The Street of Forgotten Men, with Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1925

The Street of Forgotten Men, with Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1925. The film underworld romance set among fake beggars and their “cripple factory” in the slums of the Bowery in New York City. The film is based on an O. Henryesque short story by George Kibbe Turner which appeared in Liberty magazine on February 14, 1925, just two months before the film went into production. The film is notable as the first in which Louise Brooks had a role, that of a moll (companion to a gangster). More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website filmography page.

[Though officially released on this day in 1925, the film debuted a month earlier, on July 19th at the Rivoli theater in New York City. See this earlier Louise Brooks Society blog post for a recap of that event.]

The Street of Forgotten Men was well regarded upon release, with star Percy Marmount singled out time and again for a fine dramatic performance often compared to the efforts of Lon Chaney. Director Herbert Brenon was also praised for his realistic depiction of Bowery life. Brenon, who the year before had directed Peter Pan (1924), went on to helm such classics as Beau Geste (1926), The Great Gatsby (1926), and Laugh, Clown, Laugh (1928). His Sorrell and Son (1927) was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director at the 1st Academy Awards.

The New York Daily News praised the film, noting “The Street of Forgotten Men dips into the dark pools of life. It shows you the beggars of life — apologies to Jim Tully — and in showing them it shows them up.”

Dorothy Evans of the Sacramento Union summed-up the feelings of many critics when she noted that the film’s “theme goes deeper than the average motion picture”. Roberta Nangle of the Chicago Tribune echoed her, “It is a startling tale of Bowery life, of the soiled, tawdry ladies and broken men of the underworld”. An exclamation point was added by A. F. Gillaspey of the San Francisco Bulletin, “For fine dramatic detail, for unusualness, for giving us a glimpse into a world we never see and into the other sides of characters we simply pass in pity on the streets, The Street of Forgotten Men is a photoplay revelation.”

Exhibitor’s Trade Review stated the film was tied for fifth among the year’s biggest “profit takers,” as reported by exhibitors. Commercial success was matched by critical acclaim. The National Board of Review named The Street of Forgotten Men one of the 40 best pictures of 1925; it was also picked one of the best films of the year by the Houston Chronicle, Pittsburgh Gazette Times, San Francisco Call & Post, Tacoma Times, and Topeka Daily Capital.

Though her role was small and she was not listed in the credits, Brooks received her very first notice for work in a film. In August, an anonymous critic for the Los Angeles Times wrote, “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.” At the time, this reference to Brooks was the extant of any attention she would receive for being in the film. Brooks, however, is depicted in at least two publicity stills issued by Paramount. Both show moments from the bar fight, a turning point in the film. Seemingly, neither of the stills were published in the United States, though both were published abroad, one in Brazil, and another in France.

SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

— According to one newspaper article, some of the names or ‘monackers’ scrawled on the beggars’ lockers include Bridgeport White Eye and Easy Money Charlie, as well as London Tip, Ed the Flop, Chicago Stick, Handsome Harry’ and Diamond Dick.

— The role of Portland Fancy was played by Juliet Brenon, the niece of the director.

— In one scene, Mary Brian is shown playing the piano. The sheet music is from Peter Pan, which Brian had starred in the year before under the direction of Brenon.

— The dog in the film was played by Lassie, who also appeared in Tol’able David and other silent films. According to the New York Times, Lassie was a star, earning $15,000 a year as a canine actor. The article noted “It is said that the death of Lassie in The Street of Forgotten Men was so impressive that persons were convinced that she must have been cruelly beaten.”

— A 1926 article in the New York Times reported that the film may have inspired a group of beggars to feign handicaps. “The police are investigating the speakeasy. It was recalled that several months ago a motion picture, The Street of Forgotten Men . . . showed just such an establishment for equipping ‘cripples’ as that described by Williams, and the police thought the movie idea might have been put to practical use.”

 — The first ever book on the film, The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond, was published by the Louise Brooks Society in 2023. The book is authored by LBS Director Thomas Gladysz, and features forewords by film preservationist Robert Byrne and Oscar Honoree Kevin Brownlow. (Purchase on amazon.)

“It’s very much a ‘start to finish’ look at the film’s history…. The book is not only a deep dive into the history of this particular film, but it also serves as an excellent example of precisely how silent Hollywood created and marketed some of its finest products back in its heyday. It’ll be both interesting and helpful for film history scholars, and perhaps be a springboard for similar book projects in the future.” — Lea Stans, Silent-ology 

More about the film can be found on The Street of Forgotten Men (filmography page) on the Louise Brooks Society website.

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.   

A newly uncovered article about Louise Brooks - from war-torn Eastern Europe

I recently came across a rather remarkable article about Louise Brooks. It's remarkable in that it is a virtual "love letter" to the actress from a time when she was pretty much forgotten... 1943. (That's four years after Brooks' last film was released.) What's also remarkable about this article is that it appeared in a Romanian newspaper in the midst of the second World War. At the time, Romania was allied with Nazi Germany, whose cultural ministry had previously banned the film at the center of this article, Pandora's Box. 

But first some context as to how this article was found: I subscribe to a handful of online newspaper and magazine archives, and pay to acquire scans of documents & images from other academic and institutional archives. As I am always researching various aspects of Louise Brooks career and films, it is what I do. And sometimes I find rare and unusual things....

Among the newspaper archives to which I subscribe is Arcanum, Eastern Europe's "largest continuously expanding digital periodical database" which contains millions of pages of scientific and specialized journals, encyclopaedias, weekly and daily newspapers, etc.... Its holdings are especially strong in publications from Romania and Hungary. There are also a smattering of titles from the Ukraine, Slovenia, Czechia, Slovakia, and elsewhere. Stay tuned to this blog for another remarkable advertisement from the Ukraine. (BTW: Romania and Hungary are two countries whose newspaper and magazine archives -- especially their film magazine archives -- had long proven difficult to access. Now, if someone would archive publications from Bulgaria and the former Czechoslovakia and Yugoslavia, I would be so pleased.... Does anyone know a good source or point of entry?) 

"O Piesa Uitata" appeared in Rampa, a once prominent Romanian cultural newspaper based in Bucharest, the capital of the eastern European nation. Though anonymous, the article has a strong, even personal voice. I can imagine the individual who penned it -- besieged by the war raging in Europe -- longing for the time when his or her favorite movie stars flickered across the peacetime screens of their homeland. (I assume the author is a movie-going male who might have seen Pandora's Box in a Romanian movie house some 13 or 14 years earlier.... but then a younger male who saw the film as a teen or twenty something might well be fighting in the war, and not writing articles for newspapers. Who knows? Perhaps the author of this piece was a woman, or an old man who loved movies, or....) 

Here is the article. I wonder what ever happened to its author? 

What follows is a Google assisted translation, to which I made a few tweaks. (If anyone can help with this translations, please let me know.)

A FORGOTTEN PLAY...
of PANDORA
The stars that have gone out. — Louise Brooks and the play by Frank Wedekind. — Asta Nielsen and Mrs. Gerhard Hauptmann in "Lulu"

Time passes, people forget, stars age...

Where have Marcela Albáni, Héléne Makowska, Fern Andra, Vivian Gibson disappeared? Where are Priscilla Dean, Louise Brooks, Maria Iacobini, Aud Egede Niessan, Nathalia Kowanko?...

Of all the artists mentioned above, some were truly very gifted. Only one left the memory of a unique appearance. However, today she is no longer talked about. Forgotten? I don't think so. Louise Brooks cannot be forgotten. Others have just taken her place...

The actress played "Lulu" with surprising skill, the femme fatale mistress from the famous play "Die Buechse der Pandora", by Frank Wedekind. The great German playwright caused an incredible stir at the premiere of his play on the stage of an avant-garde theater! Full of subtle psychological traps, with a bold subject and erotic scenes, the expressionist thesis was harshly criticized just like his other play "Spring Awakening". 

Wedekind was accused of immorality, destructive spirit and incitement to murder! Banned, the play was later revived and, following debate, it was a definite success.

Today all these controversies cause some bewilderment, but let us not forget that the story took place long before the First World War! The main role was played at that time by a very daring actress, the current wife of Gerhard Hauptmann. Pale, thin with restless eyes, she gave a very well-studied "Lulu". Short-cut with bangs, (she still has the same hairstyle today, only her hair is now white...) in defiance against the severe fashion of that time, the actress created and established the physical outline of her heroine.

Asta Nielsen, the great Danish tragedian, played “Lulu” on stage and in film. Dramatizing the complex character of this “Pandora,” the unconscious bringer (or not?) of all misfortunes. The famous artist remained faithful to tradition: thin, almost skeletal, with a livid face and burning eyes, she also appeared with short, disheveled hair, symbolizing the revolt of feminism against the conventional.

Many years passed and "Pandora's Box" seemed forgotten, just like "Nora" or "Hedda Gabler." But one day someone remembered this scandalous play. Who will be worthy of a new "Lulu"? Who will shyly utter the name of Louise Brooks, and in a while, this unknown name will be known everywhere...

Thus Louise Brooks knew glory. Without much experience, but by instinct, she brought a new rhythm to the performance. She made "Lulu" a cheerful woman, full of life and fire. A woman child, an angel demon who is spoiled without knowing it and evil without understanding it. Unaware to the point of stupidity, but generous and kind, when she wants to!

Driving all the men around her crazy, she seems to be wondering, why so much turmoil, why these passionate outbursts, which she nevertheless provokes on purpose. Or maybe not? Lulu is difficult to analyze, she escapes with a wink, with a tinkling of laughter. She brings no one happiness. But she is loved also for the suffering she causes.

Her end, however, is terrible and unexpected. Wedekind, loving the sensational, introduces into his often troubled play a monstrous character, a man who seems fictional and yet lived: 

This man is "Jack the Ripper"! The uproar his bloody crimes caused in the past is well known. London lived in a terrible fear. The police searched in vain for traces of this monster, who killed with precision and in cold blood under the sinister shield of the city. His victims were mostly street women, whose bellies he cut open with sadistic pleasure. It was said that he was a maniac, a doctor in his time, who sought revenge for a disease he contracted by contagion....

The murderer meets Lulu. Seeking escape in England, accused of murder and falling ever lower, she finally ends up on the Thames embankments. Here she "catches" a weak and sad man, who follows her almost in amazement. Her youth moves him. Her charm is strong, but the urge to murder is even stronger...

"Jack the Ripper" kills "Lulu". He kills her deliberately, but... with regret....

And so ends the drama and Louise's career. (She later appeared in a light comedy.) For those who haven't seen her, I'll say that she was brunette with black eyes. Her short hair with bangs covered her forehead to her eyebrows, hers very short and thick (they had never felt the plucking pliers). She had full lips, small breasts and long hands. 

An interesting woman, this Louise Brooks... 

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.  

Prix de beauté, starring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1930

Prix de beauté, with Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1930. In her last starring role and last European film, Louise Brooks plays a typist stuck in a dull job who wins a beauty contest. Like Pandora’s Box and Diary of a Lost Girl, Prix de beauté is a tragedy in which misfortune befalls the character played by Brooks. In a sense, the film can be seen as the third in a European trilogy starring the actress. The film is notable for being the first sound film to feature Brooks, although her dialogue and singing were dubbed, as well as one of the earliest French sound films. 

More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website filmography page.

Production of Prix de beauté was problematic. Intended as silent film and based on a story by G.W. Pabst and Rene Clair (with the French Clair as the intended director), funding for the project fell apart, and its production delayed. This was at the time when the European cinema was transitioning to sound. Eventually, Prix de beauté was released as a “talkie” under the direction of Augusto Genina, an Italian, with the Polish-born Rudolph Maté acting as cinematographer.

In June, 1930 Morris Gilbert wrote an article on the changing French film industry for the New York Times. He noted that a handful of American stars were appearing in French productions, including “Louise Brooks, a product of young Hollywood, is starring in the French Prix de beauté.” Gilbert’s mention was one of the first the film received in the United States.

That same month, writing in the British journal Close-Up, Charles E. Stenhouse gave the film one its first English-language reviews. Stenhouse wrote, “Louise Brooks [was] looking very photogenic as Miss France but not acting as well as when directed by Pabst. Never has one of Pabst’s discoveries achieved more than when under his inspiring influence. Greta Garbo! Brigitte Helm! And now Louise Brooks! The big trick in Prix de beauté is its remarkable ending, which redeems the previous passages whose very mediocrity emphasizes the ending’s splendour. An exceptional one and for once not a happy one. . . . A trick – but really one of beauty and irony, and at last a morsel of true sound-film technique.”

Variety reviewed the film on September 3, 1930. Writing about the Berlin screening, Magnus gave Prix de beauté a mixed notice. “In itself this talker is neither better nor worse than most others. . . . It shows the right conception for facts, a natural way of looking at things and reality. . . . This talker is very interesting, if only for the scene when the little girl has sunk back dead in her chair and her tune-picture continues singing from the screen. . . . Owing to bad synchronization this talker is a failure. . . . The acting is very good. Louise Brooks looks charming and she knows how to move.”

Miss Europa, as it was titled in Germany, did poor business, and reportedly only played for five days in August 1930. The film played across Europe — from Iceland to Poland, as well as in now former French colonies, like Algeria and Haiti. The film was not shown in the United States until decades later.

 

SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

— For the European market, Prix de beauté was released in four languages – French, English, German and Italian. Brooks’ voice was dubbed by Hélène Regelly (in French) and Donatella Neri (in Italian).

— On June 15, 1930 Morris Gilbert wrote an article on the changing French film industry for the New York Times. He noted “Louise Brooks, a product of young Hollywood, is starring in the French Prix de beauté.” This marked the first mention of the film in an American publication. Prix de beauté, however, was not shown in the United States until decades later.

— In 1932, Editions Jules Tallandier published an illustrated novelization of the film as part of its Cinema-Bibliotheque series. Boisyvon, who would go on to establish himself as a film historian and critic, wrote the story.

More about Prix de beauté can be found on the newly revamped Louise Brooks Society website on its Prix de beauté (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 content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

The Show Off, with Louise Brooks, was released 100 years ago today

The Show Off, featuring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1926. The film a satiric comedy about an insufferable braggart who disrupts the life of a middle-class family. While remembered today as a Louise Brooks film, The Show-Off is really a vehicle for Ford Sterling, a comedian best remembered for his starring work as a member of the Keystone Kops. As a broad comedian, he is the perfect choice for the role of the titular blowhard Aubrey Piper. Brooks plays a supporting role as the love interest of the boy who lives next door. 

The Show Off is in my opinion one of Brooks' best early comedies. More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website filmography page.

Based on a popular stage play by an acclaimed playwright, The Show-Off was considered a prestige project — and thus drew a significant amount of critical attention along with inevitable comparison to its Broadway namesake. Motion Picture News proclaimed, “The picture is funnier than the play.” However, Billboard magazine disapproved, stating the film “has emerged considerably worse for the wear in its trip from the legit to the silver screen.” The critic for the San Jose Evening News countered, adding “The Show-Off is undoubtedly one of the biggest comedy hits of the year.”

John S. Cohen Jr. of the New York Sun wrote, “Directed by Malcolm St. Clair, the film boasts of exceptional naturalistic acting on the part of Ford Sterling, Lois Wilson, Claire McDowell, C. W. Goodrich, Gregory Kelly and – in one sequence – Louise Brooks . . . . Miss Brooks is best in the scene where she burlesques the pantomime employed by Mr. Sterling to describe his automobile experience.”

Famed author Robert E. Sherwood, named it a “recommended” film in McCall’s magazine. Writing in Life, he said the director “has taken a simple play of average American life and made a genuinely tender, touching, sympathetic picture of it”. Sherwood went on to call the film “a worthy reproduction of a great comedy.” Later, in Mirrors of the Year, an annual published in 1927, The Show-Off was deemed “a remarkable artistic achievement” and one of the best films of 1926.

Along with comparison to the play, criticism of The Show-Off also focused on Brooks. The critic for the Ann Arbor Times News thought Brooks almost “ran away with the picture.” While Peggy Patton of the Wisconsin News said Brooks “adds a dash of color to the offering with her daring personality.”

Other critics, however, disagreed — and a number found fault with her appearance. Dorothy Herzog of the New York Daily Mirror wrote “Louise Brooks spitfires, prisses, oogles and calls it a day of heavy emoting. Miss Brooks is a distinct type, but she seems to suffer from inefficient direction and miscasting. She also appears a trifle rounded, for and aft, in this opera, but this may be due to her skin-tight dresses.”

Norbert Lusk of Picture-Play echoed Herzog’s comments, stating “Lois Wilson tossed aside opportunities for shrewd characterization by wearing Paris frocks as a daughter of the Philadelphia poor. Louise Brooks, another little sister of poverty, likewise offended.” Frank Aston of the Cincinnati Post added an exclamation mark with a bit of snark when he noted, “And henceforth and forever when we think of The Show-Off we shall picture Louise Brooks and her display of hosiery.”

SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

— The Show-Off (1924) was authored by Philadelphia-born George Kelly (1887–1974), an American playwright, screenwriter, director, and actor. Besides being the uncle of the Oscar winning actress Grace Kelly (the future Princess Grace of Monaco), George Kelly was considered by some (Robert Benchley, Alexander Woollcott, and others) as one of the finest  dramatists of the 1920s — alongside the likes of Sherwood Anderson and Elmer Rice. Besides The Show-Off, Kelly was best known for Craig’s Wife (1925), which won the Pulitzer Prize and was made into a motion picture on three occasions. His first play, The Torch Bearers, was also highly regarded.

— The Show-Off is one of two films that co-starred the popular Broadway actor Gregory Kelly (no relation), who died shortly after The Show-Off finished production. Gregory Kelly was the first husband of actress Ruth Gordon.

More about The Show-Off can be found on the newly revamped Louise Brooks Society website on its The Show-Off (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 content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.  

Don't forget . . . . Submit Louise Brooks' films for the 2026 National Film Registry

Don't forget . . . . Submit Louise Brooks' films for the 2026 National Film Registry. The Louise Brooks Society suggests these American films.

Beggars of Life (1928) -- Americana a la hobo mode & William Wellman's favorite of his silent films

The Show-Off (1926) -- based on the classic George Kelly play, remade multiple times as a film 

Love Em and Leave Em (1926) -- a 'swonderful flapper rom-com set during the Roaring 20s

The Street of Forgotten Men (1925) --  one of the first "gangs of New York"

The deadline is August 15th

Begin the simple submission form HERE (at https://www.research.net/r/national-fim-registry-nomination-form)

 

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.   

Remembering Louise Brooks, who passed away on August 8, 1985

The Louise Brooks Society remembers Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985), dancer, actress, writer, and inspiration to many. She is a 20th century icon, and a 21st century muse. Yes, she is gone, but she is not forgotten. Here is a link to her "Find a Grave" page. Why not visit the page and leave some virtual flowers.

 

The Louise Brooks Society, which this year marks 31 years online, was founded in part to celebrate Brooks' legacy. Please visit the Louise Brooks Society website at www.pandorasbox.com and share in that celebration.  

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. 

Louise Brooks and a role in The Odyssey, what might have been

A speculation about what might have been . . . . It's well known that G. W. Pabst wanted to work with Louise Brooks once more after having starred her in two films released in 1929, Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl. Today, both are considered silent masterpieces.

According to Brooks, Pabst hoped to cast the actress in A Modern Hero (1934), a Warner Bros. release about an ambitious circus worker with an Oedipus complex (played by Richard Barthelmess) who climbs to the top by exploiting his friends, business partners and most significantly, the women in his life. Brooks' role in the film never came about, despite Pabst seemingly pitching the then out of work actress to studio executives by providing them with a copy of Pandora's Box. (see previous post)

[BTW: A Modern Hero is available on DVD from the Warner Bros. Archive Collection. As far as films from the 1930s are concerned, it is a good film, and well worth watching. Get a copy and complete of your Pabst collection. And try and guess which role Brooks would have been cast in.... I think I know.]

One year later, in 1935, Pabst hoped to make a version of Faust which would star Greta Garbo as Gretchen and Brooks as Helen of Troy! Unfortunately, the German director was unable to raise funds  for the project. Just imagine!

In 1950, Pabst returned to the United States with another film project in mind - a film based on the Odyssey of Homer. According to an article by Herman Weinberg published in the New York Times

"No list of the ten directors who most shaped the language of the film and contributed importantly to it would be complete without the name of G. W. Pabst. . . . [The first of his two current projects] is the much-heralded Odyssey of Homer, to be filmed in Italy with, if possible, Garbo as both Penelope and Circe. He would like to get Clark Gable or Orson Welles as Ulysses. . . ."

That project never came about either.... 

But then, in 1954, work began on a film that would be realized and released -- Ulysses, a fantasy adventure film based on Homer's epic poem. It was an international co-production between Italy, France, and the United States produced by Dino De Laurentiis and Carlo Ponti. The film, when released, starred Kirk Douglas in the title role, Silvana Mangano in a dual role as Penelope and Circe, and Anthony Quinn as Antinous. 

This version was originally planned to be shot in 3D, and the original choice for director was none other than G.W. Pabst ----- but he quit the project at the last minute. I don't know that Pabst would have cast Brooks in a supporting role had he stayed with the project; perhaps Pabst would have cast Brooks as a siren or witch. Would Brooks have accepted ? Who knows? Would she have been capable of acting in a film at that time in her life? Possibly....

[Interestingly, there is a bit of overlap with the 1954 Ulysses and Brooks' earlier career. The film's cinematographer was none other then multi-Academy Award winner Harold Rosson, whose credits include two Brooks' films, The Street of Forgotten Men (1925) and Evening Clothes (1927).]

Had Pabst directed the 1954 version of Ulysses, and had Brooks had a role in it, the world as we know it would have been a different place. But such is the will of the gods....

 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.   

Whatever Happened to .... a missing print of Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks

Of late, I have been going through a few different archives and uncovering some rather remarkable material. There are things I didn't know (which ain't saying much), things not mentioned in the Barry Paris biography (which is saying a lot), and things I don't think anyone knows about (wowza). Here is one example, a handwritten note by Louise Brooks likely dating from the 1960s or 1970s. It reads 

"1934 - When Pabst was under contract to Warners - he got them a print of Lulu, hoping to get me for A Modern Hero -

1943 - this was the print Iris Barry at MOMA saw and decided not to buy Lulu because 'it was not of lasting interest'."

 

Brooks' note suggests in no uncertain terms Warner Bros obtained a copy of Pandora's Box back in 1934, and still had it nine years later, in 1943.

 

How Brooks knew Pabst supplied a print to Warners I can't say, but I know that she was in touch with Pabst in 1934 around the time of A Modern Hero (which Pabst made in Hollywood), and may have been told then. 

I wonder what ever happened to that vintage print. I wondered if it still exists, shelved and forgotten in the Warner's vault? Who would think to look for that film where it shouldn't be?

 

I emailed a couple of individuals to try and find out. I wrote to Martin Koerber, who has long been involved in the restoration of Pandora's Box. He said, "I am not aware of an original print of LULU in any archive in the US, even though I looked everywhere in 1996/7 when we made the search for the Berlinale retrospective and a restoration campaign for those films that needed it".

 

Regarding another early Pabst film, Koerber stated, "Warner Bros definitely had original prints of THE THREEPENNY OPERA back in 1997 when we searched for material everywhere. Could be that they were at, or later went to UCLA, because Warner probably didn’t want nitrate on the lot. I thought at the time that this had to do with the fact that they co-produced this film with NERO."

 

I also emailed George Feltenstein at Warners, who wrote "we have no record of any print of that film ever being at the studio. That said, documentation for such an unusual set of circumstances may not have survived in the intervening decades. All of our nitrate holdings, including prints have been on deposit at UCLA since 1979. There is no record of a print of that film being part of that deposit. It’s theoretically possible that the studio might have repatriated the print in the years after the end of WWII, but this is just a hypothesis."

 

The mystery continues.... Whatever happened to that vintage print of Pandora's Box? Where might it be hiding?

 

 

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.     

Submit Louise Brooks' films for the 2026 National Film Registry

Submit Louise Brooks' films (and others) for the 2026 National Film Registry. The Louise Brooks Society suggests these American films.

Beggars of Life (1928) -- Americana a la hobo mode & William Wellman's favorite of his silent films

The Show-Off (1926) -- based on the classic George Kelly play, remade multiple times as a film 

Love Em and Leave Em (1926) -- a 'swonderful flapper rom-com set during the Roaring 20s

The Street of Forgotten Men (1925) --  one of the first "gangs of New York"

The deadline is August 15th

Begin the simple submission form HERE (at https://www.research.net/r/national-fim-registry-nomination-form)

 

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.   

Away with Words - a NEW silent film featuring Louise Brooks

To contemporary audiences, the silent films of the past may well require a kind of suspension of disbelief in order to come to terms with them as both as works of art as well as the gone world from which they sprang. That's true for Away with Words, a new silent production "starring" Louise Brooks. It is a joyful must watch for any fan of the actress, or of silent film.

Made from original and archival footage, Away with Words tells the story of Abel Lively, a lonely dreamer obsessed with Brooks who must come to terms with the too-safe bubble of his imagination. Set in London around 1931, Abel Lively is broke, alone, and terrified of going outside his one-man film studio -- and he couldn't be happier in not doing so. When his life is upended by a chance encounter with Penelope Peabody -- an unemployed painter with a taste for lock picking (played by the charming Jessica Still), Abel will have to choose between two worlds, the one in his head, and the one in which he has a chance at real love. 

Away with Words (Reshoot Productions, 2026) is the work of Sam Pothier, a U.K. filmmaker who wrote, edited, co-directed, co-produced and stars (as Abel Lively) in this quite clever romantic comedy-drama which also happens to be a silent movie. As anyone who has watched silent films will realize, Away with Words is indebted to the poetic logic of the silent era. It also leans into the dream-logic premise of Buster Keaton's Sherlock Jr. Wallace Beery (as Oklahoma Red) and Edward G. Robinson (as Caesar) feature in "supporting" roles.

However, it is Louise Brooks (as Lulu) who is the focus of Away with Words. Most all the footage of Brooks comes from Beggars of Life (by far the most-used archival source at a little over eight minutes worth), as well as her two German movies from 1929, Pandora’s Box (just under five minutes) and Diary of a Lost Girl (just under two minutes). There is also a bit of It's the Old Army Game, and plenty of Brooks’ imagery in the form of photos and posters.

As Pothier stated, there are Easter eggs for silent movie enthusiasts, including a scene that merges footage from a Charlie Chaplin film and a Harold Lloyd film, along with three Buster Keaton cameos. All together, there is footage from some 30 silent and early sound films as well as six public domain Betty Boop shorts. All are credited at the film's end. 

It is also worth noting that nothing in this 99 minute film is A.I.-generated. Pothier and co-director / co-producer Husam Taha (who also served as the cinematographer) used lots and lots and lots of effects, but they're all of the "traditional kind" and all done by the two filmmakers. And what's more, these many effects are practically seamless to those in the right frame of mind, or in other words, those who suspend their disbelief. The inter-titles are likewise well presented. And a shout-out to Andrew Cowie, who has composed an exceptional and appropriate piano score. Away with Words is greatly enhanced by his accompaniment. Bravo future maestro!

Away with Words is available to stream on Amazon Prime in the United States and other parts of the world, including the United Kingdom, Australia and some countries in Europe. It can also be viewed on Google Play and YouTube. Screenings in England are in the works. More about the film can be found at its website and its IMDb page.

If pastiche can be art, even high art -- then Away with Words is a near masterpiece. 

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.  

Writings of Louise Brooks page updated

The "Writings of Louise Brooks" page on the Louise Brooks Society website has been significantly updated. This page includes Brooks' essays and letters, as well as statements and other miscellaneous literary efforts. If you have read Lulu in Hollywood and think you know Brooks' writings (either published or unpublished), this page will likely prove a revelation. 

quoted in Billboard in September, 1925

 
Included among the latest entries on this updated page are these:

"Louise Brooks, in a letter to Pauline Kael, dated 26 May 1962--." Psychological Masterpieces : G.W. Pabst's Pandora's Box, UCLA Committee on Fine Art Productions, 1962. 
--- one page statement, which according to the series' prospectus, "Miss Brooks has sent us her impressions of the role of Lulu, for use as program notes for this presentation." 

"The Influence of Movie Stars on the Freedom of Women." April 12, 1963.
--- feminist-themed speech delivered to the Catholic Women's Clubs of Rochester; presumed lost 

"Malcolm St. Clair," unpublished manuscript, January - February 1966. 
--- approximately 25 page typescript manuscript additionally annotated by hand - marked "First draft"

"The Mystery of Mal St. Clair." unpublished manuscript, February 1968.
--- approximately 25 page typescript manuscript additionally annotated by hand; this piece is distinct from the above mentioned work

"A Corrected View of Howard Hawks" undated 
-- a very brief fragment survives, which suggests Brooks started or envisioned a longer essay 

Do you have a second draft copy of Brooks' long lost novel, Naked on My Goat, sitting in your desk drawer? If so, send me a copy!

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. 

Louise Brooks got married 100 years ago today

One hundred years ago today -- on July 21, 1926 -- Louise Brooks married director Eddie Sutherland in New York City; the ceremony was performed by Deputy Clerk William McCormick at the city’s Municipal Building. Brooks and Sutherland met earlier in the year during the filming It's the Old Army Game. Sutherland was the film's director. 

This was big news in movie circles. Articles appeared in many American newspapers, as well as on the front page of the New York Daily News the following day. 

And here is the page 31 article with all the details.

And a page two piece from earlier in the day (prior to the newspaper's final edition).

Of course, things didn't work out and the two filed for divorce a couple of years a later....

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. 

“Funny Screen Experiences” by Louise Brooks

About one-hundred years ago today (depending on where you lived), American newspapers ran a syndicated piece attributed to Louise Brooks titled "Funny Screen Experiences," or "My Funniest Experience". One instance of this piece (shown below) was found in the Berkeley (California) Daily Gazette, where it was published on July 16, 1926. Another instance of this same article, under the title "My Funniest Experience", appeared in the San Francisco Bulletin on the same day.

Whatever it was titled, it also appeared on or around the same day in newspapers in Springfield, Massachusetts (7-14-26), San Antonio, Texas (7-16-26), Hammond, Indiana (7-20-26), Richmond, California (7-26-26), and elsewhere, including St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada (7-16-26) .

 

  

"Funny Screen Experiences" or  "My Funniest Experience" was a short-lived series of humorous anecdotes syndicated to various American newspapers by United Press, a wire service. The first piece in the series was attributed to Warner Baxter, and carried an editor's note which read, "This is the first in the series of brief stories by well known film stars, describing their most amusing studio experiences." Other pieces in the series appeared in July 1926 with a by-line attributed to Neil Hamilton (Beau Geste), Lois Wilson (The Great Gatsby), William Powell (Aloma of the South Seas), Renee Adoree (The Eternal Struggle), Aileen Pringle (Tin Gods) and Hale Hamilton. [I believe these are all Paramount productions.] Notably, the piece attributed to Ford Sterling also concerned The Show-Off. 

It is doubtful that Louise Brooks actually wrote her piece, despite the fact it has her by-line. Rather, the author of this piece was likely a Paramount publicist assigned to The Show-Off whose job it was to generate copy for newspapers which would, in turn, draw attention to Paramount’s new and forthcoming releases. The most than can be said about its authenticity is that it may have been based on an actual incident in which the set of The Show-Off was dressed with inappropriate books. It is also worth mentioning that Brooks was known to pass the time on set reading.

A variant instance of this same piece appeared in the Utica (NY) Observer Dispatch on July 18, 1926 under the title, "Light Reading Nearly Spoiled Flapper Scene: My Funniest Experience." 

 More about these and other spurious articles can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website page "Articles Attributed to Louise Brooks." 

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.  

Cinemages 3 : Six Talks on G. W. Pabst - a new acquisition -

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 Bachmann.* 

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 Bachmann 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 Bachmann's (GB) interview with Paul Falkenberg (PF), followed by a few bits from Bachmann's interview with Marc Sorkin (MS), can be found on the Louise Brooks Society Substack....

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 .... 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.  

July 4th in the Life of Louise Brooks

Louise Brooks lived through some 78 July 4th celebrations of Independence Day, including the 150th anniversary in 1926 and the 200th in 1976. This rambling post looks at the July 4th holiday in the life of the actress.

In 1926, Brooks was back in New York City, after having completed work on It's the Old Army Game in Florida, where she met the film's director, Eddie Sutherland. The two became involved, and would marry a few weeks later on July 21. How exactly Brooks spent this particular July 4th we don't know, but I would guess it was with Eddie. 

And here is newspaper bit for It's the Old Army Game, which was showing at the Strand in Minneapolis, Minnesota (as well as many other cities and towns across America) on July 4th 1926. Brooks stardom was just starting to take off.

In 1976, Brooks was living in Rochester, New York, having moved there some years earlier. At this time in her life, she spent most of her time in her apartment, reading, writing letters, and working on her various writing projects (namely her essays and articles). Brooks liked to watch television and listen to the radio, and thus it's likely she watched some TV coverage of the American bicentennial. I remember that holiday, and media coverage was hard to escape.

One other event we can place with certainty on a July 4th occurred in 1968, when Brooks visited composer David Diamond at his Rochester home. Perhaps she attended an independence day gathering. According to the local newspaper, the weather in Rochester was partly sunny with a high in the low to mid 70s. It might have been a nice day to have an outdoor gathering. (Fans may recall Diamond from his memorable appearance in the 1998 documentary Louise Brooks Looking for Lulu.)

David Diamond in 1987

Speaking of the weather, among the miscellaneous items found in Brooks' papers was this reply from The Answer Man. According to its Wikipedia page, The Answer Man was a 15-minute radio program that aired from 1937 to 1956 on the Mutual Broadcasting System as well as in syndication. Questions submitted by listeners were answered on the air by Albert Mitchell, and those who sent questions not used in the program were given answers by mail.

Brooks had written a few brief notes on the reverse of this reply, including a couple of phone numbers. Given the context, I'll assume Brooks wrote to The Answer Man sometime prior to the show leaving the air in 1956, to which she received a reply by someone on staff with the initials of "jp". (I will also assume Brooks listened to the show while living in New York City. The Answer Man aired on WNBC  -- then operating on the 660 AM frequency -- in New York City from 1950 until the show's conclusion in 1956. The Answer Man aired twice a day from Monday through Friday: it ran as a 15-minute program, typically broadcast in the early afternoon at 1:30 PM and during the evening at 6:15 PM.)

As best I can figure, Brooks was in Peterboro, New Hampshire on July 4, 1923. That is where Denishawn had its summer camp. Seemingly, something of note happened in Peterboro on July 4, 1923 -- I say that because Brooks tried to recall what the weather was like that day. She even went so far as to send away for the information. (Time and again, Brooks tried to place her memories in the context of the weather. It was one way to help her set the scene in her earliest efforts at writing, especially when she was working on Naked on My Goat.) 

I'll finish with this July 4, 1982 newspaper clipping from McComb, Mississippi. Just a few months earlier, Brooks' Lulu in Hollywood was published. And in its wake reviews, articles, and columns like this one devoted to the actress appeared in newspapers just about everywhere. I can imagine Brooks feeling a sense of accomplishment and excitement that her book, something she had worked on for years and which meant a great deal, had been published and was garnering good reviews. Louise Brooks had long wished to be a writer....

 

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. 

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, to screen on July 30th in London

Pandora's Box, Louise Brooks' great screen triumph, will be shown at Wilton's Music Hall in London one month from today, on July 30th. This special screening will feature a live piano score by Christopher Eldred. More information about this event, including ticket availability, can be found HERE. 

Otherwise, here is what the venue says about the event: 

"Louise Brooks stars as the effortlessly seductive Lulu, a high class courtesan and dancer who brings destruction to the Berlin bourgeoisie with her turbulent love affairs, both male and female.   

Heavily censored in its day, G.W. Pabst‘s 1929 Weimar masterpiece nonetheless launched flapper icon Brooks to international stardom and Pandora’s Box still feels incredibly modern today, ranking amongst the Guardian’s top 100 films of all time. 

Experience this rare special screening with live piano score by Christopher Eldred."

More about Pandora's Box can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website on its 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 content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Where else to find the Louise Brooks Society online

For the last number of months I've been rebuilding the Louise Brooks Society's social media presence. (Regular readers of this blog know why.) And so, here is a refresher of where else to find the LBS.

Besides its widely praised website at www.pandorasbox.com, the LBS also has this longstanding blog and a YouTube account as well as a more recently established Substack. Each are rich in content. 

All of the LBS's 20+ social media accounts are listed on the LBS website's Social Media page. The LBS has accounts on Threads, TikTok, LinkedIn, etc.... As of today, the two primary social media accounts are its Bluesky and Instagram accounts. Each has drawn more than 1000 followers. 

On a more modest scale, there is also the reestablished Facebook group. 

I hope you'll take the time to explore one or more of these accounts. And please remember to like and subscribe. Everything helps.

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.