Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Louise Brooks Society

Happy St. Patrick's Day from the Louise Brooks Society. The actress wasn't Irish, but her films certainly showed in Ireland. To mark the day, here are a few vintage bits and pieces from my forthcoming two volume work, Around the World with Louise Brooks. To start, here is an early magazine portrait.

Brooks' first film, The Street of Forgotten Men, was one of her biggest successes in Ireland. The film's director, Herbert Brenon, was Irish-born, and the film was well received in his country of birth. In fact, it was given the honor of being shown in Dublin’s La Scala theatre (later renamed the Capitol), the largest cinema house in the country. Here is the newspaper listing from the time.

Another popular success in Ireland was Beggars of Life. It showed in Dublin at the Capitol, as part of a double bill with a Pola Negri film, The Woman from Moscow. Both were Paramount films, and both were released as silent films with a musical score and sound effects. (Incidentally, the film showing at the Grand Central starred the English-born actor Percy Marmont, who was the star of The Street of Forgotten Men.)

Adding to the attraction of Beggars of Life was the fact that the author of the book on which it was based, Jim Tully, was Irish-American. Tully was well known not only in the United States, but also in Europe, with the press noting his comings and goings, as shown in the 1928 Irish newspaper clipping depicted below. Memorably, Tully even also crossed paths with two of the great Irish writers of his time, George Bernard Shaw and James Joyce.

And not only did the reputation of Jim Tully attract Irish movie goers to Beggars of Life, so did, perhaps, the films memorable theme song, which was available in Irish shops on a 78 rpm recording. Here is a newspaper advertisement listing the recording by The Troubadours, who helped make the song a hit in the United States.