Another great Louise Brooks film to screen in Toronto, Canada

It seems Toronto, Canada is the place to be if you are a Louise Brooks fan. 

Following the announcement that the rarely shown silent version of Prix de beauté will be shown on Saturday, December 3 at the Bell Lightbox in Toronto comes word that another great Louise Brooks film, Beggars of Life, will be shown early next year at Toronto's Revue Cinema. More information about this Sunday, January 29, 2023 screening can be found HERE. 

Beggars of Life was released in 1928, and this special afternoon event at the Revue Cinema (400 Roncesvalles Avenue in Toronto) is being billed as a 95th anniversary screening. The Revue Cinema's series of silent films, Silent Revue, is curated by Alicia Fletcher (who introduced Prix de beauté at the Bell Lightbox). And notably, the Beggars of Life screening will feature live musical accompaniment by Marilyn Lerner (who accompanied Prix de beauté at the Bell Lightbox). Evidently, Louise Brooks has at least a few fans in Toronto.

According to the Silent Revue event page, "Our season-long look at Planes, Trains and Automobiles continues with the rail-hopping thriller BEGGARS OF LIFE, starring the irresistible Louise Brooks. Co-starring Wallace Beery and Richard Arlen, BEGGARS OF LIFE is frequently cited as Brooks’ best American film, and under the direction of "Wild Bill" Wellman (of WINGS fame, which kicked off the current Silent Revue season), it is no wonder.

Brooks plays Nancy, who, on the lam after killing her abusive guardian, disguises her identity in hope of escaping to Canada. Tucking those signature bangs under a cap (don't worry -- they fall out from time to time) she passes as a boy among a gang of rail-riding hobos, where the threat of being revealed a killer takes a back seat to a more pressing danger: being exposed as a woman! Prefiguring many future Hollywood films’ treatment of hobo culture in the Great Depression, BEGGARS OF LIFE is a late silent-era masterpiece." It's true. Brooks' character, Nancy, does hope to escape to Canada! 

To celebrate the film's 95th anniversary, here is an advertisement and a short review of the film from the time it first showed in Toronto, back in October, 1928, at the Pantages. In case you are wondering, the Revue theater was showing Frank Capra's The Matinee Idol, starring Bessie Love, paired with The Sporting Age, starring Belle Bennett.

The Revue Cinema dates to 1912. It is a charming neighborhood theater with a notable history. (It is also home to the Toronto Silent Film Festival, Canada's only such festival.) But what's more, the Revue Cinema and Louise Brooks have a history. Over the last few years, the theater has shown a couple of Brooks' other films, including Pandora's Box in 2014, Beggars of Life in 2015 as part of their IT girl series, and most recently, Diary of a Lost Girl in early 2022. Evidently, Louise Brooks has at least a few fans in Toronto. Did I already say that ?

Beggars of Life -- a film the Cleveland Plain Dealer once described as “a raw, sometimes bleeding slice of life” -- is widely regarded as Louise Brooks' best American silent, as well as the film Oscar-winning director William Wellman thought his finest silent movie. The Revue Cinema screening is an event not to be missed.

Want to learn more? Allow me to recommend Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film, by yours truly, Thomas Gladysz. This first ever study of the film features more than 50 little seen images, as well as a foreword by actor William Wellman, Jr., son of the legendary director. The book is available on amazon.com (in Canada) and amazon.com (in the United States).

The Louise Brooks Society blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society. (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2022. Further unauthorized use prohibited.