A Social Celebrity, starring Louise Brooks, was released on this day in 1926. The film is a romantic comedy about a small town barber who
follows his heart and heads to the big city where he hopes to join high
society. Louise Brooks plays the barber’s love interest, a small town
manicurist who also heads to the big city to become a dancer. The film
is the third in which Brooks appeared, the second for which she received
a screen credit, and the first in which she had a starring role. More about the film can be found on the Louise Brooks Society filmography page.
The film was originally set to star Greta Nissen, a Norwegian-born
dancer. When she quit the film early in its production, Brooks’ part was
rewritten and she took on the role of the female lead. It was a huge
break for the 19 year old Brooks and a turning point in her career, as
the barber, played by Adolphe Menjou, was one of the biggest stars of
the time. In reviewing the film, many critics took special note of
Brooks, and thereafter she was regarded as a rising star and someone to
watch.
The critic for Exhibitor’s Herald noticed the actress.
“Louise Brooks is the third person in the cast. This odd young person
who worked with Ford Sterling in that screaming interlude of The American Venus
is a positive quantity. She may become a sensational success or a
sensational flop, but she is not the kind of player who simply goes
along. She’s a manicure girl in this one, later a night club dancer, and
she’s unfailingly colorful. I have a personal wager with another member
of the staff that she goes up instead of down, both of us agreeing that
she’s a moving personality but differing as to direction.” Mae Tinee of
the Chicago Tribune also noticed the actress, “Louise Brooks,
who plays the small town sweetheart who want to make a peacock out of
her razor-bill, is a delightful young person with a lovely, direct gaze,
an engaging seriousness, and a sudden, flashing smile that is disarming
and winsome. A slim and lissome child, with personality and talent.”
The critic for the Boston Evening Transcript echoed those
comments. “In this instance the manicure is no less provocative a morsel
than Miss Louise Brooks, remembered for her bit in that specious
puff-pastry, The American Venus. Miss Brooks has anything but a rewarding task in A Social Celebrity.
Yet it would be ungracious not to comment on the fetching qualities of
her screen presence. She affects a straight-line bang across the
forehead with distressingly piquant cow-licks over either ear. Her eyes
are quick, dark, lustrous. Her nose and mouth share a suspicion of
gaminerie. Her gestures are deft and alert — perhaps still a shade
self-conscious. In body she is more supple than facial play and her
genuflectory exertions in the Charleston might well repay the careful
study of amateurs in that delicate exercise.”
A Social Celebrity received many positive reviews, though a
few critics thought it too similar to Menjou’s earlier efforts. At it’s
New York City premiere, the film proved popular at the 2000 seat Rivoli theater, where it brought it nearly $30,000 during its one week run.
(This was at a time when most tickets would have been priced at less
than a dollar.) The film critic for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
reported the line for tickets “began at the ticket office and extended
to a spot somewhere in the middle of 7th Ave. and 49th St.”
Under its American title, documented screenings of the film took place in Australia (including Tasmania), Bermuda, British Malaysia (Singapore), Canada, China, Hong Kong, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, New Zealand, Panama, Papua New Guinea, South Africa, Trinidad, and the United Kingdom (England, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Scotland, and Wales). The film was also promoted under the title
The Social Celebrity (China & India), and
A Sociál Celebrity (Czechoslovakia). In the United States, the film was reviewed as
Una Celebridad Social (Spanish-language press).
Elsewhere,
A Social Celebrity was shown under the title
Au suivant de ces messieurs (Algeria);
Figaro en sociedad (Argentina);
Der Bubikopfkünstler (Austria);
Au suivant de ces Messieurs (Belgium, French) and
Aan de Volgende Dezer Heeren (Belgium, Dutch);
Desfrutando a alta sociedade (Brazil);
Figaro en sociedad (Chile);
Un Figaro de Sociedad (Cuba);
Sociální osobnost (Czechoslovakia);
I laante fjer and
Storfyrstinden og hendes kammertjener (Denmark);
Au suivant de ces messieurs (Egypt);
Parturi frakissa and
Frakkipukuinen parturi and
Barberaren i frack (Finland);
Au suivant de ces messieurs (France);
A Szalon Figáró (Hungary);
Un barbiere di qualità (Italy); 三日伯爵 (Japan);
Der Liebling der Gesellschaft (Latvia);
Der Schaum-Cavalier (Luxembourg);
Figaro en sociedad (Mexico);
De Dameskapper (Netherlands);
Shingle-eksperten (Norway);
Disfrutando a Alta Societade (Portugal);
Figaro en sociedad (Spain);
En Sparv i tranedans (Sweden);
Au suivant de ces messieurs (Switzerland); and
Au suivant de ces messieurs (French Indochina / present day Vietnam).
SOME THINGS ABOUT THE FILM YOU MAY NOT KNOW:— Early on, Paramount promised the up-and-coming Nissen equal billing with Menjou in A Social Celebrity. However, “The temperamental Greta insisted on arriving at the studio one hour late every day,” according to the Brooklyn Norgesposten.
Menjou, a major star, was forced to wait for the young actress and
complained to director St. Clair. Soon enough, Nissen quit and returned
to Broadway to resume her career as a dancer. (The friction caused by
Nissen’s departure didn’t seem to spoil a budding romance between the
dancer and director — at least not in the short-term. The Brooklyn Norgesposten
reported that the couple were frequenting New York’s artists’ clubs.
And in early May a Broadway gossip columnist hinted that Nissen might
wed the Paramount director.)
— Early scenes set in were actually shot on Long Island in the village of . The exterior of Spontowiz’s Barber Shop on Main Street, the local trolley line — the Delphi, Indiana,
and other aspects of the historic Long Island community were featured
in the film. (According to press reports from the time, the film’s
director and star spent the better part of two weeks touring Long Island
looking for a stand-in for Delphi.)
— To lend verisimilitude, Fred Graff,
hairdresser and barber-in-chief at the Paramount Long Island studios,
was cast in the film. He can be seen “manipulating the sheers” in scenes
shot at the Terminal Barber Shop (located at Broadway and Forty-second
Street) in Manhattan.
— Also appearing in a bit part was Agnes Griffith, who won a contest sponsored by Famous Players Lasky and the New York Daily News. This was the first film role for Griffith, a diminutive brunette with a short bob. She later appeared in New York (1927).
— While A Social Celebrity was
playing at the Rivoli, Menjou appeared on WGBS, the Gimbel Brothers
radio station in NYC. According to newspaper reports, Menjou spoke about
the film and the scenes shot locally on Long Island. (If he were to
have mentioned his co-star, this broadcast would likely mark the first
time Brooks name was mentioned on the radio.)
THE LEGAL STUFF: The Louise Brooks Society™ blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2023. Further unauthorized use prohibited.
