The Street of Forgotten Men - yet more trivia, some previously unknown

On May 10th, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival will screen its new restoration of Herbert Brenon's The Street of Forgotten Men - Louise Brooks' little seen first film. More information about that special event can be found HERE. 

This month, and ahead of that special event, I am running excerpts from my forthcoming book, The Street of Forgotten Men, from Story to Screen and Beyond, which I expect will be published later this year. This excerpt gathers some of the noteworthy trivia I have come across during my ongoing research on the film. Among it are a few previously unknown cast and crew credits. 

Some of my recent posts have focused on some of the actors, including Louise Brooks, Lassie, Whitney Bolton, and Anita Louise, who had uncredited bit parts in The Street of Forgotten Men. Just recently, I came across the names of five other characters in the film, each of whom was given a name but played an uncredited part. Regrettably, the reportage I found did not mention who played these characters. The five characters are:

Bertram the Barber
Blind Ben
Dumb Dan
Harry the Hop
Legless Lew 

Some of them, I believe, may have appeared in the missing second real, or in some of the bar room scenes. I have yet to go through the film and associate their character name with some of the many unidentified characters in the film. 

Also, recently, some of this same pre-release reportage i came across identified some of the film crew, two individuals who played an uncredited role in the look of the film. The articles I came across identified each as having worked on the film. They are:

Harold C. Hendee (head of the research department at Paramount’s Long Island studio)

R.M.K. Smith (head of the costume department at Paramount’s Long Island studio)

Another individual who "worked" on the film was mendicant officer John D. Godfrey (1863-1950). According to a studio press release and articles from the time, this veteran of the Brooklyn Bureau of Charity served as an adviser for scenes shot inside the dingy cripple factory. The image below shows the white-haired Godrey on set, seated, next to a standing Herbert Brenon, who is wearing a white hat. Some of the unknown actors referenced above may be included in this production still.

 

A 1912 article

Another 1912 article

 

Godfrey was a well known figure in New York City. He spoke about his work to various groups, and he was mentioned in newspapers throughout the Teens, Twenties, and Thirties. I wonder if George Kibbe Turner, author of the short story which was the basis for the film, was aware of him?

One actor who did receive credit was Juliet Brenon, who played Portland Fancy. If her name seems familiar, it is because she was the niece of the film's director, Herbert Brenon.

Juliet Brenon

Despite the fact each of her four films, The Eternal Sin (1917), The Lone Wolf (1917), The Street of Forgotten Men (1925), and A Kiss for Cinderella (1925), were directed by her Uncle, Juliet Brenon (1885-1979) was a talent in her own right. By the time she was cast in The Street of Forgotten Men, she had already acted in a number of stage plays (including Nice People with Tallulah Bankhead in 1921), and garnered positive notices. 

Juliet Brenon was at the heart of an illustrious extended family. Her father was Algernon St. John-Brenon, esteemed music critic of the N.Y. Morning Telegraph. Her sister, Aileen, made a name for herself writing about the movies – while Aileen’s husband was the art noted critic Thomas Craven. Juliet was married was Cleon Throckmorton, an equally noted American painter, theatrical designer, producer, and architect considered one of the most prolific set designers of the Jazz Age. During the 1930s, their Greenwich Village apartment of Brenon & Throckmorton became a salon for actors, artists, and intellectuals such as e.e. cummings, Noël Coward, Norman Bel Geddes, and notably, Eugene O'Neill. Around  this time, their politically left salon raised funds for the Republican faction during the Spanish Civil War. Later, Juliet Brenon contributed articles recounting her early life (and friendship with O'Neill) to Yankee magazine.

In 1926, the Los Angeles Times reported Brenon was to be cast in another of her Uncle’s films, The Great Gatsby (1926), but that seems not to have come about.

Through watching the film, sometimes frame by frame, I have come across two instances when sheet music is included in the frame. I have been able to identify one of these sheets, more of less in the first instance, and will discuss what I have found in an upcoming podcast focusing on music related to The Street of Forgotten Men. 

The second instance is notable. In one scene later in the film, Mary Brian is shown playing the piano. There is sheet music on the piano before her. That sheet music is clearly shown to be from Peter Pan, which Brian had starred in the year before under the direction of Brenon!

An American arcade card

For more on The Street of Forgotten Men, see the Louise Brooks Society filmography page.