Silent and Forgotten - forthcoming film features Louise Brooks

A forthcoming docudrama, Silent and Forgotten, features Louise Brooks as its primary character and occasional narrator. The film, an independent release from Summer Hill Films, is set for release on November 12, 2019.

According to the film's producers, "In the years before talking pictures, movies relied on faces to tell a story. Silver screens around the world were illuminated by the incandescent beauty of actresses like Clara Bow, Lillian Gish, Louise Brooks, America's Sweetheart Mary Pickford, and many others. They were the most famous women in the world...adored by millions, worshiped by legions. They had fame, fortune and power. Behind the scenes, it was a different story. Early Hollywood lured thousands of young actresses with the promise of fame and fortune. Hidden in the enticement was exploitation, abuse and ownership by the men in power. Most of these starlets died young of drugs, alcohol and suicide. They have been silent until now. Hear their stories in their own words. In Silent and Forgotten, a single actress re-enacts the stories of 13 of the most famous actresses of the silent era."

That single actress is Jacquie Donley, who stars in the 150 minute film. Donley plays Brooks, as well as Clara Bow, Lillian Gish, Mary Pickford, Theda Bara, Colleen Moore, Marion Davies, Lottie Pickford, Olive Thomas, Marlene Dietrich, Pepi Lederer, Dorothy Arzner, and Virginia Rappe. Among the other individuals portrayed by other actors in this look at early film are Charlie Chaplin, Owen Moore, Jack Pickford, Douglas Fairbanks, William Wellman, Richard Arlen, B. P. Schulberg, D.W. Griffith, Walter Wanger, Adolf Zukor, Will Hays, Elinor Glyn, and Roscoe 'Fatty' Arbuckle.

A number of individuals associated with Brooks and her careers as a dancer and actress are also portrayed. They include James Card and Kenneth Tynan, Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, G. W. Pabst, Fritz Kortner and Alice Robert, Hal McCoy, and Lord Beaverbrook.

Silent and Forgotten is in pre-sale now at a discount. According to Donley, "Our hope is that we were as accurate as possible while giving one perspective of what Louise must have experienced emotionally during her lifetime. This movie was a labor of love, and our hope is that one of these days, we can get a star on the walk of fame for Louise."

Recommended new books on silent film: Pola Negri, Marion Davies, Slapstick Divas and more

Ahead of a longer review, here are a few new books I wish to recommend to fans of Louise Brooks  as well as those interested in the silent film era. Brooks' career was contemporaneous with Negri, Davies,  Keeler and the actresses written about in Slapstick Divas. There are other points of intersection, as well. Each book can be found on amazon.com and elsewhere.

Pola Negri—The Hollywood Years (CreateSpace)
by Tony Villecco

"Her films were silent. She wasn’t. Meet POLA NEGRI, the glamorous “vamp” who took Hollywood by storm in the Roaring Twenties. Already renowned in Europe for her acting talent, beauty, and passion, Negri quickly made her mark in dramatic black and white, both onscreen and off.

Vivid. Wild. Threatening. Gorgeous. Temperamental. Exotic. Pola Negri was called all that, and more. Love affairs with Charlie Chaplin, Rudolph Valentino, and a self-styled prince—and equally tempestuous relationships with colleagues, critics, the press, and the fans—kept Negri in the front page news. She wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Tony Villecco, author of the critically acclaimed Silent Stars Speak, shares his lifelong fascination with Negri. This new book features:

    - 100+ photographs (several never before available to the public)
    - Reminiscences from Negri’s colleagues and acquaintances, including film historian Kevin Brownlow
    - Filmography of Negri’s work in American cinema, 1922–1964
    - Accounts from fan magazines, newspapers, other publications, and correspondence

POLA NEGRI: THE HOLLYWOOD YEARS is not intended to be a complete historical retrospective or analysis of Pola Negri’s films. Rather, it offers today’s readers and film fans an intriguing glimpse into the life, times, and persona of a “silent” star who lived at full volume during the Golden Era of film."

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Slapstick Divas: The Women of Silent Comedy (BearManor Media)
by Steve Massa 

"Funny girls, those comediennes from the silent movies, knew shtick from slapstick. Mabel Normand, Marie Dressler, Bebe Daniels, Dorothy Gish, Constance Talmadge, Marion Davies, and Colleen Moore brought riotous laughter to millions around the world, yet their hilarity may seem hidden to those only familiar with Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, Laurel and Hardy, and Harold Lloyd. Discover the women of wit, from the supporting players to the stars. Author Steve Massa covers their contributions to comedy with in-depth analyses of the most hilarious heroines of humor, followed by 459 biographies of other droll divas from the famous to the forgotten. Illustrated with 440 rare movie scene shots, formal portraits, candid behind the scenes photos, film frame enlargements, trade magazine advertisements, lobby cards, stage photographs, artist’s renderings and caricatures, and casting guide entries."

About the author: Steve Massa is the author of Lame Brains and Lunatics: The Good, The Bad, and The Forgotten of Silent Comedy and Marcel Perez: The International Mirth-Maker. He has organized and curated comedy film programs for the Museum of Modern Art, The Library of Congress, The Museum of the Moving Image, The Smithsonian Institution, and The Pordenone Silent Film Festival.

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The Silent Films of Marion Davies (CreateSpace)
by Edward Lorusso

"She was always a star... at least in the movies. Between 1917 and 1929 Marion Davies appeared in 30 silent films. This book profiles them all, the mega-hits and the not so successful, the costume epics, the romantic dramas, and the madcap comedies that made her one of the biggest stars of the silent era."

Edward Lorusso is a writer, film historian, and avid classic film collector. He graduated from the University of Maine at Orono with B.A. and M.A. degrees in English. He earned his Ph.D. in Modern American and British Literature from the University of New Mexico. He has taught at the University of Maine, University of New Mexico, and Trinidad State Junior College in Colorado. Along with collecting and writing about class films, he has produced several silent-film restorations, including "The Restless Sex" (1920) and "Enchantment" (1921); the latter film was broadcast on Turner Classic Movies in November 2014. He retired from Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, where he worked as a science writer and editor and also managed an education outreach program for climate research stations in Australia, Papua New Guinea, and Nauru. He resides in Maine.

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Too Marvelous for Words: The Life and Career of Ruby Keeler (BearManor Media)
by Ed Harbur

"Come and meet those dancing feet! The lyrics from "42nd Street" still evoke fantastic memories of Busby Berkeley and actress, dancer, and singer Ruby Keeler, who is best-known for starring with Dick Powell in musicals produced at Warner Bros., notably 42nd Street (1933), Golddiggers of 1933 (1933), Footlight Parade (1933), Flirtation Walk (1934), and Go Into Your Dance (1935).

Ruby's life and career was no tap dance. Underage at fourteen, she first danced where the underworld meet the elite in New York speakeasies during the Prohibition Era. Plucked from obscurity and thrust onto Broadway in musicals, she captured the attention of Florenz Ziegfeld, and she soon appeared in his Whoopee! with Eddie Cantor and Show Girl (1929) with Jimmy Durante.

Topsy turvy Hollywood converted to talking pictures that were first popularized by Al Jolson in The Jazz Singer (1927). Jolson met Ruby, and their eleven-year turbulent marriage swept the two of them into widely publicized movie successes, yet their acclaim stood on shaky ground.

In this first-ever book by actor and singer Ed Harbur, discover Ruby's childhood, her early career, her idyllic second marriage, and her phenomenal return to Broadway after twenty-seven years to star in No, No, Nanette. Tragedy followed the triumph, when Ruby suffered a life-threatening stroke, yet she emerged to enjoy a long and successful recovery and served as a champion advocate for stroke victims.

The four-part book spans sections devoted to Biography, Film Appearances, Stage Appearances, and TV and Short Subject Appearances. Illustrated with hundreds of never before seen photographs, including stage and screen productions and candid shots of Ruby at work and in private life."

San Francisco's Silent Film Festival 20 years on

There are plenty of film festivals scattered across North America, including a number devoted to silent film. The Denver Silent Film Festival, Kansas Silent Film Festival, and Toronto Silent Film Festival have all made their mark in recent years. None, however, is as eclectic, long lasting, and well attended as the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. The event, which now stretches over five days and draws tens-of-thousands of people from all over the world, is regarded as the largest silent film festival in the Western Hemisphere.

If you have any interest in Sherlock Holmes or Dr. Who, Jazz Age flappers, world's fairs, or meeting an unique Academy Award winner--then you won't want to miss this year's Silent Film Festival. There is a little something for everyone, including fans of Louise Brooks. The annual event, which celebrates its 20th anniversary, is set to take place May 28th through June 1st. To celebrate 20 years of showcasing silent film--often times rare or restored prints and almost always with live musical accompaniment, here are 20 reasons to attend the 2015 event.

1) SHERLOCK HOLMES: By the time Sherlock Holmes (1916) was made, its star William Gillette was long established as the world's foremost stage interpreter of Arthur Conan Doyle's famous character. Gillette visually defined Holmes' methods, manner, and look, especially his signature attire, and his performances were widely praised, even by Doyle himself. This film, long thought lost, was recently found and restored and here makes its North American debut. See where the future Holmeses--John Barrymore, Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett, Benedict Cumberbatch and the rest--come from. [Reportedly, fans are flying in from all over for this special screening, which is being underwritten by a major Holmes collector. If you can't make the event, Flicker Alley announced that they will be releasing the film on DVD in the fall.]

Tinted scenes from Sherlock Holmes, courtesy San Francisco Silent Film Festival

2) DR. WHO: It's no surprise the popular time-travelling British television character enjoys silent cinema, as he likely experienced its glories during his many adventures in space and time.... Real life British actor Paul McGann, the actual 8th Doctor and himself a devotee of silent film and Louise Brooks, live narrates a couple of presentations, including The Ghost Train (1927), a decidedly Whovian film which tells the story of eccentric travelers stranded at a dubiously haunted station.

3) COLLEEN MOORE: She was as popular as Clara Bow, and had pulchritude not unlike that of Louise Brooks. Yet, how many can claim to have seen one of her pictures? Colleen Moore is perfect in Why Be Good? (1929), where she plays the aptly-named Pert Kelly, shop girl by day, flapper by night. F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote: "I was the spark that lit up Flaming Youth, Colleen Moore was the torch."

Why Be Good?, courtesy San Francisco Silent Film Festival

4) LOCAL HISTORY: The Festival screens When the Earth Trembled (1913), a newly restored film that's likely the first feature about the 1906 earthquake. It contains some nifty special effects and rare footage shot in San Francisco in the days following the disaster. And, to mark the 100th anniversary of the Panama Pacific International Exhibition (a world's fair that celebrated The City's recovery), the Festival will also screen short films shot at that historic event.

5) KEVIN BROWNLOW: Arguably, the above mentioned festivals might not exist without Kevin Brownlow: author, archivist, documentarian, champion of the silent cinema, and Louise Brooks' friend--Brownlow's importance to film history cannot be emphasized enough. His 1968 book, The Parade's Gone By, inspired a generation of enthusiasts. It's a must read. His 1979 TV series, Hollywood, set the standard for just about every documentary that followed. In 2010, in recognition for all he has done, Brownlow received an Academy Honorary Award, the first time an Oscar was awarded to a film historian! The British film preservationist will be in conversation prior to the screening of his restoration of the Festival's closing film, Ben Hur (1925).

6) FAN FAVORITES: This year's films star legendary names like John Gilbert and Greta Garbo, Ramon Novarro, and Harold Lloyd. But look a little deeper into the credits and you'll find up-and-comers whose reputations were made in later years, like Boris Karloff in The Deadlier Sex (1920), and Neil Hamilton (Commissioner Gordon in TV's Batman, and one of the stars of Brooks' first film, The Street of Forgotten Men) in Why Be Good? 

Gilbert and Garbo in love, courtesy San Francisco Silent Film Festival

7) LEGACY: With the passage of time, the children and grandchildren of silent film personalities are as close as we may come to their work. In attendance will be actor William Wellman Jr., son of the Academy Award winning director William Wellman (whose credits include the 1928 Brooks' film  Beggars of Life) and author of the just released biography Wild Bill Wellman: Hollywood Rebel. Also presenting or signing books are Suzanne Lloyd, granddaughter of Harold Lloyd, and Jessica Niblo, daughter of Why Be Good? director William Seiter.

8) SPECIAL GUESTS: Well known critics Leonard Maltin and David Thomson will also be on hand, as will authors and film historians John Bengtson, Cari Beauchamp (My First Time in Hollywood), Jeff Codori (Colleen Moore: A Biography of the Silent Film Star), David Pierce (The Dawn of Technicolor), Weihong Bao (Fiery Cinema: The Emergence of an Affective Medium in China, 1915-1945), and others, including Thomas Gladysz, editor of the Louise Brooks' edition of The Diary of a Lost Girl.

9) SPOKEN DIALOGUE: The Donovan Affair (1929) was Frank Capra's first "100% all-Dialogue Picture." Its soundtrack, however, has been lost. For this special screening, the soundtrack will be recreated with live dialogue by Allen Lewis Rickman (Boardwalk Empire), Yelena Shmulenson (A Serious Man, The Good Shepherd), veteran actor, writer, director Frank Buxton (who similarly voiced a part in Woody Allen's What's Up, Tiger Lily?) and others. Not to be missed.

10) MUSIC: Most every film, from the shortest short to the longest epic, is presented with live musical accompaniment. Making their Festival debut are the Berklee Silent Film Orchestra from Massachusetts, and returning are the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, Matti Bye Ensemble (winners of the Golden Beetle, Sweden's Oscar), and musicians Donald Sosin, Stephen Horne, Frank Bockius, Guenter Buchwald, and others.

11) ASIAN CINEMA: The Asian Cinema did not start with Kurosawa, martial arts films, or Bollywood. For a number of years, the Silent Film Festival has included a stellar example of early movie making from Japan , China or India. This year's film is Cave of the Spider Women (1927), a rare example of a magic-spirit film, a popular genre in the 1920s. The film set box-office records in China in 1927, but was considered lost until its discovery in Europe.

Cave of the Spider Women, courtesy San Francisco Silent Film Festival

12) LOST LANDMARK: In 1913, a group of African-American performers led by famed entertainer Bert Williams gathered in New York to make a motion picture. After shooting more than an hour worth of film, the project was abandoned by its producers and left forgotten. Its unassembled footage, notably, represents the earliest known surviving feature with a cast of black actors. The Festival will present an hour-long assemblage of material that includes a two-minute dance sequence and a cutting-edge display of on-screen affection.

13) THE LAST LAUGH (1924): In his greatest role, Oscar winner Emil Jannings plays the chief porter at a prestigious hotel, a position affording him respect and dignity. His uniform is the emblem of his stature¬--and a source of great personal pride; thus, his subsequent demotion to washroom attendant is devastating. The film's pathos is bolstered by its technical innovation--F.W. Murnau's fluid camera is as beautifully expressive as Jannings's performance. So much so, the story flows without the need for intertitles. The Last Laugh is one of the great films of the Weimar era. Expect to shed a tear, or two, or three.

The Last Laugh, courtesy San Francisco Silent Film Festival

14) FOREIGN FILMS: Along with The Last Laugh (a German production) and The Ghost Train (an English/German co-production directed by a Hungarian), the Festival will also screen French classics Visages d'enfants (1925) and The Swallow and the Titmouse (1920), as well as the avant-garde Ménilmontant (1926), which Pauline Kael named her favorite film. There is also a very modern Swedish work, Norrtullsligan (1923), and a singular Norwegian effort, Pan (1922), an adaptation of Nobel Prize-winning author Knut Hamsun's famous novel.

15) ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT (1930): We've all read the book or seen the movie. The Festival will screen the long lost silent version of the sound film, which some scholars think superior to the more familiar early talkie; that's a big claim considering Lewis Milestone's anti-war drama was the first to win Academy Awards for both Outstanding Production and Best Director. This opening night presentation features a new score and live sound effects created especially for the silent version.

16) FREE PROGRAMS: Every year, the Festival sponsors a free public program on film preservation. It's pretty interesting, and a sure bet you'll see things your film-buff friends wish they had seen. Rare, fragile, and once thought lost films are screened, and noted individuals working in the field speak: Bryony Dixon, senior curator of silent film at the British Film Institute, is bringing a treasure trove of footage about the Lusitania; Serge Bromberg of Lobster Films in Paris will show Maurice Tourneur's House of Wax (1914); and local preservationist Rob Byrne will describe reconstructing Sherlock Holmes.

17) AMAZING CHARLIE BOWERS: Mix a little slapstick with a little Rube Goldberg and a little Buster Keaton with a little anything-goes-fantasy and you end up with Charlie Bowers, a long-forgotten, idiosyncratic, Iowa-born filmmaker once championed by the French Surrealists, who loved Bower's inventive mix of live action and puppet animation. Only recently rediscovered, Bower's surviving shorts have now been beautifully restored. You haven't lived until you've seen Now You Tell One (1926), with its scene of elephants marching into the U.S. Capitol.

Charlie Bowers, courtesy San Francisco Silent Film Festival

18) YOU'LL BE TESTED: Bruce Goldstein, director of repertory programming at New York's Film Forum, will host a trivia contest called "So You Think You Know Silents." Test your knowledge of the era in what promises to be a spirited quiz. Prizes will be awarded. And what's more, its free.

19) CASTRO THEATER: The Festival takes place within the confines of the historic Castro. Built in 1922, this grand neighborhood movie theater is one of the last standing picture palaces in the San Francisco Bay Area. Early on, Oscar winner Janet Gaynor was an usherette there.

20) AN ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION: This year's event marks 20 years of properly presented 35mm film with live musical accompaniment, a Festival hallmark. Following the opening night presentation, experience a festive Weimar-era nightclub--the Kit Kat Klub, the Festival's version of a 1920s Berlin cabaret. There will be a chanteuse, music, dancing , food, drink, "relaxed social attitudes", and a special cocktail--the Voluptuous Panic. Period attire suggested.

The Silent Film Festival takes place May 28th through June 1st at the Castro Theater in San Francisco. More information, including a complete program of films and special guests, can be found at www.silentfilm.org

Something to read about Louise Brooks, recently on the web

If you are stuck at home these days and are spending more time than ever looking for something to read or watch, might I recommend.... a couple of worthwhile articles which have popped up which I would like to recommend everyone check out.

The first is by Jan-Christopher Horak, and it is titled "The Last Days of Louise Brooks." It appeared on Jan-Christopher's blog, Archival Spaces: Memory, Images, History. Jan-Christopher is an impressive fellow. He is a film archivist, teacher, and the author or editor of a handful of books including Lovers of Cinema: The First American Film Avant-Garde, 1919-1945, and Dream Merchants: Making and Selling Films in Hollywood's Golden Age. I have met him a couple times over the years, and recently emailed him about his contribution to an Austrian book about Louise Brooks called Louise Brooks: Rebellin, Ikone, Legende. 

On August 15, Jan-Christopher posted the English-language version of the piece which appeared in the above mentioned Austrian book. (The piece was first published in German.) Besides his many accomplishments, Jan-Christopher was also once associated with the George Eastman House in Rochester, New York. And that's how he came to meet Louise Brooks. "I met Louise Brooks for the first time in 1975, long after her Hollywood career had ended, when she was living on N. Goodman Street in Rochester, N.Y., around the block from my apartment. At the time, I was a paid post-graduate intern at George Eastman House and confess that when I met her in Curator George Pratt’s office, she was to me just another silent film actress." Jan-Christopher's piece goes on to recount his observations of Brooks, and his visit to her spartan apartment. It is a special piece, which I recommend everyone take the time to read.

Another piece I think everyone might enjoy reading is "Double Lives: On Louise Brooks’s 'Thirteen Women in Films',” by Maya Cantu, which appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books on August 15. It is a consideration-meditation of Louise Brooks as a feminist icon. I think it is a thoughtful piece. Cantu, like Horak, is an academic. She teaches Drama and Literature at Bennington College, and is the author of American Cinderellas on the Broadway Musical Stage: Imagining the Working Girl from Irene to Gypsy.

While I agree with much of what Cantu says in her piece, I must disagree with her assessment (or her hinging part of her argument on) of a recently released docu-drama, Silent and Forgotten. I viewed it in pre-release, and think it is somewhat weak tea. [An earlier LBS blog on the video was posted here on September 14, 2019.] Nevertheless, I encourage everyone to watch it and to read the Cantu piece and to see for themselves.

In Silent and Forgotten, a single actress (Jacquie Donley) re-enacts the stories of 13 of the most famous actresses of the silent era, including Brooks. However, as one reviewer put it,   Donley "has a passing resemblance to Brooks and even seems to channel her pretty well, but makes an unconvincing everyone else."

Silent and Forgotten, an independent film our from Summer Hill Entertainment, is out on DVD at a reasonable $9.99, and is also available for streaming on Amazon Prime (at this time). Here is the long version of the trailer, which give the flavor of the film.

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.

The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond

My new book, The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond, has just been published and is now available on amazon.com and other websites. More information and a link to purchase may be found HERE.

There is much to recommend about The Street of Forgotten Men, which was both a popular and critical success at the time of its release. The film is based on a story by a noted writer of the time; it was made by a significant director, shot by a great cinematographer, and features a fine cast which includes a future screen legend at the very beginning of her career. Altogether, there are many points of interest. My book is a deep dive into the history of one film - its literary source, its making, its critical reception, and its surprising, little-known legacy. It is the primary intention of this book to show how one film might be exemplary of film-making and film culture during the silent era.

However, there is more to this story.... One of John Donne's famous poems begins "No man is an island entire of itself; every man / is a piece of the continent, a part of the main". To me, what Donne's verse says about humanity is what I believe about significant works of art, including films. Everything is connected in some way, in that nothing is created in a vacuum. I have kept Donne's lines in mind while writing this book. If anything, this book achieves one thing - it places The Street of Forgotten Men in the rich cinematic and cultural context of its time. Does such a context elevate this particular film as a work of art, or as a cinematic achievement? Not necessarily. But then, that was not my goal.
 
I had long thought of writing a book about The Street of Forgotten Men, and have been unknowingly gathering material for years, if not decades .... With the film's restoration, it should begin to make its way into the stream of available films. I hope this book prompts the interest of film buffs and film scholars alike, and acts as a companion work for those who have the opportunity to see the film. I also wrote this book for another reason, because it is a book I would like to read about this or any film. Does it matter that The Street of Forgotten Men is a lesser film in the larger scheme of things, or in the history of film? No. Because, no film is an island.

The book's description reads: 

The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond is a deep dive into the history of a single film - its literary source, its making, exhibition history, critical reception, and, most surprising of all, its little known legacy. Few film titles become a catchphrase, let alone a catchphrase which remained in use for half-a-century and resonated throughout American culture. The Street of Forgotten Men (1925) is one such film.

This provocative stab at realism was described as "strange" and "startling" at the time of its release. The Street of Forgotten Men was directed by Herbert Brenon, who is best known for Peter Pan, The Great Gatsby, Beau Geste, Laugh, Clown, Laugh and other early classics. The film was shot by Harold Rosson, one of the great cinematographers whose credits include Gone with the Wind and Singin' in the Rain. And, it features a stellar cast (Percy Marmont, Mary Brian, Neil Hamilton) which includes a future screen legend at the very beginning of her career (Louise Brooks).

The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond tells the story of the film in rich, historical detail. As this book shows, this forgotten gem is exemplary of film making & film culture in the mid-1920s. Along with vintage clippings and unusual images - including rare production stills and location shots, this new book features all manner of historical documents including the short story on which the film was based, the scenario, a rare French fictionalization, newspaper advertisements, lobby cards, posters, and more. Among the book's many revelations:

-- Multiple accounts of the making of the film - suggesting what it was like on the set of a silent film.

-- A survey of the film's many reviews, including one by the Pulitzer Prize winning poet Carl Sandburg, another by a contributor to Weird Tales, and another by Catholic icon Dorothy Day, a candidate for sainthood.

-- Newly revealed identities of some of the film's bit players - a noted journalist, a future screenwriter, a soon to be famous actress, and a world champion boxer - which include accounts of their working on the film. There is also the story of Lassie's role in the film (no, not that Lassie, the first screen Lassie).

-- A look at the music associated with this silent film: the music played on set, the music depicted in the film, the music heard before the film was shown, and the music played to accompany the film itself (including the rare Paramount cue sheet and an alternative score).

-- And more... from the film's censorship records to its mention on the floor of Congress to its showing in multiple churches to its purchase by the United States Navy to a notice for the film's last documented public screening - at, of all places, a Y.M.C.A. in Shanghai, China in 1931 - six years after its release!

The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond includes dozens of illustrations and images and features two forewords; one is by noted film preservationist Robert Byrne, whose restoration of The Street of Forgotten Men saved it from undeserving obscurity. The other, by acclaimed film historian Kevin Brownlow, is an appreciation of Herbert Brenon which reveals little known details about the movie drawn, in part, from his correspondence with Louise Brooks.

THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society  (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases. 

Upcoming Booksignings at Cinecon

Here is a reminder that their will be a Louise Brooks-related book signing taking place at this year's Cinecon classic film festival taking place in Hollywood this weekend. Here's what's happening.

THE DIARY OF A LOST GIRL (Louise Brooks edition)
PandorasBox Press
Edited By Thomas Gladysz

The 1929 Louise Brooks film, Diary image of a Lost Girl, is based on a once famous and controversial book by Margarete Bohme which is counted among the bestselling titles of its time. The "Louise Brooks edition" of Bohme's book, edited by Thomas Gladysz (Director of the Louise Brooks Society), includes dozens of illustrations and an introductory essay detailing the book’s remarkable history and relationship to the acclaimed silent film. Gladysz also provided the audio commentary to last year's DVD & Blu-ray release of the film from Kino Lorber.

The book signings are part of the Cinecon Memorabilia Show which is normally located in the third floor meeting area of the Loews Hollywood Hotel but this year will be relocated to the mezzanine level (second floor) of the hotel.

For more information and a complete list of signings, check out THIS PAGE. "Who else will be there," you ask?


SILENT TRACES: Discovering Early Hollywood Through The Films of Charlie Chaplin
SILENT ECHOES: Discovering Early Hollywood Through The Films of Buster Keaton
SILENT VISIONS: Discovering Early Hollywood Through The Films of Harold Lloyd
Santa Monica Press
By John Bengston

The books provide a unique visual history of early Hollywood as depicted in the silent comedians’ classic movies by combining images from various films with archival photographs, historic maps, and scores of dramatic “then” and “now” photos, revealing dozens of movie locations that lay undiscovered in Hollywood for over 80 years.   John has given presentations at past Cinecons based on his research for these books and then conducted walking tours showing the actual movie locations depicted in the books.

A THOUSAND CUTS: the Bizarre Underground World of Collectors and Dealers Who Saved the Movies
University Press of Mississippi
By Dennis Bartok and Jeff Joseph

This book is a candid exploration of one of America’s strangest and most quickly vanishing subcultures. It is about the death of physical film in the digital era and about a paranoid, secretive, eccentric, and sometimes obsessive group of film-mad collectors who made movies and their projection a private religion in the time before DVDs and Blu-rays. It also examines one of the least-known episodes in modern legal history: the FBI’s and Justice Department’s campaign to harass, intimidate, and arrest film dealers and collectors in the early 1970s. Victims included Roddy McDowall, who was arrested in 1974 for film collecting and forced to name names of fellow collectors, including Rock Hudson and Mel Tormé. A Thousand Cuts explores the obsessions of the colorful individuals who created their own screening rooms, spent vast sums, negotiated underground networks, and even risked legal jeopardy to pursue their passion for real, physical film.

HOLLYWOOD CELEBRATES THE HOLIDAYS 1920-1970
Schiffer
By Karie Bible & Mary Mallory

Marvelously illustrated with more than 200 rare images from the silent era through the 1970s, this joyous treasure trove features film and television's most famous actors and actresses celebrating the holidays in lavishly produced photographs. Legends such as Judy Garland, Elizabeth Taylor, Joan Crawford, and Audrey Hepburn spread holiday cheer throughout the calendar year in iconic, ironic, and illustrious style. These images, taken by legendary still photographers, hearken back to the Golden Age of Hollywood, when motion picture studios devised elaborate publicity campaigns to promote their stars and to keep their names and faces in front of the movie-going public all year round.

THEDA BARA MY MENTOR: Under the Wings of Hollywood's First Femme Fatale
McFarland
By Joan Craig with Beverly F. Stout

As movie patrons sat in darkened theaters in January 1914, they were mesmerized by an alluring temptress with long sable hair and kohl-rimmed eyes. Theda Bara—“the vamp,” as she would come to be known—would soon be one of the highest paid film stars of the 1910s, earning an unheard of $4,000 per week, before retiring from the screen in 1926. Although Theda was retired she was very much a part of Hollywood. Hollywood celebrities flowed through her front door!

In 1946, at age five, the author met Bara—then 61—at her Beverly Hills home and the actress became her mentor. This memoir is the story of their friendship.  

FORGOTTEN HOLLYWOOD FORGOTTEN HISTORY
Book Publishers Network
By Manny Pacheco

Nothing grabs the mind like a finely crafted image film. Memorable lines strike an instant impression, and imagery provides celluloid art to enjoy time and again. Bypassing the legendary stars from the studio era's golden age, Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History focuses on the character actors and actresses that consistently delivered stellar performances, and it offers a bold fresh new take of our human journey.

And Manny will also be bringing his follow-up book - Son of Forgotten Hollywood Forgotten History  

HARLOW IN HOLLYOOD: The Blonde Bombshell in the Glamour Capital, 1928-1937
Angel City Press
By Darrell Rooney and Mark Vieira

In her short decade in Hollywood, Harlow created a new genre of movie star--her fans idolized her for her peerless image, her beautiful body, and her gorgeous facade. "Harlow in Hollywood" is the story of how a town and an industry created her, a story that's never been told before. In these pages, renowned Harlow expert Darrell Rooney and Hollywood historian Mark Vieira team to present the most beautiful--and accurate--book on Harlow ever produced. With more than 280 rare images, the authors not only make a case for Harlow as an Art Deco artifact, they showcase the fabulous places where she lived, worked and played from her white-on-white Beverly Glen mansion to the Art Deco sets of "Dinner at Eight" to the foyer of the Cafe Trocadero. "Harlow in Hollywood" is a must for every film buff, Harlow collector, and book lover.

LAUREL & HARDY: The Magic Behind the Movies
Bonaventure Press
By Randy Skretvedt
This is a massively expanded and updated edition of the book, which was originally published in 1987. The new hard cover edition with 632 pages has twice as much text as the original and four times as many photographs (now 1,000 of them). Most of the photos are previously unpublished and many of them are one-of-a-kind items from Oliver Hardy's personal collection. The text is based on interviews done in the 1970s and early '80s with 65 of Laurel and Hardy's working associates, along with original scripts and studio files.

WILD BILL WELLMAN: Hollywood Rebel
Pantheon
By William Wellman, Jr.

William Wellman, Jr. has written this great new biography about his legendary father, famed director William "Wild Bill" Wellman. Here is a revealing, boisterous portrait of the handsome, tough-talking, hard-drinking, uncompromising maverick juvenile delinquent whose own life story was more adventurous and more unpredictable than anything in the movies. William Wellman is famous for directing such iconic pictures as: the pioneering World War I epic Wings (winner of the first Academy Award for best picture), Public Enemy, Nothing Sacred, the original A Star Is Born, Beggars of Life, The Call of the Wild, The Ox-Bow Incident, Battleground, The High and the Mighty.

Best Film Books of 2017: Silent Comedy Edition

No kidding.
 

There were so many worthwhile film books this year that they necessitated a second piece, a look at new books on early comedy. As was true with this year’s general selection of film books, the best among this early comedy group are biographies, a couple of which break new ground by being the first on their subject or by shining light on otherwise little known aspects of cinema history. There is also a book which will prove handy for those seeking a guided tour of the field. So, without further ado, here they are, the “Best Film Books of 2017: Silent Comedy Edition.”

Slapstick Divas: The Women of Silent Comedy (BearManor Media) by Steve Massa

One can’t say enough about this book, and that’s why it’s included in this round-up as well as in my earlier piece on the “Best Film Books of 2017.” This book looks at the careers of the many funny ladies of early film—who, compared to their male colleagues, haven’t received the attention they rightly deserve. Besides the better known Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand, and Marion Davies, Massa’s book looks at the careers of Flora Finch, Louise Fazenda, Alice Howell, Madge Kennedy, Dorothy Devore, Edna Purviance, Dot Farley, Baby Peggy, Ethel Teare, Merta Sterling and numerous other “droll divas” and “film comedy Eves.” It includes hundreds of rare illustrations, as well as capsule biographies of once famous, now little remembered or wholly forgotten screen comediennes. It also includes a short passage on Louise Brooks and her handful of comedies.

I said it before, and I’ll say it again: Steve Massa has written a highly recommended book which belongs on the shelves of anyone interested in early film comedy or women’s film history.

Mr. Suicide: Henry “Pathe” Lehrman and The Birth of Silent Comedy (BearManor Media) by Thomas Reeder

Reeder’s impressive, 767 page, heavily detailed book is billed as a “cautionary tale for all aspiring artists whose dreams exceed their grasp.” It tells the story of the otherwise little known actor, screenwriter, producer and director Henry Lehrman, and in doing so sets out to untarnish and restore his reputation in film history. Considered the architect of silent comedy and acknowledged for his absurd, frenetic, gag-filled films, Lehrman helped launch the film career of newcomer Charles Chaplin while both were working for Mack Sennett at Keystone; Lehrman directed a few of Chaplin’s very first shorts in 1914. Early comedy greats Roscoe Arbuckle, Ford Sterling, Mabel Normand and others likewise benefited from his guidance and friendship. By 1919, Lehrman’s rapid rise led to the fulfillment of his dream: complete artistic control in the form of his own, namesake studio. And then it all collapsed. Lehrman’s career hit the skids with the studio’s failure, which was followed by his association with the era’s most notorious scandal—the alleged rape and subsequent death of Lehrman’s fiancé, Virginia Rappe, at the hands of his friend Roscoe Arbuckle. Lehrman kept on working into the 1930’s, but never at the heights he once envisioned—and briefly attained. Along with an extensive filmography, Mr. Suicide: Henry “Pathe” Lehrman and The Birth of Silent Comedy includes a foreword by the legendary Sam Gill and an introduction by equally reputable Steve Massa.

Charlie Chaplin’s Red Letter Days: At Work with the Comic Genius (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers) by Fred Goodwins,‎ edited by David James and Dan Kamin

This 300+ page book is made up of a gathering of thirty-five articles, dating from 1915 and 1916 and reproduced here for the first time since, which provide a vivid account of daily goings-on at the Chaplin studio. Their author is Fred Goodwins, a British actor who joined Chaplin’s stock company in early 1915 and began writing short pieces which he submitted to a British magazine, Red Letter.

The articles have been edited by film historian David James and annotated by Chaplin expert Dan Kamin, to which have been added introductory material and rare images. All together, it adds up to a fascinating, behind-the-scenes look at a comic genius.This book is highly recommended to the many, many Chaplin fans.

Harry Langdon: King of Silent Comedy (University Press of Kentucky) by Gabriella Oldham and Mabel Langdon,‎ with a Foreword by Harry Langdon Jr.

Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, and Harold Lloyd stand out as the three kings of early comedy. Their prince is Harry Langdon, who parlayed his considerable pantomime talents and remarkable, wide-eyed, childlike face into silent-era stardom in classic films like Tramp, Tramp, Tramp (1926), The Strong Man (1926), and Long Pants (1927). Each was produced by Langdon, and each was directed by the great Frank Capra. After Langdon fired Capra, Langdon’s popularity dimmed, and his career declined. This biography, which features behind-the-scenes accounts and personal recollections compiled by Langdon’s late wife, provides a considered picture of this multifaceted entertainer—as well as his meteoric rise and fall.

[If you don’t already own a copy, Langdon fans will also want to check out last year’s Nothing on the Stage is Permanent: the Harry Langdon Scrapbook (Walker & Anthony Publications) by Harry Langdon Jr., who provided the foreword to this new book.]

100 Essential Silent Film Comedies (Rowman & Littlefield Publishers) by James Roots

Film lovers still remember and laugh at the cinematic clowning of Chaplin, Keaton, Lloyd and Langdon, as well as Laurel & Hardy, Roscoe Arbuckle, Charley Chase and others. In this new book, Roots looks at the major comedies produced in the first three decades of the twentieth century, ranging from brief shorts to epic farces. Each entry includes details on the cast and crew, a synopsis, critical evaluation, and commentary. 100 Essential Silent Film Comedies is a useful book, as is Roots’ 2014 title, The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians.

There were a few other notable books on early comedians published this year. Three that caught my attention include Max Linder: Father of Film Comedy (BearManor Media) by Snorre Smári Mathiesen, The Silent Films of Marion Davies (CreateSpace) by Edward Lorusso, and The W.C. Fields Films (McFarland) by James L. Neibaur.

Max Linder was a French comedian and director whose early start made him one of the first international movie stars, even before Charlie Chaplin. Mathiesen, a Norwegian cartoonist and film buff, tells Linder’s tragic story. Marion Davies was a charming and brilliant comedian who produced and starred in two of the great silent films, The Patsy (1928) and Show People (1928), but whose reputation was eclipsed by her longtime relationship with William Randolph Hearst. W. C. Fields got his start during the silent era in films like It’s the Old Army Game (1926), but went on to even greater acclaim in the sound era in films like The Bank Dick (1940) and Never Give a Sucker an Even Break (1941). Neibaur’s book surveys his work.

BTW: It's the Old Army Game, which stars W.C. Fields and Louise Brooks, is being released on DVD by Kino Lorber early next year, likely in the Spring, perhaps in March. 

Along with idiosyncratic books on Rudolph Valentino and Lon Chaney, Kevin Scott Collier is an industrious self-published author who has also written and/or compiled short books on a few early comedians. If you are interested, or a complete-ist, then you may want to check out these 2017 Collier titles: Film Comedian John Bunny: Funny Bunny (CreateSpace), Mack Swain: The Ambrose Years (CreateSpace), Billy Dooley: The Misfit Sailor: His Life, Vaudeville Career, Silent Films, Talkies and more! (CreateSpace), and Luther J. Pollard: Ebony Film Corp. (CreateSpace). The latter looks at what has been called the first company to feature an entirely black cast in their films, a string of comedy shorts in 1917 to 1918.

a variant of this article by Thomas Gladysz appeared in the Huffington Post

Some more new and recommended books on film: Paramount, Fox, comedies and SEX

Ahead of a longer review, here are a few more new books I wish to recommend to fans of Louise Brooks as well as those interested in the silent and early sound film era. Each title provides valuable background information about the era in which Brooks was active, and each mentions or touches on the actress and her career. Each book can be found on amazon.com and elsewhere.

100 Essential Silent Film Comedies (Rowman & Littlefield)
by James Roots

"From the moment films were first produced, comedy has been a key feature of cinema. From just before the turn of the twentieth century until the early 1930s, audiences celebrated the brilliant humor of cinematic clowns who left their marks forever. We still remember—and laugh at—the hilarious antics of Laurel and Hardy, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, and many others.

In 100 Essential Silent Film Comedies James Roots identifies the major comedic motion pictures produced in the first few decades of the twentieth century. With a lucid and lively style, Roots takes a look at more than 400 silent comedies and narrows the list to 100 that viewers should consider. Each entry includes cast and crew information, a synopsis, critical evaluation, and additional commentary—all to demonstrate why that particular film is essential viewing. The films range from 70 seconds to full-length features and even include some of the earliest produced films, starting in 1894. In addition to citing Hollywood’s finest, the book profiles comedies from around the world, including selections from the United Kingdom, France, Japan and Russia.

More than seventy silent comedians from Charlie Chaplin to Max Linder are represented in these selections, and the book celebrates such established classics as The General and Safety Last—as well as relatively obscure one-reelers. Including information about DVD availability, 100 Essential Silent Film Comedies is an invaluable resource that provides both scholars and general film fans a list of entertaining films to explore.

James Roots is Executive Director of the Canadian Association of the Deaf. A book reviewer for more than twenty years, he has written frequently on silent film, especially comedy. He is the author of The 100 Greatest Silent Film Comedians (Rowman & Littlefield, 2014)."

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Paramount: City of Dreams (Taylor)
by Steven Bingen

"Paramount: City of Dreams brings to life the operations of the world’s grandest movie lot as never before by opening its famous gates and revealing – for the first time – the wonderful myriad of soundstages and outdoor sets where, for one hundred years, Paramount has produced the world’s most famous films. With hundreds and hundreds of rare and unpublished photographs in color and black & white, readers are launched aboard a fun and entertaining “virtual tour” of Hollywood’s first, most famous and most mysterious motion picture studio. Paramount is a self-contained city. But unlike any community in the real world, this city’s streets and lawns, its bungalows and backlots, will be familiar even to those who have never been there. Now, for the first time, these much-filmed, much-haunted acres will be explored and the mysteries and myths peeled away – bringing into focus the greatest of all of Hollywood’s legendary dream factories.

Steven Bingen has long worked within the motion picture industry, both in production and as a writer and historian. He held a staff position at Warner Bros. Corporate Archive - aiding in the preservation and management of the studios legend and legacy. He is an author of "MGM: Hollywood's Greatest Backlot," "Warner Bros: Hollywood's Ultimate Backlot," "Paramount: City of Dreams," and "Warner Bros. The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of" and has contributed to many books and documentaries. His numerous essays and magazine articles include recent pieces for "Filmfax," "Mondo Cult," "Cinema Retro" and "Perspective." "The Ghastly Love of Johnny X" for which he wrote the screenplay for director Paul Bunnell, was released in 2012."

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Twentieth Century Fox: A Century of Entertainment (Lyons Press)
by Michael Troyan

"Here it is: the first-time look at the remarkable American multinational mass media empire and its century of entertainment—the story of Twentieth Century Fox (1915–2015). Or, to borrow the title of a classic 1959 Fox film, The Best of Everything. This is the complete revelatory story—bookended by empire builders William Fox and Rupert Murdoch—aimed as both a grand, entertaining, nostalgic and picture-filled interactive read and the ultimate guide to all things Twentieth Century Fox. The controversies and scandals are here, as are the extraordinary achievements. Among other firsts, the book offers fun tours of its historic production and ranch facilities including never-before-told stories about its stars and creative personalities (Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, James Dean, and Shirley Temple got started there). Finally, it is the first such work approved by the company and utilizing its own unique resources. The authors primarily tell a celebratory tale, but most importantly, an accurate one.

Michael Troyan has worked as an archivist at the Walt Disney and Warner Bros. studios as well as a consultant and film historian elsewhere. He is the author of A Rose For Mrs. Miniver: The Life of Greer Garson, and has contributed to numerous books about Hollywood, and particularly Disney, history. He lives in Northern California. Stephen Sylvester is the former head of Hollywood Heritage and a member of the Friends of Fox. Besides combing the company’s archives as never before, Sylvester also has ongoing interviews with dozens of Fox employees past and present, celebrating every aspect of its motion picture making."

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Sex In the Cinema: The Pre-Code Years (1929-1934) (BearManor)
by Lou Sabini (Author)

"Hollywood movies in the 1920s depicted sex, violence, and alcohol and drug abuse with freewheeling abandon, but filmmaking freedom halted with the mysterious murder of director William Desmond Taylor, the drug death of writer-director-actor Wallace Reid, and the rape trials of Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. Hollywood had to choose self-censorship or face the moral indignation of the law. They chose to manage movie madcaps themselves. Will H. Hays, President of the Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America (MPPDA) from 1922 to 1945, prescribed the Production Code in 1930 and began strictly enforcing it in 1934. The Production Code spelled out a set of moral guidelines that were popularly known as the Hays Code. For decades, moviemaking was never the same.

Rediscover 107 spicy films from the Pre-code era, including Stolen Heaven (1931), The Night of June 13th (1932), Three on a Match (1932), Red-Headed Woman (1932), Call Her Savage (1932), This Reckless Age (1932), Young Bride (1932), Panama Flo (1932), and Baby Face (1933). Relive the fabled faces of these fiery films, such as Barbara Stanwyck, Norma Shearer, Jean Harlow, Bette Davis, Greta Garbo, James Cagney, Clark Gable, Edward G. Robinson, Wallace Beery, Carole Lombard, Frances Dee, Chester Morris, and Sylvia Sidney, as well as directors Frank Capra, Rouben Mamoulian, James Whale, William Wellman, Michael Curtiz, William Wyler, and W. S. Van Dyke. Author Lou Sabini points his comprehensive spotlight on the often forgotten yet always fascinating films that dared depict violence, drugs, and sex with a sinful flair. 107 films profiled. Illustrated with 178 rare photographs and memorabilia from the world’s archives. Complete casts, credits, production history, and biographical profiles of the stars, director, writers, and cameramen.

About the author: Lou Sabini attended the School of Visual Arts in Manhattan, later teaching and lecturing about film. He is the author of Behind the Scenes of They Were Expendable."