Evening Clothes - A Round-up of Reviews

Evening Clothes, Louise Brooks' eighth film, was officially released on this day in 1927. The film is a comedy-drama about a French gentleman farmer who, spurned by his bride, goes to Paris in order to become sophisticated enough to win her back. The film is lost, as are all of Brooks' films from 1927.

Evening Clothes was directed by Luther Reed. Adolphe Menjou played Lucien d'Artois, Virginia Valli was Germaine, Noah Beery played Lazarre, and Louise Brooks was Fox Trot. Notably, this is one of the rare silent films films in which Brooks did not appear in her signature bob. And not surprisingly, many reviewers and critics of the time commented on the actress' different hair style.

Evening Clothes proved popular in its day. Here is a round up of newspaper and magazine reviews and articles drawn from the Louise Brooks Society archive.

Parsons, Louella O. "Evening Clothes an Entertaining Story." Los Angeles Examiner, March 5, 1927. --- "When you see the show girl, Louise Brooks, cavorting about with a frizzled top you will see why Famous Players Lasky is grooming her for bigger and better things. She fares much better than either Miss Tashman or Mr. Beery, who only appear at long intervals."

Yorke, Hal. "Evening Clothes Presents Menjou at Metropolitan." Los Angeles Daily Illustrated News, March 5, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks - yes, the one you dream about - is as alluring and pert as ever."

anonymous. "Menjou Picture Outstanding for Hirsute Effects." Los Angeles Times, March 6, 1927. --- "Louise Brooks, who plays one of the featured roles in the picture, has sacrificed the distinctive bob."

Taylor, Ken. "You'd Hardly Know Menjou with a Beard." Los Angeles Evening Express, March 7, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks, whose haunting vivacity has necessitated the restringing of more than one male's heartstrings." - review in Los Angeles, California newspaper

Kreisman, Louise. "Evening Clothes At the Metropolitan." Daily Bruin, March 10, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks, as a curely headed chorus girl . . . The rest of the time she excells in flippancy and heartlessness." - review in UCLA student newspaper

Beaton, Welford. "High School Girls Select Mr. Menjou." and "Some Good and Not So Good Direction." Film Spectator, March 19, 1927.
--- "There are three girls who do very well in Evening Clothes - Virginia Valli, Louise Brooks and Lilyan Tashman. . . . I was glad to see further evidence of Paramount's dawning consciousness that Louise Brooks is not composed solely of legs. They work her from the knees up in this picture and it begins to look as if she were headed for a high place."

anonymous. "Adolphe is Himself Again." New York Telegram, March 21, 1927.
--- "It is a delightful little comedy. . . . Virginia Valli and Louise Brooks (permanently waved) appear both provocative and Parisienne as the leading ladies." 

Hall, Mordaunt. "Bankruptcy and Love." New York Times, March 21, 1927.
--- "Ms. Brooks, with a change in her eyebrows and curly hair, is stunning."

Cannon, Regina. "Menjou's Beard Surprise in Film Evening Clothes." New York American, March 22, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks is again cast as a 'lady of the evening' and makes her role pert and amusing. You won't recognize Miss Brooks at first, for she is wearing her hair curled over her head. This is too bad, for it makes her look just like a thousand other attractive girls. Louise achieved distinction with her straight-banged bob."

C., O. "The Current Cinema." New Yorker, March 26, 1927.
--- short mention in film column "Louise Brooks makes herself more able than usual by the aid of a trick haircut."

O., H.H. "Stage and Screen." Ann Arbor Times News, April 10, 1927.
--- "Louise Brooks, as Fox Trot, a pert little inhabitute of the Parisian cafes, adds her usual snappy characterizations."

Seeking a copy of BBC program, Icons: Louise Brooks

Does anyone have a copy of the 15-20 minute BBC program called Icons, specifically the Louise Brooks episode?

It first aired on the BBC in 2001, and was repeated in 2002, 2003, and 2004. It also aired on MSN on May 1, 2001 in the USA. See this link http://tv.msn.com/tv/episode/icons/louise-brooks.1/

The TV listing from English newspapers of the time describe it as "Fans explain the appeal of actress Louise Brooks."

I gotta see it!

Watch a Rare Louise Brooks Documentary II

Here is a rare British television documentary about Louise Brooks from 1986, shown the year after the actress died and three years before the release of the Barry Paris biography. Except for a couple of factual errors (such as Louise Brooks married Eddie Sutherland in 1926, not 1927), it is excellent. Contains a bunch of little seen material. Parts one and two were be posted yesterday.

Watch a Rare Louise Brooks Documentary I

Here is a rare British television documentary about Louise Brooks from 1986, shown the year after the actress died and three years before the release of the Barry Paris biography. Except for a couple of factual errors (such as Louise Brooks married Eddie Sutherland in 1926, not 1927), it is excellent. Contains a bunch of little seen material. Parts three and four will be posted tomorrow.

Nominate Louise Brooks films for the National Film Registry

The United States Congress first established the National Film Registry in the 1988. Along with mandating continuing implementation of a plan to save the American film heritage, this law authorizes the Librarian of Congress (after reviewing public suggestions and consulting extensively with film experts and the 44 members and alternates of the National Film Preservation Board) to select up to 25 films each year for inclusion in the Registry. The 625 films chosen to date illustrate the vibrant diversity of American film-making.

The Library of Congress is currently seeking nominations. Public nominations play a key role when the Librarian of Congress and Film Board are considering their selections. To be eligible for the Registry, a film must be at least 10 years old and be “culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.” Recommendations are due in September. And new selections are usually announced at the end of December.

The  Louise Brooks Society suggests you recommend these Louise Brooks films (and other silent films):

Beggars of Life (1928)

The Street of Forgotten Men (1925)

The Show Off (1926)

A Girl in Every Port (1928)

Love Em and Leave Em (1926)



Please forward your recommendations (limit 50 titles per year) via email to: dross@loc.gov

Looking for other films to nominate? Check here for hundreds of titles not yet selected to the National Film Registry. Please include the date of the film nominated, and number your recommendations. And if you would, tell how you learned of the Registry.Email is preferred; to submit via regular mail, send your nominations to:

National Film Registry
Library of Congress
Packard Campus for Audio Visual Conservation
19053 Mt. Pony Road
Culpeper, VA 22701
Attn: Donna Ross

Beggars of Life screens in Scotland at Hippodrome Festival of Silent Cinema

The 1928 Louise Brooks film, Beggars of Life, will be shown today at the 4th annual Hippodrome Festival of Silent Cinema, which takes place in Scotland's oldest purpose-built cinema – the Hippodrome in Falkirk. This special event has already sold out.

The Dodge Brothers, a skiffle and rockabilly band led by film critic Mark Kermode, will accompany the 1928 Brooks' film. The Dodge Brothers will be joined by Neil Brand.

The event description reads thus: "Country blues, rockabilly and skiffle four-piece The Dodge Brothers are joined by one of the world's leading silent film piano accompanists, Neil Brand, to perform their live score for this glorious railroad romance starring icon of the silent era: Louise Brooks, looking more beautiful than ever in men’s clothing. Taking their inspiration from the music of the American Delta blues and country musicians of Depression-era USA, the Dodges have created the perfect accompaniment for this adventure of a couple of vagabonds jumping freight trains to escape the law."

A few more images of Asta Nielsen

Here are a few more images of the divine Asta Nielsen.... To learn more, check out her Wikipedia or IMdB pages.

Asta Nielsen as Lulu

Asta Nielsen and Charlie Chaplin
as Adam and Eve

Lately, I have been reading about the great Danish actress Asta Nielsen (1881-1972). Though she worked mostly in Germany, her fame transcended that nation's film industry and Nielsen is and was widely considered one of the first international movie stars.

About her, the great French poet Guillaume Apollinaire once exclaimed, "She is everything! She is the drunkard's vision and the lonely man's dream."

Notably, Nielsen played Lulu in Leopold Jessner's 1923 film  of Frank Wedekind's play Erdgeist. However, she may best be known to film buffs for her role as an aging prostitute in the 1925 German film Die freudlose Gasse (The Joyless Street), which was directed by G. W. Pabst and starred then newcomer Greta Garbo.

Years later, Pabst stated "One has long spoken of Greta Garbo as 'the divine' – for me Asta Nielsen has always been and will always remain 'the human being' par excellence." Wow.

I don't know that Louise Brooks and Asta Nielsen ever met. And I don't know that Brooks was even much aware of actress, an actress who in so many ways set the stage for Brooks' own performance as Lulu in Pabst's Pandora's Box (1929). Nevertheless, the two actresses had much in common. At various times in the 1920's, including for her role as Lulu, Nielsen sported a severe Dutch bob not unlike Brooks.

Asta Nielsen, 1930

And like Brooks, Nielsen was known for her erotically charged style of acting as well as for her occasional androgynous appearance. (One of her best regarded film roles was as Hamlet, from 1921.) Not surprisingly, some of Nielsen's German films were censored when shown in the United States, where she failed to become well known.

 Below is an image of Asta Nielsen, as Lulu in Erdgeist. It is a striking, and very stylized image.

And here below is another image of Asta Nielsen as Lulu in Erdgeist. It is less stylized, though still striking. The studio who took this image is Binder. They also photographed Brooks.

And finally, here is a seven minute excerpt from Erdgeist. It features a new score by Luke Styles  commissioned by and premiered at the Stummfilmtage 2009 in Karlsruhe, Germany, by ensemble Amorpha under the direction of Luke Styles.