Effects of the Coronavirus on the Silent and Classic Film World

The coronavirus has hit the film world, and rightly so, a number of upcoming festivals have been cancelled or postponed. Among the silent & classic film festival which have been effected are the Turner Classic Film Festival (news link) and Toronto Silent Film Festival (announcement link). I recently signed books at the Egyptian theater in Hollywood following it's screening of the 1929 Louise Brooks film Pandora's Box. And just recently, the American Cinematheque has suspended all screenings and public events at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood and its sister venue, the Aero Theatre in Santa Monica. Other rep houses and theaters have closed, while other classic film screenings have been can cancelled.

Also postponing it's annual event is the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. Set to kick-off at the end of April, the SFSFF is now set to take place November 11 through November 15 at the historic Castro theatre. The festival added, "We have an exceptional program planned that we look forward to sharing with you. We’ve already announced our restorations of Erich von Stroheim’s Foolish Wives, the delightful Baby Peggy short The Kid Reporter, and the beautiful color-stencil San Francisco, the Golden Gate City. Complete details will be announced in the Fall."

Louise Brooks one-time home, New York state, is a hotspot, and in New York City 75% of non-essential workers have been told to stay home. Here in Northern California, the San Francisco Bay Area is under a "shelter-in-place" order, while Sacramento is under a voluntary "shelter in place". 

With so many Americans at home, it is a good time to catch up on reading, listing to music, or watching favorite films or television shows. (Besides practicing good hygiene and social distancing, it's also valuable to maintain good mental health!) In the coming days, I will put together a few posts of online resources for fans of Louise Brooks and early film. Be part of the smart set and stay home. In the meantime, check out the Louise Brooks Society website.

Louise Brooks and the Coronavirus of 1918 (an addendum)

Ace Louise Brooks researcher Philip Vorwald provided some additional information about Louise Brooks' mystery illness, as referenced in the previous LBS blog, "Louise Brooks and the Coronavirus of 1918." (See update below.)

In that blog, I described the Spanish Flu which ravaged the United States at the end of WWI, adding "Wherever this strain of influenza came from, it effected everyday life and must have been on everyone's mind, even little Louise Brooks, who was born in Cherryvale, Kansas in 1906. By all accounts, she was a healthy child, but on November 29, 1917 the Cherryvale Republican newspaper reported that Brooks had been out of school for more than a month due to illness. The nature of her illness is not known, though given the historical context, one might suspect a serious case of the flu."

Garfield school building in 1913

In the previous blog, I also supplied the clipping from the Cherryvale newspaper, which actually ran twice, the first time on November 23, and the second time on November 29. The wording on each news bit was the same, even down to Louise's expected "return next Monday." The November 23rd clipping is shown below.

Philip Vorwald emailed with some additional details, including scans of Louise's report card from the time. Of course, they don't tell us from what the 11 year old suffered - scarlet fever has also been suggested - but they do show just how long Louise was out of school.

Philip wrote, "After I read your blog today, I went back to her report cards from elementary school in Cherryvale, and found the absent days in sixth grade, 1917-1918....

There are six "six week" periods of the 1917-1918 school year. Louise's report card shows her completely missing the "2nd" six week school period; no grades at all. Curiously, no absent days are recorded either though. If the "1st" six week period began at the beginning of September, then this missing "2nd" period would have begun in the third week of October, 1917, and run through November, which now matches the November 29 description of five weeks, and back to school."

Whatever caused Louise to be out of school for so long is uncertain, but it must have been worrisome for her parents. The Brooks family left Cherryvale for Independence in the summer of 1918. The Independence newspaper reported that Louise enrolled in school on September 8, 1918. (For more on LB's daily life at the time, see "Louise Brooks: Day by Day 1906-1939 part 1" on the Louise Brooks Society website.)

Despite a sense of normalcy, the flu effected daily life throughout much of 1918 and into 1919. Articles like this appeared in the local newspaper.

UPDATE: Documentary filmmaker Charlotte Siller has identified the illness which led to Louise Brooks missing school as typhoid fever.

Want to know how the Spanish Flu effected your hometown in 1918? If you have access to newspapers.com or newspaperarchive.com, or if your local library has digital access to the later, or a run of your local newspaper from the time - try doing a search using the year 1918 and the keyword "influenza."

Louise Brooks and the Coronavirus of 1918

The 1918 influenza pandemic, which was colloquially known as "Spanish flu" or the "grip," was an unusually deadly influenza pandemic, the first of the two pandemics involving the H1N1 influenza virus. It is thought to have lasted between January 1918 and December 1920, and infected 500 million people around the world, or about 27% of the world population. The worldwide death toll is estimated to have been between 17 million and 50 million, and possibly as high as 100 million, making it one of the deadliest epidemics in human history. Among the dead were an estimated 675,000 Americans.

It is not known for sure were the disease came from, though at the time it was suggested Spain - which was especially hard hit, hence the name Spanish flu. Others claim France or Austria - then in the grip of the first World War, as the point of origin. And still others now claim the epidemic originated in the United States, specifically Kansas. In fact, the location of the first recorded outbreak of the flu pandemic in the United States was in Haskell County, located in the Southwest part of the state. It has also been claimed that, by late 1917, there had already been a first wave of the epidemic in at least 14 US military camps, some of them located in Kansas and nearby Oklahoma.

U.S. Army photo of the influenza ward at Camp Funston, Kansas, showing the many patients ill with the flu.

Wherever this strain of influenza came from, it effected everyday life and must have been on everyone's mind, even little Louise Brooks, who was born in Cherryvale, Kansas in 1906. By all accounts, she was a healthy child, but on November 29, 1917 the Cherryvale Republican newspaper reported that Brooks had been out of school for more than a month due to illness. The nature of her illness is not known, though given the historical context, one might suspect a serious case of the flu.

Brooks and her family knew soldiers serving in the war. In fact, the Cherryvale newspaper reported that Louise had helped at a social gathering in February, 1918 to welcome home a family friend, Sergeant Lee Douthat, who was stationed in Camp Doniphan, in Oklahoma. Louise was also present in March, 1918 when her cousin, Robert Rude, visited the Brooks’ home while on furlough from the same Camp Doniphan. The war was not just "over there."

In July, 1918 the local newspaper reported that the Brooks family was packing their household in preparation of moving from Cherryvale to Independence. The move, the paper stated, was being made so that the Brooks children could take advantage of better school facilities in the larger Kansas town. Wherever they lived, however, the local newspapers were filled with articles like this, which was printed in the Independence newspaper in October, 1918.

Louise Brooks loved going to the movies, even as a preteen. Highlighted in the article above was the notice that the movie houses in Independence would be closed until further notice (as they were most everywhere around the country). Group gatherings were discouraged, and generally banned.

 

As the influenza spread throughout the population, local papers reported on those who had gotten sick and those who had died, including, eventually V. L. Wagner, the owner of the three movie theaters in town. There were also reports of young soldiers - the sons of Independence parents - dying in army camps across the country; a popular high school athlete passed away, as did local citizens from all walks of life. Daily life at the time must have been an anxious, even frightening experience.

I could post dozens of similar newspaper clippings, some of which are heart wrenching, like the letter home from a young soldier who described conditions at the camp where he was quarantined and how his fellow soldiers were dying in rapid succession. As a precocious teen, and as someone who read, young Louise was likely aware of much of the suffering and sorrow which surrounded her.

Eventually, the influenza abated, and the various prohibitions against people gathering were lifted. The day after Louise's 12th birthday, the Evening Star ran a story announcing "Influenza Ban is Lifted."

As the article suggests, life began to return to something like normal. Brooks returned to school. And the movie theaters reopened. On September 2, 1919 Brooks attended a showing of Boots, starring Dorothy Gish, at the Best theatre in Independence. And on September 5 she took in You Never Saw Such a Girl, starring Vivian Martin, at the Best theatre. The occasion was Paramount's annual better motion pictures week.

Louise Brooks in Independence in 1919

If you want to learn more about the influenza of 1918 and how it affected America, I would strongly recommend the PBS "American Experience" documentary "Influenza 1918."

Louise Brooks film Beggars of Life to show in UK on March 15

The Stroud Film Festival has announced that the 1928 Louise Brooks film, Beggars of Life, will be shown on Sunday, March 15, 2020 at the Lansdown Hall in Lansdown, England. This special screening, with live musical accompaniment, is being presented by the Lansdown Film Club. More information and ticket availability can be found HERE.

The promoter's description of this event reads thus: "Silent movie with live musical accompaniment composed and played by luminary of American old-time country music, Kate Lissauer with arguably the UK’s finest Bluegrass guitarist, Jason Titley, plus internationally awarded 5-string banjo great, Leon Hunt. Beggars of Life directed by William Wellman the year after he made Wings (first film to win an Academy Award) is a tense drama about a girl (Louise Brooks) dressed as a boy who flees the law after killing her abusive stepfather. With the help of a young hobo, she rides the rails through a male dominated underworld in which danger is close at hand. Picture Play magazine in 1920’s described the film as 'Sordid, grim and unpleasant,' adding, 'it is nevertheless interesting and is certainly a departure from the usual movie.' If you like country music and iconic silent movies, this is a rare treat not to be missed… ."

A brief write-up about the event in the local Gloucester Punchline stated, unusually so, "It's a silent classic western starring, unusually for the time, a woman in the lead role. Louise Brooks was big news at the time and still has a number of followers."

Want to learn more about this outstanding drama? In 2017, I authored Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film. My book grew out of the considerable research I did for the audio commentary which I provided for the Kino Lorber DVD / Blu-ray release of the film that same year.

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.”

My book features 15,000 words of text and more than 50 little seen images, as well as a foreword by actor William Wellman, Jr., son of the legendary director. The book is available from amazon.com, B&N and select independent bookstores in the United States. Both my book and the Kino disc are also available on amazon.com in the United Kingdom. On the UK amazon site the book has received two 5 star ratings, with readers stating:

"A great companion to go with the film, Thomas is the go to man for anything Louise Brooks."

"It's a very fine and informative small book about [the] Wellman movie Beggars of Life."

SPECIAL OFFER: I HAVE TWO COPIES OF MY BOOK AVAILABLE AUTOGRAPHED BY MYSELF AND WILLIAM WELLMAN JR. ONE COPY IS AVAILABLE WITH A REGION 1 DVD OF THE FILM, AND ONE IS AVAILABLE WITH A REGION 1 BLU-RAY. EACH IS $100.00, PLUS POSTAGE. PLEASE SEND AN EMAIL TO INQUIRE.  ADDITIONAL POSTAGE REQUIRED OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES. (I WILL ALSO ADD ONE OR TWO NIFTY RELATED ITEMS AS A BONUS.)

 

Leap Year Girl Louise Brooks Says Time Makes a Difference

A leap year is a calendar year containing an additional day added to keep the calendar year synchronized with the astronomical or seasonal year. It is a rare occurrence. Time makes a difference, so says 1928 leap year girl Louise Brooks. Zowie!

Louise Brooks Onscreen in Hollywood!

Louise Brooks Onscreen!

Louise Brooks in PANDORA'S BOX PANDORA'S BOX (35mm print) Starring Louise Brooks Saturday, February 29, 2020 - 8:00 PM Egyptian Theatre Hollywood Co-presented by the LA Phil, American Cinematheque and the Art Deco Society of Los Angeles With live musical accompaniment by composer and jazz pianist Cathlene Pineda along with trumpeter Stephanie Richards and guitarist Jeff Parker. Join us at 7:00 PM in the lobby, where author Thomas Gladysz will sign his book, Louise Brooks, the Persistent Star. Part of the LA Phil's Weimar Variations program focused on Germany's Weimar Republic (1919 - 1933) culture. Additional free programs at the Egyptian Theatre earlier in the day. 35 mm! PANDORA'S BOX (DIE BÜCHSE DER PANDORA) 1929, Janus Films, 110 min, Germany, Dir: G.W. Pabst 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. Tickets Price: $15 General. No vouchers. | 35mm print courtesy of the George Eastman Museum. Preservation funded by Hugh M. Hefner. | Book sales by Larry Edmunds Bookshop. Visit the ADSLA table in the lobby to find out about upcoming events! TICKETS Click above for advance tickets on Fandango or purchase at the box office. Parking: Parking at meters (some are only one hour) and in area lots $15-20. Metro Redline at Hollywood & Highland. Where: Egyptian Theatre 6712 Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood, CA 90028  website  Local Historic Dining: Miceli's Italian Restaurant (1949) Musso & Frank Grill (1919) The Roosevelt Hotel (new restaurants inside a vintage hotel)