Around the World with Louise Brooks - Paramount in the Middle East

A follow-up to last week's blog about how and where Paramount films were distributed, as well as Paramount's presence in the Middle East in the late 1920's and early 1930s, at the height of Louise Brooks' career.

As I also noted earlier, fourteen of the twenty-four films in Brooks' filmography were Paramount productions, which leads me to wonder if and when and where some of those fourteen films might have been shown anywhere in the Middle Eastern. Of course, much has changed since the 1920s, cities have changed names and new nations have arisen, but then - as now - major cities like Istanbul, Ankara, Alexandria, Cairo, Jerusalem, Beirut, Damascus, and others all presumably had movie theaters.

According to the "List of Paramount Offices Around the World" reproduced in my March 6th post, the Italian office was responsible for distribution of Paramount films into Turkey, and the French office was responsible for distribution into Egypt, Algeria, Tunis, and Morocco. Back in the 1920s' and 1930s, film distribution and which theaters showed which films was a territorial affair, and one wouldn't - generally speaking - find an MGM or Warner Bros film playing in a Paramount house. I haven't been able to find information about how Paramount films might have found there way to those countries named above, nor have I been able to find clippings, advertisements or even reviews of any of Brooks' films in the Middle East, with only a few exceptions.

I know The Canary Murder Case was shown in Cairo, and I have found listings for most all of Brooks' Paramount films in French-controlled Algeria. All these clippings date to around the time of the film's first release. As reproduced in the March 6th post, I have also found an advertisement for Prix de beaute in Turkey in 1931. And, I have found listings for the Buck Jones western Empty Saddles (which featured Louise Brooks) showing in Jerusalem in 1937 - and the John Wayne western Overland Stage Raiders (also featuring Louise Brooks) showing in Haifa and Jerusalem in 1942, during the second World war and some four years after it was first released.

I have a feeling other of Brooks' films were shown in Arab speaking countries, either in the Middle East or North Africa - but I haven't been able to explore newspapers from those regions. What few publications I have been able to look at "operate" differently from American or European newspapers, in that their entertainment listings and coverage is sparse. Documentation is a challenge.

The in-house publication, Paramount Around the World, ran material on the film company's operations overseas. For example, there was a piece when the Paramount smash hit Beau Geste received it's first Arabic review.

Here is an interesting clipping on the distribution of Paramount films into Egypt and beyond. It notes, among other things, that there were only 30 theaters in Egypt, and only 27 in both Syria and Palestine. It also notes that those theaters ranged from movie palaces in Cairo to "desert shacks that are a long way removed from even the nickelodeon of yore." Lastly, it mentions that the exhibition of films lagged behind the United States, and that Middle eastern audience preferred outdoor action films, which likely explains why the non-Paramount productions Empty Saddles and Overland Stage Raiders were shown in Palestine.

If you are reading this post and know of instances of Louise Brooks' films being shown anywhere in Middle East or North Africa, please let me know! I would love to get clippings from Tunis or Casablanca or Cairo or Amman or Ankara. [With the use of the word legionnaire, I realize all this has the whiff of cultural imperialism about it, but nevertheless, this is interesting stuff and well worth diocumenting. I'll finish with the prerequisite picture of Louise Brooks, here dressed in vague Arabesque costume.]

Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks, to show in Istanbul, Turkey on March 10

The Kundura Cinema in Istanbul, Turkey will screen the internationally acclaimed Louise Brooks' film, Pandora's Box (1929). The film, titled locally as Pandora’nın Kutusu’nun, will be shown on March 10th with live musical accompaniment by Yiğit Özatalay and Mustafa Kemal Emirel (Yürüyen Merdiven). This presentation is open to those 18 years and older. More information as well as ticket availability can be found HERE.

According to the Daily Sabah newspaper, "Kundura Cinema's most anticipated screenings with live music takes its place in the March program. Georg Wilhelm Pabst's silent film Pandora's Box, produced in 1929, focusing on a free-loving, status-climbing dancer who murders her rich paramour in Berlin, then takes up with a succession of other lovers. Pandora's Box will meet with audience in Turkey for the first time in Kundura Cinema. After many years of neglect, Deutsche Kinematek has restored the film with the supervision of Martin Koerber. The restoration is considered to be a great advertisement for what can be achieved in film industry through new digital techniques."

[UPDATE & CORRECTION: I received an email from the International Istanbul Silent Cinema event in Turkey which informed me that Pandora's Box was first screened in that country at the 3rd International Istanbul Silent Cinema Days in 2016, with the introduction by Deutsche Kinematek's director Martin Körber, who restored the film. That event took place on December 15, 2016. More information about that event can be found HERE.]

The venue puts a bit of a new twist on the film by describing it this way: "A free-loving, status-climbing dancer murders her rich paramour, then takes up with a succession of other lovers, gradually descending to the streets as a hooker. Pandora's Box is an acknowledged masterpiece and example of a 'femme fatale'."

The Kundura Cinema, housed in a former shoe and leather factory, began showing classic films late last year. The cinema is housed in the Beykoz Kundura building in an old industrial part of town that is fast becoming an artistic and cultural hub. (A film studio was also opened in the complex.) Kundura Cinema has transformed the building's boiler room, in the heart of the old factory, into a movie hall (seen below). Dating back to the 1800s, the Beykoz Kundura building was in use until the foundation of the Turkish Republic.

courtesy Kundura Sinema

According to The Guide Istanbul website, "What makes Kundura Cinema distinct from other movie theaters is its specially curated film programmes; the opening season presented a selection of old movies set in various cities. According to Yıldırım, their audience is mostly comprised of cinephiles, students, young professionals, and locals in Beykoz who enjoy some nostalgia. New and old, mainstream and independent—the selection of screenings aims to keep a diverse balance between canonical and noncanonical films from around the world."

An earlier article in the Daily Sabah newspaper noted, "The movies to be screened by Kundura Cinema in the 2018-2019 season are focused on cities. From the first modern cities to our age, from giant metropolitans to dystopian cities of the future, from New York to Paris, from Berlin to Mexico, from Tokyo to Istanbul, the selection takes viewers on a one year journey to different geographies all over the world. Continuing to look at the past, present and future from cities located all around the world, Kundura Cinema is introducing great movies, documentaries and short movies that have been prominent since the beginning of the history of cinema in an enchanting atmosphere. From fiction to experimental movies, from dramas to comedy, from film noir to science fiction, viewers will get the chance to watch movies from different genres, as well as films that have not been screened at movie halls before."

courtesy Kundura Sinema

I am not sure when Pandora's Box was first shown in Istanbul or in Turkey, but it is known that at least some of Louise Brooks films were shown back in the day. Here, for example, is a rare 1931 newspaper advertisement for the 1930 French production, Prix de beaute.

If you having similar clippings or know of other screening of Brooks films in Turkey, please let the Louise Brooks Society know. We would also love to hear from anyone who attends the Pandora's Box screening at the Kundura Sinema.

How to get there: The Kundura Sinema is located at Yalıköy Mahallesi, Süreyya İlmen Cd. No:1, 34820 Beykoz/İstanbul, Turkey. Phone: +90 216 323 31 30. Movie goers can use a private boat service that runs in accordance with the screening schedule and departs from İstinye to Beykoz Kundura’s port. A one-way ticket costs 5 TL. For public transportation—plus a little walk—take the Yeniköy-Beykoz or İstinye-Çubuklu ferry line. You can also catch a bus or dolmuş to Beykoz in Üsküdar and Kadıköy.

courtesy Beykoz Kundura

Around the World with Louise Brooks : Where and how her films were distributed

Fourteen of the twenty-four films in Louise Brooks' filmography were Paramount productions. That includes all of her American silent films except Just Another Blonde (1926) and A Girl in Every Port (1928); for those two productions, Brooks was loaned out to other studios. Just Another Blonde was a First National production, while A Girl in Every Port was a Fox production.

After her return from Europe, where Brooks made three films for a three different European studios, Brooks more-or-less returned to work in Hollywood, where she appeared in films for Warner Bros. Educational, Universal, Colombia, and Republic. Only two of her seven later sound films, It Pays to Advertise (1931) and King of Gamblers (1937), were Paramount productions. The former was done to complete her Paramount contract. Her role in the latter was small, and her part was eventually cut in it's domestic release.

[As is known, the domestic and foreign prints of films sometimes differed - even substantially, both in content (camera shots and plot points) and length. As is revealed in my forthcoming book, Around the World with Louise Brooks, there is some evidence that the actress' role in King of Gamblers may have been retained in some copies of the film's overseas release.]

As my forthcoming book shows, Brooks' films were shown all around the world, even in regions and countries where one might not think American films would have drawn much interest. As a powerhouse American studio, Paramount films were especially well distributed around the globe. In fact, it was something of which the studio was quite proud; over the years, they even published a few in-house journals showing just how far and wide their films were seen. Publications like Paramount Around the World and Paramount International News gathered news and publicity for Paramount films from far and wide. There were even nation specific publications, like Australia's Paramount Punch.

What's interesting is how Brooks was promoted in other countries. Combing through these and other publications, I came across some remarkable material. Did you know, for example, that giant roadside billboards promoted Brooks' Love Em and Leave Em in Australia? Or that crowds lined-up around the block to see The Canary Murder Case in Japan? (Brooks had a substantial following in Japan.)

The page reproduced below notes the many countries where Paramount films were shown. Notice, for example, how the office in Japan was also responsible for distribution to Korea, China, and the Philippine Islands. How the office in Cuba was also responsible for distribution to Porto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the West Indies. And how the office in Italy was also responsible for distribution to Turkey, Greece, and Bulgaria.

This post will be continued, and will look at Brooks' and Paramount's presence in the Middle East.  .....

Around the World with Louise Brooks : Paramount's KNX Radio Station in Los Angeles

Who might know more about the Paramount radio station, KNX in Los Angeles? Is it the same, or related to, the KNX super-station currently heard in the LA area? Is there a history of the station or of broadcasting in the LA area that might be consulted? Are there records as to what was broadcast in the late 1920s? (I have looked at old newspaper listings, and they don't reveal all that much.)

I am wondering if Louise Brooks was ever heard on the station, or were one of her films featured? The microphone below pictures Clara Bow and two of Brooks' two-time co-stars, Adolphe Menjou and Wallace Berry.

The other day, I came across a few clippings about the station, which according to the second clipping went on the air on Armistice Day in 1928. These clipping seem to be somewhat at odds with the Wikipedia history of the station in that the station went on the air before 1928 and they don't mention the Paramount connection. Might Paramount have leased air time, or only broadcast at certain times? I would like to learn more. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Here is a clipping which notes the stations 1927 debut, and what was heard on that day.

And here is an article from the San Bernadino County Sun newspaper about the station's launch. There is only little mention of Paramount.

Around the World with Louise Brooks - a Postcard Biography from Spain

Here is something you don't see everyday, a Spanish cigarette card with a brief biography of the actress -- her identified as Luisa Brooks - on the reverse. (Generally speaking cigarette cards are smaller than postcards. They were, as you might guess, tucked into a pack of cigarettes.) This card dates to around 1930, perhaps 1931. (Can does reader of this blog know the history of these particular cards?This one is series K, number 19.)

I have transcribed the text on the back. In Spanish, it reads: "Linda y gentil como ninguna, la belle Luisita se ha especializado en los papeles picarescos, en los cuales no hay que decir que convence al mas esceptico en gustos cinematograficos. Sin traspasar nunca los limites del descararo, Luisa Brookss la muchacha moderna, atrevida y valiente, que lo mismo conduce un automovil a toda marcha, que se declara al hombre qu le gusta y lo rapta, si es preciso, que sostiene un pugilato de boxeo con el atrevido que osa ofrenderla. La vimospor vez primera en la pantalla en "La Venus americana" y mas tarde se mostro gran actriz en "Amalos y dejalos" y otras producciones del mismo genero de fina comedia de salon. Ultimamente ha interpretado "mendigos de Vida", en la que hace un papel sentimal, "Quien la mato?", intrigante produccion de crimen y misterio."

My rough Google assisted translation reads: "Cute and gentile like no other, pretty Luisita has specialized in picaresque roles, in which it is not necessary to say that she convinces the most skeptical of cinematic tastes. Without ever going beyond shameful limits, Luisa Brooks the modern, daring and brave girl, who drives a car at full speed, declaring to the man what she likes and kidnaps him, if necessary, that holds a boxing match with the daring of one who dares to offer it. We saw her for the first time on the screen in "The American Venus" and later she was a great actress in "Love Em and Leave Em" and other productions of the same genre of fine salon comedy. Lately she has interpreted "Beggars of Life", in which she plays a sentimental role, "The Canary Murder Case", an intriguing production of crime and mystery."

This card and dozens of others from across Europe, as well as cards from Africa and South America, are depicted in my forthcoming book, Around the World with Louise Brooks. Please see the four earlier posts for even more from this new book.

Around the World with Louise Brooks: Brazil

Here are some rather nifty pages from Cinearte, one of the leading Brazilian film magazines. Louise Brooks seemed to have been especially popular in that Latin American nation. I say that because she received a fair amount of coverage in that Portuguese-speaking nation. One of the earliest international profiles (2 plus pages) of the actress appeared in Brazil, as well as one of her earliest appearances on the cover of a magazine.

Just about each page below features an image of Brooks.

Around the World with Louise Brooks : With Thanks

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I have been working on a long-in-the-making project, a book titled Around the World with Louise Brooks. I have been working on this book on-and-off for almost 20 years, and am determined to finish it this summer. I have nearly 600 pages completed. The book will be larger format, 8" x 11" in size with many full page images. The are dozens of countries represented (a few didn't yet exist - while others no longer exist as nations), with material coming from every continent except Antarctica. It has been challenging to gather material from Africa, but I did so from four countries.

I have uncovered a lot of material, some of it interesting and some of it mundane. I have also come across a number of little seen images of Brooks. Some are American publicity portraits and film stills sent to European publications, and apparently never printed in the United States. At least, I have never seen them before. Others are images of the actress taken in Europe and published there, but never in the United States. I think fans of Louise Brooks will be pleased, and hopefully as fascinated as I am. I can say that I have uncovered a few items that in effect rewrite particular points in Brooks' history. They will be revealed in the book itself.

Well anyways, I have uncovered a lot of material and just can't use it all. And so, I figured I would post some of the lesser material. It is neat stuff none-the-less. Here are three portraits from a Spanish magazine.