Coming in May on the Louise Brooks Society blog

The Louise Brooks Society blog is pleased to announce it will participate in two blogathons in the month of May.

The first is the 2024 Luso World Cinema Blogathon. This blogathon celebrates the contributions of Portuguese-speaking peoples and their descendants to world cinema. This fourth edition of the blogathon launches on Saturday, May 4, 2024. The heart of the event is Sunday, May 5, which is World Portuguese Language Day.  (UNESCO recognized the holiday in 2019.) The blogathon runs through Monday, May 6, 2024. 

The Louise Brooks Society blog plans to post on each of the three days of this blogathon. The proposed topics include

1. Louise Brooks & Her Films as Seen in the Portuguese-American Press
2. Louise Brooks and Brazil – when Pandora’s Box was featured in a 1930 Chaplin Club newsletter
3. Louise Brooks & Her Films as Seen in the Brazilian Magazines & Newspapers

There are other topics I could cover, like those having to do with Portugal itself, and Angola, but I will save those for next year. 

The Luso World Cinema Blogathon was begun by Brazilian film writer Letícia “Le” Magalhães and American film writer Beth Ann Gallagher. Beth is a longtime friend and supporter of the LBS. As a matter of fact, we met over the internet through our mutual interest in Louise Brooks. Later, when she moved to Northern California, we got to meet in person. She is a great person, and I would encourage everyone to check out her website / blog Spellbound with Beth Ann. 

More information on Luso World Cinema Blogathon, including a list of other participants and topics, may be found HERE.

The Louise Brooks Society is a longtime member of the CMBA -- the Classic Movie Blog Association. Their banner is represented in the right hand column of this blog. (If you are a serious blogger, you should consider joining. It is a community of film buffs and movie lovers.)

The second blogathon in which the Louise Brooks Society blog will participate is the Spring 2024 CMBA blogathon. This year’s theme is Screen Debuts & Last Hurrahs -- a look at beginnings and endings of film careers. The Spring 2024 CMBA blogathon will run May 20-24, 2024.

The LBS blog plans to participate twice, on Monday, May 20 and Friday, May 24.

Louise Brooks debut - The Street of Forgotten Men (1925)
Louise Brooks last film - Overland Stage Raiders (1938)

More information on Spring 2024 CMBA blogathon, including a list of other participants and topics, may be found HERE.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, screens 4 times in London in May

Pandora's Box (1929), the sensational German silent film starring Louise Brooks, will be shown four times in London during the month of May. It is not explicitly stated which print will be shown, but as the  stated running time is 135 minutes and the musical accompaniment is noted as being the Peer Raben score, I will assume the print is the recently released restoration which is recently making the rounds. Further details about this mini-series can be found HERE. 

This screening of the German film will be shown with English subtitles. The film comes with a PG certificate. The screenings will take place:

Saturday 04 May 2024 15:10  Studio  with the Peer Raben pre-recorded score

Friday 17 May 2024 18:00 NFT2  with the Peer Raben pre-recorded score

Saturday 25 May 2024 13:10 NFT3   with live piano accompaniment by Costas Fotopoulos

Friday 31 May 2024 14:30 NFT3  with the Peer Raben pre-recorded score

 

According to the BFI website: "Louise Brooks dazzles as the iconic showgirl who leaves a trail of destruction in her wake, in one of the great silent films of the Weimar era." A second note, by Ruby McGuigan, states, "Pabst’s startlingly modern adaptation of Wedekind’s Lulu plays follows the downward spiral of a vivacious showgirl, brought vibrantly to life by a live-wire Louise Brooks, wreaking casual havoc on all she encounters through the sheer power of charisma. Brooks’ irresistible charm and pathos made her a star, and anchored this sexually frank melodrama of lust, greed and violence."

A chronological confusion: Isn't it common practice to date a film to its year of release? As in The Godfather (1972) and Star Wars (1977) and Pulp Fiction (1994).

On the above referenced BFI page, Pandora Box is dated to 1928. That was the year it was made. It was released in 1929. 

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

God's Gift to Women, with Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1931

God's Gift to Women, with Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1931. The film is a pre-code musical comedy whose musical numbers were cut and whose humor and suggestive scenes are largely tempered by the tepid presence of star Frank Fay. He plays the Parisian descendant of a Don Juan who vows to stop philandering in order to win the hand of a virtuous young lady with a disapproving father. Louise Brooks plays one of a handful of women irresistibly drawn to Fay's character. More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website filmography page.

Film Daily described the film as a "Merry French farce with amusing plot and deft comedy work by Frank Fay, fine feminine support and good direction." Edward Churchill, writing in Motion Picture Herald, stated “Frank Fay is the whole show in this broadly sophisticated story of Parisian love and Parisian life. Fay has all the women in the world after him, so it seems, and they are all good-looking. In fact, some of them are very beautiful, and they seem to like Fay. . . . Jane Hinton hasn’t given the picture much of a story as far as the plot is concerned, but the situations are excellent. Jackson and [Raymond] Griffith have tossed in some rare gags and some excellent dialogue and the costume department at Warners has been busy. . . . Michael Curtiz has built a snappy, laughable and highly entertaining picture around Fay and the preview audience laughed plenty. Photography is good, settings are in perfect keeping with the vehicle and the sound is clear.”

The movie, indeed, belongs to Fay, who was a popular Broadway star of light comedies. Casting the not-quite leading man as a Casanova was a stretch, but his delivery is mildly amusing at times. The plot line is predictable, and there's a twist in the final scenes. The San Francisco Chronicle thought "The picture is a bit of fluff, but it is amusing and is well produced."

Harry Mines of the Los Angeles Daily Illustrated News thought "All the girls in the cast have the opportunity to wear beautiful clothes and look their vampiest. They are Laura LaPlante, Marguerite Livingston, Yola D'Avril, Louise Brooks, Joan Blondell, Ethelyn Claire and the Sisters 'G'." Not surprisingly, Jerry Hoffman of the Los Angeles Examiner considered the film little more than "album of Hollywood's beautiful women." Harry Evans of Life magazine quipped "These few amusing moments are the film's total assets -- unless you haven't seen Louise Brooks, Joan Blondell and Yola D'Avril in their underwear."

All were not so forgiving. Variety called God's Gift to Women "no gift to audiences." Richard Watts Jr. of the New York Herald Tribune called it a "thin farce."  Thonton Delehanty of the New York Post was less generous, "The humor is in the style of the hackneyed French farce, so hackneyed that it is paralyzingly awful."

Unfortunately, the film is nowhere near a star turn for Brooks. And her second consecutive supporting role left some critics surprised. As with her small part in It Pays to Advertise, some including W. Ward Marsh of the Cleveland Plain Dealer could only wish for more.... "Louise Brooks (returning to the screen in a comparatively minor role)...."

Next to Windy Riley Goes Hollywood, God's Gift to Women was one of the least shown films in which Brooks' appeared. Under its American title, documented screenings of the film took place in Canada, England, New Zealand, The Philippines, Sweden, and possibly Brazil and France. In the United States, the film was also promoted under the title O Presente de deus para as Mulheres (Portuguese-language press).

Elsewhere, God’s Gift to Women was shown under the title Dar boha k ženám (Czechoslovakia); Gotten Geschenk au die Frauen (Germany); Bóg dal za duzo kobiet (Poland); and Tantas veo… (Spain). The film was also shown in South Africa and the United Kingdom (England, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales) under the title Too Many Women.

 SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

 -- The film was originally completed as a musical. Due to audience distaste for musicals, however, all the songs were cut in American prints. The complete film was released intact in other countries, where there was no such decline in popularity. Cut from the version released in the United States was a theme song sung by Frank Fay, then a major Broadway star. The theme song, which is heard over the credits, is underscored several times in the film. Also cut was an elaborate dance number by the Sisters "G" which appeared in the film during its nightclub sequence. The complete film was released intact outside the United States, but only the American print is known to have survived.

-- During the film’s April, 1931 showing in New York City, star Frank Fay made a personal appearance at the Strand Theater. (Fay was married at the time to Barbara Stanywck).

--  Leading lady Laura La Plante played Magnolia in the first film version of Show Boat (1929); Charles Winninger, who plays her father in God's Gift to Women, would play Cap'n Andy Hawks in the 1936 version of Show Boat.

-- Fay's character enjoyed a different lover each night of the week. Brooks – “brunette, bad and bold” – was assigned Thursday night.

 -- God's Gift to Women is available on DVD. Get it before it goes out of print. Purchase HERE.

 THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

King of Gamblers, almost featuring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1937

King of Gamblers was released on this day in 1937. The film is a stylish low-budget crime drama about a slot-machine racket and the crusading reporter who uncovers it. Though a "B" picture, this almost noir was given an "A" treatment by director Robert Florey. More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website filmography page.

Louise Brooks' role in the film, a minor part, was cut from the production shortly before release.  An opening sequence with "Jim Adams" (Lloyd Nolan) being jilted by "Joyce Beaton" (Louise Brooks) was shot but eliminated from the final cut. Prints of the film which include Brooks' may have been sent overseas, as Brooks is included in advertisements for the film in at least two countries.

Robert Florey with Louise Brooks, Akim Tamiroff & Evelyn Brent

The film was part of an unofficial Paramount series based on crimes and criminals suggested by the J. Edgar Hoover book, Persons in Hiding. Despite its source material, the film's gritty realism shocked some. The Christian Science Monitor stated “Sociological aspects of the theme are quite overshadowed by melodramatics which may prove too violent for the more sensitive.” Fox West Coast Bulletin said the film was “Not wholesome. Waste of time.” Motion Picture Review wrote “Such a picture as this has no constructive social value.” The Kansas City Star added “. . . the subject hardly can be recommended to the attention of the youth and future glory of the land.” While Mae Tinnie, the onomatopoeically named film critic of the Chicago Tribune, suggested “If you like a grisly little programmer, King of Gamblers is that.”

Though considered a mere B-movie (which were typically shown as part of a double bill), the film received very good notices from both exhibitors and the public alike. The manager of the Cory Theater in Winchester, Indiana stated, “I thought when I showed Night Key I had given my patrons the best picture ever made, but this King of Gamblers is even better than that. Played last two days of week to big business.” Other exhibitors agreed: comments published in Motion Picture Herald included “Excellent entertainment in any spot. Well liked by all,” and “Was afraid of this one, but found it packed with suspense and action.”

In reviewing the film's New York City opening, Irene Thirer of the New York Post wrote “Criterion goers are clutching their chairs these days, because this is probably the most blood-thirsty picture in several seasons. . . . Supporting the principals (and Lloyd Nolan’s job as the reporter is corking), are Larry Crabbe, the late Helen Burgess (who strangely met her untimely death immediately after she had died in this picture via script requirements), Porter Hall, Harvey Stephens, a couple of walloping shots of the capable Evelyn Brent, and others. Robert Florey directed – which accounts for the picture’s unusual camera angles.” 

The Washington Post had a similar sentiment. “The cold chills and icy thrills of King of Gamblers make the Metropolitan air-conditioning quite superfluous. If you are one for hard-boiled homicides mixed in with your entertainment, this show will give you a good time and a half.”

The film reunited Brooks with Evelyn Brent. The two actresses had first appeared together in Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em (1926), when each were emerging stars. For the then two fading stars, King of Gamblers was seen as a comeback opportunity. And indeed, studio publicity promoted their appearance as such. Around the time of the film’s release, the Los Angeles Times ran a picture of Brooks and Brent under the headline, “Two actresses resume screen career.” The caption noted their “return to the silver sheet.”

Remarkably, Brooks name is included in the cast listing in the studio's campaign book, which suggests she was cut from the film only at the last minute. 

Under its American title, documented screenings of the film took place in Australia (including Tasmania), Bermuda, Canada, China, Dutch Guiana (Surinam), Hong Kong, India, Ireland, Japan, New Zealand, The Philippines, and the United Kingdom (including England, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, and Scotland). On a few occasions, the film was shown in the United States under the title Czar of the Slot Machines. In the United States, the film was also promoted about under the title El Rey de los Jugadores (Spanish-language press).

Elsewhere, King of Gamblers was shown under the title L’homme qui terrorisait New-York (Algeria); O Amor é como Jogo (Brazil); El Rey de los jugadores (Cuba); Král hazardních hrácu (Czechoslovakia); Storbyens sjakaler (Denmark); El Rey de los Jugadores (Dominican Republic); L’homme qui terrorisait New-York (France); O tromokratis tis Neas Yorkis (Greece); Rándyr stórborgarinnar (Iceland); 犯罪王 or Hanzai-ō (Japan); L’homme qui terrorisait New-York (Morocco); Król graczy (Poland); El Rey de los jugadores (Spain); L’homme qui terrorisait New York and Der König der Spieler (Switzerland); NewYorku' Titreten Adam (Turkey); and El Rey de los jugadores (Uruguay).

*The film was banned in Sweden.

SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

-- The working titles for the film were The Kid from Paradise and King of the Gamblers. The film's alternate title (and sometimes subtitle) was Czar of the Slot-Machines.

-- Director Robert Florey had hoped to use Louise Brooks in an earlier film, Hollywood Boulevard (1936), but it didn't work out.

-- Helen Burgess, a promising 18 year old actress who had the second female lead in the film, died shortly after its completion on April 7, 1937 (and just five days before this film's preview). Discovered by Cecil B. De Mille, the demure actress was cast by the famous director in his epic western The Plainsman (1936). While working on her fourth film, Night of Mystery (1937), Burgess caught a chill that resulted in a serious cold, which in turn developed into pneumonia. An article at the time of her death noted that the Hollywood High School graduate had recently been picked for stardom by a vote of the Paramount film editors.

-- The film was previewed at the Alexander theater in Glendale, California. This first ever showing took place on April 12, 1937. King of Gamblers was paired with Swing High, Swing Low - a romantic drama starring Carole Lombard and Fred MacMurray. Advertisements in the local paper noted stars of the unnamed preview film would be in attendance. Motion Picture Herald reported “The audience, which had been watching Swing High, Swing Low, found in the added attraction a contrast that caused it to pay strict attention. Several times it broke into applause.”

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Before Taylor Swift, there was the Cleaners of Venus song "Clara Bow"

With the release of the new Taylor Swift album and the attention her new "Clara Bow" song has gotten.... I thought I would repost this earlier blog on an earlier song about the IT girl actress. 

The song in question is the Cleaners of Venus 'swonderful "Clara Bow", from their 1986 album Living with Victoria Grey. This song, which I've always liked a lot, used to stream on the now defunct RadioLulu, the Louise Brooks Society station which streamed Louise Brooks and silent film inspired music of the 1920s, 1930s and today. It can be streamed here and on Spotify. Give it a listen.

If you're not familiar, The Cleaners of Venus were / are a lo-fi alternative/indie pop/rock band from England. The band, lead by musician and poet Martin Newell, formed in 1980 and released their first album in 1981 and are still going strong. As a matter of fact, Newell is currently playing dates around England. (see the schedule below) Visit Newell's Cleaners of Venus website for details and more. 

Here are the lyrics to "Clara Bow".

[Verse 1]
I saw your face on the silent screen
And on the cover of a magazine
Clara Bow
You were the image of a plastic age
You spent your lifetime in a silent cage
Clara Bow

[Chorus 1]
Clara Bow
Is it true the camera struck you dumb?
Clara Bow
I would like to see your pictures but I can't

[Verse 2]
You were the lipstick butterfly
No need for words when you can flutter your eyes
Clara Bow
And you were living in an "It" world, "It" girl
But you were speaking for American working girls
Clara Bow

 

[Chorus 2]
Clara Bow
Did your money make it any better?
Clara Bow

I would like to hear you speaking but I can't

[Solo - Interlude]
Clara Bow
Clara Bow

[Chorus 3]
Clara Bow
Did your money make it any better?
Clara Bow
I would like to hear you speaking but I can't

(I can't)

[Outro]
Clara Bow
Clara Bow

 

BTW: there is a documentary about Newell on amazon prime. It is called The Jangling Man. The Cleaners of Venus also have a BandCamp page.  And here are some of the band's upcoming dates. I wonder if he plays "Clara Bow."

Following Taylor Swift's Grammy Awards announcement of her forthcoming album containing the "Clara Bow" song, news stories have begun appearing about the silent film actress -- explaining who she was to a new generation. A few of them have mentioned Bow's contemporary, Louise Brooks. Here is one of them, "Who is Clara Bow? And why did Taylor Swift name a song after her?", which appeared in Entertainment Weekly. And here is another from the New York Post, "Who is Clara Bow? Taylor Swift cites ‘It Girl’ actress with tortured past for new song title." 

The best of them, "The silver screen legend who inspired Taylor Swift’s latest song," appeared in the Australian Women's Weekly. It quotes Louise Brooks, "'[Clara] was an absolute sensation,' noted fellow star Louise Brooks, another icon of the era. 'She just swept the country. I thought she was wonderful – everybody did. She became absolutely a star overnight without nobody’s help'.

And here is another, "Taylor Swift praised for 'hauntingly beautiful' new song Clara Bow by late silent movie star's family... but they admit they have NOT been able to 'successfully connect' with her team" which appeared in the UK Daily Mail. There are others. Just give Google a search.

I also noticed David Stenn's heartbreaking 1988 biography, Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild is selling briskly on amazon, and like a Taylor Swift song, is rising through the charts.

One look at that cover image suggests why the Cleaners of Venus and now Taylor Swift have sung about Clara Bow, one of the very biggest film stars of the 1920s. Did you know she once received 45,000 fan letters in a single month? If you need a little more convincing, check out this video clip from IT (1927), which is accompanied by an even earlier song about the It girl.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchase.

Overland Stage Raiders, with Louise Brooks, to screen in Syracuse, NY

Overland Stage Raiders, starring John Wayne and Louise Brooks, will be shown at the Spaghetti Warehouse in Syracuse, New York on Monday, April 15th as part of a Western double bill.  This rare public screening of Brooks' last film is sponsored by the Syracuse Cinephile Society. More information about this event can be found HERE.

To learn more about the film, be sure and check out the Overland Stage Raiders page on the Louise Brooks Society website. Otherwise, here is some information from the Syracuse Cinephile Society website:

4/15   “OLD MEETS NEW” WESTERN DOUBLE FEATURE. Two fun and offbeat western features from Republic in which Old West settings encounter more modern inventions like automobiles, radios, phonographs, airplanes and more:

THE OLD BARN DANCE (1938).  Cast: Gene Autry, Smiley Burnette, Joan Valerie, Sammy McKim, Ivan Miller, the Maple City Four.  Director: Joseph Kane. Gene and Smiley are horse sellers who are forced to tangle with some slick characters trying to convince the local townspeople to buy and use tractors instead.  This musical western is an unusual but entertaining mix of cowboys, radio broadcasting and a few surprises.  

OVERLAND STAGE RAIDERS (1938).  Cast: The Three Mesquiteers (John Wayne, Ray “Crash” Corrigan, Max Terhune), Louise Brooks, Anthony Marsh, John Archer, Gordon Hart.  Director: George Sherman. To prevent gold shipments from being hijacked by stage bandits, the Mesquiteers buy an airplane to safely fly the gold to its destination…but the crooks don’t give up so easily!  An exciting entry in this popular series. 

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

San Francisco Silent Film Festival begins April 10

The 27th annual San Francisco Silent Film Festival is set to take place at the historic Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco’s Marina District beginning April 10 and running through April 14. This year, twenty-two live cinema programs will be shown -- each featuring a beautiful silent-era films (including some world premiere restorations) and each with superb live musical accompaniment

More information about this year's event, including a complete schedule of films, ticket availability, etc... can be found HERE.

A number of these programs stand out. For me, one of the most exciting is the Thursday, April 11 showing of not just one but two Clara Bow films -- and what's more, each are San Francisco Silent Film Festival restorations. (Clara Bow biographer David Stenn is set to introduce.) The SFSFF will screen its new restoration of Dancing Mothers (1926). In it, hitmaker Herbert Brenon (who directed Louise Brooks in The Street of Forgotten Men the year before) gives this modern-family melodrama a polished sheen, and Clara Bow a show-stealing role. Alice Joyce is sublime as the wife and mother who dares to stake her own claim in the swirl of 1920s nightlife that has already ensnared her philandering husband and thrill-seeking daughter, while Bow effervesces as the Jazz Baby who needs saving from herself.

Attention Taylor Swift fans .... Also on the schedule is The Pill Pounder (1923), the recently found lost film directed by Gregory La Cava, starring Charlie Murray with Clara Bow. This is the discover which has been in the news of late, including this piece from the Washington Post.

The SFSFF will also screen Victor Sjöström's The Phantom Carriage (1921). This Swedish production tells the story of a husband and father in the grip of an addiction who is shown the error of his ways during a midnight ride with the grim reaper. A tour-de-force of nonlinear storytelling and a showcase of deft in-camera double-exposures, Sjöström’s drama about redeeming the unredeemable is part of the film canon for good reason -- it has influenced filmmakers from Ingmar Bergman to Stanley Kubrick. Never once does the great Sjöström, who also stars, let his virtuosity as director or actor overwhelm the film's raw emotional truth. 

I wrote the program essay for this outstanding film, and recommend it highly as I like Seastron's work a great deal. The Phantom Carriage will be introduced by Pamela Hutchinson, author of the BFI book on Pandora's Box.

These are just two highlight among many.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Restoration of Pandora's Box screens in Los Angeles TODAY

The recently released restoration of Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, will be shown in the Ted Mann Theater at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures (6067 Wilshire Blvd.) in Los Angeles TODAY at 7:30 pm. This screening marks the "Los Angeles Restoration Premiere." The film is being shown as part of the Academy's series, "The Sewing Circle: Sapphic Icons of Early Hollywood." More information about the event can be found HERE. 

According to the Academy website, "Pandora’s Box chronicles the life and ultimate downfall of the charming and amoral Lulu (Louise Brooks), whose somewhat impish behavior and alluring sensuality leads to the misfortune of those who love her. The film is noted to feature one of the first depictions of a lesbian character in Countess Augusta Geschwitz (Alice Roberts). Brooks considered herself to be sexually liberated, eschewing labels; she reveled in encouraging speculation about her sexual inclinations, choosing to surround herself with notable sapphic figures of the time."

"DIRECTED BY: G.W. Pabst. WRITTEN BY: Ladislaus Vajda. WITH: Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis Lederer, Carl Goetz. 1929. 141 min. USA. B&W. Silent. English intertitles. DCP. Restored in 2K from the best surviving 35mm elements at Haghefilm Conservation under the supervision of the Deutsche Kinemathek with the cooperation of George Eastman Museum, the Cinémathèque Française, Cineteca di Bologna, Národní filmový archiv, and Gosfilmofond."

Academy Museum film programming generously funded by the Richard Roth Foundation. I couldn't find any information on any musical accompaniment, which suggests there will be none.

Although this screening marks the first showing of the recently released 2009 restoration, it does not mark the first screening of Pandora's Box in Los Angeles. Of course not.... In fact, the 1929 film was first shown in Los Angeles only in 1962, some 33 years after it was first released in Germany. That screening took place on June 29, when Pandora’s Box was screened as part of a series of five “psychological masterpieces” sponsored by the UCLA Committee on Fine Art Production. The print screened then was brought to Hollywood by James Card, of the Eastman House, who possessed one of the few -- if not the only -- print of the film in the United States. Pauline Kael hoped to bring Brooks to Los Angeles for this screening, but Kael's plans fell through. 

A couple of months later, at the beginning of August, Pandora’s Box was screened at Monterey Peninsula College in Monterey, California as part of the Peninsula Film Seminar, which was organized by Philip Chamberlin. Card once again supplied the print of the film. Also in attendance at the Monteray screening -- the first for the film in Northern California -- was film critic Pauline Kael, film curator Tom Luddy, and San Francisco poet Jack Hirschman, among others.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

A newly acquired treasure in the Louise Brooks Society archive, and a dream

Speaking of lost films.... Here is a newly acquired treasure now held in the Louise Brooks Society archive at the Louise Brooks Society website. It is movie herald (a give-away flier) for The American Venus from Argentina! 

This Paramount special was first released in the United States on January 31, 1926. The film is a romantic comedy set against the backdrop of a beauty pageant, namely the actual 1925 Miss America contest in Atlantic City. The film is the second in which Louise Brooks appeared, and the first for which she received screen credit. In fact, Brooks received fifth billing. The film starred Esther Ralston, and featured Fay Lanphier, the actual 1925 Miss America. In support was veteran character actor Ford Sterling. All of these actors, including Brooks, can be seen in the selection of interior images.

According to the reverse of the herald, the film was shown at the Grand Splendid Theatre on a Saturday that fell on the 25th of the month. Also indicated is that the film was shown "Tarde y Noche", which translates as "Afternoon and Evening" -- which suggests either two showings, or a continuous showing. Assuming this screening of the film took place in 1926, the date turns out to be either April 25, 1926 (which is a little early, as there was often a delay in the release of films in other countries) or July 25, 1926. It could also be December 25, 1926, Christmas Day. I would bet on July 25, 1926. But I could be wrong, and it could turn out to be 1927. I will need to triangulate the date by searching through Argentian newspapers.

The Grand Splendid Theatre is located in Buenos Aires. It is an historic venue which first opened in 1919 with seating for more than 1000 people. According to its Wikipedia entry, this ornate, eclecticist building features ceiling frescoes painted by the Italian artist Nazareno Orlandi and caryatids sculpted by Troiano Troiani. It hosted tango performances, and once was home to its own radio station, Radio Splendid. The Grand Splendid began showing films in the late to mid 1920s, and in 1929 showed the first sound films presented in Argentina.

Today, the Grand Splendid Theatre is a bookstore -- but not just any bookstore. In 2019, it was named the "world's most beautiful bookstore" by National Geographic magazine. As a bookstore, it has been the subject of many articles and is now considered a major tourist attraction. Reportedly, the store sells hundreds of thousands of books per year and more than one million people pass through its doors on an annual basis.

It is fitting that Grand Splendid Theatre became a bookstore. Louise Brooks loved books and was a great reader. And so did one of her admirers, the Argentinian writer Adolfo Bioy Casares, who was famously smitten with Louise Brooks -- so much so he was inspired by his memory of the actress to write his 1940 novella The Invention of Morel. I wonder if Bioy Casares and his close friend, the even more famous Argentinian writer Jorge Borges, went to see this film. I wouldn't be surprised.

I am dreaming.... I wonder if the bookstore carries this edition of Adolfo Bioy Casares book. I wonder if this very herald passed through the hands of Casares or Borges or someone sitting near one or the other writer.... And now, through time and space, it has found its way to me.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Lost Louise Brooks films to be released on DVD

What is better than one? How about four!

The Louise Brooks Society has learned that four Louise Brooks films previously thought lost will be released on DVD sometime within the coming year. Wow! Wow! Wow! and Wow!

When I first became interested in Louise Brooks ever so long ago, I sometimes thought I would never see some of her more obscure films, let alone films which were once thought lost. But, miracles happen, dreams come true, and wishes are fulfilled .... I can't say more. Stay tuned to this blog and the Louise Brooks Society website for further information.

It is always a thrill to see images of Louise Brooks that you haven't seen before. Now imagine seeing moving images of the actress that haven't been seen in nearly 100 years!

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.