Monday, November 8, 2021

In Search of El Brendel in Rolled Stockings

I recently received a message from film historian and new friend Louie Despres asking about actor El Brendel, a onetime vaudeville comedian turned actor who had a supporting role in the 1927 Louise Brooks film, Rolled Stockings. That film is what was called a "youth picture" -- the story is set on a college campus -- and the film itself starred Paramount's "Junior Stars" (a group of young actors which included  Louise Brooks, Richard Arlen, James Hall, and Nancy Phillips). El Brendel, who plays a police officer, was some ten or 15 years older than his fellow actors.

Louie Despres is researching El Brendel's career, and over time he has managed to gather images of the actor in most all of the few dozen films in which he appeared. Despres wrote me asking if I had any images of El Brendel in Rolled Stockings. I was embarrassed to have to tell him no. 

I have many images from the film, most of them in digital form, but also a few vintage stills. The problem with Rolled Stockings (and so many other silent films) is that it is lost. And so, except for surviving stills and other imagery, we don't know what the film looked like. I am posting this blog asking for help in finding more images of El Brendel in Rolled Stockings. Do you have any? (I recall an eBay auction from a couple of years ago which featured dozens of stills from the film. I put in a couple of bids, but lost out.)

Louie Despres has only two images from Rolled Stocking which include El Brendel, and is in search of more. One image of the actor can be found on one of the lobby cards from the film, which is depicted above. (Notice that El Brendel's name is included on the lobby cards, which suggests Paramount considered the actor significant enough to name, despite it being on of his earliest films. BTW, the name that is blacked out on this lobby card but not all lobby cards is that of Sally Blane, Loretta Young's sister.) The other images Louie Despres has is this slightly cropped film still, shown below. I am very grateful that it was shared with me, as I had never seen it before.

Do you have any images of El Brendel in Rolled Stockings which you would be willing to share? El Brendel is a significant actor with a notable career, and Louie Despres is working on a book which will certainly break ground in documenting the actor's career. Any help would be appreciated.

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