Louise Brooks was one of a handful of early movie
stars given a cinematic shout-out in Martin Scorsese's 2011 blockbuster, Hugo. (if you haven't already seen it - go do so! You will love it.) That film, along with The Artist, has spurred renewed interest
in the silent era and its many personalities.
This revival of interest includes Brooks, three of whose silent
films will be shown in the coming months. Notably, not among them is Pandora's Box (1929) or even Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), two of
Brooks' most frequently screened and popular films.
Instead, the films being shown are
three of Brooks' lesser seen American silent films. Each of these events give fans an opportunity to see a rare Brooks film - none of which have been commercially released on DVD. If you live near any of these screenings, get your tickets now. (Follow the linked titles.)
A
Girl in Every Port is being screened as part of a 25 film,
four month Howard Hawks retrospective at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley,
California. This early Hawks' film
is considered by many to be the most important of the director's silent efforts.
Why? Because as a "buddy film" it is the first to introduce the
themes and character types Hawks would continue to explore throughout his long
and distinguished career. A Girl in Every Port is a “love story” between two sailors (Victor McLaglen and
Robert Armstrong) which features an alluring high-diver, played by Brooks, as
the woman who attempts to break up their friendship. The film was a huge hit
both in the United States and Europe. The novelist and poet Blaise Cendrars
said A Girl in Every Port "definitely marked the first appearance
of contemporary cinema." A Girl in
Every Port will be introduced by
UC Berkeley professor Marilyn Fabe, and will be Judith Rosenberg on piano.
No, this is not a Brooks film. And no, it's not the
Bogart version of Hammett's classic story, but rather the original - made the
year after Hammett's landmark novel was published. This pre-Code adaptation,
directed by Roy Del Ruth and originally titled Dangerous Female, flaunts a sexier tone than John Huston's much more
famous 1941 version. Ricardo Cortez and Bebe Daniels star as Sam Spade and Ruth
Wonderly (the Brigid
O'Shaughnessy character). What's little known is that Brooks also makes an "appearance"
in the film. In a key scene in Spade's apartment, a picture of Brooks can be
spotted hanging above Spade's telephone;
curiously, the camera lingers on this prominently placed piece of set
dressing. Why Brooks is there . . . is a
mystery.
The
Street of Forgotten Men is a underworld story
Over the last couple of years, the Dodge Brothers -
a British country blues, rockabilly and skiffle four-piece outfit - have made a
name for themselves among British cinema fans for their live accompaniment to Beggars of Life. The 1928 William
Wellman-directed film stars Louise Brooks as a girl, wanted by the law, who dresses as a boy
and goes on the run and rides the rails in pre-Depression America. At this
special event, the Dodge Brothers will be joined on stage by one of the world's best known
silent-film accompanists, Neil Brand, to provide a live soundtrack for Beggars
of Life at the Bradford
International Film Festival. The Dodge Brothers will be playing guitars, harmonica,
banjo, double bass and a washboard, with Brand on piano, in the National Media
Museum's renowned Pictureville cinema.
1 comment:
I have "Girl" and "Beggars" on DVD from Grapevine Video, and I'll definitely be in Syracuse for The Street of Forgotten Men!
Post a Comment