Beggars of Life, starring Louise Brooks, screens in the UK with live musical accompaniment by The Dodge Brothers

Beggars of Life, starring Louise Brooks, will be shown on Thursday November 6th at the York Theater Royal in York, England with live musical accompaniment by the one and only Dodge Brothers! This special event is part of the Aesthetica Film Festival. More information about this event can be found HERE.

And here is a piece which appeared in the Ryedale Gazette & Herald. 

“Never has a film and a band been more perfectly matched than Beggars of Life and
the Dodge Brothers – deep dish Americana, rail-riding hoboes and Louise Brooks –
 they were made for each other.” – Bryony Dixon, British Film Institute.

 

“I thought the Dodge Brothers were terrific, and Beggars of Life could hardly have been
received more enthusiastically.” – Kevin Brownlow, Oscar honoree

Here is what the venue says about the event: "Experience a dazzling collision of classic cinema and live music as The Dodge Brothers bring their acclaimed live score to Beggars of Life (1928), a landmark American silent film starring Louise Brooks.

With renowned film critic and BBC presenter Mark Kermode on double bass and harmonica, and joined by the extraordinary Neil Brand – celebrated silent film accompanist and star of BBC Four’s Sound of Cinema – on piano, this electrifying ensemble transforms a black-and-white masterpiece into a full-blooded cinematic event.

Rounding out the lineup are Mike Hammond, a gifted Alabama-born guitarist and vocalist with deep roots in Southern Americana traditions, and Alex Hammond, whose percussion brings the rhythm of jug band, skiffle, and rockabilly roaring into the present. The band also features Aly Hirji on rhythm guitar and mandolin, adding even more richness to the sound.

Fusing blues, bluegrass, gospel, jug band, and rockabilly with infectious energy and razor-sharp timing, The Dodge Brothers breathe thrilling new life into this gritty tale of train-hopping outsiders and Depression-era America. Whether performing at Glastonbury, Latitude, or on screen via BBC Radio 2, The Culture Show and The One Show, The Dodge Brothers have built a cult following for their foot-stomping sound and genre-defying performances. Their live scores are hailed by critics as “a revelation,” combining academic insight and raw musical power. This is silent cinema as you’ve never experienced it — urgent, raw, loud and alive." 

The Dodge Brothers have accompanied Beggars of Life on a number of occasions, including most famously, at the Glastonbury music festival, where the group was the first to play live music to accompany a silent film. For more on the Dodge Brothers, check out this 2014 Huffington Post article by Thomas Gladysz on the group's historic performance appearance -- "A Glastonbury First."

Also, the Louise Brooks Society blog includes a short 2011 interview with the band, "Talking with The Dodge Brothers."

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

Louise Brooks film Beggars of Life shows in England

The 1928 Louise Brooks film, Beggars of Life, will be shown on Sunday, October 6th in Dorset, England. More information can be found HERE.

According to the venue: The Dodge Brothers and Neil Brand play live to a screening of the classic 1928 silent film Beggars of Life. Renowned film critic Mark Kermode - who plays bass and harmonica - will be joining his bandmates and acclaimed composer Brand for a musical accompaniment to the seminal 1928 silent movie featuring Wallace Beery as a rail-riding hobo and Louise Brooks as a girl on the run. The Dodge Brothers (Mike Hammond, Mark Kermode, Aly Hirji and Alex Hammond) play an exuberant hybrid of country blues, rockabilly, jugband and skiffle. 

“Never has a film and a band been more perfectly matched than ‘Beggars of Life’ and the Dodge Brothers – deep dish Americana, rail-riding hoboes and Louise Brooks – they were made for each other.” – Bryony Dixon, curator of silent film, British Film Institute.

The performance has been met with glowing reviews following London shows, and the band became the first ever to accompany a silent film at Glastonbury Festival in 2014. Tickets: £17.50, Concessions £15.50 (including 50p Regent Centre Development Fee)

 

 Want to learn more about Louise Brooks and Beggars of Life? My book, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film, as well as the DVD / Blu-ray of the film from Kino Lorber, are the perfect compliment to one another. And what's more, the DVD, featuring the best copy of the film available anywhere, includes an informative commentary by yours truly!

My 106-page book on Beggars of Life looks at the film Oscar-winning director William Wellman thought his finest silent movie. Based on Jim Tully’s bestselling book of hobo life—and filmed by Wellman the year after he made Wings (the first film to win the Best Picture Oscar), Beggars of Life is a riveting drama about an orphan girl (played by Louise Brooks) who kills her abusive stepfather and flees the law. She meets a boy tramp (leading man Richard Arlen), and together they ride the rails through a dangerous hobo underground ruled over by Oklahoma Red (future Oscar winner Wallace Beery). Beggars of Life showcases Brooks in her best American silent—a film the Cleveland Plain Dealer described as “a raw, sometimes bleeding slice of life.” This first ever study of Beggars of Life includes more than 50 little seen images, a mention of the Dodge Brothers, and a foreword by actor and author William Wellman, Jr. (the director's son).

If you haven't secured a copy of either the book or the DVD / Blu-ray, why not do so today? Each is an essential addition to your Louise Brooks collection, and EACH IS AVAILABLE IN BOTH THE UK AND THE USA via amazon.com.

Pandora's Box screens tonight in UK at historic Aldeburgh Cinema

Pandora's Box (1929), starring Louise Brooks, screens tonight in the UK. Pianist Neil Brand will accompany the film at the Aldeburgh Cinema as part of their "Classic Silent Film& Live Music" series.

The Aldeburgh Cinema is located at 51 High Street in Aldeburgh, IP15 5AU. Telephone 01728 454884.

Neil Brand has worked around the globe with film and music for more than two decades. His mesmerizing series ‘Sound of Cinema: The Music that Made the Movies’ was broadcast to huge acclaim in on BBC in autumn 2013. In partnership with the Britten Pears Foundation, an educational programme of workshops and masterclasses has been devised and arranged and will be delivered by Neil Brand on the day of the evening shows.

The Aldeburgh Cinema has a fascinating history, and it has been screening films continuously since 1919 when the auditorium was built onto the back of a 19th century High Street store. For many years the cinema was privately run until in the mid-1960s, when there was the threat of closure. A group of local people, led by Lettie Gifford and including composer Benjamin Britten and his partner Peter Pears, banded together to purchase the cinema and run it on behalf of the local community. More information and images here.

Dodge Brothers & Neil Brand accompany Beggars of Life in UK

The Dodge Brothers & Neil Brand will accompany Beggars of Life at the Aldeburgh Cinema in Suffolk, England. The May 5th screening, which takes place at 8:00 pm, is part of SOUNDS & SILENTS: A Festival of Silent Film & Live Music.

Directed by William Wellman, Beggars of Life (1928) tells the story of a girl who attempts to escape the country with a young vagabond after killing her abusive step-father. She dresses as a boy, they hop freight trains, quarrel with a group of hobos, and steal a car in their attempt to escape the police and reach Canada. The film stars Wallace Beery as rail-riding hobo Oklahoma Red and Louise Brooks as Nancy, the girl on the run. Many consider Beggars of Life Brooks' best American film.

The Dodge Brothers are composed of Aly ‘Dodge’ Hirji (acoustic guitar, mandolin), Mike ‘Dodge’ Hammond (lead guitar, lead vocals, banjo, dobro), Mark ‘Dodge’ Kermode (double bass, harmonica, ukulele, accordion, vocals), Alex ‘Dodge’ Hammond (washboard, snare drum,  percussion), and Neil ‘Dodge’ Brand (piano). More on the band can be found at http://www.dodgebrothers.co.uk/

"BEGGARS OF LIFE and the Dodge Brothers - deep dish Americana, rail-riding hoboes and Louise Brooks - they were made for each other." -- Bryony Dixon, Curator of silent film, BFI National Archive

"Wistful, sometimes mournful, sometimes dangerous, sometimes galloping blue-grass  … my advice to anyone is buy your ticket early!" -- Richard O'Brien (Rocky Horror Picture Show)

Pandora's Box plays in Newcastle

A free screening of Pandora's Box (1929), directed by G.W. Pabst and starring the one and only Louise Brooks, will take place in Heaton Park, Newcastle (England) on August 28th. THAT'S TODAY! Musical accompaniment will be provided by pianist Neil Brand. More about this special event on the Huffington Post (UK).

Sight & Sound article on Pandora's Box

The current issue of Sight & Sound (the British film magazine) has a long, illustrated article about Pandora's Box (or at least their website does) focusing on Neil Brand's accompaniment of a restored print of the film the other day in London. Check it out at http://www.bfi.org.uk/sightandsound/newsandviews/festivals/blog/lff-2010-10-15-pandoras-box.php