The new film from PBS Masterpiece, The Chaperone, is an enjoyable period piece which all fans of Louise Brooks will want to see. I like it, and you may too.
Based on Laura Moriarty’s 2012 novel of the same name, which in turn is based on real incidents in Brooks’ life, The Chaperone focuses on the fictional story of the woman (played by Elizabeth McGovern) who accompanied the teenage Brooks (played by Haley Lu Richardson) to New York City in the summer of 1922. As most fans know, the future film star left her home in Wichita, Kansas to study dance with Denishawn.
As might be expected of an historical drama from PBS, this production gets a lot of the details right -- especially in regards to costuming and the film's Jazz Age ambiance (vintage cars, vintage interiors, and even vintage attitudes). The film also gets things right in regards to its nuanced depiction of Denishawn, no doubt due to the guidance of dance historian Suzanne Shelton, author of the excellent Divine Dancer: A Biography of Ruth St. Denis, who is listed in the credits.
However, the film stumbles in regards to certain aspects of Brooks and film history. The Chaperone begins and ends with a scene (twenty years later) where McGovern's character visits her now older friend, who is up in her room licking her wounds after her film career has collapsed. As McGovern's character climbs the stairs to the room where the fallen star is hiding out, the camera glimpses walls covered with framed magazine covers, portraits, stills and film posters highlighting Brooks’ meteoric career. According to the film, these were items collected by Brooks’ mother.
Perhaps for the sake of visual consistency, the filmmakers have inserted Haley Lu Richardson’s likeness in place of Brooks - each item nevertheless corresponds to recognizable magazine covers, photographic portraits and film poster from Brooks' career. However, this is where The Chaperone gets it wrong, in that two of the posters shown date from decades later. Those two posters are shown below.
The poster for Pandora’s Box is a nifty fan creation, and is less than ten years old. The French poster for Diary of a Lost Girl (Le Journal d'une fille perdue) dates from the 1980s or 1990s, when the film was revived for the first time.
What’s more, even if they weren't historical anomalies, Brooks’ mother would not have been able to acquire posters of these two films. As most film buffs know, Pandora’s Box was a German release with a troubled history. It was largely considered a flop, received mostly negative reviews, and suffered only limited distribution in the United States. In fact, it was shown on less than ten occasions in the United States, and was certainly not shown in Wichita or anywhere near Kansas until at least four or five decades later, well after this scene takes place. The same goes for Diary of a Lost Girl, an even more problematic release which didn't debut in the United States until the late 1950s. It too did not show in Wichita until many years later.
In that same closing scene, McGovern's character tells Louise not to make light of her accomplishments as an actress, saying “As for the German films, Pandora’s Box haunted me for weeks.” Again, this is an historical little white lie meant to advance the story-line. The chaperone could not have seen either of Brooks' German films -- unless she had traveled to Taliesin, the home of Frank Lloyd Wright in southwestern Wisconsin, in May of 1934. That's the closest Pandora’s Box ever came to Kansas back in the day.
The Chaperone's heart is in the right place. It is an otherwise well intended and historically correct tribute to Brooks. One lovely bit that pleased me is the clip of Brooks’ shown dancing a Denishawn routine in Pandora’s Box as The Chaperone credits are set to roll. It’s an appropriate touch.
Go see The Chaperone. And let us know what you think. Here is a slightly different trailer for the film. For information about the film can be found at www.thechaperonefilm.com.
Based on Laura Moriarty’s 2012 novel of the same name, which in turn is based on real incidents in Brooks’ life, The Chaperone focuses on the fictional story of the woman (played by Elizabeth McGovern) who accompanied the teenage Brooks (played by Haley Lu Richardson) to New York City in the summer of 1922. As most fans know, the future film star left her home in Wichita, Kansas to study dance with Denishawn.
As might be expected of an historical drama from PBS, this production gets a lot of the details right -- especially in regards to costuming and the film's Jazz Age ambiance (vintage cars, vintage interiors, and even vintage attitudes). The film also gets things right in regards to its nuanced depiction of Denishawn, no doubt due to the guidance of dance historian Suzanne Shelton, author of the excellent Divine Dancer: A Biography of Ruth St. Denis, who is listed in the credits.
However, the film stumbles in regards to certain aspects of Brooks and film history. The Chaperone begins and ends with a scene (twenty years later) where McGovern's character visits her now older friend, who is up in her room licking her wounds after her film career has collapsed. As McGovern's character climbs the stairs to the room where the fallen star is hiding out, the camera glimpses walls covered with framed magazine covers, portraits, stills and film posters highlighting Brooks’ meteoric career. According to the film, these were items collected by Brooks’ mother.
Perhaps for the sake of visual consistency, the filmmakers have inserted Haley Lu Richardson’s likeness in place of Brooks - each item nevertheless corresponds to recognizable magazine covers, photographic portraits and film poster from Brooks' career. However, this is where The Chaperone gets it wrong, in that two of the posters shown date from decades later. Those two posters are shown below.
The poster for Pandora’s Box is a nifty fan creation, and is less than ten years old. The French poster for Diary of a Lost Girl (Le Journal d'une fille perdue) dates from the 1980s or 1990s, when the film was revived for the first time.
What’s more, even if they weren't historical anomalies, Brooks’ mother would not have been able to acquire posters of these two films. As most film buffs know, Pandora’s Box was a German release with a troubled history. It was largely considered a flop, received mostly negative reviews, and suffered only limited distribution in the United States. In fact, it was shown on less than ten occasions in the United States, and was certainly not shown in Wichita or anywhere near Kansas until at least four or five decades later, well after this scene takes place. The same goes for Diary of a Lost Girl, an even more problematic release which didn't debut in the United States until the late 1950s. It too did not show in Wichita until many years later.
In that same closing scene, McGovern's character tells Louise not to make light of her accomplishments as an actress, saying “As for the German films, Pandora’s Box haunted me for weeks.” Again, this is an historical little white lie meant to advance the story-line. The chaperone could not have seen either of Brooks' German films -- unless she had traveled to Taliesin, the home of Frank Lloyd Wright in southwestern Wisconsin, in May of 1934. That's the closest Pandora’s Box ever came to Kansas back in the day.
The Chaperone's heart is in the right place. It is an otherwise well intended and historically correct tribute to Brooks. One lovely bit that pleased me is the clip of Brooks’ shown dancing a Denishawn routine in Pandora’s Box as The Chaperone credits are set to roll. It’s an appropriate touch.
Go see The Chaperone. And let us know what you think. Here is a slightly different trailer for the film. For information about the film can be found at www.thechaperonefilm.com.
3 comments:
Thanks for clarifying, Thomas. I have to say - considering the woeful number of inaccuracies in so many period biopics etc., these are reassuringly minor.
Agreed.
FILM INTERNATIONAL published my long-form review of "The Chaperone" - the new film from PBS Masterpiece at http://filmint.nu/?p=27177
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