Louise Brooks dancing in Palm Beach, Florida in 1926

In "The Other Face of W.C. Fields," one of the essays that make up Lulu in Hollywood, Louise Brooks wrote about the time she danced at Palm Beach Nights, a nightclub (named for its show) located in Palm Beach, Florida. Brooks was in the state filming It's the Old Army Game, and at nights, when everyone was done working, the cast and crew retreated to the nightclub for fun. (Brooks and others involved in the making of It's the Old Army Game were in Florida from about February 22 through March 23, 1926.)

Brooks writes: "Palm Beach Nights . . .  was housed in an old assembly hall transformed by the famous Viennese designer Joseph Urban into a nightclub with a full stage. Ziegfeld provided a choice selection of Follies girls, including Paulette Goddard, who later married Charlie Chaplin, and Susan Flemming, who later married Harpo Marx. And now, every night at the conclusion of Palm Beach Nights, our company (minus Bill Fields) contributed a floor show. Blanche Ring sang "Rings on My Fingers," Mickey Bennett sang ballads in a piercing tenor, I danced, Eddie [Sutherland] did pratfalls, and Billy Gaxton starred as a comedian. He and Rudy Cameron did an old vaudeville act of theirs, singing and dancing and telling bum jokes...."

[I might also mention that Blanche Ring, a popular stage entertainer who happened to be Eddie Sutherland's aunt, can be heard singing "Rings on My Fingers" on RadioLulu.]

One thing that stands out in the above passage is the mention of Rudy Cameron, who I assume to be Rudolph Cameron, an actor active between the years 1916 and 1948. But what was he doing there? I am not aware that he was involved in It's the Old Army Game, though from what I found, Cameron and Gaxton had formed some sort of song and dance team at one point, and knew each other professionally. I also found a handful of clippings which mentioned that Cameron in local society columns, which suggests he was living in the area.

Brooks' mention of Palm Beach Nights, and the fact she danced there, got me wondering about the nightclub itself. Admittedly, I didn't know anything about it, and wondered what I might find out....

.... What I found is that in early 1926, Florenz Ziegfeld opened the Club de Montmartre restaurant-theater, with financial backing from Paris Singer and Anthony Biddle, Jr. During its first year, Ziegfeld staged Palm Beach Nights at the club; it was the only Follies not to originate on Broadway. (Palm Beach Nights later reopened in New York as No Foolin’.) The show's hit song, "Florida, the Moon and You," became Palm Beach's theme song, and the club remained popular until the Depression.

The venue opened on January 14, 1926. It was designed by Joseph Urban, head designer of the Ziegfeld Follies, and was a local sensation. Everybody who was anybody in the area turned out for opening night, including Mrs. Edward T. Stotesbury, the grounds of whose El Mirasol estate were trashed by W.C. Fields and the the cast of It's the Old Army Game. Providing entertainment between shows was Art Hickman and his Orchestra, from San Francisco. (Art Hickman also can be heard on RadioLulu.) Performing, as part of the cast of  Palm Beach Nights, was the great Cliff "Ukulele Ike" Edwards!

I searched as best as possible to find some sort of reference to Louise Brooks and the Montmartre theater, but didn't find much. The show and club were popular, and local society columns reported that Mrs. Stotesbury and Mrs. Florenz Ziegfeld (Billie Burke) were present on a few occasions, once to judge a contest. I did find this clipping, which references The Old Army Game.

Future posts here on the Louise Brooks Society blog will include some additional clippings from the time It's the Old Army Game was being made in Ocala, Florida.

James Curtis’ 2003 biography of W. C. Fields contains valuable background on the making of It’s the Old Army Game, as does Barry Paris’ 1989 biography of Brooks. See also James Neibaur’s 2017 book, The W.C. Fields Films. For more on Brooks’ recollections of the Fields and the making of It’s the Old Army Game, see “The Other Face of W.C. Fields” in Brooks’ 1982 memoir, Lulu in Hollywood.

Silent film historian John Bengston has 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". Be sure and check 'em out!