When You’re in Love, with Louise Brooks (barely), was released on this day in 1937

When You’re in Love, with Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1937. When You’re in Love is a romantic musical scripted and directed by long-time Frank Capra writer Robert Riskin and starring Grace Moore and Cary Grant. The enjoyable and fast-moving plot turns on high-spirits and high-notes. Louise Brooks makes an uncredited appearance as one of a number of dancers in a musical sequence near the end of the film. More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society filmography page.

Louise Brooks, third from the left, is obscured by Grace Moore's hand.

 Production of the film took place at Columbia Pictures studios in Southern California between October 5 and December 20, 1936 . The musical pageant at the end of the film, which likely includes Louise Brooks, was likely shot in part at the Hollywood Bowl.

For When You’re in Love, Brooks accepted work as an extra (its almost impossible to spot her) with the promise of the feminine lead in another Columbia film. To exploit the situation, the studio put out the word that Brooks was willing to do anything to get back into pictures. “Louise Brooks is certainly starting her come-back from the lowest rung of the ladder,” wrote Wood Soanes of the Oakland Tribune. “She is one of a hundred dancers in the ballet chorus of Grace Moore’s When You’re in Love.” Brooks kept her part of the bargain, but the studio did not. Brooks’ lead in a Columbia film never materialized.

The film proved especially popular, and was seen as a worthy successor to Moore’s triumph in the 1934 film One Night of Love, for which she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. The Hollywood Reporter stated, “With a more substantial story than the last two Grace Moore vehicles, When You’re in Love is a signal triumph for the foremost diva of the screen, for Cary Grant who should soar to stardom as result of his performance in this, and for Robert Riskin, here notably handling his first directorial assignment.” The Hollywood Spectator added “It is unquestionably her best to-date and never has she appeared to better photographic advantage.” Rob Wagner, writing in Rob Wagner’s Script (a trade journal), was especially enthusiastic. “Here is the perfect combination – the director who writes his own script and delivers perfectly . . . Yes, I’m raving, … but because I’m a priest of beauty; and this picture thrilled me.”

The film was held over in New York City, as well as in Baltimore, Seattle, Detroit, New Orleans, Trenton, Tacoma, and Springfield (Massachusetts and Illinois). The same was true in Atlanta, Georgia. The Atlanta Constitution wrote that the film, the “best picture made by Grace Moore” was “now in its third week at the Rialto Theater, with the demand for seats showing no signs of easing.” The same was true in Hartford, Connecticut. The Hartford Courant wrote “Don’t look now, but Loew’s Theater appears to be starting another one of those record-breaking picture engagements with When You’re in Love.”

The great British novelist Graham Greene, writing in Night and Day, was tempered in his assessment. “Miss Moore, even in trousers singing Minnie the Moocher, can make the craziest comedy sensible and hygienic. In For You Alone, the story of an Australian singer who buys an American husband in Mexico so that she may re-enter the States where her permit has expired, Mr. Riskin, the author of Mr. Deeds and (let’s not forget) Lost Horizon, has tried his best to write crazily, but he comes up all the time against Miss Moore.”

Under its American title, documented screenings of the film took place in Australia (including Tasmania), Bermuda, British Malaysia (Singapore), Canada, China, Dutch Guiana (Surinam), Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Jamaica, Japan, Korea, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Palestine (Israel), Papua New Guinea,  The Philippines, and South Africa. As well, it was once advertised in Canada as When You Are in Love. In the United States territory of Puerto Rico, the film was exhibited under the title Preludio de amor (Spanish-language press).
 
Elsewhere, When You’re in Love was shown under the title Le Cœur en fête (Algeria); Preludio de Amor (Argentina); Sérénade and Interlude (Austria); Sérénade (Belgium); Prelúdio de Amor (Brazil); 鳥語花香 (China);  Preludio de amor (Cuba); Když vy jste v lásce (Czechoslovakia) and Ked si zalúbeny (Slovakia, unconfiirmed); Serenade (Denmark); Preludio de Amor (Dominican Republic); Ma olen armunud (Estonia); Rakastuessa and När man är kär (Finland); Le Cœur en fête (France); Otan i kardia ktypa (Greece); Közjáték and Preludio de Amor (Hungary); Serenade (Iceland); Amanti di domani (Italy); 間奏楽 or Kansō-raku (Japan); Wenn die Liebe erwacht (Latvia); Serenade (Luxembourg); Preludio de amor (Mexico); Le Cœur en fête (Morocco); Als je verliefd bent (The Netherlands); Forelsket (Norway); Kiedy jestes zakochana (Poland) and חפּחדדה (Yiddish in Poland); Prelúdio de Amor (Portugal); A rioi szerenad (Romania); Preludio de amor (Spain); När man är kär (Sweden); Le Cœur en fête and Wenn Du verliebt bist (Switzerland); Bir ask macerasi and Sen aska dusunce and Yalniz senin için (Turkey); and Preludio de amor (Uruguay). 

The film was also shown under the title For You Alone in British Malaysia (Singapore), Ireland, and the United Kingdom (including England, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, and Scotland). 

SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

— Grace Moore (1898–1947) was an American operatic soprano and actress in musical theatre and film. She was nicknamed the “Tennessee Nightingale.” During her sixteen seasons with the Metropolitan Opera, she sang in several Italian and French operas as well as the title roles in Tosca, Manon, and Louise. Louise was her favorite opera and is widely considered to have been her greatest role. Moore is credited with helping bring opera to a larger audience through her popular films. Moore died in a plane crash near Copenhagen’s airport on January 26, 1947, at the age of 48. Moore’s life story was made into a movie, So This Is Love, in 1953.

— Attracted to Hollywood in the early years of talking pictures, Moore’s first screen role was as Jenny Lind in the 1930 MGM film A Lady’s Morals. Later that same year she starred with the Metropolitan Opera singer Lawrence Tibbett in New Moon, also for MGM. After a hiatus of several years, Moore returned to Hollywood under contract to Columbia Pictures, for whom she made six films. In the 1934 film One Night of Love, she portrayed a small-town girl who aspires to sing opera. For that role she was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress. The last film that Moore made was Louise (1939), an abridged version of Gustave Charpentier’s opera of the same name, with spoken dialog in place of some of the original opera’s music. The composer participated in the production, authorizing the cuts and changes to the libretto, coaching Moore, and advising director Abel Gance.

— In the film, Moore sings “Siboney“. Xavier Cugat’s version of “Siboney” was recommended by Brooks in her self-published booklet, The Fundamentals of Good Ballroom Dancing.

— The New York Times noted that the lyrics of Cab Calloway’s “Minnie the Moocher” had been censored, writing “we did notice that the censors took out the reference to the King of Sweden who gave Minnie whatever she was needin’. Now it’s the King of Rythmania, who filled her full of vintage champagnia.” Although Daily Variety noted that preview audiences enjoyed Moore’s swing rendition of the classic song, it was not included in the general release print. 

—  Back in 2016, I wrote an article for the Huffington Post on When You're in Love when it debuted on the cable station, getTV.

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.

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, screens at UW Cinematheque FREE

The Janus Films restoration of Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, will be shown at the University of Wisconsin Cinematheque today - February 24 at 7 pm. This screening of the restored 141 minute 2K DCP will take place at 4070 Vilas Hall in Madison, Wisconsin and will be accompanied on live piano by David Drazin. And what's more, it is FREE. More information can be found HERE.

The UW Cinematheque event description reads, "Brooks plays Lulu, heroine of Frank Wedekind’s beloved German plays. An innocently immoral sexual predator, Lulu discards and destroys men as she tries to get ahead…until she meets Jack the Ripper. After a series of nondescript flapper films, the American Brooks abandoned Hollywood in favor of artistically richer projects in Europe. She emerged a screen icon through her work on Pandora’s Box, Pabst’s masterpiece of silent cinema."

I think that is the first time I have ever seen Wedekind's plays described as "beloved." Perhaps a better word would be "classic" or "highly regarded." Also, this venue and all the others screening the film are describing the film's restoration as "new." It is not. Unless I am mistaken, the restoration dates to 2009. A better word or phrase would be "newly released."

Want to lean more? A big, newly updated page about Pandora's Box can be found on the new and improved Louise Brooks Society website. Click on the film title to access the LBS filmography page devoted to the movie.

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.

Victor McLaglen and Star Cast in "A Girl in Every Port" at the Fox Theater in Washington D.C.

Speaking of A Girl in Every Port, which I posted about a couple of days ago.... More than a few years ago, back in 2004, I acquired an unusual photo of a group of servicemen with the United States Coast Guard standing outside the lobby entrance to the Fox theater in Washington D.C. For the longest time, I never knew which Fox theater this was -- until the other day, when I was able to triangulate its location via a keyword newspaper search.

The theater was showing A Girl In Every Port (1928), which starred Victor McLaglen, Robert Armstrong and Louise Brooks. The marquee above the uniformed members of the Coast Guard reads:

                            Victor McLaglen and Star Cast in "A Girl in Every Port"

                     "Semper Paratus" with U.S. Coast Guard and Fox Ensemble of 125

                       Prologue - Richard Singer & Concert Orchestra - Charles Althoff

 

I was able to determine which Fox theater this was based on the supporting acts, which opened with the film in late March of 1928. Here is the newspaper clipping which solved the mystery.

I describe this photograph, a publicity image, as "unusual" because of its size. The vintage print which I own measures 29" wide by 10" tall. It is huge, and I had to scan it in two sections on my flatbed scanner. My apologies for the unseemly seam showing where I stitched the two sections together. The photograph  is in rough shape (and was when I purchased it), so I decided to scan it and do a little clean-up on it in order to preserve it digitally.

If you would like to view it close-up, you can download it and look at it in detail. An illustration of Louise Brooks appears in the photo, to the right of the man in a suit and tie wearing a hat in the middle right of the image. I only spotted Brooks' image when I was looking at this image full size on my computer.

I scanned this image at 300 dpi, and thus my scan measures a little more than 29 inches by 10 inches. Like I said. It is huge. I attempted to place this image on this blog horizontally at full size -- and thus created the widest web page in history -- but it didn't display well. I am posting an enlarged, though not full size version, vertically below. If you are looking at this image on a laptop, flip your device and scroll....

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.

A Girl in Every Port, starring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1928

A Girl in Every Port, starring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1928. A Girl in Every Port is a classic early “buddy film,” On loan to Fox, Louise Brooks plays Marie (Mam’selle Godiva), the girl in Marseille, France. The film was directed by Howard Hawks, and stars Victor McLaglen and Robert Armstrong as the two sailors, and features Marie Casajuana, Sally Rand, Natalie Kingston, Leila Hyams, and Myrna Loy as the women they romance in various ports of call. More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society filmography page. 

The film was shot in November and December, 1927 at Fox’s studios in Hollywood. Location shooting was done on a boating trip to Santa Cruz Island, located along the California coast. The film debuted at the mammoth Roxy theater in New York City. Fox claimed, and Film Daily reported, that A Girl in Every Port had broke the “world’s record” for a single day’s box office receipts, when on February 22, 1928 it premiered at the Roxy in New York and grossed $29,463.00. A hit, the film was written up in just about every NYC publications, from the German-language New Yorker Volkszeitung to Women’s Wear Daily to the socialist Daily Worker.

The film received glowing reviews. TIME magazine stated, “A Girl in Every Port is really What Price Glory? translated from arid and terrestrial irony to marine gaiety of the most salty and miscellaneous nature. Nobody could be more charming than Louise Brooks, that clinging and tender little barnacle from the docks of Marseilles. Director Howard Hawks and his entire cast, especially Robert Armstrong, deserve bouquets and kudos.” Weekly Film Review noted that the audience “Cheered it – and loved it!”

What many critics focused on was the bond between the two male characters, sailors played by Victor McLaglen and Robert Armstrong. Bland Johaneson of the New York Daily Mirror wrote, “A Girl in Every Port at the Roxy is a man’s picture. It’s a good character comedy. But the love interest is the love of two men friends. The girls are all rats. And that limits the picture’s appeal to the romanticists. . . . Victor McLaglen and Robert Armstrong do fine acting, and the comedy is neatly handled.” Limitations aside, women also liked the picture, according to the Newark Star-Eagle. “Women laughed delightedly in the Fox Terminal yesterday at what was supposed to be exclusively a he-man picture. Victor McLaglen starred as a true adventurer in A Girl in Every Port, and although the film was mostly fast battling, feminine spectators found delightful entertainment in it. . . . He has a prize associate in Robert Armstrong, who was the fighter in the stage version of Is Zat So, and Louise Brooks, cast as a sideshow siren, does capitally as the crisis of McLaglen’s career as a seaport Don Juan. . . . This is a salty, virile picture, full of flying fists and colorful rows in strange climates and distinguished by the unmovie like and emphatic characterizations of the two leading males.” 

The salty nature of the picture did not go unnoticed. According to Irene Thirer of the New York Daily News, “Director Howard Hawks has injected several devilish touches in the piece, which surprisingly enough, got by the censors.” An exhibitor from Michigan wrote in the Exhibitor’s Herald, “the salesman said that this was a good picture when he sold it to me… time must have rotted it for it is one of the smuttiest pictures on the market. If you want to promote immorality, by all means play this one. I have to use care and precaution in the selection of pictures, and this one brought plenty of criticism”.

Aside from its popularity in the United States, the film had an even bigger impact in Europe, especially France. Writing in 1930 in his “Paris Cinema Chatter” column in the New York Times, Morris Gilbert noted “ . . . there are a number of others – mostly American – which have their place as ‘classics’ in the opinion of the French. . . . They love A Girl in Every Port, which has the added distinction of being practically the only American film which keeps its own English title here.” The film enjoyed a long run in Paris, where to this day it is still highly regarded.

Notably,  Jean-Paul Sartre hoped to take Simone de Beauvoir to see the film on one of their first dates. Later, the writer Blaise Cendrars stated the film “marked the first appearance of contemporary cinema”.

Under its American title, documented screenings of the film took place in Australia (including Tasmania), Bermuda, British Malaysia (Singapore), Canada, China, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia) France, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand, and the United Kingdom (England, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In the United States, the film was also presented under the title Uma noiva em cada porto (Portuguese-language press).

Elsewhere, A Girl in Every Port was shown under the title Poings de fer, coeur d’or (Algeria); Una novia en cada puerto and Una chica en cada porto (Argentina); Das Verdammte Herz – Zwei lustige Matrosen (Austria); Une fille dans chaque port (Belgium, French) and Een liefje bij elke landing (Belgium, Dutch); Uma noiva em cada porto (Brazil); Una Novia en Cada Puerto (Cuba); Dívka v každém prístavu (Czechoslovakia) and Dievca v kazdom pristave and Vsade ine dievca (Slovakia); Blaue jungens, blonde Mädchen (Danzig); En Pige i hver Havn (Denmark); Una Novia en Cada Puerto (Dominican Republic); Een Liefje in iedere Haven and In iedere Stad een andere Schat! (Dutch East Indies - Indonesia); Poings de fer, coeur d’or and Une femme dans chaque port and Une fille dans chaque port (France); Blaue jungens, blonde Mädchen (Germany); Az ocean Don Juana (Hungary); Kærasta i hverri höfn! (Iceland); Capitano Barbableu and Il Capitano Barbableu and Capitan Barbablù (Italy); 港々に女あり or Minato Ni on'na ari (Japan); Ein zeitgemasser Don-Juan and Meitene katra osta (Latvia); Mergina kiekviename uoste (Lithuania); Poings de Fer – Coeur d’Or Blaue Jungen – Blonde Madchen (Luxembourg); Una novia in cada puerto (Mexico); In iedere Stad ... een andere Schat! and In elke stad een andere schat (Netherlands); En pike i hver havn (Norway); A kochanek miał sto and Dziewczyna w kaz.dym porcie and Era Pogoni Za Bogatym Memzem (Poland); Uma Rapariga em Cada Pôrto and Uma companheira em cada pôrto (Portugal); O fata in fiecare port (Romania); Una novia in cada puerto and Un Amor en Cada Puerto and Una xicota a cada port (Spain, including The Canary Islands); En flicka i varje hamn (Sweden); and Poings de fer et coeur dor (Switzerland).

SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

— Much was made over the “bevy of beautiful girls” appearing in the film. Writing in the Hollywood Daily Citizen, Elena Brinkley quipped, “It seems to me they’ll never finish signing girls for Victor McLaglen’s A Girl in Every Port.” Early on, among those she reports cast was Anna May Wong.

— Maria Casajuana, a Spanish-born dancer and one-time “Miss Spain,” made her screen debut in A Girl in Every Port. As a newcomer, her role was heavily promoted. Beginning with Road House (1928), Casajuana appeared in films as Maria Alba. She also appeared in Goldie, a 1931 remake of A Girl in Every Port.

— Casajuana was not the only actress working under another name. Gretel Yolz was actually Eileen Sedgwick, one of the Five Sedgwicks, a pioneering family in Hollywood.

— In 1931, Fox remade A Girl in Every Port as a sound film entitled Goldie. The remake was directed by Benjamin Stoloff and starred Spencer Tracy, Warren Hymer and Jean Harlow. The 1952 Marx Brothers’ film of the same name is unrelated.

Some day, I would like to see a proper DVD release of A Girl in Every Port. A few years back, there was talk of such a thing, but nothing ever materialized.

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.

Searching for the Louise Brooks Holy Grail

"There is no Garbo, there is no Dietrich, there is only Louise Brooks."

Henri Langlois' now famous declaration marked the beginning of the rediscovery of Louise Brooks. The year was 1955, and Langlois, the director of the Cinémathèque Française, had organized an exhibit, "60 Ans de Cinema," marking the 60 years of motion pictures. It was an historic exhibit.

Outside the exhibit building, according to various accounts, visitors were greeted by two large portraits looming over its entrance. One was of Falconetti in Carl Dreyer's The Passion of Jeanne d'Arc (1927). The other was of Louise Brooks in G.W. Pabst's Pandora's Box (1929). [George Eastman House film curator James Card, who attended the exhibit, stated it was an image of Brooks from Pandora's Box, not Diary of a Lost Girl.] 

Such a prominent display of the two actresses baffled some. It also led a journalist to ask why an image of someone like Brooks, who was then little known, was featured. Why not another celebrated actress like Greta Garbo or Marlene Dietrich. Langlois' strident answer, "There is no Garbo, there is no Dietrich, there is only Louise Brooks" was a ringing declaration that became a rallying cry that changed film history.

I have always wanted to see a picture of the exhibit building, and of the two large banners. BUT, I have never come across one. Despite the fame of the exhibit -- as well as Langlois' now legendary proclamation, I have yet to find a picture of the event. Does anyone know if a picture even exists? One would think someone would have taken a picture of the building. And, one would think, because of its significance, such a photograph would have been reproduced in a book. I've looked, and looked. 

The closest I've ever come to "60 Ans de Cinema" is the catalogue which accompanied the exhibit. It is a rare thing, which few libraries have in their collections and even fewer second hand bookstores have for sale.

I was thrilled to acquire a copy, and to search it for any and all mentions of Louise Brooks. In conjunction with the exhibit, a number of early classic films were shown, including Fritz Lang's Metropolis, Abel Gance's Napoleon, Chaplin's The Circus, Eisenstein's Battleship Potemkin, Pabst's Joyless Street, and Harold Lloyd's Safety Last. Also scheduled were Dreyer's The Passion of Jeanne d'Arc, and Pabst's Le Journal D'Une Fille Perdue. (Notably, Pandora's Box was not screened -- despite the reported image of Brooks as Lulu hanging at the entrance.)

Here is the entry Le Journal D'Une Fille Perdue, or The Diary of a Lost Girl. No author is given for the catalogue entry on The Diary of a Lost Girl, but given its rapturous tone, it was likely Langlois. The Brooks' film, whose release date is mistakenly given as 1928, was shown on August 6 at 9 pm. The catalogue entry reads. My Google assisted translation can be found on my new Louise Brooks Society webpage detailing the friendship between Louise Brooks and Henri Langlois.

Brooks and Langlois encountered one another some four times over the next few years, twice in Paris, and twice in Rochester. Like the absent picture of the "60 Ans de Cinema" building, I have never come across a photograph of Brooks and Langlois. 

In preparing my LBS page, I came across photographs of a number of the other film world personalities meeting Langlois, such as Gloria Swanson, Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Fritz Lang, Alfred Hitchcock and Akira Kurasowa -- bot none with Brooks. As with the exhibit building with the two large banners, I wonder if a picture exists of the silent star and the film preservationist.

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.

The Canary Murder Case, starring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1929

The Canary Murder Case, starring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1929. The Canary Murder Case is a detective story involving an amateur sleuth, a blackmailing showgirl, and the “swells” that surround her. The film was initially shot as a silent, and shortly thereafter reworked for sound. Louise Brooks, who plays the canary, would not dub her lines for the sound version. Her refusal and perceived “difficulty” harmed her career, effectively ending her stardom in the United States. More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society filmography page.

Production of the film took place between September 11 and October 12, 1928 at Paramount’s studio in Hollywood. Sound retakes took place on and around December 19, 1928. Malcolm St. Clair directed The Canary Murder Case, with Frank Tuttle taking over the sound retakes. The film was released as an 80 minute talkie in most markets, and as a shorter silent in theater’s not yet “wired for sound.” A few publications, such as The Film Daily, reviewed both formats.

Based on a bestselling book of the same name, The Canary Murder Case was released to great anticipation. In February, 1929 Motion Picture named the film one of the best for the month, declaring “William Powell is superb. The rest of the players, including Louise Brooks, Jean Arthur, James Hall, Charles Lane, Gustav Von Seyffertitz and many others, win credit.” That opinion, however, was not shared by most. More typical of the reviews the film received was that of the New York World, who declared the film “an example of a good movie plot gone wrong as the result of spoken dialogue.”

Mordaunt Hall, writing in the New York Times, was more generous, “It is on the whole the best talking-mystery production that has been seen, which does not imply that it is without failings. It is quite obvious that Louise Brooks, who impersonates Margaret Odell, alias the Canary, does not speak her lines. Why the producers should have permitted them to be uttered as they are is a mystery far deeper than the story of this picture.” Billboard added “Louise Brooks is mediocre as the Canary, but this does not detract from the production, as she appears in but a few scenes.”

Louella Parsons, writing in the Los Angeles Examiner, stated St. Clair “was handicapped by no less a person than Louise Brooks, who plays the Canary. You are conscious that the words spoken do not actually emanate from the mouth of Miss Brooks and you feel that as much of her part as possible has been cut. She is unbelievably bad in a role that should have been well suited to her. Only long shots are permitted of her and even these are far from convincing when she speaks.” Parson’s comments were echoed by Margaret L. Coyne of the Syracuse Post-Standard, who observed, “The only flaw is the substitution of another voice for that of Louise Brooks — the Canary — making necessary a number of subterfuges to disguise the fact.”

All were not fooled. The Oakland Post-Enquirer and other publications eventually caught on. “It is generally known by this time that Margaret Livingston doubled for Louise Brooks in the dialogue sequences. Hence the not quite perfect synchronization in close-ups and the variety of back views and dimly photographed profiles of the Canary.”

The Cincinnati Enquirer quipped “The role of the murdered girl is played by Louise Brooks, who is much more satisfying optically than auditorily.” Writing in Life magazine, Harry Evans went further, suggesting Brooks’ didn’t speak well. “Louise Brooks, who furnishes the sex-appeal, is evidently a poorer conversationalist than Miss Arthur, because all of her articulation is obviously supplied by a voice double.” It was an assertion that would haunt Brooks for years.

Under its American title, documented screenings of the film took place in Australia (including Tasmania), Bermuda, British Malaysia (Singapore), Canada, China, Dutch East Indies (Indonesia), India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand, Trinidad, and the United Kingdom (England, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales).

Elsewhere, The Canary Murder Case was shown under the title Die Stimme aus dem Jenseits (Austria); O drama de uma noite (Brazil); El Crimen de la Canaria (Cuba); Die Stimme aus dem Jenseits and Kanárkový vražedný prípad (Czechoslovakia) and Hlas Ze Záhrobí (Slovakia); Die Stimme Aus Dem Jensits (Danzig); Hvem dræbte Margaret O’Dell? (Denmark); De Kanarie Moordzaak (Dutch East Indies – Indonesia); Hääl teisest maailmast and Hääl teisest ilmast (Estonia); Salaperainen Rikos and Ett hemlighetsfullt brott and Det hemlighetsfulla brottet (Finland); Le meurtre du Canari (France); Die Stimme Aus Dem Jensits (Germany); Kandari Gyilkosság and Gyilkossag a szailoban (Hungary); La canarina assassinata and Il caso della canarina assassinata (Italy); カナリヤ殺人事件 (Japan); 카나리아 머더 케이스 (Korea); De Kanarie Moordzaak (The Netherlands); I Kanarifuglens Garn and I fristerinnens garn (Norway); Kryyk z za Swlatow (Poland); Die stimme aus dem Jenseits (Poland, German language publication); O Drama duma Noite (Portugal); Kdo je morilec? (Slovenia); ¿Quién la mató? (Spain, including The Canary Islands); Midnattsmysteriet (Sweden); and Дело об убийстве канарейки (U.S.S.R.).

SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW: 

 —S. S. van Dine is the pseudonym used by art critic Willard Huntington Wright (1888 – 1939) when he wrote detective novels. Wright was an important figure in avant-garde cultural circles in pre-WWI New York, and under the pseudonym (which he originally used to conceal his identity) he created the once immensely popular fictional detective Philo Vance, a sleuth and aesthete who first appeared in books in the 1920s, then in movies and on the radio in the following decades.

— Wright was one of the best-selling authors in the United States. The Canary Murder Case was the second book in a popular series featuring Vance — though the film made from it was the first in the series to feature the character. William Powell revived his role as Vance in four additional films, including The Greene Murder Case, released later in 1929. Other actors who played Vance include Basil Rathbone and Edmund Lowe.

— S.S. van Dine’s novel was loosely based on the real-life murder of showgirl Dot King, which was never solved. King was among those nicknamed “Broadway Butterflies.”

— Glenn Wilson, a Federal investigator attached to the bureau of criminal investigation for Los Angeles county, reportedly served as an adviser on the film.

— In a 1931 article on the cinema in Singapore, the New York Times notes that “Asiatics love the gangster film, but very few are shown, owing to the censorship regulations which bar gun battles and will not tolerate an actual ‘kill’ on the screen. The first cuts made before they decide to ban all films of this type were very clumsy and made a mystery story a bigger mystery than ever. For instance, in the Canary Murder Case.”

— In a 1974 article about Henri Langlois, the Los Angeles Times reported  the French archivist was looking for the silent version of The Canary Murder Case. [I have recently learned that the silent version may no longer exist, as the silent version held by one notable archive is in fact the sound version stripped of the added sound.]

 — An Italian TV version of the story, directed by Marco Leto and featuring Giorgio Albertazzi as Philo Vance and Virna Lisi as the Canary, was broadcast in 1974.

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.

Before Taylor Swift, there was the Cleaners of Venus song "Clara Bow"

As the world awaits the April release of Taylor Swift's new album containing a song titled "Clara Bow" ... I'm reminded of an earlier song with that same title. I speaking of the Cleaners of Venus 'swonderful "Clara Bow", from their 1986 album Living with Victoria Grey. This song, which I've always liked a lot,  used to stream on the now defunct RadioLulu, the Louise Brooks Society station which streamed Louise Brooks and silent film inspired music of the 1920s, 1930s and today. It can be streamed here and on Spotify. Give it a listen.

If you're not familiar, The Cleaners of Venus were / are a lo-fi alternative/indie pop/rock band from England. The band, lead by musician and poet Martin Newell, formed in 1980 and released their first album in 1981 and are still going strong. As a matter of fact, Newell is currently playing dates around England. (see the schedule below) Visit Newell's Cleaners of Venus website for details and more. 

Here are the lyrics to "Clara Bow".

[Verse 1]
I saw your face on the silent screen
And on the cover of a magazine
Clara Bow
You were the image of a plastic age
You spent your lifetime in a silent cage
Clara Bow

[Chorus 1]
Clara Bow
Is it true the camera struck you dumb?
Clara Bow
I would like to see your pictures but I can't

[Verse 2]
You were the lipstick butterfly
No need for words when you can flutter your eyes
Clara Bow
And you were living in an "It" world, "It" girl
But you were speaking for American working girls
Clara Bow

 

[Chorus 2]
Clara Bow
Did your money make it any better?
Clara Bow

I would like to hear you speaking but I can't

[Solo - Interlude]
Clara Bow
Clara Bow

[Chorus 3]
Clara Bow
Did your money make it any better?
Clara Bow
I would like to hear you speaking but I can't

(I can't)

[Outro]
Clara Bow
Clara Bow

 

BTW: there is a documentary about Newell on amazon prime. It is called The Jangling Man. The Cleaners of Venus also have a BandCamp page.  And here are some of the band's upcoming dates. I hope he plays "Clara Bow."

Following Taylor Swift's Grammy Awards announcement of her forthcoming album containing the "Clara Bow" song, news stories have begun appearing about the silent film actress -- explaining who she was to a new generation. A few of them have mentioned Bow's contemporary, Louise Brooks. Here is one of them, "Who is Clara Bow? And why did Taylor Swift name a song after her?", which appeared in Entertainment Weekly. And here is another from the New York Post, "Who is Clara Bow? Taylor Swift cites ‘It Girl’ actress with tortured past for new song title." 

The best of them, "The silver screen legend who inspired Taylor Swift’s latest song," appeared in the Australian Women's Weekly. It quotes Louise Brooks, "'[Clara] was an absolute sensation,' noted fellow star Louise Brooks, another icon of the era. 'She just swept the country. I thought she was wonderful – everybody did. She became absolutely a star overnight without nobody’s help'.

And here is another, "TAYLOR SWIFT CLARA BOW'S FAMILY THRILLED W/ TRIBUTE ... 'Her Name Lives On!'", which appeared on TMZ. I also noticed David Stenn's heartbreaking 1988 biography, Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild is selling briskly on amazon, and like a Taylor Swift song, is rising through the charts.

One look at that cover image suggests why the Cleaners of Venus and now Taylor Swift have sung about Clara Bow, one of the very biggest film stars of the 1920s. Did you know she once received 45,000 fan letters in a single month? If you need a little more convincing, check out this video clip from IT (1927), which is accompanied by an even earlier song about the It girl.

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.

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, in Pittsburgh, PA on March 3

The Lindsay Theater & Cultural Center in partnership with the Pittsburgh Silent Film Society are set to screen Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, on March 3 at 3:00 pm. This just announced screening of the most recent, 2009 restoration of the classic silent film will feature live musical accompaniment by Ben Opie and Mark Micchelli. More information about this event can be found HERE.

Additional information and ticket availability can be found HERE.

The event description from the Lindsay Theater website states: " One of the masters of early German cinema, G. W. Pabst had an innate talent for discovering actresses (including Greta Garbo). And perhaps none of his female stars shone brighter than Kansas native and onetime Ziegfeld girl Louise Brooks, whose legendary persona was defined by Pabst's lurid, controversial melodrama Pandora's Box. Sensationally modern, the film follows the downward spiral of the fiery, brash, yet innocent showgirl Lulu, whose sexual vivacity has a devastating effect on everyone she comes in contact with. Daring and stylish, Pandora's Box is one of silent cinema's great masterworks and a testament to Brooks's dazzling individuality." 

UPDATE 2-16-2024: An article about this event, "The Lindsay Theater to Screen Silent Film Masterpiece Pandora’s Box, With Live Music, March 3," appeared in the Sewickley Herald.

Want to lean more? A big, newly updated page about Pandora's Box can be found on the new and improved Louise Brooks Society website. Click on the film title to access the LBS filmography page devoted to the movie. 

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. 

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, at Film Forum in NYC Feb 14 - Feb 20

In a previous Louise Brooks Society blog post, I noted that the 2009 restoration of Pandora's Box will receive a theatrical release through Janus Films. This release is meant for exhibitors like the Toronto Silent Film Festival - who will be screening the 2009 restoration on April 12 in Canada. See the prior LBS blog for details.

As it turns out, the Janus theatrical release will debut at Film Forum in New York City on February 14. And what's more, the film is set to run an entire week, through February 20. More about this historic event can be found HERE.

Here is some additional information about this week long screening from the Film Forum website.

Germany, 1929
Directed by G.W. Pabst
Starring Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, Francis Lederer
Music by Peer Raben
Approx. 141 min. DCP Restoration.

Sex in the City — Weimar Berlin: in the wake of Louise Brooks’ patent leather-bobbed Lulu, men set up sleek Deco love nests, ruin themselves gambling, and commit both murder and suicide, as she moves from kept woman, showgirl, Lesbian love interest, widow, convicted criminal, fugitive, and possible sex slave; amid a bustling backdrop of life in post-war, pre-Hitler Germany. Pabst’s adaptation of the Wedekind plays plucked Brooks from a waning career as Hollywood flapper to European art film goddess. One of the last masterpieces of the cinema’s most exciting era — with Brooks’ Lulu taking her place as one of the screen’s most enduring creations. Orchestral musical score composed by Peer Raben.

Restored from the best surviving 35mm elements at Haghefilm Conservation under the supervision of the Deutsche Kinemathek, with the cooperation of George Eastman Museum, and the collaboration of the Cinémathèque Française, Cineteca di Bologna, Czech Film Archive, and Gosfilmofond

With support from the R.G. Rifkind Foundation Endowment for Queer Cinema

The Film Forum page also quotes the esteemed film critic David Thomas. It's a rather delicious quote.

“ONE OF THE MOST COMPLETE, ECSTATIC, IMPETUOUS AND RECKLESS PERFORMANCES ANYONE HAD EVER GIVEN ON SCREEN! [Brooks] makes Marlene Dietrich in THE BLUE ANGEL seem coy and calculated… Brooks is a flame fluttering in the wind of her own breath. She is danger as it had not been seen or felt before.”
– David Thomson, Moments That Made the Movies

 

Want to lean more? A big, juicy page about Pandora's Box can be found on the new and improved Louise Brooks Society website. Click on the film title to access the LBS filmography page devoted to the movie. 

 

I would say more, but I need to get back to work on my next book, Lulu in America: the Lost History of Louise Brooks and Pandora's Box. This book, which I hope to have completed later this year, explores the film's rich, textured and improbably undocumented history in the United States, including New York City. The basis for my book is an article, “'Sin Lust Evil' in America: Louise Brooks and the Exhibition History of Pandora’s Box (1929)," which I wrote for Film International last April. Stay tuned to this channel for updates.

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.

Sunday Silents Presents Pandora’s Box (1929), starring Louise Brooks, in Rosendale, NY

One week from today, Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, will be shown at the Rosendale theater in Rosendale, New York. This screening, part of the theater's Sunday Silent series, will feature live musical accompaniment by Marta Waterman. More information about this February 4th event can be found HERE.

There was an article about this screening in the local Shawangunk Journal, which can be found HERE. According to the Rosendale theater website: "In this acclaimed German silent film, Lulu (played to perfection by the luminous American actress Louise Brooks) is a young woman so beautiful and alluring that few can resist her siren charms. The men drawn into her web include respectable newspaper publisher Dr. Ludwig Schön, his musical producer son Alwa , circus performer Rodrigo Quast and Lulu’s seedy old friend, Schigolch. When Lulu’s charms inevitably lead to tragedy, the downward spiral encompasses them all. Marked by GW Pabst’s innovative, atmospheric direction and a surprisingly modern storyline, Pandora’s Box ultimately owes its power to Louise Brooks’ monumental, iconic performance.

Sunday Silents is made possible by the generous support of Jim Demaio, State Farm Insurance Agent, New Paltz. $6 | NR | With live accompaniment by Marta Waterman | 1 Hour 49 Minutes."

The historic Rosendale Theatre is a three-story, 260-seat movie theater and performance venue in Rosendale Village, a hamlet and former village in the town of Rosendale in Ulster County, New York. The building was opened as a casino in 1905, and began showing films in the 1920s. I did a quick search to try and find any record of this charming old venue having shown any of Louise Brooks' American silent films in the 1920s, but was unable to track down any listings. However, back in 2017, the theater screened the other 1929 Louise Brooks film, Diary of a Lost Girl. More about that 2017 event can be found HERE.

Want to lean more? A big, juicy page about Pandora's Box can be found on the new and improved Louise Brooks Society website. Click on the film title to access the LBS filmography page devoted to the movie. Below is the promo video associated with this screening.

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.

Restoration of Pandora's Box to Receive Theatrical Release

The recent restoration of Pandora's Box, the acclaimed 1929 silent film starring Louise Brooks, will receive an American theatrical release through Janus Films on February 14th. (This release is meant for exhibitors like the Toronto Silent Film Festival - who will be screening this version of the film on April 12. See the prior LBS blog. ) 

Seemingly, hopefully, a Criterion Collection DVD / Blu-ray can't be far behind - though no specific release information has been posted. I emailed Janus but have yet to hear back. More information about this exciting news can be found HERE.

Unless I am mistaken, this same version of the film was recently released on Blu-ray in the UK by Eureka Entertainment. (See my Pop Matters article on that release). It was restored from the best surviving 35mm elements at Haghefilm Conservation under the supervision of the Deutsche Kinemathek with the cooperation of George Eastman Museum, the Cinémathèque Française, Cineteca di Bologna, Národní filmový archiv, and Gosfilmofond. As I stated in my Pop Matters article, in all likelihood, this restoration is the best version of the film we may see in our lifetime.

However, I noticed one significant difference. Notably, the Eureka release run time was given as 133 minutes. The run time on this version is given as 141 minutes. Below is the Janus Films trailer for those who would like a sneak peak.

 

While I am very excited that this 2009 restoration of Pandora's Box will be screened and hopefully released in the United States, I am concerned about some of the SLOPPY writing found in the press materials. 

The Louise Brooks Biography included in the Press Notes, for example, is riddled with factual errors. I count five or six. Here is one: Louise Brooks did NOT join the Denishawn Dance Company in Los Angeles, as the biography states. She went to New York City, as stated in the Barry Paris biography and as depicted in The Chaperone.

Likewise, the Production History essay makes a few questionable (read inaccurate) conclusions, as when it claim that "in 2012, the seventeenth San Francisco Silent Film Festival screened Pabst’s completely restored masterpiece in all its glory." Yes, it was glorious. I was there. But to state that the film is "completely restored" suggest this is the film Pabst released in 1929. IT AIN'T. As they stand, these notes should be corrected asap.

I hope that they do not accompany any home video release. As with the marred Eureka release (see this 1-12-2024 LBS blog), the film world doesn't need any more inaccurate information. In this day and age, getting it right is important. Facts matter. And getting it wrong has repercussions. I could imagine someone defending their claim that Brooks went to Los Angles in 1922 or that Pandora's Box is now complete since they saw it on the Janus website, or in the liner notes to a later release. Look what happened to the London Times, when they reviewed the Eureka release and made use of the publicity materials they were no doubt given. They got it wrong because the company they got their press materials from got it wrong. 

Want to read more about the film? Visit the Pandora's Box filmography page in 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 contents copyright © 2024. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, opens Toronto Silent Film Festival

The Toronto Silent Film Festival has announced that it will screen the 1929 classic, Pandora's Box, as its opening film at its upcoming Festival, which is set to take place April 12-14, 2024. More information may be found HERE.

The event description reads "Today, Pandora’s Box is rightly celebrated as one of silent cinema’s greatest masterpieces. Brilliantly directed by G. W. Pabst, it's a dark, beautiful film filled with meticulous attention to details, fluid camera work, expressive lighting and, of course, the potent performance by Louise Brooks as Lulu. Lulu is a woman who is driven by her desires and in her wake she leaves a trail of destruction and even death. 

For many, this is the only performance by Louise Brooks that they've ever seen, and now, with the latest restoration, her beauty, power and presence makes it even more memorable. 

133 minutes / Live accompaniment by Marilyn Lerner."

This screening will be held at the 150 seat Revue Theater in Toronto, Canada. The Festival describes the event as a "Toronto Restoration Premiere-A TSFF exclusive screening." I've sent them an email for clarification as to the nature of this restoration. I will post-edit an update here when I hear back. 

A volunteer run not-for-profit, Toronto Silent Film Festival screens the Silent Film era's most compelling films and pairs them with talented silent film accompanists. Other films set to screened at this year's Toronto Silent Film Festival include The Mark of Zorro (1920), West of Zanzibar (1928), So This is Paris (1926), and Sherlock Jr. (1924). 

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.

Louise Brooks and Bruz Fletcher

This past week, I was working on a page about Louise Brooks and Bruz Fletcher for the Louise Brooks Society website. In case you don't know his name, and I suspect most won't, Fletcher was a nightclub entertainer in the 1930s. He was also gay. I have written about Bruz Fletcher in the past, both on examiner.com in 2010 and here on the LBS blog. He is a fascinating figure.

Brooks plays only a small role in Fletcher's story, though their connection goes beyond social encounters or a few common acquaintances. Brooks and Fletcher once shared a bill in 1935, when Brooks was one-half of the dance team of Brooks and Dario, and Fletcher was a singer of "Super Sophisticated Songs" of his own composition. The two also encountered each other socially, at least once. In 1936, for example, the Los Angeles Times reported Brooks attended a Hollywood costume party at the home a local socialite at which Fletcher was also reported to have been present. And in 1937 and 1938, Brooks went to see Fletcher perform at least five times at the Club Bali in Los Angeles. She may have, and probably did see him other times as well, but on these five occasions, the Los Angeles Times reported her to be among those in the crowd at this small, trendy nightclub.

All this is prelude to saying.... In researching and writing my webpage, I came across a number of clippings which I would have liked to include as illustrations except that they took me a little too far off topic. And so, I thought to include them here, as adjunct documentation.

This piece is a detailed summation of Fletcher's life published at the time of his death.

 

 

Fletcher was at best a "minor celebrity," and even though he got his name mentioned in gossip and society columns hundreds of times,  the only feature article I came across which discusses him (and his partner Casey Roberts, a three time Academy Award nominee) was a 1929 piece in Picture-Play Magazine which focused on new, young talent in Hollywood. Here is page two of Alice M. Williamson's two-page article "Hollywood's Fourth Dimension." (Fletcher is discussed on both pages, but I included page two here because it pictures Fletcher and his partner! To read a larger scan of the entire article, click on the link at the bottom of my LBS webpage.)

As I mention on my LBS page, Fletcher enjoyed a remarkable, near five year run at the Club Bali in Hollywood. Originally booked for just two weeks in 1935, he proved so popular that he ran until early 1940. In 1938, Los Angeles Times columnist Hedda Hopper wrote that the entertainer had the longest local nightclub run that anyone could remember -- and that was two years before Fletcher's run ended.

 

Of course, with such a long run, Fletcher got his name in the local papers hundreds of times.  Here are a couple of obscure examples. The first is a bit from a student newspaper, the UCLA Daily Bruin. And the second, by Morton Thompson, appeared in the Hollywood Citizen News. The latter is revealing, if I understand the subtext.

Besides being a singer / songwriter and musical accompanist, Fletcher was also an author. He penned two published novels and two staged plays one of which was based on the life of Jeanne Eagels). I came across a few reviews of Fletcher's books and plays (he received both good and bad reviews), as well these two other inconsequential listings, which as a former bookseller and book reviewer, I find interesting. The first is from Variety and dates from 1932. It is a list of recommended or suggested reading from local Hollywood bookstores, and it includes one of Fletcher's novels. As does the second listing, which was published in Hollywood Filmograph, and notes that another of Fletcher's novels would make a good movie.

I will end this blog by posting a screenshot I captured from a documentary on Ernest Hemingway (a favorite writer). The documentary focused on Hemingway's life in Florida and Cuba, and it included some scenes taken within the writer's one-time Cuban home (now a museum). I love these sort of scenes, especially if they include shots of the subject's bookshelves or record collection. This Hemingway documentary did, and so I stopped the scene and took a look. And guess what I found, a record set of Bruz Fletcher's 78rpm recordings -- the second set from the right.

Speaking of making a good movie, if anyone from Netflix or HBO Max is reading these words, let me suggest you turn Fletcher's life into a mini series. It has a little bit of everything....

 

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.

Kickstarter for the Louise Brooks - inspired Dixie Dugan novels

I realize this is last minute, but longtime Louise Brooks Society supporter Beth Ann Gallagher just alerted me to an incredible Kickstarter campaign to bring three Louise Brooks-inspired Dixie Dugan novels by J.P. McEvoy back into print. More about this Kickstarter campaign, which runs through January 18th, can be found HERE.

As Brooks' devotees may know, Show Girl was the first novel to feature a major character or story-line inspired by the actress. First serialized in Liberty magazine in 1928 (and quickly published in book form by Simon & Schuster), Show Girl told of the life and adventures of a character named Dixie Dugan. That novel and its two follow-up books, Show Girl in Hollywood and Show Girl in Society, proved especially popular. So much so that they spawned a long-running comic strip which lasted into the 1960s, "Dixie Dugan," as well as a stage play, Show Girl, and two movies which unfortunately did not star Louise Brooks.

Here is a wonderful newspaper ad for the novel's serialization in Liberty magazine, when the visual identity of Dixie Dugan was closely aligned with the look of the actress. (A few of these illustrations, as well as some of the early comic strips, were based on films stills from Brooks' first films, such as The American Venus.)

Nevertheless, I pledged $29.00 toward this worthy campaign, for which I will receive a copy of the book and have my name listed on an acknowledgements page. I already own vintage copies of these books, including one signed by McEvoy, but am looking forward to receiving this omnibus edition. Yowza, yowza, yowza.

Here is some more information about this Kickstarter campaign from it's page.

"Between 1928 and 1932, J. P. McEvoy published six ingenious novels that unfold solely by way of letters, telegrams, newspaper articles, ads, telephone transcriptions, scripts, playbills, greeting card verses, interoffice memos, legal documents, monologues, song lyrics, police reports, and radio broadcasts. Three of them, collected here for the first time, record the wild career of a jazz baby named Dixie Dugan (modeled on actress Louise Brooks, whom McEvoy knew). The best-selling Show Girl tracks Dixie's zigzagging path to success on Broadway; in Hollywood Girl, she heads out West for further risqué adventures, and impulsively marries a rich playboy; in Society, Dixie mingles with high society both in Europe and the U.S. before returning to Hollywood to resume her show-biz career."

"Beneath the novels' hellzapoppin' energy and jazzy lingo, however, McEvoy exposes the dark underside of the times: sexual predation, tabloid journalism, political corruption, the rise of religious fundamentalism, and the fatuous lifestyles of the rich and famous. But it's the blend of humor and bite, of success and failure, of ridicule and irony—shaken and stirred with linguistic and formal ingenuity—that makes The Dixie Dugan Trilogy "a madcap, mordant masterpiece," as critic Steven Moore writes in his informative introduction. Out of print since the 1930s, these "avant-pop" novels deserve a revival."

 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.