Rolled Stockings, starring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1927

Rolled Stockings, starring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1927. The film is a drama set among students at the fictional Colfax College. It was one of a number of similarly-themed films aimed toward the youth market of the 1920s. Besides Louise Brooks, who was then 20 years old, its cast included a few of Paramount's "junior stars" -- then up-and-comers Richard Arlen, James Hall, Nancy Phillips, and El Brendel. Brooks plays the love interest of two brothers, one a fop, the other an athlete. 

More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website filmography page.

To add verisimilitude, Rolled Stockings was largely filmed on and around the campus of the University of California, Berkeley. It also includes footage of actual crew races between the University of California and the University of Washington.

A summer release, the film proved popular wherever it was shown. Harrison’s Reports, a film industry trade journal, described Rolled Stockings as "a light comedy drama of college life" that was "Pretty good entertainment for the hot weather." The Chicago Tribune named it one of the six best films of June, 1927. Not surprisingly, the film found a receptive audience in college towns across the country. The critic for the Ann Arbor Times News, for example, appreciatively stated "The three stars, Louise Brooks, James Hall and Richard Arlen are so thoroughly likable and the story so different from the usual line of college bunk, that Rolled Stockings proves to be a delightful bit of cinema entertainment."

Rolled Stockings was a cut above many of the other motion pictures about the younger generation. The Seattle Times praised the film, noting "Paramount’s ‘youth’ picture, which is now at the Coliseum Theatre, has everything -- a thrilling college crew race, some exciting automobile scenes, snappy comedy, a good love story and lots of pep." Regina Cannon of the New York American proclaimed, "This is another college story and it is realistic enough to be entertaining. . . . Louise Brooks is seen for the first time in a ‘straight’ role. This child is so smartly sophisticated that it has seldom been her lot to portray anything but baby vamps on the screen. She has an unusual personality which the camera catches and magnifies, dresses snappily and makes the most of her every movie moment.”

Critics were divided on Brooks, the star of the film. Some noted her "provoking presence" and "demure charm, with its tricky suggestion of mild sophistication." The Los Angeles Examiner wrote, "Louise Brooks is utterly adorable as Carol Fleming. She is exactly the type college boys swoon over. She displays a sincerity in her work that has been absent from her previous roles. Though this particular part offers little opportunity to show any great acting, she measures up splendidly in the few scenes that border on the emotional." Across town, the Los Angeles Daily Illustrated News stated "Louise Brooks, judging by this film, is destined to go a long way. She has some of Colleen Moore's qualities with a dash of Florence Vidor thrown in, and a lot of her own distinctive personality."

The New York Daily Mirror countered, stating "Louise Brooks looks remarkably like Clara Bow, though she lacks the famed pep of our national flapper." The Washington Times went even further, "The leading role is borne by Louise Brooks and the part could have been better cast. Miss Brooks has the bad habit of stalking through her screen parts like an automaton and her face is devoid of emotion under all circumstances." In a piece titled "Louise Brooks Shows Acting Ability in Rivoli Feature," Mark K. Bowman found middle ground in the Portland Oregonian, "In the past Miss Brooks has been accused of strutting instead of acting, but it is apparent in this latest picture that she is endeavoring to do less posing, which is a promising move."

SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

-- The film was based on a topical story, "Sheiks and Sheibas," by Frederica Sagor. Along with raccoon coats, flagpole sitters, goldfish swallowers, hip flasks, and ankle watches, rolled stockings worn by women were one of the many fads of the Jazz Age.

-- Rolled Stockings was first called Sheiks and Sheibas, but the title was changed because it conflicted with a First National property. At different times, different trade journals reported that Monty Brice and then Frank Strayer would direct the film, with Charles "Buddy" Rogers and Sterling Holloway among the cast.

-- Sally Blane, who had an uncredited part in Rolled Stockings, was born Elizabeth Jane Young and was the sister of actress Loretta Young.

-- Grover Jones, a gag man, doubled as director while the Rolled Stockings  company was on location in Berkeley, California. Director Richard Rosson was summoned to Hollywood by the death of his mother and Jones took the microphone and directed shots of the California-Washington boat race.

-- Years later, in an interview, Brooks said director Richard Rosson didn't want to direct the film, and in fact, didn't even want to be a director. "He'd been Allan Dwan's assistant, and it was an assistant that he wanted to be. During [this picture] he sat sweating, with a trembling script. There wasn't enough Bromo-Seltzer to float him out of his chair."

More about the film can be found on the recently updated Louise Brooks Society website 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.   

A Visual Mystery in Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks - can you help?

The more often you watch a particular film, the more things you notice which you might not have taken note of previously... the way light might come into a window, the way a character walks, the way a room is dressed. 

Over the years, I have likely watched Pandora's Box (1929) some twenty times, or more. I don't really know how many times I have viewed the film, but I always try to watch it with fresh eyes. It wasn't until my twelfth viewing, some years ago, that I really noticed the jazz combo performing during the wedding reception scene. That got me to wondering who they were, until I spotted the name of the group on their drum-kit. They were Sid Kay's Fellows, a real jazz combo from the time. I went into excited research mode, and ended up writing a couple of blog posts on the group. The first of them, from April 2012, is Music in Pandora's Box: Sid Kay's Fellows. A follow up post from October of that same year is More on Sid Kay's Fellows. Check 'em out.

Another thing I noticed in the film and began to wonder about is the wood relief sculpture of a praying man hanging on the wall of Lulu's room - the same room where her husband is killed. I wondered who made it? Was it just a piece of random set dressing (unlikely, as Pabst was a meticulous film maker), or was it a piece of art from the time? Here are a few screen grabs depicting the art in question.

 

 

 

I couldn't find any references to the sculpture in the literature about the film. I did some internet searches, and looked at some art books, and nearly gave up until I came across the work of a German expressionist artist and writer named Ernest Barlach. According to his Wikipedia entry, his "literary and artistic work would fall between the categories of twentieth-century Realism and Expressionism" The same could be said for G.W. Pabst.

I don't know that the piece in Pandora's Box is by Barlach, but it sure does look like his work. I also did a Google search under the name "Ernst Barlach" and filtered the results for images. I am leaning in his direction. Are there any art historians or Ernst Barlach experts who could weigh in on this mystery? Is there a catalog raisonne of his work?

... And speaking of artwork seen in Pandora's Box, I wonder what ever happened to this painting of Brooks as a harlequin? Does anyone know? Does anyone know who painted it? This painting looks like something that was commissioned for the film, whereas the praying man figure looks like a pre-existing work of art.

 

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. 

Diary of a Lost Girl, starring Louise Brooks, to be screened at Miss Laura’s Brothel Museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas

Diary of a Lost Girl, the sensational 1929 film starring Louise Brooks, will be screened at Miss Laura’s Brothel Museum in Fort Smith, Arkansas on June 5. This special event is being held in conjunction with the Fort Smith Public Library. More information about the event can be found HERE.

The venue states, "Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), directed by G. W. Pabst and starring Louise Brooks, follows Thymiane, a young woman cast out after becoming pregnant and deemed “immoral” by her family and society. Sent through reformatories and exploitation, her story exposes the cruelty, hypocrisy, and double standards imposed on women. The film is a powerful critique of social morality and remains a landmark of early cinema.

Join us at Miss Laura’s in partnership with the Fort Smith Public Library for this unforgettable cinematic experience. Whether you’re a film lover, history buff, or simply curious about the rebellious spirit of the 1920s, this is one screening you won’t want to miss. Admission is FREE to the public. Seats are limited so reserve your tickets online at misslaurasmuseum.com .... experience a silent film that still speaks volumes."

Louise Brooks twice visited Fort Smith. The first time was in 1922, when she and the Denishawn Dance Co, gave matinee and evening performances at the local Joie Theatre on November 22 of that year. The company returned once more in 1923, when it once again a gave matinee and evening performance on February 6. Brooks first mention in a Fort Smith newspaper likely occurred on February 7, when the Southwest American reviewed the prior day's performance.

Above is a newspaper image of the now demolished theatre building as it appeared in 1921, the year before Brooks performed there. The location of the old theatre is only a four minute drive or 18 minute walk from the old mansion which now houses Miss Laura’s Brothel Museum. (The Joie was demolished in 1953, and today a Hideaway Pizza is located on the lot.)

Brooks first depiction in a Fort Smith newspaper occurred on December 4, 1925, when the local Times Record ran the syndicated piece shown below on their picture page.

And, of course, most of Brooks' American silent and earliest sound films were shown in Fort Smith in the 1920s. Many seemed to have been shown at the New theater.

Miss Laura’s Brothel Museum is one of the most unique attractions Fort Smith has to offer. According to its website, it is a meticulously preserved Victorian brothel that offers a glimpse into the lives of the women who shaped the history of Fort Smith. Through guided tours, authentic exhibits, and interactive displays, immerse yourself in the opulence, charm, and intrigue of a bygone era. Visit its website for more info at misslaurasmuseum.com 

More about Diary of a Lost Girl can be found on the newly revamped Louise Brooks Society website on its Diary of a Lost Girl (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.  

Louise Brooks Society @ Library of Congress Motion Picture Web Archive

Recently, I was told that the Louise Brooks Society website was chosen to be part of the Library of Congress Motion Picture Web Archive. I am thrilled, as this is an honor I have never dreamt of receiving. Once or twice a year from here on out, the LBS will be crawled and archived and made available to researchers at the LOC akin to the Internet Archive's Wayback Machine presentation. [The LBS should appear on the LOC website sometime next year.]

With visitors coming.... I figured it would be a good idea to tidy up some of the more dense pages, like the filmography and bibliography pages. I thought to add new information, delete old links, clean-up typos, and generally improve whatever I could. I would make this my summer project, something to take on a little at a time. There are 24 filmography pages, and 24 bibliography pages. 

I started with Pandora's Box (1929), and have refurbished both its filmography and bibliography pages. I also refurbished the filmography and bibliography pages for The Street of Forgotten Men (1925). Next up in The American Venus (1926), and then Just Another Blonde (1926) and Now We're in the Air (1927) and all the rest.

If you have a moment, please do visit the Louise Brooks Society website at www.pandorasbox.com. It is bursting at the seems with nearly 300 pages of content. Explore....
 

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. 

Its the Old Army Game, with Louise Brooks, was released on this day 100 years ago in 1926

Its the Old Army Game, with Louise Brooks and W.C. Fields, was released on this day in 1926. The film is a comedy about a small town druggist (played by W.C. Fields) who gets involved with a real estate scam. Louise Brooks plays the druggist's assistant. The film was Brooks' fourth, and it reunited her with the Fields, the film's star. The two had worked together in the Ziegfeld Follies of 1925. 

More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website filmography page.

In its review, the Newark Star-Eagle stated, “This picture not only affords a good deal of typical Fields comedy in a suitable story frame, but also reveals the possibilities of Louise Brooks, Follies girl who is making decidedly good in the cinema. . . . All told, Fields need not regret his first Paramount production. Louise Brooks, with a touch of piquancy, a good range of registration, and the conception of restraint, is pleasing as the heroine.”

It's the Old Army Game was originally announced as starring Fields and future "It girl" Clara Bow, but she was shooting Mantrap (1926), so the female lead fell to Brooks. Exhibitor’s Herald stated, “Louise Brooks is the other important person in the picture and, as insinuated rather bluntly on the occasion of her first appearance -- in The American Venus -- she’s important. Miss Brooks isn’t like anybody else. Nor has she a distinguishing characteristic which may be singled out for purposes of identification. She’s just a very definite personality. She doesn’t do much, perhaps because there isn’t much to do but probably because she hits hardest when doing nothing, but nobody looks away when she’s on screen. If Miss Glyn should say that Miss Brooks has ‘it,’ more people would know what Miss Glyn is raving about. But in that case she would not be raving.”

The Portland Oregonian noted “Louise Brooks, the pert young woman who will be remembered for her work in The American Venus and A Social Celebrity, the latter with Adolphe Menjou, has the lead role opposite Fields. She poses a bit. An excuse was found to get her into a bathing suit too, which wasn’t a bad move, on the whole.” 

It's the Old Army Game received mostly positive reviews, though some critics noted its rather thin plot. Algonquin Round Table playwright Robert E. Sherwood (who would go on to win four Pulitzer Prizes and an Academy Award) was then writing reviews for Life magazine. His pithy critique read, “Mr. Fields has to carry the entire production on his shoulders, with some slight assistance from the sparkling Louise Brooks.” Ella H. McCormick of the Detroit Free Press countered with "Fields scored a splendid triumph in this picture. A great part of the success of the offering, however, is due to Louise Brooks, who takes the lead feminine part."

Today, It's the Old Army Game is largely remembered as a starring vehicle for Fields -- a comedic great, It is also remembered for the fact that not long after the film wrapped, Brooks married the film's director, Eddie Sutherland.

 SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

 -- Clarence Badger was originally assigned to direct, but the film was soon turned over to Edward Sutherland, a onetime actor and Keystone Cop who began his directing career just a few years before with the help of Charlie Chaplin. The film was announced, at first, as starring W.C. Fields and future “It girl” Clara Bow, but as she was needed on the West Coast to shoot Mantrap (1926), the female lead fell to Brooks. It's the Old Army Game was the first of five Fields' films directed by Sutherland.

-- Outdoor scenes in Palm Beach, Florida were shot at El Mirasol, the estate of multi-millionaire investment banker Edward T. Stotesbury. In 1912, after having been a widower for thirty-some years, Stotesbury remarried and became the stepfather of three children including Henrietta Louise Cromwell Brooks (known simply as Louise Brooks), an American socialite and the first wife of General Douglas MacArthur. In her heyday, she was "considered one of Washington's most beautiful and attractive young women". Because of their names, the two women were sometimes confused in the press.

-- The late film historian John Bengston had written a series of posts on his Silent Locations website looking at various scenes from the film. Each are well worth checking out. They include "W.C. Fields in Palm Beach – It’s the Old Army Game" -- "It’s The Old Army Game – W.C. Fields and Louise Brooks Bring Magazines to Life" -- "It’s The Old Army Game – W.C. Fields and Louise Brooks in Ocala Florida – Part One".

-- It’s the Old Army Game was officially released May 25, 1926. The film opened in select cities on May 22, 1926, with the earliest showings taking place in Atlanta, Georgia, Hartford, Connecticut, and Indianapolis, Indiana. The film was advertised to open a few days earlier in Palm Beach, Florida (on May 18) and elsewhere, but was delayed.

More about the film can be found on the recently updated Louise Brooks Society website 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.   

Windy Riley Goes Hollywood, starring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1931

Windy Riley Goes Hollywood, starring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1931. The film is a short comedy which centers on Windy Riley, a cocky blow-hard who attempts to revamp the publicity department of a Hollywood studio. The film was Louise Brooks’ first after returning from Europe, the first to feature her actual voice (Brooks’ earlier sound films, The Canary Murder Case and Prix de Beauté, had been dubbed), and her first and only short. More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website filmography page.

The film was directed by Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, who was working under the name William B. Goodrich; a blacklist on the comedian's employment in Hollywood was still in effect. Windy Riley Goes Hollywood was promoted as a behind the scenes look at the movie capital. The film’s press sheet overstated its case when it proclaimed “One of the first pictures ever showing the interior of a sound stage and the actual operation of talking pictures. . . . The actual cameras, microphones, etc., used in picture production will be shown in some of the big scenes.”

At times, story details surrounding character Betty Grey (played by Brooks) curiously parallel Brooks’ own career. Near the beginning of the film, Grey is set to star in The Box Car Mystery, a title of which calls to mind Brooks’ role in Beggars of Life. Later, while at lunch at the Montmarte (a famous Los Angles café once frequented by Brooks and others in Hollywood), Riley boasts he was responsible for the successful advertising campaign mounted by Klux Soap. In real life, Brooks was among a handful of actress who regularly appeared in print ads for Lux Soap. And, at the end of the film, it is announced that Grey will wed the director The Box Car Mystery. A few years earlier, Brooks married Eddie Sutherland, who directed her in It’s the Old Army Game.

The film's few reviews were largely negative, and the film suffered from a lack of exhibitor interest. Consequently, few likely saw Windy Riley Goes Hollywood at the time of its release. Except for a three-month period in mid-1931 when it played in Toronto, there are few records of this short film having been shown in any large cities. What exhibition records have been found suggest the film was shown as program filler in mostly smaller markets.

 In the United States and Canada, the film was on a few occasions promoted under the title Windy Riley Goes to Hollywood, and once reviewed as Windy Riley Goes into Hollywood. Under its American title, documented screenings of the film took place in Canada, The Philippines, Sweden, and the United Kingdom (England and Scotland).

Elsewhere, Windy Riley Goes Hollywood was shown under the title The Gas Bag (United Kingdom, including England, Northern Ireland, and Scotland) and as Windy Rileyová jde Hollywood (Czechoslovakia).

 SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

-- Windy Riley Goes Hollywood, based on an original story by Ken Kling, was adapted from Kling’s comic strip Windy Riley. The New York cartoonist started the strip about a wisecracking braggart in 1928. At the time of the film's release, the strip ran in some 170 newspapers across the country.

-- Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle, depressed and still working under a pseudonym because he was under an industry blacklist, directed the film. Years later, Brooks told Kevin Brownlow, "He made no attempt to direct this picture. He sat in his chair like a man dead."

-- Dell Henderson started as an actor in 1908, and was a frequent associate of director D.W. Griffith, and less so, with producer Mack Sennett. Henderson also directed nearly 200 silent films between 1911 and 1928. In the late 1920s, he returned to acting and played important supporting roles in King Vidor's The Crowd (1928) and Show People (1928). The advent of sound stalled his career, and he was thereafter cast in small parts. In the 1930s, Henderson appeared as a comic foil for W. C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy, and The Three Stooges.

-- The group of dancers seen in Windy Riley Goes Hollywood were recruited from the chorus of George Olsen’s Culver City nightclub. Olsen was a popular bandleader and recording artist married to Ethel Shutta. Her brother Jack Shutta, a stage performer making his screen debut in the title role of Windy Riley, managed Olsen's nightclub. Along with Ethel Shutta and Louise Brooks, Olsen and his orchestra performed at the Ziegfeld Follies of 1925.

-- In 1935, the Bell and Howell Company of Chicago offered Windy Riley as a Filmosound rental subject.

-- Windy Riley Goes Hollywood was the first Louise Brooks film shown on television likely anywhere in the world. The film was shown under the title Windy Riley Goes to Hollywood on November 18, 1948 on WJZ (Channel 7) in Asbury Park, New Jersey. (LINK)

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.   

Does the Louise Brooks Society have good site authority?

I asked Google's Gemini if the Louise Brooks Society has good "site authority." Here is what Gemini said.

"From an SEO and historical standpoint, the Louise Brooks Society (hosted at pandorasbox.com) possesses exceptionally high authority within its niche. While "Site Authority" is often measured by scores like Moz’s Domain Authority (DA) or Semrush’s Authority Score, its true strength lies in its reputational authority and backlink profile.

Here is a breakdown of why it is considered a high-authority site:

1. Longevity and "Lindy Effect"

• Established 1995: The site is a "pioneer" in the film history space, having been online for over 30 years. Search engines generally view long-standing domains with consistent content as more trustworthy than newer sites.

• Archive Depth: With approximately 300 pages of deep archival material—including the most comprehensive Louise Brooks filmography and chronology in existence—it functions as a primary source rather than a content aggregator.

2. High-Quality Backlinks (Digital Trust)

The site is cited as a definitive resource by some of the most authoritative entities in media and academia:

• Institutional Citations: It has been referenced by the Encyclopedia Britannica, Wikipedia, and the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

• Major Media: High-authority news outlets like The New York Times, The Guardian, USA Today, and The Irish Times have linked to or praised the site.

• Film Industry: Recognition from the Criterion Collection, Leonard Maltin, and inclusion in the bibliographies of definitive biographies (like those by Barry Paris) cements its topical authority.

3. Niche Dominance (E-E-A-T)

Google’s ranking guidelines emphasize Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness. The Louise Brooks Society excels here because:

• Subject Matter Expertise: The site is curated by Thomas Gladysz, a published author and researcher whose work has directly contributed to film restorations and academic scholarship.

• Official Backing: The site operates with the written consent of the Estate of Louise Brooks, which provides a level of official "brand" authority that few fan-operated sites achieve.

4. Technical Authority

• Keyword Ownership: The site consistently ranks at the top for specific, high-intent keywords related to silent film history, "Lulu," and Pandora's Box.

• Non-Commercial Nature: Because it is largely an educational archive rather than a commercial or "clickbait" site, it avoids many of the spam signals that can degrade site authority.

---

Summary: While a massive site like IMDb might have a higher general domain score, for queries specifically regarding silent film history or Louise Brooks, the Louise Brooks Society is often treated by search algorithms as the "seed" authority—the gold standard for accuracy and depth."

 

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.   

God's Gift to Women, with Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1931

God's Gift to Women, with Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1931. The film is a pre-code musical comedy whose musical numbers were cut and whose humor and suggestive scenes are largely tempered by the tepid presence of star Frank Fay. He plays the Parisian descendant of a Don Juan who vows to stop philandering in order to win the hand of a virtuous young lady with a disapproving father. Louise Brooks plays one of a handful of women irresistibly drawn to Fay's character. 

More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website filmography page.

Film Daily described the film as a "Merry French farce with amusing plot and deft comedy work by Frank Fay, fine feminine support and good direction." Edward Churchill, writing in Motion Picture Herald, stated “Frank Fay is the whole show in this broadly sophisticated story of Parisian love and Parisian life. Fay has all the women in the world after him, so it seems, and they are all good-looking. In fact, some of them are very beautiful, and they seem to like Fay. . . . Jane Hinton hasn’t given the picture much of a story as far as the plot is concerned, but the situations are excellent. Jackson and [Raymond] Griffith have tossed in some rare gags and some excellent dialogue and the costume department at Warners has been busy. . . . Michael Curtiz has built a snappy, laughable and highly entertaining picture around Fay and the preview audience laughed plenty. Photography is good, settings are in perfect keeping with the vehicle and the sound is clear.”

The movie, indeed, belongs to Fay, who was a popular Broadway star of light comedies. Casting the not-quite leading man as a Casanova was a stretch, but his delivery is mildly amusing at times. The plot line is predictable, and there's a twist in the final scenes. The San Francisco Chronicle thought "The picture is a bit of fluff, but it is amusing and is well produced."

 

Harry Mines of the Los Angeles Daily Illustrated News thought "All the girls in the cast have the opportunity to wear beautiful clothes and look their vampiest. They are Laura LaPlante, Marguerite Livingston, Yola D'Avril, Louise Brooks, Joan Blondell, Ethelyn Claire and the Sisters 'G'." Not surprisingly, Jerry Hoffman of the Los Angeles Examiner considered the film little more than "album of Hollywood's beautiful women." Harry Evans of Life magazine quipped "These few amusing moments are the film's total assets -- unless you haven't seen Louise Brooks, Joan Blondell and Yola D'Avril in their underwear."

All were not so forgiving. Variety called God's Gift to Women "no gift to audiences." Richard Watts Jr. of the New York Herald Tribune called it a "thin farce."  Thonton Delehanty of the New York Post was less generous, "The humor is in the style of the hackneyed French farce, so hackneyed that it is paralyzingly awful."

Unfortunately, the film is nowhere near a star turn for Brooks. And her second consecutive supporting role left some critics surprised. As with her small part in It Pays to Advertise, some including W. Ward Marsh of the Cleveland Plain Dealer could only wish for more.... "Louise Brooks (returning to the screen in a comparatively minor role)...."

Next to Windy Riley Goes Hollywood, God's Gift to Women was one of the least shown films in which Brooks' appeared. Under its American title, documented screenings of the film took place in Canada, England, New Zealand, The Philippines, Sweden, and possibly Brazil and France. In the United States, the film was also promoted under the title O Presente de deus para as Mulheres (Portuguese-language press).

Elsewhere, God’s Gift to Women was shown under the title Dar boha k ženám (Czechoslovakia); Gotten Geschenk au die Frauen (Germany); Bóg dal za duzo kobiet (Poland); and Tantas veo… (Spain). The film was also shown in South Africa and the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) under the title Too Many Women.

 SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

 -- The film was originally completed as a musical. Due to audience distaste for musicals, however, all the songs were cut in American prints. The complete film was released intact in other countries, where there was no such decline in popularity. Cut from the version released in the United States was a theme song sung by Frank Fay, then a major Broadway star. The theme song, which is heard over the credits, is underscored several times in the film. Also cut was an elaborate dance number by the Sisters "G" which appeared in the film during its nightclub sequence. The complete film was released intact outside the United States, but only the American print is known to have survived.

-- During the film’s April, 1931 showing in New York City, star Frank Fay made a personal appearance at the Strand Theater. (Fay was married at the time to Barbara Stanywck).

--  Leading lady Laura La Plante played Magnolia in the first film version of Show Boat (1929); Charles Winninger, who plays her father in God's Gift to Women, would play Cap'n Andy Hawks in the 1936 version of Show Boat.

-- Fay's character enjoyed a different lover each night of the week. Brooks – “brunette, bad and bold” – was assigned Thursday night.

 -- God's Gift to Women is available on DVD. Get it before it goes out of print. Purchase HERE.

More about God's Gift to Women can be found on the newly revamped Louise Brooks Society website on the God's Gift to Women (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.