Louise Brooks screening and booksigning at the Egyptian Theater in Los Angeles

The 29th of the month is turning out to be a special day for Pandora's Box and fans of the film's star, Louise Brooks.

Earlier today, on January 29th, Turner Classic Movies (TCM) screened the 1929 film as part of it's month long "Roaring Twenties on Film" celebration of flappers and all things Jazz Age. (Read Jay Carr's essay on the film HERE.)

And .... one month from today, on Leap Day February 29th, the American Cinematheque and Los Angeles Philharmonic have teamed up to show the film at the Egyptian theater in Los Angeles. Live musical accompaniment will be provided by composer and jazz pianist Cathlene Pineda along with trumpeter Stephanie Richards and guitarist Jeff Parker. Information and tickets made be found HERE.

But wait, there's more.... I have just been asked to sign copies of my Louise Brooks books at the Egyptian theater screening. I will have copies of Louise Brooks the Persistent Star on hand, as well as Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film and Now We're in the Air: A Companion to the Once Lost Film. I will also have a few last copies of the "Louise Brooks edition" of The Diary of a  Lost Girl, a book which I edited and wrote the introduction to and brought back into print ten years ago. The famed Larry Edmunds bookshop will be handling sales. (This event marks my first book signing in Hollywood in a number of years - I signed books at Cinecon a few years ago. I hope to see everyone there!)

The American Cinematheque is screening a 35mm print courtesy of the George Eastman Museum, whose preservation was funded by Hugh M. Hefner. If you live in Los Angeles and have never seen Pandora's Box on the BIG screen, let this be your chance to do so.

About Pandora's Box, the American Cinematheque staes: "As Henri Langlois once thundered, “There is no Garbo! There is no Dietrich! There is only Louise Brooks!” Here she proves it with one of the wildest performances of the silent era, as the dancer-turned-hooker Lulu who attracts men like moths to a candle. Politicians, titans of industry and the aristocracy are all part of the milieu Lulu inhabits as the story begins; her eventual descent to a criminal underworld underlines the fragility of German society between the wars. The combination of Brooks and director G.W. Pabst (“It was sexual hatred that engrossed his whole being with its flaming reality,” she once said) is still astonishing."

New Book on German Cinema features Louise Brooks

A book on German cinema has recently been published in Italy which features Louise Brooks. Cinema tedesco: i film (or German Cinema: the films) edited by Leonardo Quaresima, was published at the beginning of 2019, but just came to my attention when I received a message from one of the contributors, Giuliana Disanto. She wrote, "I'd like to inform you about a publication of my essay, "Il vaso di Pandora di Georg Wilhelm Pabst. Dalla parola alla visione," or "Pandora's Box by Georg Wilhelm Pabst. From word to vision." Disanto, who teaches at the University of Salento, added that her 21 page essay interest to the members of the Louise Brooks Society. She is right. More information about the book is available (in Italian) HERE.

According to the publisher in Italian: "Lungo l’arco della sua traiettoria, il cinema tedesco ha avuto a più riprese grandissimo rilievo, esercitando anche un ruolo di punta sul piano internazionale. Il volume ripercorre questa storia attraverso una selezione dei film che ne sono stati protagonisti: dalla stagione del “cinema d’autore” degli anni Dieci, in cui il nuovo mezzo si avvalse della collaborazione dei più noti protagonisti della scena letteraria e teatrale dell’epoca, al periodo weimariano, caratterizzato dalle invenzioni del cinema espressionista e dalla messa a punto di un complesso, raffinato sistema linguistico; dalla fase che accompagna gli anni del nazismo, in cui si fa portavoce delle parole d’ordine del regime, ma anche delle sue, ancor oggi dibattute, contraddizioni, al periodo apparentemente più provinciale dell’immediato dopoguerra, oggetto peraltro di riletture e riconsiderazioni in anni recenti; dall’exploit del Neuer Deutscher Film, che riporta il cinema tedesco a una posizione preminente nel contesto europeo, alla situazione degli ultimi decenni, orientata verso gli standard del racconto internazionale, ma non senza varchi verso modelli autoriali e sintesi tra questi due ambiti."

According to the publisher in English: "Over the course of its trajectory, German cinema has been important on several occasions, exercising a leading role on the international level. This volume traces this story through a selection of the star films: from the "auteur cinema" of the 1910s, in which the new medium made use of the collaboration of the best known protagonists of the literary and theatrical scene of the time, to the Weimar period, characterized by the invention of expressionist cinema and the development of a complex, refined linguistic system; from the phase accompanying the years of Nazism, in which it spoke the slogans of the regime, but also of its still debated contradictions, to the apparently more provincial period of the immediate post-war period, the subject of re-readings and reconsiderations in recent years; from the exploit of Neuer Deutscher Film, which brings German cinema back to a pre-eminent position in the European context, to the situation of the last decades, oriented towards the standards of international narrative, but not without gaps towards authorial models and synthesis between these two areas." The book includes essays by Paolo Bertetto, Francesco Bono, Lorella Bosco, Sonia Campanini, Simone Costagli, Giulia A. Disanto, Luisella Farinotti, Antioco Floris, Matteo Galli, Massimo Locatelli, Francesco Pitassio, Leonardo Lent, Luigi Reitani, Giovanni Spagnoletti, Domenico Spinosa, and Anita Trivelli.

Leonardo Quaresima, the editor, is Senior Professor at the University of Udine. In Germany, he curated, in particular, the revised and expanded edition of From Caligari to Hitler by Kracauer (2004), the Italian edition of The Visible Man by Balázs (2008), and the writings of Joseph Roth on cinema (2015). His other publications are focussed on Leni Riefenstahl (1985), Edgar Reitz (1988), Walter Ruttmann (1994).

Cinema tedesco: i film is available on amazon in Italy, France, Germany, England and elsewhere including either as a print book or as an ebook. I just ordered the ebook / kindle version from amazon in the United States.

The Ukraine, Louise Brooks, Pandora's Box

I have learned a lot watching the Senate impeachment trial of Donald Trump on television, least of which is the pronunciation of Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. It is pronounced Keeeve, not Key-ev.

In the course of my ongoing research into the world-wide presentation of Brooks' films, I have found that that they were shown in the Ukraine, which in the silent and early sound era was unwillingly part of Russia (aka the former Soviet Union dba the U.S.S.R.) The results of my research will be published in Around the World with Louise Brooks, which will be released later this year.

Unfortunately, it is difficult to access search results on the sole Ukrainian newspaper archive I have come across, LIBRARIA Ukrainian Online Periodicals Archive. (Search results are only available to institutions, not individuals.) The one and only intriguing piece I found is this half-page article on Buchse de Pandora published in Vorwärts, a German-language newspaper from Chernivtsi in what is now western Ukraine. (UPDATE: In the 1920s, Chernivtsi was part of Romania.) As the Ukrainian database noted above won't let me see anything more than a thumbnail image, I have enlarged it and posted it below. Can any readers of this blog access the above mentioned database and clip this page? I emailed the archive earlier but never heard back.

Otherwise, I have found one other clipping which details when and where the actress' films were shown in the Ukraine. Below is an advertisement for a showing of Pandora's Box (known as Puszka Pandory or Dzieje Kokoty Lulu) published in May, 1929 in Chwila, a Polish-language Zionist daily from Lwów, a city in what is now western Ukraine, around 70 kilometers from the border with Poland. (UPDATE: In the 1920s, Lwów was part of Poland.)

Certainly, there is more to be found ....as I have a number of clippings from nearby nations such as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Russia. Below, for example, is an ad from the English-language Moscow Daily News.

Louise Brooks at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1977 and 1980

I concluded my previous post concerning a book about avant-garde women of the 1920s by posting a picture of Herbert Bayer's extraordinary 1929 photomontage, "Profil en face." I thought it appropriate to show the use of Louise Brooks' image within modernism, specially the work of an artist associated with the Bauhaus.

Herbert Bayer's "Profil en face" (1929)

After finishing the blog, I thought to spend a bit of time web surfing and followed a link someone had just posted to Facebook and checked out an article on one of my favorite websites, Open Culture. The 2016 article, Every Exhibition Held at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) Presented in a New Web Site: 1929 to Present, detailed a digital exhibition archive which presents various materials such as installation photos, checklists, brochures, and catalogs related to every show mounted at the famed New York City museum.

Skipping through MoMA's remarkable exhibition history, I came across a show called "Herbert Bayer: Photographic Works." I have always liked this artist, and checked out the supporting materials. Guess what I found? Bayer's little-known photomontage was included in the exhibit, and there was Louise Brooks' image (or at least half her profile) hanging in the Museum of Modern Art in New York between October 31, 1977 and January 29, 1978.

Some of Bayer's most iconic images - photograph by Katherine Keller

I was excited. And though I already own two other books on Bayer's work, I tracked down a second-hand copy of the out-of-print catalog for this particular show and ordered it. Hopefully, it might contain some information on Bayer's use of Brooks' image.

I continued my tour of MoMA's exhibition history and came across another show which included not one, but two images of Brooks. This exhibit, "Hollywood Portrait: Photographers, 1921–1941" ran December 5, 1980 to February 28, 1981.  It included the famed pearl portrait taken by Eugene Robert Richee, as well as another publicity portrait of Brooks in men's clothing taken around the time she made Beggars of Life.

Hollywood photography at its best - photograph by Mali Olatunji

This particular exhibit, one of a number of nifty film related exhibits mounted by MoMA, was put on at the height of the Brooks' revival prior to her death. The pearl portrait is third from the left.

More great Hollywood photography - photograph by Mali Olatunji

The Beggars of Life publicity portrait of Brooks is sixth from the left. And below is a larger view of the image.

I find it very interesting that Brooks' image was included in exhibits at NY MoMA. I hadn't known they were ... but more than that, it shows Brooks herself to be part and parcel of 20th century modernism, and not just a cult figure within the realm of film history. That is fascinating!

Louise Brooks and Women of the 1920s: Style, Glamour, and the Avant-Garde

I finally got a copy of a recently published book, Women of the 1920s: Style, Glamour, and the Avant-Garde by Thomas Bleitner. This 176 page book, which was published in September in the United States by Abbeville, looks at the lives of seventeen influential women of the Jazz Age including Louise Brooks. A bit more information about the book can be found HERE.

According to the publisher, "It was a time of unimagined new freedoms. From the cafés of Paris to Hollywood's silver screen, women were exploring new modes of expression and new lifestyles. In countless aspects of life, they dared to challenge accepted notions of a “fairer sex,” and opened new doors for the generations to come. What’s more, they did it with joy, humor, and unapologetic charm.

Exploring the lives of seventeen artists, writers, designers, dancers, adventurers, and athletes, this splendidly illustrated book brings together dozens of photographs with an engaging text. In these pages, readers will meet such iconoclastic women as the lively satirist Dorothy Parker, the avant-garde muse and artist Kiki de Montparnasse, and aviation pioneer Amelia Earhart, whose stories continue to offer inspiration for our time. Women of the 1920s is a daring and stylish addition to any bookshelf of women's history."

Among the other notable women profiles in Women of the 1920s: Style, Glamour, and the Avant-Garde are Zelda Fitzgerald, Nancy Cunard, Tamara de Lempicka, Lee Miller, Claude Cahun, Clara Bow, Anita Berber, Josephine Baker, and Elisa Schiaparelli. Early on, Lee Miller saw Brooks dance when Brooks was a member of Denishawn. Once Brooks entered the movies, she became acquainted with Clara Bow, and later met Zelda Fitzgerald and Josephine Baker (and possibly Dorothy Parker).

The illustrated eight page chapter on Louise Brooks is, frankly, a superficial look at the actress' career. No new information is offered, and curiously, French director Rene Clair is referenced as "author Rene Clair."

Women of the 1920s: Style, Glamour, and the Avant-Garde does present Brooks as a glamorous style icon, but does not really establish any links to the avant-garde (which do exist). For example, Brooks was admired by the Surrealists (and her films were shown alongside Surrealist efforts); she was the subject of a portrait by a Bauhaus artist, was acquainted with individuals associated with modernism (aside from Edward Steichen, George Gershwin, and Jean Patou, who are noted), etc.... When mentioning Brooks tenure with the Denishawn Dance Company, the book fails to note Denishawn as a modernist enterprise. The only linkage to anything avant-garde is the correct, the loose association of Brooks' three European films with expressionism. (Want to see an expressionist film, watch The Cabinet of Doctor Caligari, or G.W. Pabst's Secrets of a Soul.)

For the general interest reader, Bleitner's Women of the 1920s: Style, Glamour, and the Avant-Garde is a satisfactory introduction to a fascinating period in gender and social history. The book contains a number of 'swonderful and appropriate images and illustrations - except, curiously, that the selection related to Brooks seem to be the those least satisfactorily reproduced.

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Want to read more about Louise Brooks and the avant-garde, check out this earlier LBS blog Louise Brooks, Modernism, the Surrealists, and the Paris of 1930.

Herbert Bayer's "Facing Profiles."

Edgar Blue Washington - an African American in a Louise Brooks film

To mark Martin Luther King Jr. Day, let's look at the career of one of the few African Americans to appear in a Louise Brooks film.

African-Americans, in bit parts, can be found in The Street of Forgotten Men (1925), American Venus (1926), Canary Murder Case (1929), and King of Gamblers (1937). The most prominent part played by an African-American was the role of Black Mose in Beggars of Life. Black Mose was played by Edgar "Blue" Washington (1898 – 1970). Unusually so, Washington received sixth billing, and his name appeared on the screen alongside stars and supporting players Wallace Beery, Louise Brooks, Richard Arlen, Robert Perry and Roscoe Karns. Throughout his long film career, Washington appeared mostly in bit parts. Beggars of Life marked a high point.

Edgar Washington, Louise Brooks, Richard Arlen

 In an article about the film, the Afro-American newspaper wrote, “In Beggars of Life, Edgar Blue Washington, race star, was signed by Paramount for what is regarded as the most important Negro screen role of the year, that of Big Mose. The part is that of a sympathetic character, hardly less important to the epic of tramp life than those of Wallace Beery, Louise Brooks and Richard Arlen, who head the cast.”

Washington was an actor (sometimes credited as Edgar Washington and sometimes Blue Washington) as well as a one-time Los Angeles prizefighter and Negro League baseball player. He appeared in 74 films between 1919 and 1961. In between acting jobs, he was also an officer in the Los Angeles Police Department. The nickname "Blue" came from director Frank Capra, a friend.


Washington was born in Los Angeles. Before getting into acting, he played for various teams in the Negro League. He was a pitcher for the Chicago American Giants starting in 1916. And in 1920, he was invited to join the newly formed Kansas City Monarchs, where he started at first base and batted .275 in 24 official league games. After a few months of barnstorming, Washington left the Monarchs. In December of 1920, after he had started acting, Washington rejoined the Los Angeles White Sox for a few games; he was also believed to have later played for Alexander’s Giants in the integrated California Winter League.**

Harold Lloyd helped Washington break into films, and this pioneering African-American actor appeared in the legendary comedian’s Haunted Spooks (1920) and Welcome Danger (1929). Sporadic work followed throughout the 1920s, as Washington appeared in movies alongside early stars Ricardo Cortez, William Haines, Richard Barthelmess, Ken Maynard, and Tim McCoy.

Richard Arlen, William Wellman, Edgar Washington

Beggars of Life director William Wellman worked again with Washington in The Light That Failed (1939). The actor also appeared in a few films helmed by John Ford, including The Whole Town's Talking (1935) and The Prisoner of Shark Island (1936). Other notable movies in which Washington had at least a small part include the Charley Bower’s short There It Is (1928), King Vidor's all-black Hallelujah (1929), Rio Rita (1929), Mary Pickford's Kiki (1931), King Kong (1933), Roman Scandals (1933), Annie Oakley (1935), Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman (1936), and Gone with the Wind (1939).

Washington was also in three installments in the Charlie Chan series, and appears as Clarence the comic sidekick in the John Wayne B-Western Haunted Gold (1933). Washington also had small roles in The Cohens and the Kellys in Africa (1930), Drums of the Congo (1942), Bomba, the Jungle Boy (1949), and other lesser fair. Unfortunately, many of these roles traded on racial stereotypes. His last part, as a limping attendant in a billiards hall, was in the classic Paul Newman film, The Hustler (1961).

Richard Arlen, Edgar Washington

** Washington's son, Kenny Washington, was a two-sport great—the first African-American to play baseball at UCLA, the first Bruin to be named an All-American, and the first African-American to sign a contract with a National Football League team in the post-World War II era. His teammate, Jackie Robinson, described him as the greatest football player he had have ever seen.

[This blog is drawn, in part, from my 2017 book, Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film, and is indebted to Mark V. Perkins excellent biography on the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) website. Give both a read!]