A cinephilac blog about an actress, silent film, and the Jazz Age, with occasional posts about related books, music, art, and history written by Thomas Gladysz. Visit the Louise Brooks Society™ at www.pandorasbox.com
Here is a six minute sneak peak at Documentary of a Lost Girl, the forthcoming film about Louise Brooks by Charlotte Siller. It's impressive.
From the filmmakers: "Documentary of a Lost Girl, due to be completed in May 2018, is a film
that seeks to uncover the life of the late Louise Brooks by examining
every facet of what's been left behind; the filmmakers have visited the
places she's lived, spoken with her old friends and relatives, and have
visited archives around the country to discover the woman who gifted us
with such a beautiful, adventurous, and rebellious story. As a woman who
fought against the sexual advances of Hollywood studio executives and
exposed the truth about the slavery of the studio system in her later
life in her various essays, making up her bestselling Lulu in
Hollywood, her story is now more relevant than ever. She was a woman of
the past who was ahead of her time, and she is now a voice most needed
for the future. She always referred to herself as lost: 'Somehow I have
avoided being found' she said."
A couple of days ago, I posted an admittedly longgggggggg blog regarding RadioLulu, the LBS sponsored, Louise Brooks-inspired, silent film-themed, internet only station streaming music of the 1920s, 1930s, and today.
I did so because, lately, I have been working on the station, freshening-up both its playlist and its HOMEPAGE on the Louise Brooks Society website, and wanted to let everyone know. There is a lot of great music to be heard on this unique station.
RadioLulu is located on the web at http://192.99.8.170/start/radiolulu/. There you can see songs the station is currently playing and has recently played. Otherwise, for those who might want to tune-in here and now, click on the widget shown below, listen, and enjoy.
At the bottom of that admittedly longgggggggg post, I mentioned that I had been considering putting together some thematic podcasts, perhaps sometime in 2018.
I figure I would gather together six or ten songs, and talk about them a bit, like a DJ might. Each show might run 30 to 60 minutes. I could explain why these songs play on RadioLulu and how they are related to Louise Brooks. Believe you me, there is always a reason, or some justification of a kind, no matter how obscure. Recently, for example, I was streaming RadioLulu at home using the Tune-In app through Roku when my wife asked why I had included Al Jolson's "Sonny Boy"? The answer may not be obvious to the casual listener, but I knew why. It's played on RadioLulu because it was the flipside on a 78 rpm of one of the handful of "Beggars of Life" recordings I own.
Well, I've given of podcasts a lot of thought, and I came up with about three dozen different themes for different shows. Here are a few of them. Each, I think, should prove interesting and entertaining. Look for them starting in 2018. (First I got to learn how to record and edit-in songs in a podcast.)
Beggars of Life: Variations on a Theme (Song)
-- "Beggars of Life" and other related tracks
Louise Brooks Recommends
-- dance numbers recommended by the actress in "The Fundamentals of Good Ballroom Dancing"
Syd Kay's Fellows
-- recordings by the wedding band seen in "Pandora's Box"
Homage to Lulu
-- contemporary recordings in homage to Louise Brooks
Diary of a Lost Girl: Music of Otto Stenzel & Juan Llosa
-- recordings by the original film score composer & the small combo seen in the film
Flappers & Vamps
-- Jazz Age recordings of “Flapperette,” "Runnin' Wild," “I’m a Jazz Vampire,” etc...
Screen Co-Stars
-- vintage recordings by Adolphe Menjou, Esther Ralston, Dorothy Mackaill, James Hall, Lawrence Gray, Noah Beery and others
Also on the Bill
-- rare recordings by Emil Coleman, Bruz Fletcher and others who shared the stage with Louise Brooks during her time as a ballroom dancer in the 1930s
God's Gift to Women
-- recordings by the stars of the 1931 film, Frank Fay & Joan Blondell (and maybe a song by Barbara Stanwyck, who was married to Fay at the time)
Denishawn
-- dance numbers by Denishawn composer Louis Horst, and other related classical music
Charlie Chaplin
-- mostly vintage recordings associated with the Little Tramp (songs written by, conducted by, or about CC)
If I Had a Talking Picture of You
-- vintage movie-related songs from long go like “Take Your Girlie to the Movies,” “At the Moving Picture Ball,” “Hooray for Hollywood” and “My brother makes the noises for the talkies”
From Wikipedia:"Asta Nielsen (11 September 1881 – 24 May 1972) was a Danish silent film actress who was one of the most popular leading ladies of the 1910s and one of the first international movie stars. Seventy of Nielsen's 74 films were made in Germany where she was known simply as Die Asta (The Asta).
Noted for her large dark eyes, mask-like face and boyish figure,
Nielsen most often portrayed strong-willed passionate women trapped by
tragic circumstances. Due to the erotic nature of her performances,
Nielsen's films were heavily censored in the United States and her work
remained relatively obscure to American audiences. She is credited with
transforming movie acting from overt theatricality to a more subtle
naturalistic style.Nielsen founded her own film studio in Berlin during the 1920s, but
returned to Denmark in 1937 after the rise of Nazism in Germany. A
private figure in her later years, Nielsen became a collage artist and
an author."
Asta Nielsen was also the first screen Lulu, having played the character created by Frank Wedekind in the film, Earth Spirit (1923). Louise Brooks was well aware of Nielsen and her approach to Lulu, at least later during her life in Rochester, New York. It is not known if Brooks was aware of or made aware of Nielsen prior to her playing Lulu in Pandora's Box (1929).
I recently came across a German language booklet (on the Internet Archive) about Nielsen which contains some sublime images of the actress, including one of her as Lulu. She was certainly striking in her appearance. I would encourage everyone to learn more about this significant and too little known actress. (p.s. Nielsen had a role in the G.W. Pabst film, The Joyless Street, which set Greta Garbo on the path to stardom.)
Did you know that the Louise Brooks Society has its own online radio station? It's called RadioLulu. You can listen to using the Tune-In app, or using Winamp or the Windows Media Player, or, you can even listen via the Tune-In app on ROKU on your TV.
RadioLulu is a Louise Brooks-inspired, silent film-themed internet station streaming music of the 1920s, 1930s, and today. Located on the web at http://192.99.8.170/start/radiolulu/ — RadioLulu features vintage and contemporary music related to Louise Brooks as well as the silent and early sound eras. This is music you're not likely to hear anywhere else.
Launched way back in 2002, this unique station now features vintage music from five of Brooks’ films — the haunting themes from Beggars of Life (1928) and Prix de Beauté (1930), as well as musical passages from The Canary Murder Case (1929), Empty Saddles (1936), and Overland Stage Raiders (1938). On RadioLulu, you’ll also hear the familiar “Sidewalks of New York” (which was played on the set of The Street of Forgotten Men),
as well as John Philip Sousa’s seldom heard “Atlantic City Beauty
Pageant” (which was written for the Miss America contest, as seen in The American Venus).
Vintage recordings by Brooks’ screen co-stars are also featured on
RadioLulu. Among them are Adolphe Menjou, Esther Ralston, Dorothy
Mackaill, James Hall, Lawrence Gray, Noah Beery, Frank Fay, Joan
Blondell, and Buck Jones. There is even a song by Blanche Ring, who
appeared in It’s the Old Army Game and was the aunt of Brooks’ first
husband, Eddie Sutherland. A few of Brooks’ European co-stars are also
represented, among them Siegfried Arno (Pandora’s Box), Kurt Gerron (Diary of a Lost Girl), and Andre Roanne (Prix de Beauté).
Each is a rarity. As well, there are vintage tracks associated with
Brooks’ brief time with the Ziegfeld Follies, including a handful of
recordings by performers who shared the stage with the actress, such as
Ethel Shutta, Leon Erroll, and the great W.C. Fields.
RadioLulu includes a number of songs by Brooks’ friends and
acquaintances, as well as individuals she worked with over the years.
Actress Tallulah Bankhead, chanteuse Lucienne Boyer, torch singer Libby
Holman, bandleader Emil Coleman, and nightclub owner Bruz Fletcher can
all be heard on RadioLulu. Other tracks associated with the actress and
featured on RadioLulu include George Gershwin’s “Somebody Loves Me”
(Brooks knew Gershwin, and this was her favorite Gershwin song), Xavier
Cugat’s “Siboney” (recommended by Brooks in her rare booklet, Fundamentals of Good Ballroom Dancing), and two numbers by Sid Kay’s Fellows (the jazz band seen playing in the wedding reception scene in Pandora’s Box).
All together, RadioLulu features more than 850 tracks! Notably, many
of them come from rare 78 rpm discs you’re unlikely to hear anywhere
else. Of course, there’s Maurice Chevalier’s much-loved “Louise” as well
as more than a dozen tracks with Louise, Lulu, or LouLou in the title.
Among them is the Coon-Sanders Nighthawks’ recording of “Louise, You
Tease,” as well as a number of different recordings of both “Don’t Bring
Lulu” and “Lulu’s Back in Town”.
Many contemporary tributes to the actress can also be heard on
RadioLulu. These include songs by Natalie Merchant, Rufus Wainwright,
Orchestral Manoeuvers in the Dark (OMD), John Zorn, and Soul Coughing.
Famed cartoonist Robert Crumb is heard on “Chanson pour Louise Brooks”.
And there’s Ross Berkal’s tribute, “MLB (for Louise Brooks).” Berkal,
who is mentioned in the Barry Paris biography and is a longtime member
of the Louise Brooks Society, was acquainted with the actress later in
her life.
Beyond songs related to Louise Brooks, RadioLulu also features
hundreds of songs from the 1920s and 1930s (along with a smattering from
the 1940s, 1950s, and 1960s). There is music from the movies aplenty,
as well as rare recordings by early Hollywood stars and Jazz Age
celebrities. There are tracks by the popular crooners and torch singers
of the time, as well as little known numbers by regional dance bands and
hotel orchestras. There are also early Broadway show tunes, early
European jazz, popular vocal numbers, theme songs, and even a few
novelty numbers.
Recordings by early Hollywood figures such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster
Keaton, Lupe Velez, Clara Bow, Rudolph Valentino, Gloria Swanson and
Joan Crawford are streamed. So are recordings by later stars Buddy
Rogers, Claudette Colbert, Jean Harlow, Paulette Goddard, Barbara
Stanwyck, and Dorothy Lamour. A few of the European actors and actresses
heard on the station include Brigitte Helm, Camilla Horn, Anny Ondra,
Conrad Veidt, Pola Negri, and Marlene Dietrich (notably, her early
German-language recordings).
Among others, Janet Gaynor and Charles Farrell are heard singing the
classic “If I Had A Talking Picture Of You,” one of a number of
movie-related songs. There’s also “Take Your Girlie to the Movies,” “At
the Moving Picture Ball,” and “Hooray for Hollywood,” as well as rare
vintage recordings about Chaplin, Garbo, Keaton, Mickey Mouse and Zasu
Pitts. Be sure not to miss H. Robinson Cleaver’s “Grace Moore Medley,”
Fred Bird & Luigi Bernauer’s “Hallo Hallo Hier Radio,” and Jack
Hylton and His Orchestra’s “My brother makes the noises for the
talkies.”
What else can be heard on RadioLulu? How about Constance Bennett
singing “Boulevard of Broken Dreams,” or Alice White & Blanche Sweet
singing “There’s A Tear For Every Smile in Hollywood” (from the
soundtrack to Showgirl in Hollywood). The Waldorf-Astoria Dance
Orchestra performs “The Vamp,” Nate Shilkret plays “Flapperette,” and
Marion Harris sings “I’m a Jazz Vampire.” Regulations explaining proper
radio station identification are given by none other than Cary Grant,
co-star of the 1937 Brooks’ film, When You’re in Love.
RadioLulu features many of the leading stars of the Jazz Age and
Depression era—Rudy Vallee, Russ Colombo, Ben Selvin, Fred Waring, Ted
Weems, Paul Whiteman, Annette Hanshaw, Helen Kane, Mildred Bailey, Lee
Wiley, Ruth Etting, Kay Thompson, and Frankie Trumbauer. There are
recordings by such famous names as Duke Ellington, Fred Astaire, Bing
Crosby and Benny Goodman, alongside rarely heard artists like the Eskimo
Pie Orchestra and the Brox Sisters, as well as Scrappy Lambert, Fred
Elizalde, and Dorothy Dickson! You never know who or what will turn up
on this eclectic, always entertaining station.
And that’s not all…. RadioLulu plays Ragtime, swing, standards, and
some real hot jazz, including such popular hits as the “Charleston,”
“Black Bottom,” and “Varsity Rag.” There are vintage recordings of
popular favorites like “Stardust” and “As Time Goes By,” along with
great, but little known works like James P. Johnson’s “You’ve Got to be
Modernistic.” By the way, the single longest track is George Jessel’s
spoken word history “The Roaring Twenties 1920-1929.”
Among the unusual European numbers on RadioLulu are little heard gems
from the 1930s Polish chanteuse Hanka Ordonówna as well as the Gershwin
of Czechoslovakia, Jaroslav Jezek; there’s a stirring number by the
great British cinema organist Sidney Torch; and even a 1929 recording of
the German dramatist Bertolt Brecht singing “Mack the Knife.” Along
with lovely favorites by the likes of Josephine Baker, Django Rheinhart,
and Mistinguett. Also heard are artist models Suzy Solidor and Kiki of
Montparnasse. Both posed for the surrealist photographer Man Ray, an
admirer of Louise Brooks.
There is nothing else quite like RadioLulu.
Here are ten vintage RadioLulu tracks you won’t want to miss: “Makin’
Whoopee” by B.A. Rolfe & His Lucky Strike Orchestra, “Runnin’ Wild”
by Isabella Patricola, “The Sheik of Araby” by Fats Waller, “My Man” by
Fanny Brice, and “Puttin on the Ritz” by Harry Richman, as well as “You
Oughta be In Pictures” by Little Jack Little & His Orchestra,
“College Rhythm” by Jimmy Grier, “Singin’ In The Rain” by Cliff Edwards (Ukulele Ike), “Slumming On Park Avenue” by Alice Faye, and “Ramona” by Dolores Del Rio.
And here are ten contemporary RadioLulu tracks you won’t want to
miss: “Lulu” by Twiggy (the 1960’s supermodel), “Valentino” by Connie
Francis, “Louise” by Eric Clapton, “Weight Lifting Lulu” by The
Residents, “Interior Lulu” by Marillion, as well as “Marlene Dietrich’s
Favourite Poem” by Peter Murphy, “I’m In Love With A German Film Star”
by The Passions, “Just Like Fred Astaire” by James, “Lulu Land” by
Camper van Beethoven, and “Brandenburg Gate” by Lou Reed & Metallica
(from their Lulu album).
Over the years, this unique, long running station has gained many
fans and listeners. Famed film critic Leonard Maltin once rated it a
“Wow.” Likewise, Louise Brooks devotee and celebrated Dr. Who actor Paul McGann called it “incredible.” The Pulitzer-Prize winning graphic novelist Art Spiegelman (author of Maus)
has tuned-in on occasion, and told us so. As has the award-winning
science fiction writer Richard Kadrey. And would you believe that a
retro Spanish pop/swing/rock group named Radio Lulu named themselves
after the station?
Music has played a significant role in the life and films of Louise
Brooks. That’s why RadioLulu was started, as a means of sharing some of
the many rare and related recordings collected by the Louise Brooks
Society. Listen today for free by clicking on the widget at the top of
the page. Let us know what you like or don’t like, and what you might
want to hear. Got something to contribute. We would like to hear about
that too.
Louise Brooks listens to RadioLulu. How about you?
Thank you for your interest in Louise Brooks, RadioLulu, and the Louise Brooks Society. Be sure to follow RadioLulu on TWITTER or FACEBOOK. And, for even more fun, visit the LBS account on SOUNDCLOUD for more related audio rarities. In 2018, the LBS hopes to put together some thematic podcasts featuring material from RadioLulu, as well as material (like classical music) not featured on the streaming station. For example, there is music related to the time Louise Brooks was in Denishawn....
Beggars of Life, the 1928 William Wellman directed film starring Louise Brooks, continues to make the news.
The new Kino Lorber release of the film was written up by Leonard Maltin, who stated:
Beggars of Life (1928)
is another important silent film that isn’t as well-known as it ought
to be, because only a few 16mm prints survived–one in the collection of
the late William K. Everson, another acquired by George Eastman House’s
curator James Card back in 1950. In recent years his successors decided
to try making a 35mm blowup and it turned out surprisingly well. (It,
too, was shown at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.) Louise
Brooks, Wallace Beery, and Richard Arlen star in this starkly compelling
story of hobo life based on the best-selling novel by famed hobo-author
Jim Tully. (For more about Tully, see my 2012 column printed below.)
This fascinating slice-of-life features period music performed by the
Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra and it’s well worth seeing—and
owning.
Beggars of Life was also the subject of a recent long piece in Bright Lights Film Journal. This piece, by Gordon Thomas and titled "Boxcars, Beery, and a Dutch Bob: William Wellman’s Beggars of Life (1928) on Blu-ray," started by saying what we've known all along, "It’s easy to get excited over Kino Lorber’s recent blu-ray release of William Wellman’s 1928 silent, Beggars of Life. For devotees of Louise Brooks, the film holds legendary status as her best American film." I think it is an interesting piece, and I especially appreciated some of the familiar images.
The film had also just been shown in Cambridge, Massachusetts as part of an on-going William Wellman retrospective. Ty Burr's coverage of the films in the Boston Globe, "He made talkies worth talking about," focuses mostly on Wellman's work in the sound era - as does the series itself. Nevertheless, Burr noted "Beggars of Life
(1928), the rarely screened silent that opens the series on Oct. 27,
casts Louise Brooks and Richard Arlen as hoboes who hit the rails after
Brooks’s character murders her abusive stepfather; it showcases the
director’s eye for broad landscapes and the people in danger of getting
lost in them." [Wellman is easily my favorite pre-code / 1930's director. If you haven't seen Wild Boys of the Road (1933), Public Enemy (1931), Night Nurse (1933), etc.... you are missing out. Wellman's work in the 1920s, 1930s and 1940s is simply outstanding - that why I am so excited about the forthcoming publication of Frank Thompson and John Gallagher's book, Nothing Sacred: The Cinema Of William Wellman.]
And, if you haven't done so already, get ahold of a copy of the new Kino Lorber DVD or Blu-ray of Beggars of Life - as well as my new book, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film. Each has received good reviews on amazon.com, where each are available. The Kino Lorber discs looks great, and it features audio commentaries by myself and William Wellman, Jr. And what's more, my new book contains lots of new information about the film, more than 50 little seen images, and a foreword by William Wellman, Jr.
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."
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.
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.
-----
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