Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em, featuring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1926

Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em, featuring Louise Brooks and Evelyn Brent, was released on this day in 1926. Based on a popular stage play, the film is a topical drama about two flapper sisters — one “good” and one “bad” — who work as shop girls in a department store. A popular and critical success, the film marked a turning point in  Brooks’ career. Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em was the last movie Brooks made on the East Coast. And soon, she would leave for Hollywood and Paramount’s studio on the West Coast.

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

The Chicago Tribune named the film one of the six best movies of the month. Its critic, Mae Tinee, proclaimed, “Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em is one of the snappiest little comedy dramas of the season. Full of human interest. Splendidly directed. Acted beautifully.” Dorothy Herzog, film critic for the New York Daily Mirror (and Evelyn Brent’s later romantic partner) penned similarly, “A featherweight comedy drama that should register with the public because of the fine work done by the principals and its amusing gags. . . . Louise Brooks gives the best performance of her flicker career as the selfish, snappily dressed, alive number — Janie. Miss Brooks sizzles through this celluloider, a flapper lurer with a Ziegfeld figure and come-on eyes.”

Critics across the country thought Brooks stole the show. The Los Angeles Record wrote, “Evelyn Brent is nominally starred in Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em, but the work of Louise Brooks, suave enticing newcomer to the Lasky fold, stands out most. The flippant, self-centered little shop girl is given sly and knowing interpretation by Miss Brooks, who is, if memory serves aright, a graduate of that great American institute of learning, the Follies.” The Kansas City Times went further, “Louise Brooks does another of her flapper parts and is a good deal more realistic than the widely heralded Clara Bow. Miss Brooks uses the dumb bell rather than the spit-fire method. But she always gets what she wants.”

And once again, New York critics singled out the actress, lavishing praise on Brooks with the film almost an after-thought. The New York Herald Tribune critic opined, “Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em . . . did manage to accomplish one thing. It has silenced, for the time being at least, the charge that Louise Brooks cannot act. Her portrayal of the predatory shop girl of the Abbott-Weaver tale was one of the bright spots of recent film histrionism.”

John S. Cohen Jr. of the New York Sun added, “The real surprise of the film is Louise Brooks. With practically all connoisseurs of beauty in the throes of adulation over her generally effectiveness, Miss Brooks has not heretofore impressed anyone as a roomful (as Lorelei says) of Duses. But in Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em, unless I too have simply fallen under her spell, she gives an uncannily effective impersonation of a bad little notion counter vampire. Even her excellent acting, however, cannot approach in effectiveness the scenes where, in ‘Scandals’ attire, she does what we may call a mean Charleston.”

 

Under its American title, documented screenings of the film took place in Australia (including Tasmania), Bermuda, British Malaysia (Singapore), Canada, China, Czechoslovakia, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand, Panama, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, and the United Kingdom (England, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). In the United States, the film was presented under the title Amalos y Dejalos and Amalas y Abandonalas (Spanish-language press) and Ama-o e Deixa-o (Portuguese-language press).

Elsewhere, Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em was shown under the title Amalos y déjalos and Se corrió una fija (Argentina); Zwei Mädel und ein Mann and Zwei Mädchen und ein Mann (Austria); Een Galant uitstaller (Belgium); Amal-as e deixal-as (Brazil); Amalos y déjalos (Cuba); Láska ’em a odejít ’em (Czechoslovakia); Het Meisje van ‘t Warenhaus (Dutch East Indies – present day Indonesia); Le galant etalagiste (Egypt); Oekesed võisfejad and Schwestern als Rivalinnen (Estonia); Rakasta heitä ja jätä heidät (Finland); Le galant etalagiste (France); 浮氣はその日の出来心 or Uwaki wa sonohi no dekigokoro (Japan); Le galant Etalagiste! (Luxembourg); Het Meisje Van ‘T Warenhuis and Meisjes die je Vergeet (The Netherlands);  Hvad en kvinne tilgir (Norway); Kobieto nie grzesz (Poland); Amá-las e Deixá-las (Portugal); and ¡Amalos y déjalos! (Spain).

SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

— John Van Alstyne Weaver, Jr. (1893-1938) was a poet, novelist and screenwriter whose slangy, vernacular poems (written in what was once described as “Americanese”) attracted the approval of the famed critic H. L. Mencken. Weaver’s stage play, Love ’em and leave ’em; a comedy in three acts (with George Abbott) was adapted from his earlier verse novel.

— The character Lem Woodruff was played by Osgood Perkins, an accomplished stage actor and the father of famed actor Tony Perkins.

— Ed Garvey, who plays Mr. Whinfer, was a star football player at Notre Dame.

— In 1929, Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em was remade as The Saturday Night Kid, a talkie starring Clara Bow, Jean Arthur, and James Hall with Jean Harlow in a bit part. The remake was directed by Brooks’ ex-husband Eddie Sutherland.

More about Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em can be found on the newly revamped Louise Brooks Society website on its Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em (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 © 2025. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.    

More on Love Em and Leave Em (1926) with Louise Brooks

As noted in the prior blog, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts is set to screen the seldom shown 1926 film, Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em, on July 25 at Lincoln Center in New York City. The flapper drama stars Evelyn Brent, Lawrence Gray and Louise Brooks. More about this event can be found HERE.

The film was both a popular and critical success at the time of its release in December of 1926. In fact, the Chicago Tribune named the film one of the six best movies of the month. Its critic, Mae Tinee, proclaimed, “Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em is one of the snappiest little comedy dramas of the season. Full of human interest. Splendidly directed. Acted beautifully.” Dorothy Herzog, film critic for the New York Daily Mirror (and Evelyn Brent’s later romantic partner) penned similarly, “A featherweight comedy drama that should register with the public because of the fine work done by the principals and its amusing gags. . . . Louise Brooks gives the best performance of her flicker career as the selfish, snappily dressed, alive number — Janie. Miss Brooks sizzles through this celluloider, a flapper lurer with a Ziegfeld figure and come-on eyes.”

Newspaper ad from the film's
NYC debut in Dec. 1926

Critics across the country likewise thought Brooks stole the show. The Los Angeles Record wrote, “Evelyn Brent is nominally starred in Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em, but the work of Louise Brooks, suave enticing newcomer to the Lasky fold, stands out most. The flippant, self-centered little shop girl is given sly and knowing interpretation by Miss Brooks, who is, if memory serves aright, a graduate of that great American institute of learning, the Follies.” The Kansas City Times went further, “Louise Brooks does another of her flapper parts and is a good deal more realistic than the widely heralded Clara Bow. Miss Brooks uses the dumb bell rather than the spit-fire method. But she always gets what she wants.”

New York critics singled out the actress, lavishing praise on Brooks with the film almost an after-thought. The New York Herald Tribune critic opined, “Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em . . . did manage to accomplish one thing. It has silenced, for the time being at least, the charge that Louise Brooks cannot act. Her portrayal of the predatory shop girl of the Abbott-Weaver tale was one of the bright spots of recent film histrionism.”

John S. Cohen Jr. of the New York Sun added, “The real surprise of the film is Louise Brooks. With practically all connoisseurs of beauty in the throes of adulation over her generally effectiveness, Miss Brooks has not heretofore impressed anyone as a roomful (as Lorelei says) of Duses. But in Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em, unless I too have simply fallen under her spell, she gives an uncannily effective impersonation of a bad little notion counter vampire. Even her excellent acting, however, cannot approach in effectiveness the scenes where, in ‘Scandals’ attire, she does what we may call a mean Charleston.”

Roscoe McGowan, writing in the New York Daily News, added "“Director Tuttle has managed to present Louise Brooks in a role to which she lends some conviction as well as ornamentation . . . all very well and entertainingly done.”

Newspaper ad from the film's NYC debut in Dec. 1926

Here is a smattering of some of the praise the film received from elsewhere around the United States.

“The cast has three featured members – Evelyn Brent, Lawrence Gray and Louise Brooks. It would have been just as well to have reversed the order of the names, for Louise Brooks, playing an entirely unsympathetic role . . . runs away with the picture.” — Fred, Variety

“Louise Brooks, the sister who is responsible for all of her sorrow, personifies the popular conception of a modern flapper with faultless accuracy. Her so-called ‘million dollar’ legs contribute materially to this portrayal.” — Hake Herbert, St. Louis Times 

“The characterization, though, is excellent, made all the more so by the painstaking work of Evelyn Brent and Louise Brooks as the sisters. The former retains sympathy without being superhumanly saintly; the later, besides being a ravishing beauty, gives a deft portrayal of an utterly selfish and superficial creature.” — Carl B. Adams, Cincinnati Enquirer

“No other person than Louise Brooks, however, instills the spice in this concoction. Decidedly the flapper she is intended to characterize, Miss Brooks uses her accomplishments to advantage. She is a capricious young lady, with a knowledge of getting what she wants when she wants it. Not so convincing are the roles taken by Evelyn Brent and Lawrence Gray.” — Leona Pollack, Omaha World Herald

“To Louise Brooks go the acting laurels of the picture.” — Louise Kreisman, UCLA Daily Bruin

“Louise Brooks as the flapper sister practically runs away with the show.” — Harry Lang, San Francisco Examiner

For more on the film, be sure and check out the newly revamped (pun intended) Love Em and Leave Em (filmography page) on the expanded 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 © 2025. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Pandora's Box screens at Paramount theater in Oakland, CA on May 6

Breaking news.... The celebrated German silent film, Pandora's Box starring Louise Brooks, will be shown at the Paramount theater in Oakland, California on Saturday, May 6. And what's more, this live cinema event will feature live musical accompaniment by the Club Foot Orchestra and the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. More information about the event can be found HERE.

PANDORA'S BOX

LIVE CINEMA AT THE PARAMOUNT!

Club Foot Orchestra with SF Conservatory of Music

Saturday, May 6, 2023, 7:00 pm

 

From the San Francisco Silent Film Festival website: On May 6, 2023, the Club Foot Orchestra will join forces with San Francisco Conservatory of Music to accompany G.W. Pabst’s 1929 masterpiece Pandora’s Box at Oakland’s magnificent Paramount Theatre. The film stars the radiant Louise Brooks whose mesmerizing performance as the sexually adventurous Lulu catapulted her to worldwide fame. Here is praise for Brooks through the years:

An actress who needed no directing, but could move across the screen causing the work of art to be born by her mere presence.—Lotte H. Eisner

Those who have seen her can never forget her. She is the modern actress par excellence. . . . Her art is so pure that it becomes invisible.—Henri Langlois

Her youthful admirers see in her an actress of brilliance, a luminescent personality, and a beauty unparalleled in film history.—Kevin Brownlow

One of the most mysterious and potent figures in the history of the cinema . . . she was one of the first performers to penetrate to the heart of screen acting.—David Thomson

SFSFF will screen the restoration by Angela Holm and David Ferguson in a DCP from the Deutsche Kinemathek.

Tickets are now on sale for SFSFF's May 6 event. All tickets ($35 general admission) are being sold through the Paramount's official ticketing partner Ticketmaster and there is a $3 per-ticket fee. Those who would like to avoid Ticketmaster fees can visit the Paramount's Box Office in Oakland between 12:00 noon and 5:00 pm on Fridays to buy tickets in person. SFSFF members receive a $5 discount per ticket. 

The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society. (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited.

Nothing and everything to do with Louise Brooks

As part of my ongoing series of posts on recently found material - some of it related to Louise Brooks, some of it not - I am showing here a couple of pages which I just recently came across and which have nothing and everything to do with the actress. The first is a late 1920s German magazine page which features some of the then current international film magazines ("The international Filmpress").

To me, this page is fascinating because it suggests in which magazines I might look for material on Louise Brooks, just as it tells a Clara Bow or Pola Negri or Rudolph Valentino or Buster Keaton or Colleen Moore fan where they might look. I have seen examples, if not long runs, of most of the magazines listed above, either online or via microfilm loans. The only two titles new to me are De Rolprent (from Holland) and Cinema d'Orient. I will try and track them down.

I have been researching Louise Brooks for a couple of decades, and regularly come across material new to me about the actress - whether it is a review of a film, a foreign advertisement, or even a photo of the actress. How somethings end up where they do sometimes baffles me. I have found a previously unseen image of Brooks from her Ziegfeld days which was published in Europe (before her film career began), and a rare images of Brooks in The Street of Forgotten Men (in an uncredited bit part in her first film) which was published in Latin America. And then there are the images of Brooks taken in Germany which were sent only to Japan! 

Even though Brooks was only a second tier star in the 1920s, she still had an amazing international presence which speaks not only to her appeal and popularity, but also to the inter-connectivity of the world back then, especially the film world. Of course, all of this material will end up in my forthcoming book, Around the World with Louise Brooks, which I plan to finish by the end of the year.

The advertisement pictured above is from Kinematograph, a German film magazine. The section at the bottom for Kinematograph notes in which countries and at what price this important German trade magazine could be gotten, suggesting the magazine had a worldwide readership. There are listings for America, Argentina, Bulgaria, Italy, Mexico, Norway, Portugal, and the even the former Tschechoslovakia, etc.....

The other magazine pages I came across, pictured below, were even more revelatory. These pages are from the Portuguese-language version of Paramount Messenger, the studio's in-house organ for spreading the Paramount brand in Brazil, Portugal and the Portuguese speaking world. (Its contents were similar, but not an exact match, to the Spanish-speaking version of this publication; the differences were articles of interest to readers in specific nations served by the different publications.)

All but two of Brooks' American silent films, and two of her talkies (It Pays to Advertise, and King of Gamblers), were Paramount releases. Which is fortunate for me as this map of "Imperial Paramount" tells me where they might have played. According to the map's legend, the Paramount logo represents "places where the company's territorial representative is based. In the United States there are twelve centers and the general headquarters in New York." The stars on the map indicate "leasing or sub-central agencies, of which there are 44 in the United States and Canada, as well as numerous in other countries." The legend also notes that Paramount had studios in Hollywood, New York, London and Paris.

 

Paramount  was serious about conquering the world, at least cinematically. The map legend indicates the various distribution hubs the studio had around the world. For example, Sydney was the hub for Australia as well as New Zealand, Java (Island in Indonesia), Estados de Malacca (Malaysia), and Siam (Thailand). To date, I haven't been able to find evidence of Brooks' films having been shown in Thailand, but now, knowing that Paramount films were in fact shown there, I will have too redouble my efforts.

The map legend, shown below, also notes that Rome was the hub for not only Italy, but also Turkey, Greece and Bulgaria. Shanghai (an international city), was the hub for China and the Philippine Islands. Havana was the hub for Cuba, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the West Indies. Paris controlled France, Belgium, and French colonies in North Africa. While Berlin controlled Germany, Holland, parts of Eastern Europe, Finland and the Baltic nations, etc....

To me, this is fascinating material, suggesting new countries and regions to research. So far, I have been able to document Brooks' films having been shown in nearly five dozen countries, including some which no longer exist and some which were yet to come into existence. There are city-states, like Danzig, now former colonies (like Algeria and Morroco), and countries renamed. This newly found map should help to point the way to even more film history treasure.

Around the World with Louise Brooks : Where and how her films were distributed

Fourteen of the twenty-four films in Louise Brooks' filmography were Paramount productions. That includes all of her American silent films except Just Another Blonde (1926) and A Girl in Every Port (1928); for those two productions, Brooks was loaned out to other studios. Just Another Blonde was a First National production, while A Girl in Every Port was a Fox production.

After her return from Europe, where Brooks made three films for a three different European studios, Brooks more-or-less returned to work in Hollywood, where she appeared in films for Warner Bros. Educational, Universal, Colombia, and Republic. Only two of her seven later sound films, It Pays to Advertise (1931) and King of Gamblers (1937), were Paramount productions. The former was done to complete her Paramount contract. Her role in the latter was small, and her part was eventually cut in it's domestic release.

[As is known, the domestic and foreign prints of films sometimes differed - even substantially, both in content (camera shots and plot points) and length. As is revealed in my forthcoming book, Around the World with Louise Brooks, there is some evidence that the actress' role in King of Gamblers may have been retained in some copies of the film's overseas release.]

As my forthcoming book shows, Brooks' films were shown all around the world, even in regions and countries where one might not think American films would have drawn much interest. As a powerhouse American studio, Paramount films were especially well distributed around the globe. In fact, it was something of which the studio was quite proud; over the years, they even published a few in-house journals showing just how far and wide their films were seen. Publications like Paramount Around the World and Paramount International News gathered news and publicity for Paramount films from far and wide. There were even nation specific publications, like Australia's Paramount Punch.

What's interesting is how Brooks was promoted in other countries. Combing through these and other publications, I came across some remarkable material. Did you know, for example, that giant roadside billboards promoted Brooks' Love Em and Leave Em in Australia? Or that crowds lined-up around the block to see The Canary Murder Case in Japan? (Brooks had a substantial following in Japan.)

The page reproduced below notes the many countries where Paramount films were shown. Notice, for example, how the office in Japan was also responsible for distribution to Korea, China, and the Philippine Islands. How the office in Cuba was also responsible for distribution to Porto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the West Indies. And how the office in Italy was also responsible for distribution to Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria.

This post will be continued, and will look at Brooks' and Paramount's presence in the Middle East.  .....

Guest Post: Philip Vorwald solves the mystery of "A Trip Through The Paramount Studio 1927"

Philip Vorwald has done the silent film world, and the community of those interested in Louise Brooks, a great service. (Attention Clara Bow and W.C. Fields fans as well.) Recently, he took the time to visit the Library of Congress in order to view the rare promotional short, A Trip Through The Paramount Studio 1927. And, he wrote up this extensive report on what he saw. Vorwald did so to satisfy his own curiosity, and to settle the question of who actually appears in this little known film. Does Louise Brooks? Here is his extensive report.

What a great report on this rare and noteworthy short film. How fascinating to see George Bancroft dancing with Betty Bronson, and to see a young Mary Astor, and Brooks' fellow actors Chester Conklin and Dorothy Mackaill. Hopefully, this short film will be released someday on DVD so that all can enjoy.

Paramount biography of Louise Brooks, circa 1927

I recently had the chance to see a scarce document, Biographies of the stars, featured players and directors who are appearing in Paramount pictures, by the Famous Players-Lasky Corp. Department of Foreign Publicity and Advertising. The document is dated 1927.

As is shown, Brooks was classified as a "Featured Player." This typescript-like document also contained biographical sketches of a number of other individuals associated with Brooks' time at Paramount, such as W.C. Fields (Star), Mary Brian (Featured Player), Lawrence Gray (Featured Player), Neil Hamilton (Featured Player), Percy Marmont (Featured Player), Adolphe Menjou (Featured Player), Esther Ralston (Star), Ford Sterling (Featured Player), and Lois Wilson (Featured Player). Each of their entries mention a film in which Louise Brooks appeared, as do the entries on directors Malcolm St. Clair and Frank Tuttle.

There are also entries on a few individuals who were yet to work with Brooks, including Richard Arlen (Featured Player), James Hall (Featured Player), and Thomas Meighan (Star).

High Class pictures

I came across this newspaper advertisement just the other day, while going through some microfilm of the West Side Index, the local newspaper in Newman, California (a small town east of San Jose & west of Merced, in Stanislaus County). It, and the other advertisements depicted in this post, are typical of the material I dig up on a regular basis. They also help sketch the history of film exhibition in the region.

By my calculations, it was 82 years ago today that the Star Theater in Newman was showing a high class Paramount Picture "Not Yet Determined." Was it a  film starring Louise Brooks or some other Paramount actor? We'll never know. [Oops, the typesetter misspelled "A Hight Class."]

At this time, in March of 1928, the Star Theater - of which Gus Johnson was proprietor, was showing Paramount films. That wasn't always the case. In my research, I uncovered listings for six of Brooks films having shown in Newman at the Star. I found ads for The Street of Forgotten Men (1925), The American Venus (1926) - and then a gap - and then The City Gone Wild (1927), Now We're In the Air (1927), Beggars of Life (1928), and The Canary Murder Case (1929).

Why there was a gap in the exhibition of Brooks' films isn't known. However, I would guess from having scrolled through reels of microfilm that the theater started out tied to Paramount, shifted over to another studio or went independent, and then shifted back. Remember this was the time of block booking, when local theaters were allied to certain studios and were "obligated" to show most all of that studio's output - whether they wanted to or not. After The American Venus, which the Star screened in April of 1926, the theater seemed to drop Paramount films and instead screened a mix of motion pictures from studios like Universal or MGM. By early 1928, they had shifted back.

Here is another newspaper advertisement for the Star Theater, which dates from the beginning of Brooks' film career and from a time when the Star was allied to Paramount.

This ad dates from early September of 1925, and lists The Street of Forgotten Men as a coming attraction. It is typical of the dozens of "Paramount Week" ads I have collected from all over Northern California and from around the United States. (The Star eventually screened The Street of Forgotten Men in late October.)

Paramount had a stronghold in Northern California. And, as a matter of fact, hardly a week went by in 1926 and 1927 when one of Brooks' films wasn't showing somewhere in the Bay Area. (By my calculations, only 11 weeks passed when a Brooks film wasn't being shown during this 104 week period. That's kinda wow! The question arises: Was it because Brooks was so popular? The answer: Probably not. In all likelihood, Brooks Paramount films were shown as often as they were because her studio was so dominant in the region.)

Here is one last ad, for the Gustine Theater in nearby Gustine, California (just south of Newman). It was also found in the Newman newspaper and dates from March of 1937, near the end of Brooks' film career. 

What's interesting and even unusual about it is that it lists two Brooks' films, Empty Saddles (1936) and When You're in Love (1937) in one ad! I haven't found many instances of such overlap. 

As a matter of fact, and comparatively speaking, I don't have that many ads or listings for Empty Saddles. As a sort of B-Western, it didn't show all that much. Especially compared to When You're in Love, which was a major release from Columbia starring Grace Moore and Cary Grant. It was the most widely shown (in Northern California) of all of Brooks' films. It's too bad that Brooks herself is impossible to spot in it!

I did a search of www.cinematreasures.org for the Star Theater, but wasn't able to find an entry. Nor could I find anything on the Gustine Theater. I will search a little further.

Rosetta Stone: Celebrate Paramount Week advertisement

Below, I've posted a large scan of a "Celebrate Paramount Week" advertisement which I recently came across in a San Francisco newspaper. It dates from 1926. This ad is not unique to San Francisco. In the past, I've dug up these kind of advertisements in other newspapers located across California and the United States.

A close reading of the advertisement reveals that the Louise Brooks - W.C. Fields film, It's the Old Army Game, play at two theatres in San Francisco on September 4th and 5th. As I am currently engaged in a project documenting the exhibition of Brooks' films in the City by the Bay, that's useful information. (The New Mission Theatre and the New Fillmore Theatre were sister theatres which almost always shared programming.)

However, what makes this large advertisement especially revealing is the extensive listing of San Francisco, Bay Area, and Northern California theatres. All of the venues listed here - including the various "irregular exhibition spaces" like hospitals, retirement homes and army base theatres - participated in Paramount Week. And by inference, these were theatres where Brooks' other Paramount features might have been shown. That's also useful information.

This advertisement - and the names and locales of the theatres contained within it - acts as a kind of Rosetta Stone in helping to document the exhibition of Brooks' films. It also reveals which theatres were allied with Paramount (this being the days of block booking) - and in some instances, the very existence of a theatre.

I was especially pleased to spot a listing for the Empress Theatre, located at 28th and Church street in San Francisco. That venue, which was torn down a few weeks ago, is located just a couple of block from where I live in San Francisco. I had written about its demise for my regular column on examiner.com.

If you live in Northern California, you will likely enjoy scouring this advertisement for a theatre near you. Because of its fine print, I have posted a rather large scan. Double-clicking on the image will reveal its full size. Isn't it impressive how many movie theatres there were back in the 1920's? They seemed to located just about everywhere!