Now We're in the Air, the story behind the Louise Brooks film and its finding

In celebration of today's showing of Now We're in the Air at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in Italy, here is a reprise of my March 30th Huffington Post article about the film and its finding. Further information about this special screening can be found HERE. Also, don't fail to read Jay Weissberg's program essay on the film, which can be found HERE. (It mentions the LBS.) And for those who can't get enough, HERE are my program notes for the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

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Long Missing Louise Brooks Film Found
by Thomas Gladysz (3/30/2017)

Approximately 23 minutes of a long missing 1927 Louise Brooks film, Now We’re in the Air, has been found in an archive in the Czech Republic. The discovery is significant, not only because of Brooks’ widespread popularity, but because it helps fill a gap in the legendary actress’ body of work. Until now, each of the four films Brooks made in 1927—at the peak of her American career—have been considered lost.

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival revealed the existence of the film while announcing the lineup of works to be shown at its upcoming event. The newly restored partial film will be shown at the Festival, which is set to take place June 1 through June 4 at the Castro Theater in San Francisco.

Now We’re in the Air will be paired with Get Your Man (1927), a Dorothy Arzner directed film starring Clara Bow. The Library of Congress has reconstructed Get Your Man from recovered materials, filling in missing sequences with stills and intertitles. Festival Executive Director Stacey Wisnia noted that the pairing brings together not only two recovered films, but also the era’s two “It” girls, Bow and Brooks.

The discovery of Now We’re in the Air came about, in part, through the efforts of film preservationist Robert Byrne, president of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Byrne has made a name for himself of late, having helped in the recovery and restoration of a handful of important films over the last few years. Prominent among his discoveries were two films identified in the collection of Cinematheque Francaise, Sherlock Holmes (1916), and Silence (1926). The latter, a Cecil B. DeMille production directed by Rupert Julian, will also debut at the June event. Another of Byrne’s efforts, Behind the Door (1919), is due out on DVD / Blu-ray from Flicker Alley.

In a recent interview, Byrne related how he mentioned to English film historian and Academy Award honoree Kevin Brownlow that he would be going to Prague to visit the Czech Národní filmový archiv (the Czech Republic’s National Film Archive). It’s known they have an extensive collection of silent era material, including the only remaining nitrate copies of a number of American silent films. Unsure as to what might be found, Brownlow provided Byrne with a list of about a dozen titles he should ask to see. That list included Now We’re in the Air. Though popular in its time, the 1927 film is little known today except for the fact it includes Brooks in an important supporting role.

When Byrne inspected the elements for Rif a Raf, Piloti (the Czech title for Now We’re in the Air), he found the film had only partially survived in a state which also showed nitrate decomposition. Additionally, the surviving scenes were found to be out of order, and there were Czech-language titles in place of the original American titles. Byrne spent more than eight months reconstructing the surviving material, including restoring the film’s original English-language inter-titles and original tinting.

“As is often the case, the most challenging aspect was not the technical work of cleaning up the image,” Byrne stated, “but rather the research that ensured we were making a faithful restoration, especially when it came to replacing the Czech language inter-titles with the original English versions.”

Byrne was especially appreciative of the help given by the Národní filmový archive. “They were incredibly gracious and generous with their time and resources; in addition to granting access to their nitrate print, they are responsible for the color-dye tinting of our new 35mm print. This is the first San Francisco Silent Film Festival restoration where we have used the traditional dye-tinting process to restore a film’s original color. In prior projects, we have used a modern method that utilizes color film stock.” Byrne added, “This is what an American audience would have seen when the film was released in 1927.”

Byrne said he was “thrilled” to find a missing Brooks film. “The shame is that so many of her American films are lost. Seeing Now We’re in the Air projected for the first time was pretty amazing. I have seen stills of her in the black tutu a million times, but actually seeing the sequence where she is wearing it was like watching a still photograph magically come to life.” Byrne’s excitement for the newly found Brooks’ film was matched by Judy Wyler Sheldon, a longtime Brooks’ fan and the daughter of legendary director William Wyler. Festival Artistic Director Anita Monga was likewise excited, and thought the fragment was “revelatory.”

Directed by Frank Strayer, Now We’re in the Air is a World War One comedy starring future Oscar winner Wallace Beery and the once popular character actor Raymond Hatton. The film, released by Paramount, also features Brooks in two supporting roles. The actress plays twins, one raised French, one raised German, who are the love interest of two goofy fliers. The surviving footage of Brooks only includes her in the role of the French twin, a carnival worker dressed in a short, dark tutu.

Raymond Hatton, Louise Brooks, Wallace Beery

In the 1920s, Beery and Hatton were teamed in a number of popular Dumb and Dumber-like comedies. With its aviation-theme, Now We’re in the Air was one of the pair’s “service comedies,” following similar themed movies like Behind the Front (1926) and We’re in the Navy Now (1926).

Notably, the film’s cinematographer is Harry Perry, who worked on two other significant aviation pictures, Wings (1927), and Hell’s Angels (1930). Perry was nominated for an Academy Award for his work on the latter. Interestingly, a notation in the script for Now We’re in the Air uncovered during its restoration calls for the use of left-over footage from the William Wellman-directed Wings, another WWI movie, and the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture. That footage can be seen during the Armistice scene in Now We’re in the Air, near the end of the surviving footage.

Though some winced at its crude humor (not evident in the surviving material), the Beery-Hatton film proved to be one of the more popular comedies of 1927. Generally liked by the critics, the film did big box office where ever it showed. In New York City, it enjoyed an extended run, as it did in San Francisco, where it proved to be one of the year’s biggest hits. At a time when most new releases played only one week, Now We’re in the Air ran for a month in San Francisco, according to local newspaper listings. In Boston, the film also did well, opening simultaneously in five theaters. At the time, the Boston Evening Transcript noted the audience at one screening “was so moved by mirth that they were close to tears.”

The recovery of Now We’re in the Air comes 90 years after its first release, and 100 years after the United States formally entered what became known as the First World War, on April 6, 1917. Though a comedy, Now We’re in the Air was one of a number of silent films from the time—including Behind the Door (1919), The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (1921), The Big Parade (1925), What Price Glory? (1926), and Wings (1927), which depict the international conflict.

Byrne and others involved in the restoration of Now We’re in the Air believe the surviving footage lives up to the promise of its original reviews. In June, Festival goers and Louise Brooks fans will have the chance to see for themselves. More about the lineup of films at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival can be found at www.silentfilm.org.

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My wife and I had a small hand in helping bring this film back to the screen, and we and the Louise Brooks Society are thanked in the credits which follow the restored fragment. It was an honor and a pleasure to be asked to help work on the project. It was also exciting! I got to see raw footage of the surviving material (still with Czech intertitles), and helped put the fragmented pieces back into proper order and with correct English-language intertitles. The story of this film will be told in a new book, which is forthcoming later this year.

After the above article was published and before the film debuted in San Francisco, I was given a Louise Brooks / Now We're in the Air giphoscope to honor my contribution to bringing this once lost film back into circulation -- 90 years after it was first shown.


What's a giphoscope? Simply put, it's an analog GIF player. And this model displays a 24 frame animated GIF excerpted from Now We're in the Air. Only a few copies of these handmade, Italian objects were produced.  Here is one in action, followed by a snapshot of Robert Byrne and myself (right) holding my player.

Now We're in the Air -- snapshots of Louise Brooks from Pordenone, Italy

As Louise Brooks fans hopefully know by now,  the once lost 1927 Brooks' film Now We're in the Air has been found -- or at least 23 minutes of it. That surviving material was restored by film preservationist Robert Byrne (with the assistance of Thomas Gladysz / Louise Brooks Society), and will be shown tomorrow, Monday October 2, at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival in Italy. Live piano accompaniment will be given by John Sweeney.

Further information about this special screening can be found HERE. Also, don't fail to read Jay Weissberg's program essay on the film, which can be found HERE. (It mentions the LBS.)

Excitement is building at the Festival, and a few snapshots have been sent to me evidencing Louise Brooks "presence" at the event. Pamela Hutchinson (author of the forthcoming book on Pandora's Box from the BFI) sent this snapshot of the book / merchandise table, where copies of my new book, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film are on sale next to some rather nifty Pordenone mugs.

And that's not the only Louise Brooks merchandise from this year's Pordenone Silent Film Festival (also known as the Giornate del Cinema Muto.) Rob Byrne, who sent the above image of the information table with the Louise Brooks background, also sent me this image of the Festival tote bag, which is also pretty nifty.

I have heard from Jordon Young that Louise Brooks also appears on the cover of the program, which I have yet to see. (The programs were late to arrive to the Festival because the schedule was onbly closed a few days ago.) I wish I could have been there. To close this entry, I'll add this image of a poster for the Festival. As best I know, this was not printed, but can be found floating around online.

p.s. Check out this Italian article, "Louise Brooks, la divina: un inedito alle Giornate del Cinema Muto di Pordenone," about Louise Brooks and the Festival.

Beggars of Life, starring Louise Brooks, in the news

The Harvard Film Archive in Cambridge, Massachusetts has just 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.

And that's not all the news.... Beggars of Life was the focus of a radio program hosted by Hollywood personality Dick Dinman. Follow THIS LINK to Turner Classic Movies "TCM Movie News" to listen, or tune in to WMPG in Portland, Maine.

Dick Dinman & William Wellman Jr. Salute the BEGGARS OF LIFE!

DICK DINMAN & WILLIAM WELLMAN JR. SALUTE THE "BEGGARS OF LIFE": Popular author, actor, producer and raconteur William Wellman Jr. and producer/host Dick Dinman rave about Kino Lorber's marvelous Blu-ray release of legendary director William Wellman's favorite of his silent films BEGGARS OF LIFE in which the notorious Louise Brooks plays a train-hopping hobo who dresses like a boy to escape the law and discourage the lecherous advances of Wallace Beery and his rambunctious band of hoboes.

The award-winning DICK DINMAN'S DVD CLASSICS CORNER ON THE AIR is the only show devoted to Golden Age Movie Classics as they become available on DVD and Blu-ray. Your producer/host Dick Dinman includes a generous selection of classic scenes, classic film music and one-on-one interviews with stars, producers, and directors. To hear these as well as other DVD CLASSICS CORNER ON THE AIR shows please go to www.dvdclassicscorner.com or www.dvdclassicscorner.net.

A sneak peak at Charlotte Siller's Documentary of a Lost Girl

A six minute sneak peak at Charlotte Siller's forthcoming Documentary of a Lost Girl will be shown at the 15th annual Tallgrass Film Festival in Wichita, Kansas. The six minute excerpt will be shown at 11:30 and 12:30 each day of the Festival, which runs October 18 - 22. More information about the festival and its many screenings can be found HERE.

I have seen the six minute piece, and I can state that is it OUTSTANDING! Charlotte Siller has made something truly fine: as someone interested in film history, I have watched a lot of documentaries--I expect this will rank among the best. I can't wait to see more. Documentary of a Lost Girl is scheduled for release in 2018. More information about the documentary can be found HERE.

Documentary of a Lost Girl is a film that uses archival materials and interviews from various witnesses to uncover the life of Louise Brooks away from the cameras.  While many know Miss Brooks as being a silent film star and siren, not many know of her incredibly intellectual abilities and her extensive research into her era of cinematic pursuits.  She stands out as a shining example of a woman ahead of her era who dared to shirk the usual demands made of women of that time and live her life the way she wanted to. Although the historical truth is always unclear from our point of view, we will provide the audience with opinions from all sides; from friends, to researchers, to relatives.  Everyone has a different story to tell, and we are collecting all that we can muster. It is important for us to collect every scrap of archival material for, if they are not documented, then they may fade out of the picture as quickly as unpreserved film.

 

Louise Brooks and Hugh Hefner

The silent film and Louise Brooks communities have lost a friend in the passing of Hugh Hefner. Best known as the founder of Playboy magazine, Hefner was also an ally of film preservation and film history.

I met him once, briefly, at a bookseller's convention. He was there to sign copies of his latest book. I got in line in order to introduce myself, and we chatted for a few minutes about Louise Brooks. It was loud inside the convention hall, but we both understood each's devotion to the silent film star.

Hefner was a devotee of a number of early films stars, among them Louise Brooks. He served as executive producer of the exceptional 1998 documentary, Louise Brooks: Looking for Lulu, as well as for documentaries about Clara Bow, Marion Davies, Theda Bara, Olive Thomas and others. Both of us appeared on the E! Entertainment show, Mysteries and Scandals, in the episode devoted to Brooks.

Hefner also helped underwrite a major restoration of Pandora's Box. To learn more about that project and his involvement in the film world, check out "The Preservationist and the Playboy: Restoring Pandora's Box."

Now We're in the Air set to show in Pordenone, Italy

Now We're in the Air (1927) will be shown in Italy at the Pordenone Silent Film Festival. In what is being billed as its international premiere, the fragmentary, 23 minute, once-lost film will be shown on Monday, October 2 as part of the series "Rediscoveries and Restorations."

Learn more about the film and its rediscovery HERE.

8:30 pm - Rediscoveries and Restorations
NOW WE’RE IN THE AIR (US 1927; fragment 23’) | International Premiere
by Frank R. Strayer with Louise Brooks, Wallace Beery, Raymond Hatton
Pianoforte: John Sweeney

Thanks to the San Francisco Silent Film Festival and to the Prague Cinematheque, where the film fragment was rediscovered by Robert Byrne in 2016, Louise Brooks comes back to us in all her stunning beauty. Even though for a few minutes only, we shall see her move in that same black tutu in which she was captured, gorgeous yet still, in the famous portraits by Eugene Robert Richee.

 
Earlier, the festival posted this: 

The 36th Pordenone Silent Film Festival will host the international premiere of the recently rediscovered 22 minutes of the long missing comedy Now We’re in the Air (US 1927), featuring Louise Brooks.

In the film, set in World War I, Brooks plays twins, one raised in France, the other one in Germany. The surviving footage includes only scenes with the actress in the role of the French twin, wearing the same black tutu she wears in the famous portraits by Eugene Robert Richee.

The fragment was rediscovered in 2016 at the Národní filmový archiv, Prague, by Rob Byrne, film historian and president of the Board of Directors of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. The restoration was completed in 2017 as a partnership between San Francisco SFF and the Czech archive.

Until now, all four films Brooks made in 1927 have been considered lost.

More reviews of the new Beggars of Life DVD

Here are a few more reviews of the new Beggars of Life DVD / Blu-ray from Kino Lorber. I've highlighted what each reviewer or publication said about the film in general, as well as any comments (forgive me, please) about my audio commentary. Clicking on the hyperlinks will bring you to the full review, so those interested can read more.

An earlier round-up of reviews can be found at this earlier entry, "First reviews of the new Beggars of Life DVD from Kino Lorber (starring Louise Brooks)" from September 7th. Otherwise, here are some of the latest....

On WAMC (Northeast Public Radio out of Albany, NY), Rob Edelman (9/11/2017) broadcast "Its title is BEGGARS OF LIFE, and it joins such late-silent-era American classics as THE CROWD and SUNRISE as genuine works of cinematic art.... Kino Lorber has just released the film to home entertainment.... BEGGARS OF LIFE is a poignant, simple-- but never simplistic-- film.... is crammed with stunning, heartrending visuals.... is a pleasure to see, and to savor."

Roy Frumkes wrote on Films in Review (8/9/2017), "Strong to the point of being offensive in its day, such criticism no longer sticks, but this allows for us to enjoy the aesthetic beauty of the film, and the remarkably subtle performances of the entire cast.... It’s also a wonderful opportunity to enjoy Louise Brooks, the cult maverick of nitrate.... The recently recorded score by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra is often lovely and rarely distracting, and there are two commentaries, one favoring Ms. Brooks (by the founding director of the Louise Brooks Society) and another by William Wellman Jr. for balance."

On Stream on Demand at Home, the noted critic Sean Axmaker (9/10/2017) noted, "... featuring a rare integrated cast, its portrait of the armies of hobos is part homeless underworld and part romanticized escape, but it looks ahead to Wellman’s great depression-era dramas Wild Boys of the Road and Heroes For Sale, which presented a much more harrowing and desperate portrait of hobo life.... On Blu-ray and DVD with two new commentary tracks (one by William Wellman, Jr., and the other by film historian and Louise Brooks Society founder Thomas Gladysz) and a booklet with an essay by film historian Nick Pinkerton."

Mike Gebert on Nitrateville.com (8/21/2017) wrote, "This is an adventure film, fast-paced and able to sweep you along as easily as any silent made, and certainly belongs in that group of end-of-the-era silents that seem to have complete mastery of the form like Sunrise, Seventh Heaven, The Last Command, Lonesome, and a few others.... There are two commentary tracks—one by William Wellman Jr., which based on a spot listen seems to be mostly historical about the production (with some personal reminiscences thrown in), and one by Thomas Gladysz (who I interviewed for NitrateVille Radio), which has more of a focus on Brooks but also covers hobo author Jim Tully and the history of turning his book into this movie."

On It Came from the Bottom Shelf, William T. Garver, aka Garv (9/6/2017) wrote "One of the best examples of the art of late silent visual storytelling is William A. Wellman’s Beggars of Life (1928).... Fans of the silent beauty Louise Brooks, or of the mush-faced character actor Wallace Beery, should consider Beggars of Life required viewing, as it features performances on-par with their best-loved work.... Consult the book Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film by Thomas Gladysz (who is one of the commentators on the Blu-ray)."

Michael Giltz wrote on Huffington Post (9/8/2017), "I was lucky to see Beggars Of Life in a theater. This early hit by director William Wellman has a great turn by Wallace Beery and a magnetic performance by Louise Brooks... It’s got verve."

Author James Neibur (9/21/17) wrote, "Beggars of Life is a film in which everything works at such an impressive level, it truly earns the reputation of screen classic.... Extras include commentary by William Wellman jr. and by Thomas Gladysz.  In fact, there is an affordable and highly recommended book that goes perfectly with the blu ray.  Gladysz, director of the Louise Brooks Society, has written a companion book to the movie that features a wealth of information, insight, and photos.  It really puts this film into historical perspective and helps to further understand and more deeply appreciate its status as a  screen classic."

Bruce Eder of All Movie Guide wrote "Wings (1927) may be William A. Wellman's most renowned silent film -- having won the first Best Picture Oscar -- but Beggars Of Life deserves just about as much recognition within its more modest boundaries..... And beyond Brooks' work, Beggars Of Life has a massive amount going for it, not least of which the visual poetry of Wellman's direction and Henry W. Gerrard's cinematography"

The new Kino Lorber release was also reviewed by a small handful of customers on amazon.com. And among the reviews were these recent comments:

The Movie Man wrote, "Though the subject matter of the film is very dark, director William Wellman (Wings, The Ox-Bow Incident) gives it a good deal of flair.... The 1928 black & white silent film has been digitally restored from 35-mm film elements preserved by the George Eastman Museum. Bonus materials on the unrated Blu-ray release include audio commentary by actor William Wellman, Jr.; audio commentary by the founding director of the Louise Brooks Society; booklet containing a critical essay; and musical score compiled and performed by The Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra, employing selections from the original 1928 Paramount cue sheet."

M. Britton wrote: "A lost masterpiece! Glad to see Kino get this one for a blu ray release. This silent classic has never looked as good as it does here. Love Louise Brooks and everything she is in. Was beginning to wonder if this film was "lost" like many of her films. Great film and a great blu ray! It even has a few wonderful commentaries that are worthy of a listen." 

An earlier round-up of reviews can be found at this earlier entry, "First reviews of the new Beggars of Life DVD from Kino Lorber (starring Louise Brooks)" from September 7th.

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, screens thrice in England

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks as the immortal Lulu, will be shown in England in the coming months on a few occasions. Details can be found HERE on the Silent London site, and below. Additional dates in England and Scotland are to be announced. Stay tuned.

First up, the film will be shown in London on November 19 at the British Film Institute. This special event at National Film Theater 1 (located at BFI Southbank) features live piano accompaniment and an introduction by Pamela Hutchinson, author of a forthcoming BFI Film Classics book on Pandora’s Box. More information and time and ticket availability may be found HERE. 

According to the BFI website, "Lulu (the wonderful Louise Brooks) breaks hearts and causes chaos in this 1928 silent classic: Pandora’s Box is a film ‘that bears repeated viewing and obsessive scrutiny’ (Bryony Dixon, ‘100 Silent Films’). Here is a good moment to re-view Pabst’s classic tale of the ammoral Lulu – played beautifully, in every sense, by Louise Brooks – on the occasion of Pamela Hutchinson’s new BFI Classic which challenges assumptions made about the film and its star by previous generations."

Pandora's Box will also be shown in Bristol on November 24. This special event, hosted by South West Silents, will take place at the Cube Microplex (BS2 8 Bristol, United Kingdom). Time and ticket availability may be found HERE. The film will show from a 35mm film print from the National Film and Television Archive with live piano accompaniment by John Sweeney, and will feature an introduction by Pamela Hutchinson.


According to the South West Silents website, "G.W. Pabst’s 1929 silent masterpiece Pandora’s Box stars Louise Brooks in the role that secured her place as one of the immortal goddesses of the silver screen. This controversial, and in its day heavily censored, film is regularly ranked in the Top 100 films of all time (including Cahiers du Cinema and Sight & Sound). Brooks is unforgettable as Lulu (Louise Brooks), a sexy, amoral dancer who creates a trail of devastation as she blazes through Weimar-era Berlin, breaking hearts and destroying lives. From Germany, she flies to France, and finally to London, where tragedy strikes. This stunning photographed film is loosely based on the controversial Lulu plays by Frank Wedekind, and also features one of the cinema’s earliest lesbian characters." 

Hardly a week later, Pandora's Box will be shown again in London on December 3 at Phoenix Cinema (52 High Rd, East Finchley, London N2 9PJ). Time and ticket availability may be found HERE. The film will feature a live piano accompaniment by Stephen Horne, as well as an introduction by Pamela Hutchinson..  

According to the Phoenix Cinema website, "A free-loving, status-climbing dancer takes up with a succession of lovers, gradually descending to the life of a streetwalker, and thus, her own doom. Lulu (Louise Brooks) lives beyond the constraints of time - she is a radiant, outrageous icon of modernity. In challenging moral conventions with depth and complexity, she has become a screen seductress like no other. Directed by G.W. Pabst in 1929, Pandora's Box is an acknowledged masterpiece of sensual imagery and remains an astonishingly modern work of art.

The Phoenix is very pleased to be welcoming film historian and author Pamela Hutchinson, who has recently written a book on Pandora’s Box for the BFI Film Classics series: Die Büchse der Pandora (Pandora’s Box, 1929), starring Hollywood icon Louise Brooks, is an established classic of the silent era. Pamela Hutchinson revisits and challenges many assumptions made about the film, its lead character and its star. Putting the film in historical and contemporary contexts, Hutchinson investigates how the film speaks to new audiences. She will be with us to introduce the film and will remain after the screening for an exclusive book signing."

More about the book, which is pictured below.

Painting of Louise Brooks on display in UK

A painting of Louise Brooks is on display in a gallery in Leeds, England. The work, by UK artist Bay Backner, is on display at the Cafe 164, The Gallery at 164 (on Duke Street).

The artist explained the inspiration behind her recent work to the Bradford Telegraph and Argus,

"I'd had a brilliant chat with Janine Sykes, course leader in MA Curation Practices at Leeds College of Art. We'd talked about the faces we see as beautiful, and this is being changed by digital media and globalised industry. So the idea came together of a show to explore female beauty and its iconic images," says Bay, who works in oil paint on stretched canvas, then creates limited-edition prints in archival ink.

Another article, in the Yorkshire Evening Post, noting that Backner's new work focuses on the notion of beauty, stating "She spent six months examining what we see as beauty, how it affects how we see ourselves and what it means around the world for the exhibition, which features brightly coloured, large portraits of the women, painted in a style that harks back to the Golden Age of Hollywood."

According to the Yorkshire Evening Post, "The portraits are not based on a single photograph of the women, but the artists’ personal perspective of their image, based on a composite of pictures of them." Iconic beauties such as Hedy Lamarr and Audrey Hepburn, as well as supermodels Kate Moss and Bella Hadid, and artist Frida Kahlo are included among the portraits. As is Louise Brooks.

The artist looked around online, exploring the idea of beauty. "There were women there that I didn’t even realise had become part of my beauty mix," Backner is quoted as saying. "I really responded to Louise Brooks, who was the original 1920s ‘It girl’ and made it cool to have a boy-like figure and short hair. She changed the way women wanted to look."

In the Bradford Telegraph and Argus, Backner reiterated her point, "Of course my paintings are a very personal selection of faces. They're the women who have shaped my western ideal of beauty, and whose images hold in my mind as I look in the mirror every day. Interestingly, some are women unknown to me before I started research for the show - but I realised just how much their image changed how I, and many women today, see themselves. For example, Louise Brooks was the original 1920s 'It Girl'. She made short hair and a boy-like figure desirable after three centuries of corseted curves and waist-length hair. We'd look very different without her!"

In a statement sent to the Louise Brooks Society, the artists noted, "I first came across Louise Brooks in stills from Pandora's Box. I saw them while designing the set for another Wedekind play, Spring Awakening. My impression was of a strikingly beautiful, magnetic women with presence and energy. I reencountered her images while researching the 'How to Be Beautiful' exhibition - and was haunted by her expressions."

This portrait of Louise Brooks, "Louise in Pink" (oil on canvas, 24"x34"), is displayed at the gallery and on Backner's website.

“There were women there that I didn’t even realise had become part of my beauty mix,” Backner said. “I really responded to Louise Brooks, who was the original 1920s ‘It girl’ and made it cool to have a boy-like figure and short hair. She changed the way women wanted to look.”

Read more at: http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/news/painting-picture-of-beauty-at-leeds-art-exhibition-1-8761140

Bay studied at the Ruskin School of Art, Oxford University, and Central Saint Martins, London. She works in oil paint on stretched canvas, then creates limited-edition prints in archival ink. Bay’s paintings are informed by fine-art’s ‘old masters’ as well as today’s street artists and fashion photographers. Her work was recently featured by Grazia Magazine.

‘How To Be Beautiful’ is at Cafe 164, The Gallery at 164, until Saturday October 7, 2017.

Beggars of Life shows in Cleveland, Ohio tomorrow

The new restoration of Beggars of Life will be shown in Cleveland, Ohio on Saturday, September 23 at 5 pm. The 1928 film, which stars Louise Brooks, will be shown at the Cinematheque at the Cleveland Institute of Art (11610 Euclid Avenue). Beggars of Life is based on a memoir by vagabond writer and onetime Kent, OH, resident Jim Tully. Paul Bauer, co-author (with Mark Dawidziak) of the stellar 2011 biography Jim Tully: American Writer, Irish Rover, Hollywood Brawler, will introduce the film and sell and sign copies of his book. Cleveland revival premiere. DCP. 81 min. More information may be found HERE.

Louise Brooks’ best American film was made shortly before she left for Germany and found everlasting fame in G.W. Pabst’s Pandora’s Box and Diary of a Lost Girl. Here she plays a young woman who flees her cruel stepfather and, dressed in boy’s clothing, rides the rails with hobos. Wallace Beery and Richard Arlen co-star. At the time of its release, the Cleveland Plain Dealer described Beggars of Life as "a raw, sometimes bleeding slice of life." This silent film presentation has a new music score by the Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra. 

The Cleveland Institute of Art Cinematheque is one of the country’s best repertory movie theaters, according to The New York Times. Founded in 1986, the alternative film theater shows classic, foreign, and independent films 50 weekends of the year. The Cinematheque offers discounted tickets to all CIA students and contributes to the richness of the college’s public programming in the arts.

Want to learn more about this acclaimed film ? Check out my new book, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film. This first ever study of Beggars of Life looks at the film Oscar-winning director William Wellman thought his finest silent movie. Based on Jim Tully's bestselling book of hobo life-and filmed by Wellman the year after he made Wings (the first film to win the Best Picture Oscar), Beggars of Life is a riveting drama about an orphan girl (screen legend Louise Brooks) who kills her abusive stepfather and flees the law. She meets a boy tramp (leading man Richard Arlen), and together they ride the rails through a dangerous hobo underground ruled over by Oklahoma Red (future Oscar winner Wallace Beery). Beggars of Life showcases Brooks in her best American silent. Copies may be purchased through amazon.com, B&N.com, or through select independent bookstores. The new digital restoration of the film has just been released by Kino Lorber on DVD / Blu-ray.

Portrait of Louise Brooks Goes to Auction

This painting will be offered on November 20th at Bonhams Auction House in New York City, along with almost 400 other pieces from the collection of Ira Resnick. Details to come.

TODAY: Beggars of Life, starring Louise Brooks, shows in Northbrook, Illinois

Beggars of Life, the acclaimed 1928 silent film starring Louise Brooks, will be shown today at the Northbrook Public Library in Northbrook, Ilinois. "An American silent film classic, Beggars of Life stars Louise Brooks as a train-hopping hobo who dresses like a boy to survive."

This screening, part of the Wednesday Classic Film Series, will take place at 7:30 pm in the library auditorium. Dave Drazin will accompany the film on piano. More information may be found HERE.

It's pretty cool that pianist Dave Drazin will accompany the film. This performer is a legend. Here is a little bit about him from his website.

Pianist and composer David Drazin is a music and motion picture archivist who has acquired a national reputation for his piano improvisations accompanying silent films. Among silent movie screenings for which he has performed are Cinevent Film Festival in Columbus, Ohio, the Gene Siskel Film Center of the School of the Art Institute in Chicago (staff accompanist since 1985), Pordenone Silent Film Festival, Italy (guest pianist 2003 and 2004), Silent Film Society of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory, LaSalle Bank Theatre, North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Cleveland Cinematheque as well as at many universities, libraries and churches.

He is notable among contemporary film accompanists for his use of the 1920s-era jazz and blues, rather than classic ragtime, in playing for silent comedies. His improvisational ballet and dance accompaniment skills serve him well in developing music for dramas, such as the films in the Fritz Lang film series recently shown at the Art Institute.

Not limited only to music, David has operated cameras and projectors as well as crafting several short films of his own. His archive collection includes 78 rpm records, 8 and 16 millimeter silent and sound films. 

"Seeing a 35mm print of such a restoration well projected is the ideal, of course, especially with an expert pianist like the Cinematheque’s David Drazin providing the accompaniment." -- Kristin Thompson and David Bordwell, University of Wisconsin, Observations on Film Art blog

"A consummate musician with a supernatural talent for film accompaniment." -- Marilyn Ferdinand, author, Chicago film critic, ferdyonfilms.com

"If you've never heard/seen David Drazin accompany a silent film, then you're in for a real treat." -- Arnie Bernstein, author, Hollywood on Lake Michigan

"The accompaniments of David Drazin alone are worth the price of admission!" -- Jonathan Rosenbaum, film critic, writer

"Superb live musical interpretation for silent films." -- Classic Images

"Expertly fills in the sounds of silence." --  Cleveland Plain Dealer

"And should the piano playing of David Drazin be half as good as when he accompanied "City Girl" last month, then this qualifies as another must-see event." -- Detroit Free Press

Schedule of screenings for Beggars of Life, starring Louise Brooks

The new DCP of Beggars of Life continues to "pick-up steam," with additional screening popping up just about everywhere. Here is a list, with links for time and ticket information, to forthcoming events.

Film Forum -- New York City     September 19, 2017
with live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner

Northbrook Public Library -- Northbrook, Illinois     September 20, 2017
with live piano accompaniment by Dave Drazin

Cleveland Cinematheque -- Cleveland, Ohio   September 23, 2017
introduced by Jim Tully biographer Paul Bauer 

National Audiovisual Institute, KAVI -- Helsinki, Finland     October 12 and 15, 2017

Brooklyn Public Library  --  Brooklyn, New York     November 12, 2017
with live piano accompaniment by Bernie Anderson. Hosted & Curated by Ken Gordon.


Wisconsin Cinematheque -- Madison, Wisconsin     December 1, 2017

Riverrun International Film Festival  --  Winston-Salem, North Carolina     April, 2018

An American silent film classic, Beggars of Life (1928) stars Louise Brooks as a train-hopping hobo who dresses like a boy to survive. After escaping her violent stepfather, Nancy (Brooks) befriends kindly drifter Jim (Richard Arlen). They ride the rails together until a fateful encounter with the blustery Oklahoma Red (Wallace Beery) and his rambunctious band of hoboes, leading to daring, desperate conflict on top of a moving train. Based on the memoir of real-life hobo Jim Tully, and directed with adventuresome verve by William Wellman (Wings, The Public Enemy, A Star is Born, The Ox-Bow Incident, etc....), Beggars of Life is an essential American original.

See the movie - read the new book about the movie!

This first ever study of Beggars of Life looks at the film Oscar-winning director William Wellman thought his finest silent movie. Based on Jim Tully’s bestselling book of hobo life—and filmed by Wellman the year after he made Wings (the first film to win the Best Picture Oscar), Beggars of Life is a riveting drama about an orphan girl (screen legend Louise Brooks) who kills her abusive stepfather and flees the law. She meets a boy tramp (leading man Richard Arlen), and together they ride the rails through a dangerous hobo underground ruled over by Oklahoma Red (future Oscar winner Wallace Beery). Beggars of Life showcases Brooks in her best American silent—a film the Cleveland Plain Dealer described as “a raw, sometimes bleeding slice of life.” With more than 50 little seen images, and a foreword by William Wellman, Jr.

Listen to Rob Edelman's WAMC radio review of the Beggars of Life HERE!

Louise Brooks series at Film Forum set to begin

Film Forum in New York City (located at 209 West Houston St. west of 6th Ave.) has announced a series of films featuring Louise Brooks. The series is set to take place in September and October. Each film will feature live musical accompaniment by long-time Film Forum silent film composer and pianist Steve Sterner. HERE are the details.

DIARY OF A LOST GIRL
Sunday, September 17 at 3:00 pm
(1929, G.W. Pabst) Louise Brooks is the “lost girl” wronged by circumstances and cast off first into a reformatory, then a Berlin brothel, where she’s spiritually and emotionally liberated. DCP. Approx. 112 min.

BEGGARS OF LIFE
Tuesday, September 19 at 7:00 pm
(1928, William A. Wellman) On the run after killing a molesting stepfather, dressed-as-a-boy Louise Brooks is befriended by Richard Arlen and falls in with Wallace Beery’s band of hoboes. Long-thought-lost silent classic, with Brooks’ best pre-German work and dazzling location work on speeding trains. DCP. Approx. 81 min.

PANDORA’S BOX
Sunday, October 1 at 6:40 pm
(1929, G.W. Pabst) Sex in the City – Berlin, 1928: in the wake of Louise’s patent leather-bobbed Lulu, men set up expensive love nests, ruin themselves gambling, commit brutal murders, and kill themselves; as she moves from kept woman to headlining showgirl, lesbian love interest, widow in mourning, fugitive from the law, and possible sex slave, amid a bustling backdrop of Weimar Germany. 35mm. Approx. 109 min.

DIARY OF A LOST GIRL
Saturday, October 14 at 3:10 pm
(1929, G.W. Pabst) Louise Brooks is the “lost girl” wronged by circumstances and cast off first into a reformatory, then a Berlin brothel, where she’s spiritually and emotionally liberated. DCP. Approx. 112 min.

Help Make Beggars of Life a Success - Here's How to show your Love for Louise Brooks

Want to see more Louise Brooks films released in the future? Here are two ways you can help.

1) Purchase a copy of the new Beggars of Life DVD / Blu-ray from either Kino Lorber or Amazon. Both usually offer a discount. The more copies that sell, the more encouragement companies like Kino Lorber will have to release other Louise Brooks films in the future. Wouldn't you like to see a restoration of Love Em or Leave Em on DVD? How about both the silent and sound versions of The Canary Murder Case? Or the out-of-print The Show-Off? Or Louise Brooks first film, The Street of Forgotten Men? Come on, let's do this!  

Beggars of Life is also available through Barnes and Noble (B&N), Target, Walmart, your local video store, etc.... It ain't hard to find!

2) If you can't afford a new DVD, why not recommend that your local public library purchase a copy. I did, and they put 5 copies of the DVD on order for the library system. Many public libraries have a button or link on their home page where patrons can suggest a new title for purchase. It doesn't hurt to try! And heck, if you know a librarian or visit your local library why not make a suggestion in person. And while you are at it, thank them for the valuable work they do. Libraries are supported by your tax dollars. So why not "spend" your tax dollars on something that will entertain and inspire. It's a great why to share your love of Louise Brooks.

3) And while your at it, why not recommend your local library purchase a copy of my new book, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film. A few libraries around the country have already purchased it, including the Bates College Library in Lewiston, Maine and the SEO Automation Consortium in Caldwell, Ohio.

I have done my part, and have donated a handful of copies to certain key libraries including those in Jim Tully's hometowns (St. Marys, Ohio and Kent, Ohio ) and Louise Brooks' hometown (Wichita, Kansas), as well as my new hometown, Sacramento, California. I also sent a copy to two places where Brooks used to hang out, the Rochester Public Library and the George Eastman Museum (both in Rochester, New York). I also sent a copy to Hollywood: and I felt like I had been given an Oscar when I received a thank you note in return on official stationary from the library at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Of course, you can always purchase a copy of my book, which is available through amazon.com, B&N.com, or through your local independent bookstore. The book retails for a mere $10.00. Though some wacky New Hampshire booksellers are charging as much as $88.63. Email me directly to order an autographed copy. Every purchase or recommendation counts.

Back in the year 2000, the biography of Louise Brooks by Barry Paris had fallen out of print. The Louise Brooks Society started an on-line petition drive to bring it back. And it succeeded. The University of Minnesota Press reprinted both the Barry Paris biography and Brooks' own Lulu in Hollywood with great success. At one point, the press told me that those two books were among their best sellers. Both remain in print to this day. And both contain an acknowledgement for what were all of our combined efforts! Isn't that cool!

So come on, let's do this! Don't complain you can't see more of Louise Brooks films' (or any silent or pre-code film for that matter) unless you are willing to somehow support those who are making the effort to get them into circulation and into the history books!

Here is something I will always cherish. It is an inscription Barry Paris wrote in my old beat-up copy of his biography of Louise Brooks. The occasion was an event I put on with the author (we are pictured below) at the time the book was republished.

Two Film Historians and William Wellman and Their Lifelong Labor of Love

If you ask film historians who are some of America’s greatest directors, they may suggest Orson Welles, Frank Capra, John Ford, Martin Scorsese, or Steven Spielberg. Other might put forth names such as Robert Altman, Howard Hawks, William Wyler, or Francis Ford Coppola. Others still may campaign for George Cukor, Billy Wilder, Stanley Kramer, Quentin Tarantino, or Cecil B. DeMille.

However, if you ask noted film historians Frank Thompson and John Andrew Gallagher who they think is America’s single greatest director, they’ll claim someone else all together, William Wellman.

To prove their point, the two have nearly completed a book they’ve been working on for almost 35 years. It’s significant, and it’s massive. And, it’s a work that can rightly be described as the most thoroughly researched, detailed, and richly illustrated book ever published on any director.

Their book, Nothing Sacred: The Cinema Of William Wellman (Men With Wings Press), is an oversized, 700 page, 12” x 9” volume that includes a remarkable 300,000+ words of text and features some 1000 images (many rare) including stills, posters, lobby cards, and ads.

Arguably, Wellman was responsible for three of the greatest films ever made, Wings (1927 – the first film to win the Oscar for Best Picture), The Public Enemy (1931 – the genre defining gangster film), and A Star Is Born (1937 – the single finest film about Hollywood: besides directing, Wellman also wrote its story).

Ever versatile, Wellman worked across genres beginning in the silent era on through to the late 1950s. He made dramas, war films, crime films, comedies, Westerns and adventure stories while working for Fox, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Columbia, Paramount, Selznick-International and others. Many of his most memorable films were made during the Pre-Code era at Warner Bros., with detours to RKO and M-G-M.

Wellman also directed Beggars of Life (1928 – starring Louise Brooks, and just out on DVD), Night Nurse (1931 – with a riveting Barbara Stanwyck), Nothing Sacred (1937 – the first screwball comedy filmed in color), Beau Geste (1939), Roxie Hart (1942), The Ox-Bow Incident (1943 – an underrated masterpiece), The Story of G.I. Joe (1945), The High and the Mighty (1954) and others. Some of his other under-appreciated movies include The Legion of the Condemned (1928 – now lost), So Big! (1932), Wild Boys of the Road (1933), Lady of Burlesque (1943), Yellow Sky (1948), and Battleground (1949). Each of these films, along with the many others directed by Wellman as well as those in which he had an uncredited hand, are covered in Nothing Sacred: The Cinema of William Wellman.

The writing and production of the book was such a monumental undertaking that it is being published under unusual circumstances. The sale of Nothing Sacred: The Cinema of William Wellman will last for only three months, through December 5, 2017, with the number of books printed depending on the number ordered. The book, a deluxe limited edition printed in full color, will be sent to the printer after December 5, with this edition being the only edition. Each copy costs $150, and each volume will be numbered and signed by both authors.

Nothing Sacred: The Cinema of William Wellman from Alexander Yew on Vimeo.

Thompson explained that the reason the two authors took on this project themselves is that “no publisher on earth would be lunatic enough to allow us to do it precisely as we wanted. And after working on this for more than half our lives, we felt that compromising would be pointless.”

Thompson said the book is as thorough and deeply researched as the most academic text but written, he and Gallagher hope, “with a sense of entertainment and drama. It’s illustrated like a coffee table book but the data—such as the exhaustive credits—is equal to any reference book.”

The two film historians met after Thompson had completed his earlier, 1983 study of Wellman. It was Thompson’s first book. Since then, he has gone on to author more than 40 works including Robert Wise: A Bio-Bibliography, Lost Films: Important Movies That Disappeared, Tim Burton’s Nightmare Before Christmas, and I Was That Masked Man (written with Clayton Moore, the Lone Ranger). Thompson has also written and directed several documentaries, and worked as a writer and producer in television for 20 years.

Thompson, who long lived in Los Angeles and is now a resident of North Carolina, has recently published another notable book, Asheville Movies Volume 1: The Silent Era (Men With Wings Press). It is a work of local film history, and as such, a fascinating slice of American film history—in that what took place in Asheville was also taking place around the country.

John Gallagher is a New York City educator and filmmaker whose credits include The Networker, Blue Moon, The Deli, Sam, The Insurgents, Men Lie, and Street Hunter. He is the also author of Film Directors on Directing, and the forthcoming Hollywood’s Forgotten Master: The Life and Times of Tay Garnett.

As they put the finishing touches on Nothing Sacred: The Cinema of William Wellman, both authors are experiencing something of a sense of relief. Thompson said, “This has hovered over both of us for 35 years. There is a sense of accomplishment. Also a certain amount of nervousness. After all, what are we going to do for the next 35 years?”

Here a re a few sample pages from Nothing Sacred: The Cinema of William Wellman.

John McElwee of Greenbriar Picture Shows said this about this new book, "Awesome…a reading opportunity no film enthusiast should let fly by. There is not another [book] coming this or any year that I would recommend higher.”

Order your copy today! I have!!

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