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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

 

SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:

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

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

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

More about Prix de beauté can be found on the newly revamped Louise Brooks Society website on its Prix de beauté (filmography page).  

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original content copyright © 2026. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

New Louise Brooks Society page featuring physical media

I've just finished creating a BIG new page on the Louise Brooks Society website devoted to Louise Brooks physical media. Though it took me a couple of weeks to build -- working on it a little bit each day, the page itself has been years in the making, as I have been collecting and documenting all manner of physical media for some time. 

The "Film of Louise Brooks -- physical media" page features more than 125 examples of VHS, Laser Disc, DVD, PAL and Blu-ray releases from around the world. As I mention on the page itself, I recall there once was a Beta Tape release of a Brooks’ film, but I can’t seem to track it down. There may have also been a 9mm film available of one of Brooks’ westerns. Does anyone know? I would like to make this page as complete as possible.

Though I was able to document (via WorldCat records) that a particular film was released sometime in the past, I was not always able to track down a cover image. Other times, I came across a cover image, but was not able to determine which year a particular released was issued. And sometimes, I couldn't determine the release label, or studio. The Louise Brooks Society needs your help in filling in the details.... perhaps you have one of the releases with incomplete information in your collection? Or perhaps I got the name of the releasing company wrong. I think that may well be the case with some of the European releases. Please visit the "Film of Louise Brooks -- physical media" and see if you can fill in any of the information that is missing. Or perhaps you have an old VHS tape of Laser Disc or DVD that I missed altogether.

This page surprised me, as I hadn't realized there had been so many different releases of each of Brooks surviving films. Not surprisingly, Pandora's Box stands as the actress' most popular film in terms of physical media, with some 36 releases from around the world dating as far back as 1983. As a matter of fact, another of Brooks' films, Diary of a Lost Girl, was also released in the early 1980s -- each while Louise Brooks was still alive! 

The "Film of Louise Brooks -- physical media" page features releases that are both familiar and obscure. I had never heard of the Foothill Video company, nor the German Language Video Center release of Diary of a Lost Girl way back in 1984. Along with the United States, I found multiple films have been released in England, France, Italy, and Spain -- but I suspect I missed some from Germany. I've even managed to document a few physical media releases from Australia, Brazil, Japan, South Korea, and Switzerland. 

In the early 1990s, when I first came across Louise Brooks and became determined to see everyone of her surviving films, I used to go to the local Tower Records in San Francisco and flip through the bins hoping to find something new. There just wasn't much to find.... Seemingly, only the KINO releases were distributed to the shops I frequented. Then I discovered that other films could be ordered through mail-order from the like of Video Yesterday, Unknown Video, and Grapevine Video. And the rest is history.... The first few Louise Brooks films I ever bought were on VHS tape. I still have them, along with dupes of films that hadn't been released yet (and still haven't). Images of those early, first purchases are found on this page.

BTW: I also wanted to mention that "Film of Louise Brooks -- physical media" is page number 260 on the still growing Louise Brooks Society website. While waiting for judgement day, I've kept busy working on my longstanding website, which this year celebrates 30 years online. Check it out. In the meantime, I wonder which DVD or Blu-ray will be next added to "Film of Louise Brooks -- physical media" ? I have a good idea, it it will be a doozy!

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.

Louise Brooks & Her Films as Seen in Brazilian Magazines & Newspapers

The Louise Brooks Society blog is participating in the 2024 Luso World Cinema Blogathon. This blogathon celebrates the contributions of Portuguese-speaking peoples and their descendants to world cinema. This post is the third of three related posts. More information on the Luso World Cinema Blogathon, including a list of other participants and topics, may be found HERE. I would encourage everyone to check it out!

Before I post something about the bits and pieces I've found searching the internet, I want to mention that I recently came across a six part podcast all about today's topic - Louise Brooks and Brazil. This podcast, by Pedro Dantas, is titled "Louise Brooks, Garota Perdida" and dates to November 2021. Here is the series description in Portuguese: "Programa em homenagem ao legado artístico e cinematográfico de Louise Brooks (1906-1985), estrela do cinema mudo, ícone dos anos 1920 e mulher à frente de seu tempo (e do nosso tempo). Em 2021 se completam 115 anos de seu nascimento." And here it is in English translation: "Program in honor of the artistic and cinematographic legacy of Louise Brooks (1906-1985), silent film star, icon of the 1920s and woman ahead of her time (and our time). 2021 marks 115 years since her birth."

"Louise Brooks, Garota Perdida"

I don't speak Portuguese or Brazilian Portuguese, so I cannot listen and understand. But if anyone does give it a listen, I would appreciate knowing your thoughts. BTW, the above mentioned series isn't the only Brazilian podcast I've come across about Brooks. Another, from ClickCiência, dates to January 2021 and is titled "Recepção da obra de Louise Brooks no Brasil é tema de pesquisa na UFSCar." In it, Tamara Carla dos Santos, a student in the Postgraduate Program in Image and Sound at the Federal University of São Carlos, talks about her research on the reception of the films of Louise Brooks in Brazil. Again, if anyone gives it a listen, I would appreciate knowing your thoughts. 

I am fortunate to have been able to dig into a few different Brazilian database archives and have acquired dozens and  dozens of newspaper and magazine clippings and advertisements about Louise Brooks and her films. My greatest find, a couple of pieces about Louise Brooks and Pandora's Box in a 1930 Chaplin Club newsletter, were covered in my previous post. 

I have too many to post here, so instead I will post some highlights. Before I begin, I would like to point readers of this blog to a page on the Louise Brooks Society website devoted to the actress' South American Magazine Covers. The actress appeared on at least four covers from Brazil, three from Cinearte, and once on A Scena Muda.Reader's can seen them there in beautiful color.

A Scena Muda was one of Brazil's most popular film magazines. They often ran two page spreads on news films, including most all of Brooks' paramount productions. Here is a typical two page spread on Beggars of Life, which in Brazil was titled Os Mendigos na Vida.

Cinearte was another popular fan magazine.  Like A Scena Muda, it too ran one and two page spreads on newly released films. Here is the feature they ran on The Canary Murder Case, which in Brazil was titled O Drama De Uma Noite.

When we think of Brooks' three European films, we usually think of them in a European context. We don't necessarily think that they played in Latin American -- at least not around the time of their release. However, at least two of them did. Pandora's Box played in Brazil in 1929 (months before it played in the United States), and Prix de beaute played in Brazil in 1930 (decades before it played in the United States). The earliest screening of Diary of a Lost Girl in Brazil which I have been able to document dates to August 1954. The film was shown three times at the Filmoteca do Museu de Arte Moderna. That puts it on par with the Louise Brooks' revival just beginning to percolate in France and Italy! And, that predates its first shown in the United States by more than two decades.

Here is a single page piece on Pandora's Box from a magazine called Frou-Frou. in Brazil, the film was called Caixa de Pandora.

Of the three, I might guess that Prix de beaute made the biggest splash. I have come across magazine features about the French production, was well as a good deal of newspaper coverage. In fact, one newspaper, Diario Carioca, from Rio De Janeiro, ran significant articles about the film six days in a row! Here is one example of those pieces, shown within the context of the entire newspaper page.

In my previous post, I displayed a newspaper advertisement for Prix de beaute. I'll close this blog post with another. Uniquely so, it notes that Louise Brooks would be wearing, or modeling, clothes designed by Patou. I don't think I have ever come across an ad for this film -- even French ads -- which mentioned Patou.

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 Rise & Fall of Max Linder, and a couple of tenuous connections to Louise Brooks

A few months ago I received a copy of The Rise & Fall of Max Linder: The First Cinema Celebrity, a remarkable new biography by Lisa Stein Haven. The book, the first English language study of the life and art of the comedic great, is published by Bear Manor Media. I have been slowly making my way through it, not because it is slow going, but because I am relishing reading it. The Rise & Fall of Max Linder is an immersive biography. Reading it, absorbing its rich detail, learning about the life of someone I admittedly knew only little about made me feel like I was displaced back in time to the beginning of the 20th century. 

Before reading Haven's book, I was only a bit familiar with Linder. I knew that he was French. I had seen a few of his short films, and also knew that he was a comedic actor and had influenced Charlie Chaplin. That's about it - except for a tenuous connection to Louise Brooks, which I mention later. What is remarkable about Haven's book is that it pulls back the curtain on a time and place long ago and reveals a distant world from which this comedic genius sprang. That is revelatory.

Max Linder was born Gabriel Leuvielle in St. Loubes, France in 1883; he started in films with the Pathe Brothers in 1905, making him one of the first film comedians to achieve world-wide renown. In fact, according to Haven, there is evidence that Linder was the first screen celebrity to see his name in print. His comedy timing and gags -- Linder started writing his own scenarios early on -- have been copied and imitated by many of his followers, including Charlie Chaplin. (Upon receiving the news of Linder's death, Chaplin is reported to have closed his studio for a day out of respect.)

Notably as well, his high society characterizations as the dapper "Max" also influenced such actors as Adolphe Menjou and Raymond Griffith. (Louise Brooks played in two films opposite Menjou, A Social Celebrity and Evening Clothes, and appeared in another, God's Gift to Women, which was co-authored by Griffith.)

Just how big was Linder? The universality of silent films brought Linder fame and fortune throughout Europe, making him the highest paid entertainer of the day. By 1910, he had become the most popular film actor in the world, and is thought to be the very first movie star with a significant international following. In Russia, he was voted the most popular film actor, ahead of Asta Nielsen. He also had a Russian impersonator, Zozlov, and a devoted fan in Czar Nicholas II. Another professed fan was British playwright George Bernard Shaw. The first feature film ever made in Bulgaria was a remake of one of Linder's earlier movies. He was offered $12,000 to spend a month in Berlin making public appearances with his film screenings, but declined for health reasons. Later, in 1911 and 1912, he began touring Europe with his films, including Spain, where he entertained thousands of fans, as well as Austria and then Russia, where he was accompanied on piano by a young Dimitri Tiomkin. 

via Lisa Stein Haven

Spoiler alert: Of course, nothing lasts forever, and Linder's story is both a comedy and a tragedy. His meteoric rise to fame beginning in 1907/1908 hit a roadblock in 1914 with the onset of World War I, and was dealt a death blow by his attempts to revive his career in America and Austria (and in a changing world). His marriage to a young wife was ill-fated and ill-timed, leading Linder to take the life of his wife and himself on the night of October 31, 1925. Linder himself died on November 1, 1925 - 76 years ago today, leaving behind a 16-month-old daughter named Maud who would devote her life to restoring his film legacy. 

I mentioned a tenuous connection to Louise Brooks. Actually, there are two. The first is the famed singing Frenchman, Maurice Chevalier, who is best known to devotees of Brooks as the singer who popularized "Louise" (a song not about Brooks, though long associated with her). Along with director Abel Gance, Chevalier was once one in the company of actors employed by Linder.

In his native France, Linder was a superstar, hugely popular to the degree that a movie theater was opened in Paris which bore his name. Of course, it showed more than just Linder films. In fact, it was at the Max Linder Pathe (located at 24 boulevard Poissonnière in Paris) that Brooks' sole French film, Prix de beauté, debuted on May 9, 1930. To open at the 1,200 seat Max Linder Pathe was considered an honor, and Brooks' film rose to the challenge and proved popular. At the time, most films played a few days or a week before moving on. However, as this ad shows, Prix de beauté was a hit, and ran more than "2eme mois" or two months at the Max Linder Pathe.

The Max Linder theater is still open to this day, helping keep the memory of this comedic actor alive. I would encourage anyone interested in early film to check out The Rise & Fall of Max Linder: The First Cinema Celebrity. It is a good read.

 

Lisa Stein Haven is an Professor of English at Ohio University Zanesville, specializing in British and American modernist literature, the Beat poets and silent film comedy, especially the work of Charlie and Syd Chaplin, Buster Keaton and Max Linder. In 2010, she organized and hosted "Charlie in the Heartland: An International Charlie Chaplin Conference" at Zanesville, which was attended by participants from 11 countries outside of the United States.

In summer 2014, Haven was the keynote speaker at Charlot 100, a celebration of the 100th anniversary of Chaplin's Little Tramp persona, held in Bologna, Italy and sponsored by Roy Export S.A.S and the Cineteca di Bologna. She is also a member of the executive board for the Buster Keaton Celebration, held every year in Iola, Kansas. 

Stein's earlier books, which I have read and written about in the past, include another first ever study, Syd Chaplin: A Biography (McFarland, 2010), a book about Chaplin, A Comedian Sees the World (University of Missouri, 2014), and Charlie Chaplin’s Little Tramp in America, 1947–77 (Palgrave Macmillan, 2016).

via Cinema Treasures at http://cinematreasures.org/theaters/16578

Stephen Horne spellbound in darkness, and silents

Musical accompanist Stephen Horne is a longtime friend, not only to myself but also to Louise Brooks and the Louise Brooks Society. In fact, he has probably accompanied the screening of a Louise Brooks film as much as anyone. 

I likely met him "over the internet" well more than 10 or 12 years ago when we did an email interview about Prix de beaute back when I was writing for examiner.com. In the years since, we have met a few times in person when Stephen came to San Francisco to accompany a film at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. He is a great guy and a great musician. As examiner.com no longer exists,  HERE is a link to a later incarnation of the interview I did with Stephen about Prix de beaute.

The other day, Stephen was a guest blogger on Pamela Hutchinson's wonderfilled Silent London blog. (It is a blog well worth subscribing to, and supporting.) Stephen's thoughtful piece, which is titled "Silent Sirens: Stephen Horne on playing for the ghosts of silent film," begins with the musician's near mystical experience when he once accompanied a Louise Brooks film. There was nothing "new age" about Stephen's account. Instead, it has to do with the special experience so many of us experience when we view a silent film. We are transported. 

Stephen wrote "At one point Louise was held in an extended close-up – her smiling, enigmatic beauty framed by silver light. Then she started to speak and, although there was no intertitle, it was very clear to me what she was saying. In fact, just for a few seconds, I could actually hear her voice speaking the words. At least, that’s how it seemed. In retrospect, I realised that I had almost certainly been lip-reading. However, something about the moment, as immersive as it was, made the words transform into the sound of a voice within my head." 

He continued, "I didn’t give it another thought until some time later, when I realised that there seemed to be something pleasantly haunting about silent films, particularly when accompanied by live music. They can sometimes feel like a form of cultural séance: the audience gathers in a darkened space, hoping to make contact with long departed cinematic spirits. The musicians are almost like musical mediums and, at its best the music they produce can be a form of channelling." 

That last paragraph really struck me. I hope you will check out Stephen's entire piece "Silent Sirens: Stephen Horne on playing for the ghosts of silent film."

 

Readers may also want to know that Stephen's first CD, Silent Sirens, is to be released on July 9 on the Ulysses Arts label. Silent Sirens is an album of music composed and performed by Stephen Horne. And, it is something I am really looking forward to hearing.

The tracks on the album are intended to stand alone from the films from which they were initially inspired. However, according to the artist, most of these films have two things in common. "Firstly, they share a certain haunting quality, leaving unanswered questions to reverberate in the viewer’s mind long after ‘The End’. Secondly, at least for me, the strongest impression is made by the films’ leading women – the actresses and their roles. Combining these two elements suggested the theme of Silent Sirens."

More information on Stephen Horne's Silent Sirens, including purchase and streaming options, can be found HERE.

For more on this musician's approach to accompanying silent film, here is a video interview from 2009. Stephen Horne spoke to Marek Bogacki at the Killruddery Silent Film Festival about his career in silent film music.

 

A Couple Three Nifty New Finds From Around the World with Louise Brooks

While continuing to write and research my forthcoming book, Around the World with Louise Brooks, I continue to come across remarkable stuff. Last night, for example, while researching the 1930 French film Prix de beaute, I came across some articles which specifically identified which actresses dubbed Louise Brooks' speaking and singing voices in the various incarnations of the film. If you recall, Prix de beaute was released in four different languages (French, Italian, English and German) as both a silent and sound film. If these plans were realized, that means there are eight different variants of Prix de beaute! That is kind of remarkable, and French newspapers at the time thought so and claimed it had never been done. Articles of the time also claimed that the rights to the film had been sold all over the world, including the United States. Who knew, since it often said that the film was something of a failure and little seen. In fact, it was shown all over Europe (including Iceland and the Ukraine) as well as in French Algeria, Madagascar, Japan, Turkey, and the U.S.S.R. However, despite the fact that Prix was also shown in the 1930s in Western Hemisphere (Argentina, Brazil, Cuba, Haiti, Uruguay, and Venezuela), I don't believe it was shown in the United States or Canada until the late 1950s or early 1960s. Perhaps the timing was wrong for a dubbed foreign film in the USA.

Speaking of lovely portraits, I just recently came across a eye-catching image of the French film actress actress Arlette Marchel taken by one of the most gifted photographers of his time, M.I. Boris. I was going to describe Boris as everyone's favorite Louise Brooks photographer (since he took some outstanding photo's of the actress at the beginning of her career), but I might guess that everyone's favorite Brooks photographer is Eugene Robert Richee, the Paramount staff photographer. Well anyways, here is the portrait of Marchal, embellished a little more than usual in Boris' customary manner of etching the photographic print. (Marchel appeared in Wings and a couple other Clara Bow and Adolphe Menjou films.) I think Vincent might like this one; it was published in a rare Brazilian film mag.

Despite the eye appeal of the above two images, the one I was most pleased to find is this "pattern poem" or "picture poem," which was also published in a rare Brazilian film magazine. It is a prose-poem (how else to describe it?) formatted into the shape of a goblet, a symbol of both femininity (right Dan Brown) and rarity, or preciousness. It mentions a number of beautiful actresses (Norma Talmadge, Greta Nissen, Lya De Putti, Pola Negri, Colleen Moore, Clara Bow, Billie Dove, etc...), as well as Louise Brooks "with the dark night of its provocative sensualism." I think George Herbert would like this one.

My next post, in a couple of days, will feature another remarkable image regarding the presence of Paramount films around the world.

Two poems - one Louise Brooks, one Lulu - first installment in memory of my feelings

With time on my hands due to the coronavirus pandemic quarantine, I was digging around the corners of the internet the other day - two different corners actually, when I came across a couple of poems which I thought might be of interest to readers of this blog which concerns itself with all things Louise Brooks and Lulu. This is the first installment.

The first poem is one I have known about for some time; it is called "F.Y.I. (Prix de Beauté)" and it is by Frank O'Hara (1926-1966), one of the key New York School poets and one of the key American poets of the 1960s. (His 1964 book, Lunch Poems, is a classic and a favorite!) Not only does the poem's title reference a Brooks' film, namely Prix de beauté (1930), it also begins with a quotation from that film, "Et peut-être je t'aimerais encore," or "And maybe I will still love you," which is ascribed to the actress. Here, the poem is dated 7/31/61.

I found the poem while looking through a keyword searchable database of post WWII small press publication which included some lesser known poetry magazines, or what we might today call 'zines. This find was surprising, in that it references the actress rather early on in the history of the Brooks' revival - and that it comes from a poetry journal, not a film journal. The publication was called Audit-Poetry, and it was published out of Buffalo, New York. This issue, vol IV, no. 1, from 1964, featured the work of Frank O'Hara.

I was first made aware of the poem by Bill Berkson (1939-2016), a good friend of O'Hara's and a poet of renown who is also associated with the New York School of Poets. I had known Berkson back when I lived in San Francisco. We met after I had mounted a small exhibit of Louise Brooks memorabilia at a local coffee shop in my San Francisco neighborhood. Among those who visited the exhibit were the artist/filmmaker Bruce Conner (who wrote in the guestbook, see below), the artist known as Jess (who was brought by the poet Norma Cole), and Berkson himself.

Berkson, who lived in my San Francisco neighborhood, suggested we meet. He told me about his own interest and affection for Brooks and that he had written a poem related to the actress which was titled "Bubbles." He also told me about "F.Y.I. (Prix de Beauté)" and his friendship with O'Hara. Berkson said that both of their poems were inspired by a July 31, 1961 screening of Prix de Beauté at the New Yorker theater in New York City which the two young poets attended. O'Hara's poem, dated to the day of the screening, was first published three years a later in Audit-Poetry, and then again in The Collected Poems of Frank O'Hara, edited by Donald Allen, a book which shared the 1972 National Book Award for Poetry. [I treasure my old hardback copy of this collection, which I had autographed by the late poet John Ashbery (who once met Brooks, which he told me about) and who wrote the introduction. I regret that I did not have Donald Allen sign it as well, as I was acquainted with him during my days as a bookseller in the late 1990s. He was a bit of a curmudgeon.]

Well anyways, Berkson and I got to know one another a bit, and we talked about Brooks, poetry, and art when we met (Berkson was also well known art critic, and I recall the Philip Guston paintings which hung in his apartment). He gave me a copy of his 1984 book Lush Life, which contained "Bubbles." I put on a poetry reading with him at the bookstore where I worked. (The store used to issue trading cards for most all of its events, and I collected a set of signed cards.)

Around that time, I also began making a series of limited edition broadsides in conjunction with some of those bookstore readings, and one that I issued in conjunction with Berkson's reading was of his Brooks-related poem. These broadsides were printed at home on my laser printer on hand-fed watercolor paper (it was a laborious project trying to feed thick textured paper through a printer not meant to accept such paper), usually in an edition of 25 or 50 copies, with each autographed by the poet. Here is the "Bubbles" broadside , which includes a portrait of Brooks in The American Venus discretely drawn like a watermark into the background, just as the actress discretely inspired Berkson's oblique poem. (BTW: Some of the language in this poem is drawn from Brooks' own writings, especially her piece on the making of Beggars of Life.)

 

Bill told me he liked what I had made, and went about signing the edition of 50. I gave him a few copies, and he told me that one would go into his archive which a university was considering purchasing. I was pleased. I also told Bill about my hopes to make a similar broadside for O'Hara's "F.Y.I. (Prix de Beauté)". In fact, I showed him a draft copy, which Bill also liked. He was enthusiastic about the project, and gave me the email of O'Hara's estate so I could write and get permission to publish a broadside. I did so, but was turned down. Alas. And that was the end of that. Here is a low res scan of one of two draft copies. [I recall I gave Berkson one, and kept one.]

post script. I printed a few more broadsides back then, though not all were related to Brooks. Among those that were include an August Kleinzahler poem, "Watching Young Couples with an Old Girlfriend on Sunday Morning," which references Louise Brooks and her "annealed" hair. Beautiful. I also made a Barry Paris broadside at the time I put on event for his reissued biography of Brooks. That was back in 2006....  

 

One of my best efforts was a triptych of broadsides (edition of 25 copies per each poem, total edition of 75) made at the time I did an event with the acclaimed poet Mary Jo Bang for her superb book, Louise in Love. Here is a picture of the three poems, "Louise in Love, - " She Loved Falling" - The Diary of a Lost Girl", along with the cover of Bang's 2001 book.

This blog is a prose poem, if you will, written in memory of my feelings, as it were. The next blog,  the second installment, concerns a Lulu poem written by an obscure Andean modernist published in 1929. Stay tuned.

New Louise Brooks DVD - Prix de beaute released in Italy

Prix de beaute, the Louise Brooks film made in France in 1930, has just been released on DVD in Italy. I haven't yet received a copy, but I assume this to be the silent version of the 1930 film as released in Italy. (Prix de beaute was released as both a silent and sound film in as many as four different languages.) Earlier this year, near the onset of the worldwide coronavirus pandemic, Il Cinema Ritrovato made a streaming version of this classic film available. Read more HERE.

Here is the description of this new release as found on the Il Cinema Ritrovato website. The DVD is for sale there, and on amazon Italy; I also noticed a copy has popped up on eBay.

This new release features 2 DVDs and a booklet - curated by Mariann Lewinsky and Andrea Meneghelli.

Presented in the world premiere or in the most recent restorations, four films to rediscover the genius of Augusto Genina and the extraordinary generation of actresses, between stardom and post-stardom, who illuminated his silent cinema. Goodbye youth! (1918): from the famous comedy by Camasio and Oxilia, miraculously rediscovered, a film of palpitating naturalness, inhabited by the radiant presence of Maria Jacobini. The mask and the face (1919): a satirical and abrasive comedy of matrimonial and sexual customs, which bursts into the cinema of the time with unprecedented audacity. Goodbye youth! (1927): a remake, but it's like a century has passed. Genina and her muse Carmen Boni look to international cinema and create a stunning modern romantic comedy. Prix ​​de beauté (1930): the farewell and apotheosis of the silent Genina. Louise Brooks shines with all her innocent and sensual aura in a timeless European masterpiece.

With essays by Mariann Lewinsky, Andrea Meneghelli, Paola Cristalli, Michele Canosa and six portraits of actresses by Vittorio Martinelli.

Lately, while working on Around the World with Louise Brooks, I have been spending time with all the material I have collected on Prix de beaute. And while doing so, I came across a 1989 Italian book on director Augusto Genina which I didn't have and which I ordered. Though I don't read or speak Italian, flipping through this new-to-me volume got me even more interested in this Italian-born director. Thus, I am looking forward to seeing three more of his early films. I can't wait for my disc to arrive... I plan on blogging about this new DVD sometime soon.

Louise Brooks film Prix de beauté made available for online streaming during coronavirus crisis

Yesterday's blog,Where and how to stream Louise Brooks and silent & classic film from home, featured a segment on Italy's Cineteca Milano. In response to the worldwide coronavirus crisis, that prestigious film archive has made parts of its rich catalogue available to stream online. Among the 500 films available for streaming are a number of silent era features and shorts, including the 1930 Louise Brooks film, Prix de beauté.

To access the Cineteca Milano film catalogue, you must first register at this address - click HERE. Instructions are pretty easy to follow, even if you don’t speak or read Italian. I used the the Chrome browser, which can translate pages on the fly. Once you have set up your free account, search for Louise Brooks, or Miss Europa (the Italian title for Prix de beauté).

I can't stress enough what an extraordinary opportunity this is to view this RARE version of this great Louise Brooks film. First, consider this. The sound version which most Louise Brooks fans are familiar with was released on DVD by KINO. That version runs 1 hour and 28 minutes. This Italian version runs 2 hours and 3 minutes. That's 35 more minutes! I realize that "projection speeds" or FPS can account for varying lengths - but I have watched the Italian version and believe it does contain footage I haven't seen before!

As is known, Prix de beauté was released as both a sound and silent film, and, it was released in four different languages, French, English, German and Italian. (I don't know that the film was released in four different language as both a silent and sound film. That questions still needs to be resolved.)

The version made available through the Cineteca Milano is the silent Italian version. There is no music, and the subtitles are in Italian. Here is the basic film information offered by Cineteca Milano.

TITLE: Miss Europa
ORIGINAL TITLE: Prix ​​De Beauté
FILM DIRECTOR: Augusto Genina
COUNTRY: France
DURATION: 124 '
YEAR: 1930

CAST & CREDITS: Cast: Louise Brooks Georges Charlia Augusto Bandini; Subject: Augusto Genina Rebé Clair Bernard Zimmer Alessandro De Stefani; Screenplay: GW Pabst René Clair; Photogafia: Rudolph Maté Louis Née; Editing: T. Edmond Greville; Scenography: Robert Gys; Costumes: Jean Patou; Production: Sofar-Film

SYNOPSIS: Lucienne, who has a modest job in an office, is a very beautiful and unscrupulous girl. Unbeknownst to her boyfriend, she takes part in the beauty contest for Miss Europe and wins it but then chooses to be his wife, giving up the courtship of a prince. One night, however, she leaves the house and her husband because she wants to try to live in luxury and, above all, she needs to feel surrounded by the admiration of others. The prince has not forgotten her and helps her to enter the world of cinema but her husband will find her and, not knowing how to forgive her, will be ruthless with her.

As I mentioned above, I have viewed the silent Italian version of Prix de beauté. I have always thought it was a good film, but now feel it is better in this longer, silent edition. I also now feel that Louise Brooks did some of the best acting of her career in this film, especially in scenes which I think are not present in the sound version I am far more familiar with.

I have seen a silent version once before. In 2013, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival screened a version of the film, which ran 1 hour and 48 minutes. That version was restored in a silent version by the Cineteca del Comune di Bologna from a silent copy with Italian intertitles from the Cineteca Italiana and a French sound copy from the Cinémathèque française.

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival program essay on Prix de beauté states "Even as Brooks earned some kudos for her performance, particularly from the French critics, the film was a quick flop in Europe and didn’t even merit a U.S. release." While it is true that the film wasn't shown in the United States until 1957 when the Eastman House screened a print, it is NOT TRUE that "the film was a quick flop in Europe." In fact, it was something of a sensation. In Paris, the film enjoyed an extended run and ran  for more than two months. The film was shown across France and Europe in 1930 - in Germany, Norway, Switzerland, and elsewhere. The film continued to be shown in Europe - in Hungary, Spain, Iceland (shown below) and Turkey in 1931, in Poland and Switzerland in 1932, in The Netherlands in 1933, and in Luxembourg in 1934.

I have also documented screenings in Haiti in 1932, 1933, 1935, and 1936 - as well as in Algeria and even Madagascar in 1933. The film was a huge hit in Ro de Janiero, Brazil in 1930, and was also shown in Japan. There was even a revival screening in Uruguay in 1952!

A full record of the rich exhibition history of Prix de beauté will be documented in volume 2 of my forthcoming book, Around the World with Louise Brooks. In the mean time, here is a record of where the film was shown, as well as under what title.

Under its French title, documented screenings of the film took place in Algeria, Belgium, Haiti, Japan, Madagascar, Sweden, Switzerland, and Turkey.

Elsewhere, Prix de beauté was shown under the title Vanidad (Argentina); Miss Europa (Austria); Miss Europa (Brazil); El Premio Fatal (Cuba); Miss Europa and Der Schönheitspreis (Czechoslovakia) and Miss Európa (Slovakia); Miss Europa (Danzig); Beauty Prize and Miss Europe (England); Miss Europa and Preis der Schönheit and Der Schönheitpreis (Germany); A szépsvg vására or Szépségvásár and Miss Europa (Hungary); Fegurðardrottning Euröpu (Iceland); Miss Europa and Premio di bellezza and Regina di bellezza (Italy); Premija par skaistumu and Skaistuma godalga (Latvia); Miss Europa (Der Schonheitspreis) (Luxembourg); Miss Europa and Schoonheidsprijs (The Netherlands); Skjønhetskonkurransen (Norway); Kobieto nie grzesz and Nagroda pieknosci and Nie Grzesz Kobieto (Poland); Miss Europa (Der Schonheitspreis) and Weib, sündige nicht (Poland, German language publication); Prémio de Beleza (Portugal); Nagrada za lepoto and Zrtev velike ljubezni (Slovenia); Premio de belleza (Spain, including Catalonia); Miss Europe (Switzerland); Kuzellik Kirali-Casi and Güzellik Ödülü (Turkey); Nie Grzesz Kobieto! (Ukraine); Приз краси and Приз за красоту (U.S.S.R.); Vanidad (Uruguay); Vanidad (Venezuela).

In recent years, numerous screenings of the film have been taken place around the world, including first ever showings under the title Prix de beauté (or Beauty Prize or Miss Europe) in Australia, Canada, Europe, United States and elsewhere.

A few biblio-curiosities: unrelated vintage books with the titles of Louise Brooks' films

As most fans know, a handful of Louise Brooks' films, like Beggars of Life and The Canary Murder Case, were based on once well known books of the same name. Other films were based on well known stage plays, like The Show Off and It Pays to Advertise, each of which were also published in book form.

Researching Brooks and her films can turn up some rather unusual items.... And over the years, I have come across a few examples of vintage books which also share the title of a Brooks' film - but otherwise have no real connection to the film itself. They are, to say the least, biblio-curiosities.

The Street of Forgotten Men (1925) is the title of Brooks' first film. Directed by Herbert Brenon, it was based on a short story, "The Street of the Forgotten Men" by George Kibbe Turner, which appeared in Liberty magazine earlier in 1925. [Remarkably, thirteen of Turner's stories or novels were turned into films between the years 1920 and 1932.]  

The Street of Forgotten Men was also the title of a book by John Vande Water. The book's full title, The Street of Forgotten Men : ten years of missionary experience in Chicago, pretty much explains what it's about. This "other" book was published by Eerdmans, a publisher of religious books based in Grand Rapids, Michigan; the copies I've seen have no date of issue - but to my eye, look to postdate the 1925 film. (I've emailed the publisher, which is still in business, asking for a date of issue.) Besides it's title, skid-row / Bowery setting, and theme of redemption, the book and film are unrelated. Anyone interested in reading or just checking out Vande Water's book can do so HERE.

A "street of forgotten men" is a catchphrase, and the name sometimes given to those parts of a town where the homeless would congregate. Street of Forgotten Men was, as well, the name given to a 1930's short film which "toured" the Bowery and it's unfortunate denizens. It is not listed on ImDb, but can be viewed below.

Another catchphrase or idiom which became the title of a Louise Brooks film and a later book is "a girl in every port." The 1928 Brooks' film by that name was directed by Howard Hawks, and was based on a story by Hawks and James K. McGuinness, with a scenario by Seton I. Miller.

So far, I've come across three works titled A Girl in Every Port. The earliest seems to be Forrest Additon's book of poems and drawings, which is subtitled "The Odyssey of a Deep-Sea Sailor." As you might expect, this 1938 vanity press publication is a collection of slightly saucy sing-songy poems which recount various encounters with women around the world. Many of the poems are accompanied by one of Additon's sometimes saucy drawings. In a foreword, the author takes pains to assure his readers these are not his stories, oh no, but just those he has heard from sailors the author has encountered during his travels.

It is difficult to choose the "best" piece in this volume, but here at least is a representative one. It is called "Wolly Golly."

The author, in case you are wondering, was a self-published writer and amateur artist who worked for many years in the furniture manufacturing business in Flowery Branch, Georgia. He is also credited with authoring the Illinois state song. When Additon died in 1958, Florida's Fort Lauderdale News considered him enough of a local celebrity (he had retired to Florida) that it ran an obituary on the front page.

I am lucky enough to own an autographed first edition copy of this Additon's self-published book. (The publisher is Henry Harrison, a poetry publisher based in New York City. The New Yorker described Harry Harrison as a vanity publisher who charged authors to publish their work, a la the Vantage Press.) I am not sure why I own a copy of this title, but I do. I guess it's because I am a book collector of sorts. My hardcover copy (pictured below) is in it's original dustjacket, and is in very good condition. Laid in are a couple of pieces of author related ephemera, including a reproduction of a 1937 drawing of Joseph C. Grew, the one-time ambassador to Japan. "T.M.I." you may say. Ok, I'll move on.

I also own an ephemeral booklet titled A Girl in Every Port. Published in 1942 by the Dramatic Publishing Company of Chicago, this 30 page, one act comedy by James Fuller continues the theme of randy sailors and their romantic adventures in various ports of call. The playlet calls for one man, named Jim "who loves them all," and seven women named Marilyn, Mary, Mimi, Mandy Lou, Maude, Tina (a maid), and Miss Margrave. Mmmmmm..... My copy is pictured below.

 

One other vintage book I've come across titled A Girl in Every Port is a 1942 work of fiction by William McClellan published by the Phoenix Press (a renowned publisher of mysteries, westerns, and genre fiction during the 1930s and 1940s). McClellan also author Waterfront Waitress (1937), Lady Interne (1939), Midnight in Morocco (1943) and other works, each of which was published by the Phoenix Press. I don't know anything else about A Girl in Every Port except that it seems to continue the same cliched trope of sailors on the loose around the world. As did, no doubt, Donald R Morris' 1956 paperback subtitled "Sailors & Sex in the Orient" published by Berkley (not pictured).

Lastly, here is a rare French book titled Prix de beaute. Published in Paris by Editions du Petit Echo de la Mode sometime in the 1920s (possibly in 1929), this 158 page work by C. N. Williamson shares its title with the 1930 French film starring Louise Brooks. I don't know much else about it, as I am awaiting the arrival of the copy I have ordered from France.

I will end this rambling post with the yet unrelated work of fiction, except that this one depicts Louise Brooks on it's cover! The book is Loot by Rob Eden, published by Grosset and Dunlap in 1932. Rob Eden was the pseudonym of Robert Ferdinand Burkhardt, a genre author whose works include Honeymoon Delayed as well as other pulp plots like The Girl with the Red Hair, Blond Trouble, Short Skirts, and In Love with a T-Man. The copy on the front of the dustjacket reads "Torn between loyalty to her newly found brother and love for his enemy, Robin Moore makes her choice!" Sounds like a great read, doesn't it!!