At the end of The Street of Forgotten Men, Louise Brooks first film, a clue

As mentioned in my previous post, the new restoration of The Street of Forgotten Men was well received when it was shown recently at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. The large crowd responded positively throughout, especially when Louise Brooks made her first brief appearance on screen. She  garnered a smattering of applause, and when the film concluded, there was a brisk round of applause as well as a few cheers and hollers from the audience.

Bridgeport White-Eye and his Moll (played by Louise Brooks)

Previewing the film ahead of its Festival screening, Michael Barrett wrote in Pop Matters, "Restored this year by the Festival, this Paramount production is missing its second reel, which deteriorated decades ago. The best they could do was 'reconstruct' this reel via dialogue and still images. It’s too bad this reel is missing, but the rest of this splendid print makes an impact as only far-fetched silent melodramas can."

I came across a few other notices of note. Writing on Facebook, film commentator Matías Antonio Bombal noted, "This is one of the most visually perfect prints to be screened this year at the festival, looking exactly as silent films did when brand new.  Exquisite contrast and sharp detail." And on his regular radio broadcast "Matias Bombal's Hollywood" (on KAHI AM and FM in Auburn, California), Bombal stated The Street of the Forgotten Men was "fantastic" and the "absolute highlight" of the Festival. Bombal also singled out Harold Rosson's "stunning photography" seen in the film.

Lincoln Spector, writing on Bayflicks, gave The Street of Forgotten Men a respectable "B" grade. He described the film as "A window into New York’s Bowery – Hollywood style. The concept is based on the probability that panhandlers make more money when they’re disabled, or at least if they’re faking their disabilities. It’s a heart-wringing melodrama and is reasonably entertaining. This film was rare for a long time, and the second reel is completely lost (this restoration uses stills and intertitles to help you get through the missing part). A not-yet-famous Louise Brooks pops up near the end."

I will conclude this post with something a bit unusual.... 

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have been looking at The Street of Forgotten Men quite closely, sometimes frame by frame. The screen capture shown above caught my interest for reasons which I will explain. It comes from near the end of the film, just before the fight breaks out between Bridgeport White-Eye and Easy Money Charley. "Whitey" and his moll (Louise Brooks) are sitting at a table which has a newspaper on it. Easy Money Charley approaches, and casts a shadow on the white newsprint as he looms over the table. At first unaware, Whitey and his moll are startled. Brooks' character retreats, and a fight breaks out between the two men.

I have been looking at and identifying some of the props and decor in the The Street of Forgotten Men. And to me, this newspaper looked real. And it is! As far as I can tell, this is an actual copy of the New York Evening American  Journal-American, a Hearst newspaper, which dates from early May, 1925. 

Since this particular newspaper is not online, I can't tell the exact date of publication, but I can narrow it down to sometime following May 6 and perhaps before May 11. I am guessing so because I found an very similar page (both in terms of layout and content) published on May 11 (see below). Notably, the Nell Brinkley cartoon "Could Such Things Be" is dated May 5, which leads me to guess this page of syndicated content was published the following day or very soon thereafter. (Besides the Nell Brinkley cartoon, there are a number of advice columns from Beatrice Fairfax.)

I will go out on a limb and guess that legendary cinematographer Harold Rosson had the idea to film the shadow hovering over the table, and needed a white-toned surface on to which to cast a shadow. Someone might have had that day's newspaper, or the previous day's paper, and it was used as a kind-of prop. All of which leads me to guess that the scene in which Brooks was featured was filmed sometime following May 6th and perhaps before May 11th.

If anyone can get access to the New York Evening American to pin down the date of publication of the page in question, that would be great. I believe it is available on microfilm at the New York Public Library.