TODAY: Beggars of Life starring Louise Brooks screens at Harvard

The Harvard Film Archive in Cambridge, Massachusetts has announced it will be hosting a major retrospective of the films of director William Wellman. The retrospective, "The Legends of William Wellman," runs October 27th through November 26th. The series will include all of the acclaimed director's greatest films, from Wings (1927) to The Public Enemy (1931), A Star is Born (1937), and The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), as well as lesser known gems like Night Nurse (1931) and Wild Boys of the Road (1933). More information about the series, including a complete line-up of films, can be found HERE.

The first film to be shown in the series is Beggars of Life (1928), starring Louise Brooks. The silent classic will be shown on Friday October 27 at 7pm, with live musical accompaniment. The Harvard Film Archive description follows.

Beggars of Life

Directed by William Wellman. With Wallace Beery, Louise Brooks, Richard Arlen
US 1928, 35mm, b/w, silent, 91 min

"A gruesome discovery followed by a sordid tale of sexual abuse—recounted through an ingenious double-exposed montage sequence—introduces Richard Arlen’s hungry tramp to Louise Brooks’ fugitive disguised as a boy. From that dramatic opener, the couple steals off into a blue-tinted night and reluctantly joins a band of vagabonds. Immediately, the presence of a woman in the midst of a group of desperate men adds an unsettling disturbance to the film and to their tenuous coalition. Wellman steadily maintains this air of horror and humor as the motley, volatile crew travels from land to train with the lord of the hoboes, Wallace Beery’s unpredictable Oklahoma Red, who revels in intimidation as a means of entertainment—even holding an absurdly elaborate “kangaroo court” to decide the fate of the interlopers. In this hardscrabble atmosphere, the appearance of love is so unusual that it acts as a kind of deus ex machina, stunning the plot and sending it off and away down Wellman’s mysterious, dark tracks."

Prix de beaute (Miss Europa) with Louise Brooks screens in Helsinki, Finland on October 27 and 29

The National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI) in Helsinki, Finland will screen Prix de beaute (Miss Europa) on October 27 and 29, 2017 as part of their ongoing Louise Brooks series.

Brooks is the focus of the four film series at the country’s National Audiovisual Institute, which is set to show Beggars of Life on October 12 and 15, Diary of a Lost Girl (Kadotetun päiväkirja) on October 19 and 21, Prix de beaute (Miss Europa) on October 27 and 29, and Pandora’s Box (Pandoran lipas) on November 27 and December 1.

Here is some further information from the KAVI site. Times and ticket availability for each film may be found HERE.

Louise Brooks, kimaltava tähdenlento

12.10.2017 - 01.12.2017

Louise Brooksin elokuvauraa voi luonnehtia tähdenlennoksi, sillä hänen aktiivinen elokuvauransa kesti vain vuosikymmenen. Parhaimmat elokuvansa hän teki Euroopassa G. W. Pabstin kanssa. Hollywoodin Brooks jätti sopimusrikkojana, eikä paluu unelmatehtaaseen enää onnistunut.

The following is from the KAVI website:

Ohjaaja: Augusto Genina

Henkilöt: Louise Brooks, Georges Charlia

Lisähenkilöt: käsikirjoitus René Clair

Maa: Ranska

Tekstitykset: suom. tekstit (e)

Ikäraja: K16

Kesto: 108 min

Teemat: LOUISE BROOKS

Kopiotieto: restauroitu laitos (Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna)

Lisätieto: mykkä versio • versione italiana • piano Joonas Raninen

Augusto Geninan Miss Europa (Prix de beauté, 1930) valmistui siirtymävaiheessa mykästä äänielokuvaan. Sen kerronta on kuitenkin ilmeistä mykkäelokuvaa. Louise Brooksin esittämä Lucienne valitaan missikisoihin, ja hänelle avautuu uusia mahdollisuuksia. Mustasukkainen poikaystävä pyrkii rajoittamaan naisen elämää ja valintoja.

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Miss Europa kuuluu Alfred Hitchcockin Blackmailin tavoin niihin elokuviin, jotka valmistettiin juuri sillä hetkellä, kun mykästä elokuvasta siirryttiin äänielokuvaan. Tähän asti olemme tunteneet elokuvan vain ääniversiona jälkiäänitettyine musiikkeineen, tehosteineen ja dialogeineen, vaikka elokuvaa katsottaessa oli selvää että se oli alun perin tarkoitettu mykäksi. Onneksi Milanon Cineteca Italianasta löydetty kopio teki mahdolliseksi mykkäversion rekonstruktion. Se valmistettiin samasta negatiivista kuin ääniversiokin; ainoat erot ovat kolmessa kohtauksessa jotka kuvattiin uudelleen synkronisoitua dialogia varten; nämä kohtaukset nähdään mykkäversiossa alkuperäisessä muodossaan. Loppukohtaus on kuitenkin säilynyt vain ääniversiona. Mykkäversio pyrkii pelastamaan elokuvan alkuperäisen rytmin, palauttaa kuvien alkuperäisen sommittelun (ennen kuin ruutua leikattiin ääniraidan mahduttamiseksi) ja paljastaa alkuperäisnegatiivin loistavan kuvallisen laadun.

Vuoden 1929 lopulla mykkänä kuvattu ja neljällä kielellä (ranskaksi, englanniksi, saksaksi ja italiaksi) kokonaan jälkisynkronisoitu Miss Europa on uraauurtava esimerkki aikansa poikkeuksellisesta dubbauskäytännöstä. Mykän ja äänielokuvan siirtymävuosien normina oli synkronisoida ääniraidalle musiikki ja äänitehosteet, seurauksena melko summittainen synkronisuus. Oli erittäin epätavallista, että tuotantoyhtiö näki näin paljon vaivaa dubatakseen vuoropuheluakin teknisistä ja aatteellisista syistä.

Augusto Geninan ohjaus ja Louise Brooksin näyttelijäntyö kohoavat kuitenkin paradoksaalisesti huomattavasti vahvemmiksi mykkäversiossa. Vailla ääniraitaansa Miss Europa paljastaa todellisen luontonsa myöhäisen mykkäelokuvan saavutuksena.

Meitä hämmästyttää osittain dokumentaarinen tai yhteiskunnallinen lähestymistapa jolla kamera tarkkailee kauneuskilpailun yleisöä ja osanottajia tai huomiota jota kiinnitetään esineisiin tai päähenkilön reaktioihin (lapsenomainen ihastus jolla Lucienne ottaa haltuunsa mukavan junahytin, yhtä lapsenomainen ylpeys jolla hän esittelee sulhaselleen uutta puvustoaan ja ylellistä asuntoaan, keskiluokkaisen elämäntilanteen ankeus jota ilmentävät pariskunnan vaatimattoman asunnon yksinkertaiset varusteet) ja jälleen armoton katse jolla Geninan kamera paljastaa 24-vuotiaan tähden vartalon heikkoudet ja alkavan repsahtamisen [perätön väite! – AA]. Louise Brooks oli nopeasti lähestymässä uransa ennenaikaista loppua, ja hän oli elämässään tuuliajolla, jos meidän on uskominen ohjaajan muistikuvia: ”Hän joi shamppanjaa ja konjakkia. Hän oli juovuksissa neljästä aamulla varhaisiltaan, mutta sitten hän jatkoi taas juomistaan neljään asti, jolloin hänelle tuotiin uusi shamppanjapullo. Hän nukkui aina. Aamulla hänet oli kannettava studiolle, koska hän nukkui. Studiolla hänet laitettiin nojatuoliin meikattavaksi, ja hän nukkui yhä. Hän heräsi vain otoksia varten; sitten hän jatkoi juomista ja nukkumista. Hän rakasti baarimikkoa!”

– Alberto Boschin mukaan (”Prix de beauté”, Cinegrafie, n:o 12, 1998) AA 5.10.2000

Help needed to identify actors, airplanes and landscapes from the 1927 Louise Brooks film, Now We're in the Air

I am nearing completion of a project on the once "considered lost" 1927 Louise Brooks film, Now We're in the Air, and need help identifying a few of the actors, the model of airplanes, and perhaps even the locale of some of the exterior shots. As many of you may know, a 23 minute fragment of the film was found in the Czech Republic in 2016 by Robert Byrne, and was shown at the 2017 San Francisco Silent Film Festival and most recently at Pordenone in Italy. IF YOU ARE ABLE TO HELP IDENTIFY ANY OF THE ACTORS OR AIRPLANES OR LOCALES IN THE FOLLOWING IMAGES, PLEASE POST IN THE COMMENTS, OR EMAIL THE LOUISE BROOKS SOCIETY AT silentfilmbuff [AT] gmailDOTcom.   THANK YOU!

Now We’re in the Air was made by Paramount and shot between August 1 and September 8, 1927 at the Paramount studio near Hollywood and on location in nearby Southern California. What else is known is that the following actors appeared in the film:

Wallace Beery as Wally

Raymond Hatton as Ray

Russell Simpsonas Lord Abercrombie McTavish

Louise Brooks as the twins Griselle & Grisette Chelaine

Emile Chautard as Monsieur Chelaine, father of the twins

Malcolm Waite as Professor Saenger

Duke Martin as Top Sargeant

Mattie Witting as Madame Chelaine, mother of the twins (uncredited)

Fred Kohler (uncredited)

The preserved 23-minute fragment of Now We're in the Air show that the film utilized at least a couple dozen additional actors, mostly in crowd shots and/or in the background. A handful of these actors appear again and again (such as the military officers), or are given a fair amount of screen time (such as the carnival workers). I am wondering if anyone can identify any of these uncredited actors?

#1 Group shot of American military officers

 #2 Close-up shot of Allied military officers

 #3 Close-up shot of German military officers
UPDATE: R Michael Pyle identified the shorter officer in the middle left as Theodore von Eltz. Steve Massa identified the the taller officer in the middle as Richard Alexander. 

 

#4 Emile Chautard, the noted French director and actor who plays Brooks' father in the film, is far left. I wonder who the two carnival performers might be?

 #5 Close-up of the knife thrower
UPDATE: Rob Byrne identified the knife thrower as Charles Stevens

 #6 Close-up of the knife thrower's assistant, looking at Wallace Beery

 #7 My understanding is that fifteen airplanes, including some actual WWI aircraft, were used in
the making of the film, including a 76-foot Martin Bomber which was deliberately wrecked
in one of the film’s “big thrill scenes.” Can anyone identify these planes?
UPDATE: fredhedges stated the large aircraft is a Martin MB-1. The scout plane nearest the camera  looks like a Fokker D-VII judging by the tail and struts. The other scout I can't make out from the photos provided.

 #8 A close-up of the larger plane, the Martin bomber?
UPDATE: T0m M stated that the bomber in photo #8 appears to be the same one as in photo #7. In this case we can see four widely and equally spaced wheels, indicative of a Martin MB-1.

 #9 Another close-up of the larger aircraft. Notice the four-wheel configuration. And notice the round landmark in the distance on the left. (This scene was, no doubt, shot in front of a filmed backdrop.)
UPDATE: T0m M stated "Photo #9 is clearly not the same aircraft in photos #7 and #8. Everything is slightly scaled down and simplified. The radiator tops are not as rounded and the skull and crossbones are notably different. The eye sockets are larger and more oval, the nose socket is longer and the bones cross at much closer to a right angle. I believe this is a mock-up to facilitate simulated (i.e. in-studio) aerial shots"

 

 #10 The three aircraft.
UPDATE: T0m M stated "Photo #10 appears to be from Wings. The scouts are the same Curtis P-1 Hawks used in Wings. They are identifiable by wings which are tapered on both leading and trailing edges. As in Wings, the left scout is dark coloured, while the right scout is light coloured. If this is from Wings, the bomber is a Martin MB-2. The bombers in both films are Martins but different versions. This films uses an MB-1, while Wings employs an MB-2."

UPDATE: Vanwall emailed that he came across a link which notes "a low-budget production of Paramount includes a SPAD VII with the same decorations as that of Wings." 

 #11 Now We're in the Air was shot in Southern California, near Los Angeles. Can anyone identify this landscape? Notice the round landmark in the upper right, and the winding road.
UPDATE: missdupont wrote "The shot of the winding road from the balloon looks like it could be the Topanga Canyon area."

UPDATE: Henry Bisharat thought that the landscape resembled "Mulholland Drive over the Hollywood Hills due to the S shape of the road. Best to find maps of the area from 1920s. Mulholland Drive opened in 1924."

 #12 Another landscape view. The round landmark is in the upper left.

 #13 A view of the carnival and the village. Might anyone recognize this mountain formation?
UPDATE: missdupont wrote "The carnival sequences are at the Lasky Ranch in what is now Forest Lawn Hollywood. The hill visible behind is now called Mt. Lee, and the Hollywood Sign is on the other side."

 #14 I couldn't leave it at thirteen images. That would be unlucky. So, here is a crowd shot with
Louise Brooks and some of the extras. Who might the portly fellow to the right of Brooks be?

Art Spiegelman talks silent film from Pordenone

Here are a couple of fascinating video clips of Pulitzer Prize winning comic artist Art Spiegelman (author of Maus) talking about silent film. Spiegelman has a well known love of early popular music. And some years ago, when I met him, he told me he sometimes listened to RadioLulu (the LBS radio station streaming Louise Brooks and silent film themed music).

In the first video, Spiegelman explains why he attended the recent Pordenone Silent Film Festival in Italy, where they recently screened the once lost Brooks' film, Now We're in the Air.

In the second video, he explains his interest in silent film. (video starts after 13 seconds)

Book face with Louise Brooks (and F. Scott Fitzgerald)

If you look through YouTube and Vimeo, you'll find a bunch of book face clips. It's where an individual will place a book (featuring a portrait or face on its cover) over their own face in order to create a new collage image.

Here is a screen capture of one such book face. It features a French edition of the F. Scott Fitzgerald story, "Berenice Bobs Her Hair," with Louise Brooks' bangs and eyes on its cover. This screen capture comes from a video on a French news website.

Diary of a Lost Girl with Louise Brooks screens in Helsinki, Finland on October 19 and 21

The National Audiovisual Institute (KAVI) in Helsinki, Finland will screen Diary of a Lost Girl on October 19 and 21, 2017 as part of their ongoing Louise Brooks series.

Brooks is the focus of the four film series at the country’s National Audiovisual Institute, which is set to show Beggars of Life on October 12 and 15, Diary of a Lost Girl (Kadotetun päiväkirja) on October 19 and 21, Prix de beaute (Miss Europa) on October 27 and 29, and Pandora’s Box (Pandoran lipas) on November 27 and December 1.

Here is some further information from the KAVI site. Times and ticket availability for each film may be found HERE.

Louise Brooks, kimaltava tähdenlento

12.10.2017 - 01.12.2017

Louise Brooksin elokuvauraa voi luonnehtia tähdenlennoksi, sillä hänen aktiivinen elokuvauransa kesti vain vuosikymmenen. Parhaimmat elokuvansa hän teki Euroopassa G. W. Pabstin kanssa. Hollywoodin Brooks jätti sopimusrikkojana, eikä paluu unelmatehtaaseen enää onnistunut.

The following is from the KAVI website:

Ohjaaja: G. W. Pabst

Henkilöt: Louise Brooks, Fritz Rasp, Josef Rovenský, Sybille Schmitz, Valeska Gert

Maa: Saksa

Tekstitykset: suom. tekstit (E)

Ikäraja: K12

Kesto: 113 min

Teemat: LOUISE BROOKS

Kopiotieto: restauroitu laitos FWMS 1997

Lisätieto: Margarete Böhmen romaanista • piano Ilari Hannula

G. W. Pabstin Kadotetun päiväkirjassa (Das Tagebuch einer Verlorenen, 1929) Louise Brooks esittää viatonta tyttöä, joka saa lapsen raiskauksen seurauksena. Perhe keskittyy varjelemaan mainettaan, hylkää tytön kasvatuslaitokseen ja antaa lapsen pois. Tyttö kuitenkin karkaa ja päätyy elättämään itseään ainoaksi jäävällä vaihtoehdolla. Moraliteetti ottaa kantaa paremman luokan hurskasteluun ja näkee hyveen ”syntisissä”.