Here is the text of my June 30 examiner.com article: "Louise Brooks and Pandora's Box still attract."
Louise Brooks and Pandora's Box still attract
The popularity of Louise Brooks, the now iconic silent film star, seems to be on the rise.A series of her films screened in May at the Silent Movie Theatre in Los Angeles reportedly drew capacity crowds. And on July 1st, her best known work, Pandora’s Box, will be shown at the 2,000 seat Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles. That event has been sold out for some time. That’s not bad for an actress who was considered little more than a footnote in film history a few decades ago.
The Wednesday screening at the Orpheum Theatre is sponsored by the Los Angeles Conservancy and is being presented as part of their 23rd Annual Last Remaining Seats series. It promises to be a special event. Hugh Munro Neely, director of the 1998 Emmy-nominated documentary Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu, will host the evening. Acclaimed organist Robert Israel will accompany Pandora’s Box on the Mighty Wurlitzer. And Hugh Hefner, Playboy founder, film buff, and a longtime fan of the actress, is sponsor. [Notably, the film co-stars Francis Lederer, the late Czech-born actor who lived for many years in the San Fernando Valley.]
The main attraction, however, is Louise Brooks. Free of her contract with Paramount, the Kansas-born actress traveled to Germany in 1928 to appear in a film of which she knew little about. It was just something to do. And, it was a perfect fit. Today, Pandora’s Box is considered not only Brooks’ best work, but one of the masterpieces of the silent film era. In a nutshell, Pandora’s Box tells the story of Lulu, a lovely and somewhat petulant show-girl whose flirtations with a number of men have devastating results. The film was based on two turn-of-the-last-century plays by the German writer Frank Wedekind (who also authored the text behind the recent Broadway smash Spring Awakening). Lulu has been described as vamp and femme fatale, but in fact, she is a kind of innocent. As one writer put it, her “sinless sexuality hypnotizes and destroys the weak, lustful men around her.” (And not just men. Lulu’s sexual magnetism knew no bounds, as Pandora’s Box features what may be the screen’s first lesbian character, played by Alice Roberts.) At times, the film - heavily censored in its day and still incomplete - can seem like melodrama. In Pandora’s Box, Brooks’ nevertheless reveals her considerable gifts as an actress through an individualized interpretation of her archetypal character.
Largely due to Brooks’ truly sensational performance, this G.W. Pabst directed film enjoys its current stellar reputation. It wasn’t always the case. The film made its world premiere February 9, 1929 at the Gloria–Palast in Berlin. German reviews of the time were mixed. When Pandora’s Box opened at a small art house in New York City in December of that same year, American newspaper and magazine critics were equally indifferent. Photoplay, one of the leading fan magazines of the time, noted “When the censors got through with this German-made picture featuring Louise Brooks, there was little left but a faint, musty odor. It is the story, both spicy and sordid, of a little dancing girl who spread evil everywhere without being too naughty herself. Interesting to American fans because it shows Louise, formerly an American ingénue in silent films, doing grand work as the evil-spreader.” That was a good review. Mordaunt Hall, critic for the New York Times, famously wrote “Miss Brooks is attractive and she moves her head and eyes at the proper moment, but whether she is endeavoring to express joy, woe, anger or satisfaction it is often difficult to decide.” Quinn Martin, critic at the New York World, echoed Hall’s remarks when he stated “It does occur to me that Miss Brooks, while one of the handsomest of all the screen girls I have seen, is still one of the most eloquently terrible actresses who ever looked a camera in the eye.” Variety put the nail in the coffin when its critic opined “Better for Louise Brooks had she contented exhibiting that supple form in two-reel comedies or Paramount features. Pandora’s Box, a rambling thing that doesn’t help her, nevertheless proves that Miss Brooks is not a dramatic lead.”
What is it that draws contemporary audiences to Louise Brooks? And why would 2,000 people gather to see a once disregarded 80 year old silent film? Perhaps, the answer lies in our modern ability to see beyond appearances, to appreciate qualities beneath the skin. Lottie Eisner, the great German film critic, once described Brooks as “An astonishing actress endowed with an intelligence beyond compare.” Kevin Brownlow, the great British film historian, more recently described Brooks as “One of the most remarkable personalities to be associated with films.” Louise Brooks is certainly both of those things, and more. The thousands who gather Wednesday night will be able to judge for themselves.
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