longer essay 

Do you have a second draft copy of Brooks' long lost novel, Naked on My Goat, sitting in your desk drawer? If so, send me a copy!

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Louise Brooks got married 100 years ago today

One hundred years ago today -- on July 21, 1926 -- Louise Brooks married director Eddie Sutherland in New York City; the ceremony was performed by Deputy Clerk William McCormick at the city’s Municipal Building. Brooks and Sutherland met earlier in the year during the filming It's the Old Army Game. Sutherland was the film's director. 

This was big news in movie circles. Articles appeared in many American newspapers, as well as on the front page of the New York Daily News the following day. 

And here is the page 31 article with all the details.

And a page two piece from earlier in the day (prior to the newspaper's final edition).

Of course, things didn't work out and the two filed for divorce a couple of years a later....

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

“Funny Screen Experiences” by Louise Brooks

About one-hundred years ago today (depending on where you lived), American newspapers ran a syndicated piece attributed to Louise Brooks titled "Funny Screen Experiences," or "My Funniest Experience". One instance of this piece (shown below) was found in the Berkeley (California) Daily Gazette, where it was published on July 16, 1926. Another instance of this same article, under the title "My Funniest Experience", appeared in the San Francisco Bulletin on the same day.

Whatever it was titled, it also appeared on or around the same day in newspapers in Springfield, Massachusetts (7-14-26), San Antonio, Texas (7-16-26), Hammond, Indiana (7-20-26), Richmond, California (7-26-26), and elsewhere, including St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada (7-16-26) .

 

  

"Funny Screen Experiences" or  "My Funniest Experience" was a short-lived series of humorous anecdotes syndicated to various American newspapers by United Press, a wire service. The first piece in the series was attributed to Warner Baxter, and carried an editor's note which read, "This is the first in the series of brief stories by well known film stars, describing their most amusing studio experiences." Other pieces in the series appeared in July 1926 with a by-line attributed to Neil Hamilton (Beau Geste), Lois Wilson (The Great Gatsby), William Powell (Aloma of the South Seas), Renee Adoree (The Eternal Struggle), Aileen Pringle (Tin Gods) and Hale Hamilton. [I believe these are all Paramount productions.] Notably, the piece attributed to Ford Sterling also concerned The Show-Off. 

It is doubtful that Louise Brooks actually wrote her piece, despite the fact it has her by-line. Rather, the author of this piece was likely a Paramount publicist assigned to The Show-Off whose job it was to generate copy for newspapers which would, in turn, draw attention to Paramount’s new and forthcoming releases. The most than can be said about its authenticity is that it may have been based on an actual incident in which the set of The Show-Off was dressed with inappropriate books. It is also worth mentioning that Brooks was known to pass the time on set reading.

A variant instance of this same piece appeared in the Utica (NY) Observer Dispatch on July 18, 1926 under the title, "Light Reading Nearly Spoiled Flapper Scene: My Funniest Experience." 

 More about these and other spurious articles can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website page "Articles Attributed to Louise Brooks." 

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  

Cinemages 3 : Six Talks on G. W. Pabst - a new acquisition -

For years, I have been hoping to acquire a copy of Cinemages 3 : Six Talks on G. W. Pabst. And now at last, I have done so. It is an obscure film journal published in New York City in 1955 by the Group for Film Study. The journal was edited by Gideon Bachmann.* 

I have wanted a copy ever since I saw it cited in the Barry Paris biography ever so long ago, but it has proven difficult to track down. (I had to pay a pretty penny for just this single issue.) The journal looks like what today we would call a 'zine -- it's typescript on pulpy paper reproduced by what seems like a photocopy machine, though photocopy technology wasn't available until 1959. Perhaps it's photostat or mimeograph? (I would assume relatively few were "printed." Additionally, it has that dusty-musty smell common in used book shops.) When the Group for Film Study put on screenings, copies of Cinemages were sold for 50 cents. (I paid more than 100 times that amount for my copy.)

This particular issue of Cinemages was given over to G.W. Pabst, and it features extensive interviews with six individuals who were contemporaneous with the director. They are Marc Sorkin, Paul Falkenberg, Jean Oser, Eugen Schuftan, Leo Lania, and the critic Siegfried Kracauer. (The later "interview" is merely a compilation of excerpts from Kracauer's earlier writings, including his famous 1947 book, From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film.)

What drew Paris' attention (and mine) is that the first two -- Sorkin and Falkenberg -- worked with Pabst on Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl. And they talk about those two films! Aside from Brooks' writings, eyewitness accounts by others involved in either production are rare. This is choice material. Besides the six interviews, there is also an introduction by Gideon Bachmann and an annotated filmography compiled by Gavin Lambert and the British Film Institute. (This was decades before IMdB and easy access to such information.)

Earlier, I mentioned that this journal was obscure. It is, and was -- but not so much so that Louise Brooks didn't have access to it. As a matter of fact, she quotes from the Paul Falkenberg interview in her 1965 piece, "Pabst and Lulu," which appeared in Sight and Sound. Interestingly, Brooks names Falkenberg in her article, but does not reference the film journal itself, writing "... one of his assistants, Paul Falkenberg, said in 1955". I had always wondered where, exactly, Brooks got that reference, and now I know.

Excerpts from Gideon Bachmann's (GB) interview with Paul Falkenberg (PF), followed by a few bits from Bachmann's interview with Marc Sorkin (MS), can be found on the Louise Brooks Society Substack....

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 .... I found these interviews to be fascinating, even revelatory.... that Marc Sorkin only worked on part of Pandora's Box, that Louise Brooks (seemingly) wanted mood music while on set, that Falkenberg himself helped look for an actress to play Lulu, and a dozen other little details. 

For those who were wondering, over the years, Louise Brooks kept in touch with a few individuals involved with both Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl. Brooks exchanged the occasional letter and phone call with Pabst, as well as with Marc Sorkin, who was living in New York City in the 1950s. (Paul Falkenberg was also living in NYC in the 1950s, but I haven't seen any indication of them being in touch.) Brooks also was friends with Lothar Wolff, the publicist for both of her Pabst films. He too came to live in the United States, where he worked as an editor and producer.

* The sponsors for the Group for Film Study are given as Rudolph Arnheim, Jean Benoit-Levy, Rene Clair, Paul Falkenberg, David Flaherty, Abel Gance, Marcel L'Herbier, Siegfried Kracauer, Willim K. Everson, Hans Richter, Frank Stauffacher, Williard Van Dyke, and Herman G. Weinberg.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  

July 4th in the Life of Louise Brooks

Louise Brooks lived through some 78 July 4th celebrations of Independence Day, including the 150th anniversary in 1926 and the 200th in 1976. This rambling post looks at the July 4th holiday in the life of the actress.

In 1926, Brooks was back in New York City, after having completed work on It's the Old Army Game in Florida, where she met the film's director, Eddie Sutherland. The two became involved, and would marry a few weeks later on July 21. How exactly Brooks spent this particular July 4th we don't know, but I would guess it was with Eddie. 

And here is newspaper bit for It's the Old Army Game, which was showing at the Strand in Minneapolis, Minnesota (as well as many other cities and towns across America) on July 4th 1926. Brooks stardom was just starting to take off.

In 1976, Brooks was living in Rochester, New York, having moved there some years earlier. At this time in her life, she spent most of her time in her apartment, reading, writing letters, and working on her various writing projects (namely her essays and articles). Brooks liked to watch television and listen to the radio, and thus it's likely she watched some TV coverage of the American bicentennial. I remember that holiday, and media coverage was hard to escape.

One other event we can place with certainty on a July 4th occurred in 1968, when Brooks visited composer David Diamond at his Rochester home. Perhaps she attended an independence day gathering. According to the local newspaper, the weather in Rochester was partly sunny with a high in the low to mid 70s. It might have been a nice day to have an outdoor gathering. (Fans may recall Diamond from his memorable appearance in the 1998 documentary Louise Brooks Looking for Lulu.)

David Diamond in 1987

Speaking of the weather, among the miscellaneous items found in Brooks' papers was this reply from The Answer Man. According to its Wikipedia page, The Answer Man was a 15-minute radio program that aired from 1937 to 1956 on the Mutual Broadcasting System as well as in syndication. Questions submitted by listeners were answered on the air by Albert Mitchell, and those who sent questions not used in the program were given answers by mail.

Brooks had written a few brief notes on the reverse of this reply, including a couple of phone numbers. Given the context, I'll assume Brooks wrote to The Answer Man sometime prior to the show leaving the air in 1956, to which she received a reply by someone on staff with the initials of "jp". (I will also assume Brooks listened to the show while living in New York City. The Answer Man aired on WNBC  -- then operating on the 660 AM frequency -- in New York City from 1950 until the show's conclusion in 1956. The Answer Man aired twice a day from Monday through Friday: it ran as a 15-minute program, typically broadcast in the early afternoon at 1:30 PM and during the evening at 6:15 PM.)

As best I can figure, Brooks was in Peterboro, New Hampshire on July 4, 1923. That is where Denishawn had its summer camp. Seemingly, something of note happened in Peterboro on July 4, 1923 -- I say that because Brooks tried to recall what the weather was like that day. She even went so far as to send away for the information. (Time and again, Brooks tried to place her memories in the context of the weather. It was one way to help her set the scene in her earliest efforts at writing, especially when she was working on Naked on My Goat.) 

I'll finish with this July 4, 1982 newspaper clipping from McComb, Mississippi. Just a few months earlier, Brooks' Lulu in Hollywood was published. And in its wake reviews, articles, and columns like this one devoted to the actress appeared in newspapers just about everywhere. I can imagine Brooks feeling a sense of accomplishment and excitement that her book, something she had worked on for years and which meant a great deal, had been published and was garnering good reviews. Louise Brooks had long wished to be a writer....

 

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, to screen on July 30th in London

Pandora's Box, Louise Brooks' great screen triumph, will be shown at Wilton's Music Hall in London one month from today, on July 30th. This special screening will feature a live piano score by Christopher Eldred. More information about this event, including ticket availability, can be found HERE. 

Otherwise, here is what the venue says about the event: 

"Louise Brooks stars as the effortlessly seductive Lulu, a high class courtesan and dancer who brings destruction to the Berlin bourgeoisie with her turbulent love affairs, both male and female.   

Heavily censored in its day, G.W. Pabst‘s 1929 Weimar masterpiece nonetheless launched flapper icon Brooks to international stardom and Pandora’s Box still feels incredibly modern today, ranking amongst the Guardian’s top 100 films of all time. 

Experience this rare special screening with live piano score by Christopher Eldred."

More about Pandora's Box can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website on its Pandora's Box (filmography page). 

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Where else to find the Louise Brooks Society online

For the last number of months I've been rebuilding the Louise Brooks Society's social media presence. (Regular readers of this blog know why.) And so, here is a refresher of where else to find the LBS.

Besides its widely praised website at www.pandorasbox.com, the LBS also has this longstanding blog and a YouTube account as well as a more recently established Substack. Each are rich in content. 

All of the LBS's 20+ social media accounts are listed on the LBS website's Social Media page. The LBS has accounts on Threads, TikTok, LinkedIn, etc.... As of today, the two primary social media accounts are its Bluesky and Instagram accounts. Each has drawn more than 1000 followers. 

On a more modest scale, there is also the reestablished Facebook group. 

I hope you'll take the time to explore one or more of these accounts. And please remember to like and subscribe. Everything helps.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.