For years, I have been hoping to acquire a copy of Cinemages 3 : Six Talks on G. W. Pabst. And now at last, I have done so. It is an obscure film journal published in New York City in 1955 by the Group for Film Study. The journal was edited by Gideon Bachman.*
I have wanted a copy ever since I saw it cited in the Barry Paris biography ever so long ago, but it has proven difficult to track down. (I had to pay a pretty penny for just this single issue.) The journal looks like what today we would call a 'zine -- it's typescript on pulpy paper reproduced by what seems like a photocopy machine, though photocopy technology wasn't available until 1959. Perhaps it's photostat or mimeograph? (I would assume relatively few were "printed." Additionally, it has that dusty-musty smell common in used book shops.) When the Group for Film Study put on screenings, copies of Cinemages were sold for 50 cents. (I paid more than 100 times that amount for my copy.)
This particular issue of Cinemages was given over to G.W. Pabst, and it features extensive interviews with six individuals who were contemporaneous with the director. They are Marc Sorkin, Paul Falkenberg, Jean Oser, Eugen Schuftan, Leo Lania, and the critic Siegfried Kracauer. (The later "interview" is merely a compilation of excerpts from Kracauer's earlier writings, including his famous 1947 book, From Caligari to Hitler: A Psychological History of the German Film.)
What drew Paris' attention (and mine) is that the first two -- Sorkin and Falkenberg -- worked with Pabst on Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl. And they talk about those two films! Aside from Brooks' writings, eyewitness accounts by others involved in either production are rare. This is choice material. Besides the six interviews, there is also an introduction by Gideon Bachman and an annotated filmography compiled by Gavin Lambert and the British Film Institute. (This was decades before IMdB and easy access to such information.)
Earlier, I mentioned that this journal was obscure. It is, and was -- but not so much so that Louise Brooks didn't have access to it. As a matter of fact, she quotes from the Paul Falkenberg interview in her 1965 piece, "Pabst and Lulu," which appeared in Sight and Sound. Interestingly, Brooks names Falkenberg in her article, but does not reference the film journal itself, writing "... one of his assistants, Paul Falkenberg, said in 1955". I had always wondered where, exactly, Brooks got that reference, and now I know.
Excerpts from Gideon Bachman's (GB) interview with Paul Falkenberg (PF), followed by a few bits from Bachman's interview with Marc Sorkin (MS), can be found on the Louise Brooks Society Substack....
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
# # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # # #
.... I found these interviews to be fascinating, even revelatory.... that Marc Sorkin only worked on part of Pandora's Box, that Louise Brooks (seemingly) wanted mood music while on set, that Falkenberg himself helped look for an actress to play Lulu, and a dozen other little details.
For those who were wondering, over the years, Louise Brooks kept in touch with a few individuals involved with both Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl. Brooks exchanged the occasional letter and phone call with Pabst, as well as with Marc Sorkin, who was living in New York City in the 1950s. (Paul Falkenberg was also living in NYC in the 1950s, but I haven't seen any indication of them being in touch.) Brooks also was friends with Lothar Wolff, the publicist for both of her Pabst films. He too came to live in the United States, where he worked as an editor and producer.
* The sponsors for the Group for Film Study are given as Rudolph Arnheim, Jean Benoit-Levy, Rene Clair, Paul Falkenberg, David Flaherty, Abel Gance, Marcel L'Herbier, Siegfried Kracauer, Willim K. Everson, Hans Richter, Frank Stauffacher, Williard Van Dyke, and Herman G. Weinberg.
THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com). Original content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
No comments:
Post a Comment