Today in history: 100th anniversary of Louise Brooks' first screen appearance

It is 100 years ago today that Louise Brooks first appeared on a movie screen. The occasion was the debut of the actress' first film, The Street of Forgotten Men, which was first shown at the Rivoli theater in New York City on Sunday, July 19, 1925. The film's very first public screening was an afternoon matinee. Pictured below is one of only two known stills which depict/include Brooks, who had an uncredited bit part in the Herbert Brenon directed film.

(Notably, the film was officially released more than a month later, on August 24th, but like other films during the silent era, it was put into circulation and shown before its official release date. Additionally, and for the record, the film was copyrighted two days before its official release, on August 22, 1925 by Famous Players-Lasky Corporation.) 

The film's two-week run at the Rivoli -- where it generated a reported $60,000 in ticket sales -- marked not only a very successful debut, but also the start of what would turn out to be a long, four-year run in the United States. Within a week of its Rivoli debut, The Street of Forgotten Men opened in a handful of other major markets including Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Chicago, and Bridgeport, Connecticut – followed by Philadelphia and San Francisco. From there, the film would be shown just about everywhere across the country (including pre-statehood Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands) and in all manner of venues including churches, school gymnasiums, town hall, Y.M.C.A.s and even U.S. naval bases. Its last documented screening in the United States took place at the Savoy theater in Chicago, where it was shown for one-day on December 15, 1928. [* This Chicago screening has come to light only recently. My 2023 book on the film noted the last documented screening of the film in the United States took place at the Dumont Theater in Hackensack, New Jersey, where it showed for one-day on August 15, 1928.]

But back to the beginning... and a little context.

Pictured above is a July 19th newspaper advertisement for the first showing of The Street of Forgotten Men. Along with the film, the ad also promotes the theater’s recently installed, “unbelievably cool” air conditioning, as well as the appearance of popular band leader Ben Bernie, who provided some of the pre-film entertainment. 

Along with Bernie, there was also a film short – a Grantland Rice Sportlight titled Why Kids Leave Home, which Variety said carried “considerable kick” – as well as a novelty program of old-fashioned “Songs that You Have Sung” performed by house organist Harold Ramsbottom. Also part of the pre-film entertainment was an 11-minute pictorial featuring brief films from International, Pathé, Fox, and Kinograms. An additional program titled “Evolution” was shown on Wednesday mornings. Its presentation coincided with the just concluded Scopes Monkey trial. 

The summer months could be a challenging time to release a film. In the mid-1920s, relatively few theaters were air-conditioned, and with warmer seasonal weather, many theaters became stuffy and uncomfortable. Movie attendance was expected to fall off, and usually did. In fact, in many parts of the United States, moviegoers who went to see a picture during the summer often brought their own fan.

The 2,000-plus seat Rivoli was considered a prestige venue, a “movie palace,” and one of the grandest theaters on the East Coast. Over the years, many notable Famous Players-Lasky and Paramount productions played there. Some six weeks prior to the debut of The Street of Forgotten Men, Willis Carrier completed the installation of his much-vaunted air-cooling system at the Rivoli. The installation, among the first in any theater in New York City, would be an important test for Paramount, so much so, studio head Adolph Zukor came from California to experience the new system firsthand. The occasion of Zukor's visit coincided with the showing of an earlier Herbert Brenon release, The Little French Girl, starring Mary Brian. With the system up and running, the Rivoli began to promote itself as “New York’s Refrigerated Cooling Station.” 

The Rivoli, some six weeks prior to it showing The Street of Forgotten Men.

Along with air-conditioning, the other main attraction on the bill for July 19 was Ben Bernie. He was a popular bandleader whose signature expression, “yowsah, yowsah, yowsah,” became a national catchphrase. Bernie was also a radio personality and recording artist who would go on to record a handful of popular songs. Among them was “Sweet Georgia Brown,” which Bernie co-wrote and which hit #1 in July 1925, just as his orchestra was appearing at the Rivoli.  

Notably, Bernie and his band had already appeared in a 1925 DeForest Phonofilm, a sound short titled Ben Bernie and All the Lads. Happily, that early sound film is still extant. To get a feel for what the Rivoli audience likely experienced during the run of The Street of Forgotten Men, check out this early sound film on YouTube.

In scheduling Bernie’s 11-man group (which, at the time, included noted saxophonist Jack Pettis and a teenage Oscar Levant on piano), the Rivoli was daring to offer something different from what most theaters offered – namely “hot jazz.” Typically, theaters might offer light orchestral music, an organist, or novelty numbers – though nothing that might compete with the theater’s main attraction, the feature film. At a time when jazz, especially up-tempo jazz, was considered suspect in some quarters, Rivoli ads like the one above assured patrons “Everybody Likes the New Jazz Policy.”

Not surprisingly, Bernie proved popular. Variety described the group’s musical offerings – which included a musical sketch titled “Montmartre” (after the bohemian neighborhood in Paris) as a “wow” which went over “tremendously.” Also well reviewed was the featured film, The Street of Forgotten Men.

In the 1920s, New York City was home to a more than two dozen newspapers. And not surprisingly, a number of local critics took an almost proprietary interest in The Street of Forgotten Men, a movie which was set and made in the city, and which featured a handful of local actors likely familiar to critics and to those who went to the theater. One newspaper encouraged every New Yorker to see the film. While another billed the movie as “New York’s Own Picture.”

In fact, the film’s Rivoli debut received more than a dozen local reviews, as well as other write-ups in other newspapers located in the metropolis’ five boroughs, including Brooklyn. The majority of reviews were positive – even glowing, though a few were tempered, and one critical. None, surprisingly, mentioned Louise Brooks, despite the fact she was something of a minor celebrity in the city.

The actress, however, didn't go completely unnoticed. In 1928, after she became a star, film magazines carried a piece -- likely a piece of balleywho -- about Brooks' debut and her reaction to praise sent by a fan. “Louise Brooks must have been very satisfied when she received her first fan letter from a girl in Brooklyn who said she saw her in The Street of Forgotten Men, because after reading it, she immediately took a photograph of herself that she had hanging in her dressing room and sent it to the girl in thanks.” 

Pictured above is a screen grab from the restored print of The Street of Forgotten Men which shows Louise Brooks in her one and only scene. In the film, Brooks plays a "moll," the girlfriend or companion to a gangster or criminal. The bad guy in question, Bridgeport White-Eye, a fake beggar who feigns blindness, is played by John Harrington. He is pictured above seated next to Brooks.

Despite the brevity of Brooks' role, she did manage to garner one "review". It appeared in the Los Angeles Times on August 31, 1925. The newspaper's anonymous critic ended their critique by highlighting the work of an uncredited, bit player in the film. It was the only publication to do so. “And there was a little rowdy, obviously attached to the ‘blind’ man, who did some vital work during her few short scenes. She was not listed.” This brief notice turned out to be Brooks' first film review.

* Most of the above information was adapted from my 2023 book, The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond. It is available on amazon and other online shops. Click HERE to purchase a copy.

This 389 page book includes numerous illustrations, a bibliography, index and more, as well as two forwards -- one by film preservationist Robert Byrne, and one by film historian and Academy Award honoree Kevin Brownlow. The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond is a publication of the Louise Brooks Society.

More about the film can be found on The Street of Forgotten Men (filmography page) on the Louise Brooks Society website, which this year is celebrating its 30th anniversary online.

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.