A Louise Brooks screenplay and the Louise Brooks Society

A few weeks ago I noticed something unusual and pricey for sale on eBay. It was a bound photocopy of a typescript of a screenplay. I've come across other screenplays for sale in the past -- either on eBay or in person while haunting the memorabilia shops in Hollywood whenever I make it to Southern California. The screenplays which are offered for sale, I suppose, have at one time been in the possession of agents, studio personal, or other interested parties in the film world.

Three things stood out about this particular script. One thing was that it was for a film that was never made. Usually, the photocopied screenplays offered for sale are for films that have gone into production and have either become a hit or have fade into cult obscurity. The second thing about this screenplay that caught my eye was that it was about Louise Brooks. I knew that there had been interest in making a film about the actress in the past -- decades ago actually, but I never realized there was an actual screenplay. The third thing about this "bound photocopy of a typescript of a screenplay" that especially surprised me was that multiple pages from my Louise Brooks Society website were included in the "pitch" material attached to the screenplay. I hadn't known.... 

The title page reads:

"THE GIRL IN THE BLACK HELMET"

First Draft Screenplay

by Sarah Kernochan

based on the book "Louise Brooks"

by Barry Paris 

The author, Sarah Kernochan, is an American documentarian, film director, screenwriter and novelist -- as well as the winner of two Academy Awards, one in 1973 and one in 2002. By the time Kernochan had drafted this screenplay around 1997 or 1998, she had already seen a handful of her efforts turned into films. Among them were the erotic drama 9½ Weeks (1986), Dancers (1987) starring Mikhail Baryshnikov, the period drama, Sommersby (1993), and other films including Learning to Drive (2014). Another work which Kernochan has characterized as "maybe the best thing that I will ever do" was another period) drama, Impromptu (1991), the debut film directed by her Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning husband James Lapine. 

1991 newspaper article

Recently, I emailed Kernochan, who confirmed that her screenplay was originally written for Julia Roberts, (the Kansas-born actress) who at one time, I believe, might have held the film rights to the 1989 Barry Paris biography. When this project fell through, as so many do, Kernochan's screenplay was under consideration by Madonna, but that apparently didn't come about as well. Time passed....

from the original eBay listing

Fast forward seven years.... and seemingly, Kernochan's screenplay was repackaged and a "pitch" section added. The comb-bound typescript which showed up on eBay a few weeks ago is made up of two distinct parts, Kernochan's 114 page draft screenplay, and a few dozen additional pages made up of 1998 magazine clippings from Vanity Fair, Interview, Vogue and other publications. These clippings (which include a major piece on Brooks by Tom Dardis) are either about Louise Brooks or actors who could be cast in principal roles. Seemingly, in this screenplay package, Shiva Rose is suggested for the role of Louise Brooks. 

(Strangely, Shiva's Wikipedia page, but not her IMDb page, credits her with the role of Louise Brooks in another film, Silent Madness - Hollywood Babylon. However, I couldn't find any record of that film having been released. I emailed the actress, who responded that the film had in fact been made, but she wasn't sure what happened to it. UPDATE 6-18-2025: Thanks to an astute reader, we now know that the film, released as Return to Babylon, can be found on YouTube. Shiva Rose's brief turn as Louise Brooks takes place at the 10:30 mark.)

Also included in the pitch are two sections from the Louise Brooks Society website (each printed out in early 1998). One is the "Louise Brooks Bookshelf" which prints out to six pages, and my "Louise Brooks Chronology" which prints out to eight pages. Another page of quotes about Louise Brooks -- by Henri Langlois, Kevin Brownlow, David Thomson, and Ado Kyrou, was, I believe, also lifted from the LBS. Though now heavily revised, all of this material still exists in one form or another on the LBS website.

From the eBay listing, here is a scan of a couple of my Louise Brooks Society webpages. 

from the original eBay listing

 

from the original eBay listing

I don't know who created this pitch section, but I understand it wasn't Kernochan. She told me so. Perhaps it was an agent or someone from an interested studio? Nevertheless, as I mentioned earlier, "I hadn't known...."  and actually, I am flattered, and secretly pleased. If anything, the Louise Brooks Society is about banging the drum for Louise Brooks and her legacy. And the fact that my website, which was just three years old at the time, was used to help pitch a film project is pretty cool.

There must have been something in the air.... because in 1998, my website actually helped "inspire" the production of another film, Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu. Inspired by the popularity of the LBS website, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) gave a green light to the Emmy nominated documentary. And in fact, the part played by the LBS in bringing the film to television was acknowledged by TCM as well as by the director of the documentary. 

According to an article in Wired magazine, “Fan Site Sparks Biopic“, a TCM spokesman was quoted as saying “the level of interest in the Louise Brooks Society, the most in-depth Web site devoted to the once nearly forgotten star, convinced the network to go ahead with the documentary and a mini-festival of Brooks’ work.” Another article, “Lovely Lulu Lives Again,” in the San Francisco Chronicle, noted “Hugh Munro Neeley, director of Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu, credits Gladysz’s site with helping to sell the idea for the documentary to Turner executives.” And the Fresno Bee newspaper put it this way, “Internet users have embraced the actress… Her career and her life off the set have become a source of interest unparalleled by many other film stars. And those bits and bytes of information were a catalyst for this TV special.”

It's nice to be acknowledged.... And it feels good to know my work has made something of a difference, at least a small one. This summer, the Louise Brooks Society turns 30 years old. My website is still banging the drum for Louise Brooks and her legacy. 

I will close with a curiosity, something I found while fact checking this blog. It's a 1991 page from Portland Oregonian. There, side-by-side, is an article about a Louise Brooks film and its music -- and an article about Sarah Kernochan's film Impromptu, which is "about" a musical life, Chopin.

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 © 2025. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.