Unusually, I am not one to post links to lesser versions of Pandora's Box on YouTube or elsewhere (better to purchase, rent or borrow a DVD or BluRay), but this one was too special to pass up -- especially with today being Christmas Eve.... This version has a special history, and a story to tell. And viewing this link presents an unusual opportunity to time travel, or at least revisit the past. My thanks to RJ Buffalo for pointing it out.
Imagine this: back in 1977, on Christmas Eve, Pandora's Box was shown on national television across the United States. The film was shown on PBS as part of the series PBS Movie Theater, which featured early and classic cinema such as The Red Shoes, Metropolis, The Seventh Seal, Battleship Potemkin, The Blue Angel, Richard III, Grand Illusion, etc....
On his YouTube page, RJ Buffalo gave some backstory: "PBS Movie Theater was a weekly series, 102 episodes altogether, that ran intermittently from 1976 through 1979. It was the brainchild of Christopher Sarson. Rights were licensed from Janus Films, yet some of the prints were not from Janus at all, but were superior copies rounded up from various collections around the world. In the case of Pandora’s Box, PBS did indeed choose Janus’s full-aperture 35mm print, which must have been the only 35mm Janus print, and it was rather hammered by the time PBS put it to use. Sarson instructed the technicians to run the film at 20fps and hired William Perry to create a piano score. Most educational stations broadcast this on Christmas Eve 1977, and Christmas Eve is the best night of the year to watch this film" The reference to Christmas Eve being the best night to watch view this film should be apparent to anyone who has already seen it, as a key, concluding incident in the film takes place on Christmas Eve.
After a quick search, I found that the film was indeed shown across the United States on December 24, 1977, usually later in the evening, and typically at 10:00 pm. I found newspaper listings for the San Francisco Bay Area; Detroit, Michigan; Brunswick, Maine; Abilene, Texas; Scottsbluff, Nebraska; Waynesboro, Virginia; and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, among others. In the latter locale, it followed a presentation of a "Christmas at the Pops" concert before the station signed off for the night. (Remember when stations did that?) Among the various dramas and sitcoms shown in the same time slot on other broadcast channels were Hogan's Heroes, Kojak, and Love Boat.
What is especially interesting about the these listings is the description of the film, some of which are short and to the point, while others are a little more detailed and even include some where did they get that from bits. Here are a few examples:
The latter listing, for Palo Alto, California, notes the film being shown twice, once on Christmas Eve, and again on Christmas Day! Louise Brooks and Pandora's Box have long been favorites in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the region and the actress enjoy what can only be described as a special history. I also came across a short newspaper article about the film and its later New Year's Eve showing in Merced, California (which is in the greater San Francisco Bay Area).
Was this 1977 Christmas Eve showing of Pandora's Box the film's first ever showing on television in the United States? Almost. I found that it was shown on different dates in May, July, and December of 1977 on public broadcast stations in New York - namely in Poughkeepsie, Melville, Kingston and Hempstead. It was not, apparently, shown in Rochester. (For those keeping track, the film was shown as early as 1972 on BBC-2 in the U.K.)
What fascinates me about this otherwise trivial matter, a 1977 television broadcast, is that Louise Brooks was still alive, and that this broadcast pre-dates the actress' various "revivals" -- Kenneth Tynan's revelatory 1979 New Yorker profile, Louise Brooks' bestselling 1982 book, Lulu in Hollywood, the actress' 1985 death, and even Barry Paris' groundbreaking 1989 biography. For me, 1977 is somewhat "early" in the story of Brooks' legend.
Here is the link to the YouTube video. William Perry's score is what you hear accompanying the film.
By the way, RJ Buffalo has a pretty swell page on Pandora's Box and its exhibition history in the United States. That page can be found HERE. Otherwise, more about Pandora's Box can be found on the newly revamped Louise Brooks Society website on the Pandora's Box (filmography page).
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.
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