Rare Louise Brooks film to screen in Toronto, Canada

The rarely screened silent version of the 1930 Louise Brooks film, Prix de beauté, will be shown on Saturday, December 3 at the Bell Lightbox in Toronto, Canada. This special screening will feature a print, courtesy of the Fondazione Cineteca di Bologna in Italy, of the restored original silent version. And what's more, the film will be introduced by series curator Alicia Fletcher and will feature live musical accompaniment by Marilyn Lerner. More information about this event can be found HERE.

According to the Toronto International Film Festival website, "Weimar-era icon and prototypical Hollywood iconoclast Louise Brooks stars in Prix de beauté as Lucienne, a typist who enters a newspaper beauty contest and wins a chance to compete for the Miss Europe title in Spain. A tale of morbid jealousy and revenge co-scripted by G.W. Pabst and René Clair (the latter was intended to direct before Italian expat Augusto Genina was brought in), Prix de beauté had the unfortunate distinction of being filmed as a late-era silent, only to be hastily re-edited and released as a sound film (with Brooks dubbed by a French actress). The end result was a film out of step with the times in its format, yet one which was distinctly modern in its fashion sense, with Jean Patou of the famed House of Patou outfitting Brooks for her final starring role. The sophisticated originator of women’s sportswear who eradicated the flapper style of the ’20s and ushered in the dropped hemlines and elegance of the ’30s, Patou was the perfect outfitter for the rebellious, singularly fashion-forward actor. And, as the inventor of ladies’ knitted swimwear, he was also the perfect match for the film’s bathing-beauty sequence."

 

The internationalism of Prix de beauté is suggested in this vintage poster, which names the film’s American star, French actors, and Italian director, and also shows the flags of the four nations whose languages the film would be dubbed – Italy, France, England, and Germany.

Despite its delayed, problematic release (having to be converted from a silent to a sound feature), Prix de beauté was a considerable hit at the time of its release. It played continuously for a couple of months -- at a time most films only played a week -- following its May 9, 1930 debut at the Max Linder-Pathe in Paris, France. And soon thereafter, the film was shown all over Europe, in Northern Africa, parts of Asia, and in South America and the Caribbean well into the mid-1930s. In fact, the film remained in circulation for some six years. It was often revived in France. And, it played in present day Algeria, Brazil, Iceland, Japan, Madagascar, Turkey and the former USSR. And speaking of former nation states, the film even played in the one-time city-state of Danzig. Prix de beauté had legs (pun intended).

For example, records show that the film played in Havana, Cuba in March 1932, and then debuted at the Haitiana theatre in Port-au-Prince, Haiti later that year, in December 1932. Ever green, Prix de beauté returned to the Haitiana theatre in October 1933, April 1935, and July 1936 - that's six years after is debut. Truth be told, the film played just about everywhere, except for the United States and Canada.

Haitian newspaper ad

More about Prix de beauté can be found on the Louise Brooks Society website HERE. The Louise Brooks Society blog is authored by Thomas Gladysz, Director of the Louise Brooks Society (www.pandorasbox.com). Original contents copyright © 2022. Further unauthorized use prohibited.

Prix de beauté (1930) Louise Brooks pays the price of beauty

Be sure and check out Pamela Hutchinson's outstanding new piece on the Silent London blog, "Prix de beauté (1930): Louise Brooks pays the price of beauty". It is an insightful look at a too little regarded film, a minor masterpiece if ever there was one and a historically important film deserving greater recognition. And if ever the silent and sound versions of Prix de beauté are released on a DVD in the English speaking world, these could be the linear notes. (Hint hint Kino Lorber, Criterion, Milestone, Masterpieces of Cinema, Flicker Alley, etc...)

Louise Brooks film to screen online as part of Hippodrome Silent Film Festival

This year, the annual Hippodrome Silent Film Festival celebrating silent film and music will include the seldom seen silent version of the outstanding 1930 Louise Brooks film, Prix de Beauté. Originally set to run last year in Bo'ness, Scotland but cancelled due to the pandemic, this year's HippFest is set to run over the internet (via Indy on Demand) between March 17th and March 21st -- and what's more, the Prix de Beauté program will feature a short introduction by silent film expert Pamela Hutchinson as well as Stephen Horne's recently recorded score, which will be making it's internet debut! For more information on the 10th HippFest, go HERE.

According to Alison Strauss, Arts Development Officer, for this year's virtual HippFest "we have tried to create a comparable cocktail of screenings with music, workshops, events and activities to sweep you up in the marvelous magic of early cinema." It looks like they will succeed. Among the other offerings are films starring Paul Robeson (whom Brooks once met), Mary Pickford, Rudolph Valentino, Marlene Dietrich & Fritz Kortner, and others. Check out the complete schedule of films, talks and introductions. 

Prix De Beauté (1930)
Drama • 1h 48m

SILENT FILM WITH MUSIC – Stephen Horne
Q&A - Stephen Horne & Pamela Hutchinson
SAT 20 MAR, 14:10, 1H 33M

Limited capacity This film has limited viewing only. To register your interest in having this film added to your Festival Pass, please email hippfest@falkirkcommunitytrust.org with Prix de Beauté in the subject line.

"Iconic star of the silent era – Louise Brooks – lights up the role of Lucienne, a spirited, carefree, working woman who enters a beauty contest and is introduced to the alluring world of fame and the freedom it affords. Chafing under the disapproval of her idealistic but controlling boyfriend she is torn between the tantalising glimpse of glamour and a life of domesticity.

Based on a story by René Clair and G.W. Pabst the film was released as a talkie but this HippFest presentation is of the glorious, beautifully restored silent version, which eschews some crude pasted-on sound effects and awkwardly post-synched dialogue scenes, and lets the stunning cinematography and Brooks’ electric performance shine for themselves. Brace yourself for the devastating finale, deftly handled by Stephen Horne’s brilliant score."

Dir.: Augusto Genina | France | 1930 | N/C PG | 1h 48m | Italian intertitles with English surtitles
With Louise Brooks, Georges Charlia, Jean Bradin, Augusto Bandini

Music accompaniment: score composed and performed by Stephen Horne
Recording commissioned by Film Podiu
Screening material courtesy of Cineteca del Comune di Bologna

Pamela Hutchinson is a freelance writer, critic, film historian, and editor of the silent cinema website Silent London. She contributes regularly to publications including the Guardian, Sight & Sound and Little White Lies, and DVD releases including the Criterion Collection, BFI and Artificial Eye. She is a member of the London Film Critics’ Circle. Her publications include a monograph on Pandora’s Box, published as part of the BFI Film Classics series and 30-Second Cinema. She is a regular guest on BBC Radio 4’s The Film Programme and has also appeared on Woman’s Hour, BBC Radio 3, BBC Radio 5 Live, the World Service, and BBC TV News. [Read a LBS interview with Pamela Hutchinson here.]

Stephen Horne started accompanying silent films at BFI Southbank over 25 years ago. He has recorded music for several DVD releases and regularly plays at major international festivals. Although principally a pianist, he often incorporates flute, accordion and keyboards into his performances, sometimes simultaneously. Recently Stephen won ‘best screening with a single accompanist’ for the sixth year in a row at the Silent London Poll. stephenhorne.co.uk [Read a LBS interview with Stephen Horne about Prix de Beauté here.]

More on the music in the 1930 Louise Brooks film, Prix de beaute

At the end of my last post, I mentioned that I spoken with musician Stephen Horne at the recently concluded San Francisco Silent Film Festival. We spoke about Prix de beaute. Stephen and I have a mutual desire to see the silent version of that film released someday, and we chatted about the prospects. Some regard the silent version superior to the more familiar sound version. Stephen, it should be noted, has accompanied the silent version a number of times.

I also mentioned to Stephen that I had recently acquired two more vintage 78 rpm recordings of the theme song to Prix de beaute. These new acquisitions brings my total to nearly a dozen different vintage recording from the film, each by different vocalists. Here are those two additional recordings, which I was lucky enough to purchase in their original papers sleeves. Both came from France.

This first recording, performed by the classical vocalist and one time actress "Mlle Ristori" (Gabrielle Ristori), is a cover version of "Je N'ai qu'un amour ... C'est toi," the film's familiar haunting theme song. There were a number of such recordings issued, mostly in France, but also one in Germany. Another recording, of Ristori singing an operetta, can be heard HERE.

The recording below, by the also little known French singer Helene Caron, is, I believe, the version of "Je N'ai qu'un amout ... C'est toi" which is heard in the film. Sample it HERE.

As Stephen Horne and others have noted, sound, music, and images of sound devices (loud speakers) and musical devices (phonographs) play an important part in Prix de beaute. Remember, this film -- one of the very first French talkies, was issued as the European film industry was transitioning from silent to sound films.

What follows are some excerpts from an interview I did with Stephen in 2013, when he accompanied the silent version of Prix de beaute at the 2013 San Francisco Silent Film Festival.

TG: What were your impressions of the film ?

SH: I did watch the sound version before the silent screenings that I accompanied. Normally I wouldn’t consider this necessary, but on this occasion it was invaluable. I’m not sure that this restoration is truly the original silent version - I suspect that this doesn’t actually survive intact and what we have is a recreation, using the sound version as a starting point and working backwards, so to speak. I think that both versions have their problems - they’re imperfect gems - but for me the silent version works much better. And there are certain sequences that are sublime.

TG: Were there any special challenges in composing the score for a silent film that is today best known as a sound film?

SH: I think it’s simplest to assume that the audience hasn’t seen the sound version. Obviously several people will have done, but the event should ideally stand on its own terms, as a silent film / live music event. However, there are some challenges that this silent version presents, particularly all the images that specifically reference sound effects: the repeated close-ups of loudspeakers, etc. One has to make a decision about whether to acknowledge them musically, or ‘play through’ them instead.

TG: Music, song and sound are integral to certain passages in the film, especially the film’s climatic ending. Did that prove a challenge?

SH: Unless you’re playing an instrument that can produce comparable sound ‘effects’, I think it’s best to approach these things in a slightly abstract way. In the tango song scene I’ve chosen to focus on a couple of specific elements within the scene - rather than trying to create an impression of vocalizing, for instance. However, the song in the final scene is inescapably important, so I think that I have come up with a rather clever solution to the problem. But you’ll have to wait to find out what that will be!

TG: Were you able to integrate the two songs used in the sound version into your score? If so, how?

SH: See above! But again, I’m largely gearing the performance to people who are coming to this film without having seen the sound version. The songs are not generally known now, so while it’s important that I play a tango when they’re dancing / singing a tango, I don’t think that it has to be the one sung in the sound version. But just wait until the climax...

Crowdsource question: Help identify the Tango artist in the Louise Brooks' film Prix de beaute

Can you help identify the musical artist/band seen in the Louise Brooks' film Prix de beaute (1930). They are shown in this brief film clip, with the small musical group entering the scene around the 50 second mark.

RARE silent version of Prix de beaute screens in Maryland on November 18

The terrific 1930 Louise Brooks film, Prix de beauté, will be shown at the AFI Silver Theater and Cultural Center in Silver Springs, Maryland on Saturday, November 18th. And better yet, it will feature live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne, a superb musician who has given new life to the rarely shown silent version of the film. (I have seen Horne accompany this version of the film in the past, and it really is terrific.) More information including ticket availability can be found HERE.

PRIX DE BEAUTÉ

Special Features: Silent with live musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne

PRIX DE BEAUTÉ aka MISS EUROPE

PRIX DE BEAUTÉ was the final film Louise Brooks made in Europe before returning to Hollywood, following her two collaborations with G.W. Pabst, PANDORA'S BOX and DIARY OF A LOST GIRL. It was badly served by its sound version, released in 1930, and has been little revived since. Shown in its silent version, however, the film is revealed to be a masterpiece of modernist melodrama, and perhaps Brooks' finest work. Lucienne (Brooks) is a typist for a Parisian newspaper alongside her boyfriend and their best pal. When she wins a beauty pageant, glamorous new opportunities start to come her way, badly straining her relationship with her old friends. 

DIR Augusto Genina; SCR René Clair; PROD Romain Pinès. France, 1930, b&w, 113 min. NOT RATED. Run Time: 113 Minutes, Genre: Drama

 

A few years back, I had the chance to ask Stephen a few questions about his work as a musical accompanist, and specifically for Prix de beauté. Here is an excerpt from the interview.

TG: What is your approach to composing the score for a silent film?

SH: My approach varies from event to event, depending on many variables - some of them quite prosaic, such as how much time I have! On occasion I'll be commissioned to compose a fully notated score, either to perform solo or with other musicians. Most often my approach is improvisatory, but 'planned'. By which I mean that I'll watch the film and prepare certain musical elements, along with certain specific effects, such as when I'll switch between instruments (for those that don't know, I'm something of an instrumental multi-tasker). I like the elastic quality of an improvised performance, which I think can sometimes respond from moment-to-moment in a way that is hard to do with a fixed score. But equally I recognize that people like a good tune! So I try to thread melodic elements throughout, which I guess creates something of a hybrid: an improvised score.

TG: Were there any special challenges in composing the score for a silent film that is today best known as a sound film?

SH: I think it's simplest to assume that the audience hasn't seen the sound version. Obviously several people will have done, but the event should ideally stand on its own terms, as a silent film / live music event. However, there are some challenges that this silent version presents, particularly all the images that specifically reference sound effects: the repeated close-ups of loudspeakers, etc. One has to make a decision about whether to acknowledge them musically, or 'play through' them instead.

Unless you're playing an instrument that can produce comparable sound 'effects', I think it's best to approach these things in a slightly abstract way. In the tango song scene I've chosen to focus on a couple of specific elements within the scene - rather than trying to create an impression of vocalizing, for instance. However, the song in the final scene is inescapably important, so I think that I have come up with a rather clever solution to the problem.

TG: Were you able to integrate the two songs used in the sound version into your score? If so, how?

SH: I'm largely gearing the performance to people who are coming to this film without having seen the sound version. The songs are not generally known now, so while it's important that I play a tango when they're dancing / singing a tango, I don't think that it has to be the one sung in the sound version. But just wait until the climax...

TG: What can those who attend this screening screening look forward to?

SH: A lovely but flawed film, elevated to near-classic status by the transcendence of Louise Brooks. On a musical note, I've noticed that the music I'm preparing often starts in a major key, before resolving to the minor. I think this is the influence of the Brooks persona: full of joy, but with a lingering note of melancholy.

Prix de beauté screens in Bologna, Italy

The sensational 1930 Louise Brooks' film, Prix de beauté, will be shown on Sunday, June 25 at the Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna, Italy. The silent version of the film will be shown with Italian subtitles, and with musical accompaniment by Stephen Horne. More information and more HERE.

Cinema Lumiere - Sala Officinema/Mastroianni > 18:15
PRIX DE BEAUTÉ
Augusto Genina

PRIX DE BEAUTÉ

Prix de beauté represents a truly successful mix of the tenants of neorealism and elaborate fantasy (note the names of the screenwriters). Despite unrefined post recording and overacting by Georges Charlia, in standard silent movie fashion, the film is a masterpiece. The ever present documentary style, evident in the scenes of weekend beach resorts and the printer’s work, clashes with two departures from the world of film: Genina’s expert directing on one hand, and the attraction that film holds over the pretty girls uncomfortable in their social milieu on the other. The film emphasizes this with its dirtiness and coarseness (skillfully captured by the camera) that seem to affect the very core of the heroine’s being. The temptation to leave this squalid universe, which is more unhealthy than vulgar (and this is the real subtlety of the film), proves too strong for her. The first suicide attempt is prompted by curiosity; the second by an unbearable contrast between two lifestyles. Death is the end product of this choice. Her lover from the beach ends up shooting her during the projection of the screen tests that would launch Lucienne as the new star. There is nothing more beautiful than the dead face of Louise Brooks illuminated by the flickering lights of the projector as the screen tests end with her singing: “Je n’ai qu’un amour, c’est toi…”. A superb ending that closes an exceptional film, above and beyond the legendary and justifiable attraction that the actress may have exerted over the director. Genina asserts himself not only as a precursor to the Italian school, but also as an immensely talented film author. The most remarkable aspect of his work is his ability to integrate all the elements of a screenplay, fashionably, yet treating them with simplicity: the character of the boyfriend as naive and pleasant; the dangers that threaten the aspiring star in the corrupt environment of cinema, which makes genuine love appear more reassuring and pure by contrast. But no, this is not the case! Genina proves it with his stark style: love and jealousy go hand in hand, gnawing away at the banality of day-to-day, which is no longer sublimated by feelings. The extraordinary beauty of light and the skill and intelligence with which it is used add other noteworthy elements, placing this movie among the most important works of the first years of talkies even though it is a silent film!
Paul Vecchiali, L’Encinéclopédie. Cinéastes ‘français’ des années 1930 et leur œuvre, Éditions de l’Œil, Montreuil 2010

Cast and Credits

Sog.: Augusto Genina, René Clair, Bernard Zimmer, Alessandro De Stefani. Scen.: René Clair, Georg W. Pabst. F.: Rudolf Maté, Louis Née. M.: Edmond T. Gréville. Scgf.: Robert Gys. Mus.: Wolfgang Zeller, René Sylviano, Horace Shepherd. Int.: Louise Brooks (Lucienne Garnier), Georges Charlia (André), Jean Bradin (Adolphe de Grabovsky), Augusto Bandini (Antonin), André Nicolle (segretario di redazione), Yves Glad (maragià), Gaston Jacquet (duca de la Tour Chalgrin), Alex Bernard (fotografo), Marc Zilboulsky (manager). Prod.: Sofar. DCP. D.: 113’. Bn.

PRIX DE BEAUTÉ

Mélange davvero riuscito tra le premesse del neorealismo e una finzione molto elaborata (vedi i nomi degli sceneggiatori). Malgrado una post sincronizzazione approssimativa, e (secondo lo stile del muto) la recitazione caricata di Georges Charlia, questo film è un capolavoro. La visione documentaria, costantemente presente, dai bagni marini della domenica al lavoro dei tipografi, si scontra con una doppia irruzione del cinema: la regia esperta di Genina, da una parte, e dall’altra la fascinazione che esercita la settima arte sulle graziose ragazze a disagio nel loro contesto sociale. Viene sottolineato questo quotidiano dove sporcizia e grossolanità (d’altronde magnificamente fotografate) sembrano colpire l’eroina nel profondo di se stessa. Sarà più forte la tentazione di sottrarsi a questo universo più malsano che volgare (qui risiede la finezza del film) attraverso il suicidio. Una prima volta per curiosità. Una seconda perché il contrasto fra queste due forme di vita è troppo forte. La morte è l’approdo finale di questa scelta. Il suo innamorato della spiaggia arriva a spararle addosso durante la proiezione dei provini che impongono Lucienne quale nuova star. E nulla è più bello del viso morto di Louise Brooks sottomesso ai fremiti delle luci del proiettore mentre terminano i provini dove lei canta: “Je n’ai qu’un amour, c’est toi…”. Superbo finale che chiude un film sempre ispirato, ben al di là dell’attrazione legittima e leggendaria che l’attrice poteva esercitare sul regista. Genina si afferma non solo come un precursore della scuola italiana ma anche come un immenso autore di film. L’aspetto più rimarchevole del suo lavoro consiste nell’aver saputo integrare tutti gli ingredienti di una sceneggiatura ricalcata sulla moda dell’epoca trattandoli con semplicità: personaggio del fidanzato ingenuo e simpatico, pericoli che incombono l’aspirante-vedette nell’ambiente corrotto del cinema davanti al quale l’amore sincero dovrebbe apparire più puro, più rassicurante. Eh no! Non lo è per niente. Genina ce lo mostra nella sua crudele nudità: amore e gelosia vanno di pari passo, erodendo il quotidiano la cui banalità non è quindi più sublimata dai sentimenti. La straordinaria bellezza della luce e l’intelligenza con cui viene usata, aggiungono altri motivi di fascino, innalzando questo film al rango principale delle opere dei primi anni del sonoro, anche se è stato girato nel muto!
Paul Vecchiali, L’Encinéclopédie. Cinéastes ‘français’ des années 1930 et leur œuvre, Éditions de l’Œil, Montreuil 2010

Cast and Credits

Sog.: Augusto Genina, René Clair, Bernard Zimmer, Alessandro De Stefani. Scen.: René Clair, Georg W. Pabst. F.: Rudolf Maté, Louis Née. M.: Edmond T. Gréville. Scgf.: Robert Gys. Mus.: Wolfgang Zeller, René Sylviano, Horace Shepherd. Int.: Louise Brooks (Lucienne Garnier), Georges Charlia (André), Jean Bradin (Adolphe de Grabovsky), Augusto Bandini (Antonin), André Nicolle (segretario di redazione), Yves Glad (maragià), Gaston Jacquet (duca de la Tour Chalgrin), Alex Bernard (fotografo), Marc Zilboulsky (manager). Prod.: Sofar. DCP. D.: 113’. Bn.

TONIGHT: Prix de beauté in 35 mm at the Kennington Biograph / Cinema Museum in London

The UK premiere of the restored silent version of the 1930 Louise Brooks film, Prix de beauté, will be shown tonight in 35 mm at the Kennington Biograph / Cinema Museum in London. This special screening, part of "Silent to Sound in Europe," is an event not to be missed! More information can be  found HERE. And what's more, the great Stephen Horne will accompany the film.

According to the Kennington Biograph webpage, "This event is presented in conjunction with the AHRC-funded project ‘British Silent Cinema and the Transition to Sound’. Using clips from British, French and German films, historian Geoff Brown investigates the turbulent European scene in the period of transition, 1929/1930. Studios struggled to shift from silent feature production to films that talked, sang, and made noises. Britain briefly won the technological advantage, but which country used the technology most imaginatively? The feature in the second half will be the UK premier of the original restored silent version of Prix de Beauté (1930), featuring Louise Brooks, courtesy of Cineteca Bologna. Doors open at 18.30, for a 19.30 start. Refreshments will be available in our licensed cafe/bar."

Prix de beauté was, in fact, one of the very first French sound films, and not without reason, music and sound are recurring thematic, visual and auditory motifs in both the silent and the sound versions film.

Louise Brooks Prix de beauté screens in London, England Nov 1

The UK premiere of the restored silent version of the 1930 Louise Brooks film, Prix de beauté, will be shown (in 35 mm) at the Kennington Biograph / Cinema Museum in London on November 1st. This special screening, part of "Silent to Sound in Europe," is an event not to be missed! More information may be found HERE.

According to the Kennington Biograph webpage, "This event is presented in conjunction with the AHRC-funded project ‘British Silent Cinema and the Transition to Sound’. Using clips from British, French and German films, historian Geoff Brown investigates the turbulent European scene in the period of transition, 1929/1930. Studios struggled to shift from silent feature production to films that talked, sang, and made noises. Britain briefly won the technological advantage, but which country used the technology most imaginatively? The feature in the second half will be the UK premier of the original restored silent version of Prix de Beauté (1930), featuring Louise Brooks, courtesy of Cineteca Bologna. Doors open at 18.30, for a 19.30 start. Refreshments will be available in our licensed cafe/bar."

Prix de beauté was, in fact, one of the very first French sound films, and not without reason, music and sound are recurring thematic, visual and auditory motifs in the film.

Prix de beauté with Louise Brooks screens in Istanbul

Prix de beauté, starring Louise Brooks, will be shown at the upcoming 2nd International Istanbul Silent Cinema Days, running December 3 - 6, in Istanbul, Turkey. Organized by Kino Istanbul and hosted by Istanbul Modern, Pera Museum and the French Cultural Center, the festival will present pioneering examples of cinema. Each screening will be accompanied by live music.

More information about Sessiz Sinema Günleri / Silent Cinema Days can be found on its website or Facebook page.

Prix de beauté, a French produced film from 1930, will be shown as part of a series devoted to Divas. According to an article in Daily Sabah, "Louise Brooks's groundbreaking film Prix de Beauté (Beauty Prize) will also be screened as a part of the Diva Films section. Famous for her iconic haircut, the film focuses on individual freedom and it is about the turbulent events that women experience after winning a beauty competition."

Here is what the Sessiz Sinema Günleri website says about the film

Güzellik Ödülü – Prix de Beauté – Miss Europe / AUGUSTO GENINA / 1930 / Fransa – France / 113’ / Siyah beyaz – Black & white / DCP / Restorasyon – Restoration: Cineteca di Bologna
Müzisyen / Musician: Stephen Horne

Daktilograf olarak çalışan ve Andre adlı bir gazeteciyle ilişkisi olan Lucienne “Lulu” Garnier, The Globe gazetesinin açtığı güzellik yarışmasına katılır, birinciliği kazanacağı kesinleşir, ancak kıskanç Andre’nin itirazları üzerine vazgeçip evine geri döner. Lucienne’in peşini bırakmazlar, bu sefer bir film teklifi alır. Baştan reddedip, sözleşmeyi yırtar ama sonra Andre’yi bırakıp, yıldız olmaya giden yola adımını atar. Prix de Beauté, Louise Brooks’un Avrupa’da bilinen en son filmi. Avrupalı yönetmen Augusto Genina tarafindan çekilen filmin hikayesi, yine Avrupalı iki yönetmene ait: Fransız René Clair ve Avusturyalı Wilhelm Pabst.

Nezih Erdoğan

The Louise Brooks Society archives holds little in the way of clippings or advertisements for Brooks' film in Turkey. One of the few items we do have is this newspaper notice for Prix de beauté from 1931.

Prix de beauté, starring Louise Brooks, screens in Berkeley tomorrow

The French film, Prix de beauté, screens in Berkeley, California tomorrow, July 11th, at the Pacific Film Archive as part of "Henri Langlois: A Centennial Tribute." More details and tickets information here. And here is the short piece that ran in the San Francisco Chronicle. What follows is the PFA description.

Saturday, July 11, 2015

6:30 p.m.	Prix de beauté Augusto Genina (France, 1930)

Imported Print!
Live Music Judith Rosenberg on piano

(Miss Europa 1930). Living humbly in Rochester, New York, the great silent-era actress Louise Brooks was rediscovered and thrust back into the spotlight in 1955 by Langlois and George Eastman House curator James Card. In 1958 Langlois invited her to Paris for a retrospective of her works, and her legend was solidified. “You have created a new Louise Brooks, entirely yours,” Brooks wrote to Langlois in 1959. Featuring Brooks in her last major role (at age twenty-four), Prix de beauté has a history as illustrious and troubled as its star's. Based on a treatment by G.W. Pabst, it was scripted as a silent by its intended director, René Clair. But Clair left the project when he was forced to rework the script for the addition of sound, and direction was taken over by Augusto Genina, who, with master cinematographer Rudolph Maté, brought an air of actuality to this tale of a Parisian typist who wins a beauty contest and a movie contract, only to face the violent disapproval of her husband. The simple plot becomes a potent vehicle for reflections on the mechanics of celebrity and the power of the photograph. Melodrama and real life ironically converge in the breathtaking ending, with the tragically mortal heroine juxtaposed against her own immortal filmic image—the image of Brooks, a timeless star whose meteoric career was already beginning its rapid decline. 

• Photographed by Rudolph Maté. With Louise Brooks, Georges Charlia, Jean Bradin, Augusto Bandini. (108 mins, Silent, French intertitles translated live, B&W, 35mm, From La Cinémathèque française)

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In honor of this special screening, here is a gem from the Louise Brooks Society archive, a newspaper advertisement for Prix de beauté from 1932. The ad comes from Haiti (a former French colony), where other newspaper advertisements indicate the film was shown again in 1933, 1935 and 1936!

Louise Brooks: Greetings from Poland, part 5

A continuation of the previous four posts, the results of my look through a online Polish archives in search of any and all Louise Brooks clippings or advertisements. Here is some more of the material I found.

Above is another splendid advertisement from Poland, this one a 1931 variant for The Diary of a Lost Girl, which is hear titled Dusze Bez Steru. Also on the program was an early Mickey Mouse film.

Speaking of variants, here is one for Lulu or Puszka Pandory, or Pandora's Box. It is from 1929. Also on the bill is something called Chaplinada.

And here are a couple for Prix de beauté, which was called either Nie Grzesz Kobieto or Kobieto nie grzesz in Poland. The example above dates from 1931, and appeared on the top front page of Ziemia Lubelska, a Polish newspaper. The example below dates from 1933, and references the English title of this French film, Miss Europe.

Henri Langlois Centennial Tribute includes Louise Brooks

Henri Langlois, one of the founders of the La Cinémathèque française, famously said Louise Brooks, "There is no Garbo, there is no Dietrich, there is only Louise Brooks."

Fittingly, a Henri Langlois centennial tribute at the Pacific Film Archive in Berkeley, California includes a Louise Brooks film. On Saturday, July 11, 2015 the PFA will screening the La Cinémathèque française's copy of Prix de beauté (1930), starring Louise Brooks. More about that particular screening can be found HERE. The line-up for the centennial tribute follows.

The French film archivist and cinephile Henri Langlois (1914–1977) is a heroic and colorful figure in the history of cinema. As the cofounder of La Cinémathèque française in Paris and as a champion of film culture, he inspired the international cinematheque movement. Indeed, Langlois’s visits to Berkeley in the 1960s and 1970s greatly informed the vision of the Pacific Film Archive, particularly the way our institution exhibits, collects, and makes information about film history available to the public. Today, BAM/PFA’s film department remains true to that original model inspired by Henri Langlois, over forty years ago.

Summer 2015 brings a period of change for our film programs at BAM/PFA. This is our final season in the temporary PFA Theater, which we have occupied since 2000. What could be a more fitting tribute at this time of transition than this series, which celebrates aesthetic achievements in cinema, featuring many films that Langlois helped save for future generations of viewers? This eclectic series presents works that contributed to the development of French silent cinema as well as some by Langlois’s favorite auteurs (Tod Browning, Ernst Lubitsch, Jean Renoir, Erich von Stroheim). Langlois advocated for a cinema that explores the aesthetic possibility of film language and the use of cinema as a means of resistance, principles that we continue to champion as we move ahead into our future.

Susan Oxtoby, Senior Film Curator

Thursday, June 11, 2015
7:30 p.m. Henri Langlois Centennial Tribute: Opening Program
Introduced by Tom Luddy. Judith Rosenberg on piano. A collection of shorts on the legendary Langlois, as well as the 1918 Italian short La Tosca, a lost film found by Langlois in the BAM/PFA Collection. Titles include Langlois (1970), Chit Chat with Henri Langlois (1975), and La Cinémathèque française (1962). (94 mins)

Friday, June 12, 2015
7:00 p.m. Dimitri Kirsanoff & Nadia Sibirskaïa Collaborations
Dmitri Kirsanoff (France, 1924/1928). Imported Prints! Judith Rosenberg on piano. Two rare works from the great silent-era director Dimitri Kirsanoff: the evocative portrait of two young sisters, Ménilmontant, and Autumn Mists, a short about a melancholy soul. (54 mins)

Saturday, June 13, 2015
6:30 p.m. Forbidden Paradise
Ernst Lubitsch (US, 1924). Imported Print! Judith Rosenberg on piano. Lubitsch teams with his favorite muse, the great actress Pola Negri, for this comedy inspired by the amorous intrigue surrounding Catherine the Great of Russia. Adolphe Menjou costars. (78 mins)

Wednesday, June 17, 2015
7:30 p.m. Lumière d'été
Jean Grémillon (France, 1943). Imported Print! A remote mountain inn is the setting for a class-crossed love affair split between working class and idle rich. Coscripted by Jacques Prévert, it is acclaimed as one of the greatest French films made during the German Occupation. Followed by excerpts from Parlons cinema—à propos du cinéma dans la résistance. (120 mins)

Friday, June 19, 2015
7:00 p.m. The Steel Beast
Willy Otto Zielke (Germany, 1935). Imported Print! Commissioned to celebrate the anniversary of a rail line in 1935, this film by great German photographer Willy Otto Zielke is a daring collage of abstractions, rhythms, and historical commentary, and was immediately banned by the Nazis. (75 mins)

Friday, June 26, 2015
7:00 p.m. Early Films by Abel Gance
Abel Gance (France, 1915/1916). 35mm Restored Prints! Judith Rosenberg on piano. Two early and rare shorts, The Madness of Doctor Tube and The Deadly Gases, that demonstrate the fledgling skills of the director who would later make one of the silent era’s greatest epics, Napoleon. (83 mins)

Friday, July 3, 2015
7:00 p.m. The Unknown
Tod Browning (US, 1927). Judith Rosenberg on piano. A circus performer has his arms amputated to satisfy his lover’s strange desires in Tod Browning’s shocking tale of madness and love, starring Lon Chaney and Joan Crawford. (66 mins)

Wednesday, July 8, 2015
7:30 p.m. Nana
Jean Renoir (France, 1926). Imported Print! Judith Rosenberg on piano. An actress turns courtesan to make ends meet during Europe’s decadent Second Empire in Renoir’s first full-length vehicle for his wife, Catherine Hessling. Renoir: “My first film worth talking about.” (150 mins)

Saturday, July 11, 2015
6:30 p.m. Prix de beauté
Augusto Genina (France, 1930). Imported Print! Judith Rosenberg on piano. The last major role for silent-era beauty Louise Brooks (Pandora’s Box) was as a Parisian typist who wins a beauty contest and a movie contract, only to face the violent disapproval of her husband. (108 mins)

Saturday, July 18, 2015
6:30 p.m. La chienne
Jean Renoir (France, 1931). Imported Print! Michel Simon is an unhappily married middle-aged bank clerk whose only passion in life is painting, until he becomes obsessed with a prostitute. Remade by Fritz Lang as Scarlet Street, Renoir’s original is infused with a sadomasochistic sexuality that is both heightened and tempered by Renoir's camera. (100 mins)

Wednesday, July 22, 2015
7:30 p.m. Foolish Wives
Erich von Stroheim (US, 1922) Judith Rosenberg on piano. Monte Carlo provides the suitably decadent setting for von Stroheim’s look at money, temptation, and marriage. “Never was a film more revolutionary” (Langlois). (108 mins)

Friday, July 24, 2015
8:50 p.m. Queen Kelly
Erich von Stroheim (US, 1931) In a debauched Central European kingdom, a mad queen must wed a notorious libertine, who instead falls for a young nun (Gloria Swanson). One of the most infamous unfinished film maudits in history, and praised as Erich von Stroheim’s masterpiece. (74 mins)

Sunday, July 26, 2015
5:00 p.m. Georges Méliès Shorts
Georges Méliès (France, 1897–1906). Digital Restorations! Judith Rosenberg on piano. The genius shorts of the father of cinema, many hand-painted and restored by La Cinémathèque française in 2013 with the Éclair Group. (58 mins)


Based on Grâce à Henri Langlois, a touring exhibition originated by La Cinémathèque française (Paris), curated by Samantha Leroy. Our deepest thanks to Director General Serge Toubiana and the staff of La Cinémathèque française, who have made available many archival prints and digital restorations for this centennial tribute. BAM/PFA also wishes to thank the French Cultural Services San Francisco, Les Films du Jeudi, SNC, and Kathy Brew.

Miss Europe postcards

The 1930 French film, Prix de beauté (also known as Miss Europa), tells the story of a typist named  Lucienne (played by Louise Brooks) stuck in a dull job whose life changes when she wins a beauty contest. The film was based on a screenplay by Augusto Genina, René Clair, Bernard Zimmer, and Alessandro de Stefani from an original story idea by René Clair and G.W. Pabst.

The story plays out against the backdrop of a "Miss Europe" beauty contest, an actual event just beginning to take hold in the European consciousness. According to its Wikipedia entry, "Miss Europe" was a beauty pageant among female contestants from European nations established in February 1929 by Maurice de Waleffe. It was first held at the Paris Opera where delegates from 18 countries participated. Here is another page about the history of the contest. And this page has a lot of images of vintage postcards. More images will show up on a Google image search.

For many years, "Miss Europe" proved a popular event. And picture postcards depicting the various participants were issued on annual basis. (A handful of cards from around the time of Prix de beauté are shown below). RadioLulu even features a Polish song from the 1930's celebrating "Miss Polonia" (Miss Poland).

 

Miss Denmark, 1929

 

Miss Poland, 1929

Miss Greece, 1930
also Miss Europe, 1930

 

Miss France, 1931
also Miss Europe, 1931

A musical homage to Miss Europe, featuring Suzy Solidor

Louise Brooks starred in the 1930 French film, Prix de beauté, which is sometimes called Beauty Prize or Miss Europe, in English speaking countries. Since the late 1920s, a European beauty pageant proved popular, and the Brooks' film ties in to it. RadioLulu even features a song by a male vocalist titled "Miss Polonia" (Miss Poland).

Here is a video tribute to some of the women named Miss Europe. They include:

-1929: Erzsébet Simon (Hungary)
-1930: Aliki Diplarakou (Greece)
-1931: Jeanne Juilla (France)
-1933: Tatiana Maslow (Soviet Union)
-1937: Britta Wikström (Finland)

The music is by Suzy Solidor, herself a beauty and a woman sometimes referred to as the “most painted woman in the world”. She was photographed by Man Ray (famously in the nude), and she posed for some of the most celebrated artists of her day including Pablo Picasso, Georges Braque, Raoul Dufy, Tamara de Lempicka, Marie Laurencin, Jean Cocteau, Francis Picabia, and Kees van Dongen.

Prix de beauté - A round up of reviews

Prix de beauté was officially released in France on this day in 1930. The film was shot as a silent, and then adapted for sound. The sound version is available on DVD. On rare occasions, the silent version is screened, as it was in New Zealand earlier this month.

The film stars Louise Brooks as Lucienne, Georges Charlia as André, H. Bandini as Antonin, and Jean Bradin as Prince de Grabovsky. The film was based on the screenplay by Augusto Genina, René Clair, Bernard Zimmer, and Alessandro de Stefani from an original story idea by René Clair (and G.W. Pabst). The film was directed by Augusto Genina and released by SOFAR Film (La Societe des Films Artistiques).Notably, Louise Brooks' costume design was by Jean Patou.

Prix de beauté was very popular in France, where it was made,and it was screened all around Europe. The Louise Brooks Society archive contains reviews and advertisements from Germany, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Iceland, and The Netherlands. The film wasn't shown in the United States until the late 1950s. Here are a few multinational reviews from the LBS archive.

anonymous. Le Journal des Débats Politiques et Littéraires, March 30, 1929. 
 --- "René Clair, le brillant réalisateur de Chapeau de paille d'Italie, travaille actuellement au découpage de son nouveau: Prix de Beauté, qu'il va tourner pour la Sofar. Il compte prendre les premières prises de vues au début d'avril. On sait que la vedette féminine de cette production sera Louise Brooks, l'étonnant interprète de A girl in every port."

anonymous. "Miss Europa." Corriere della Sera, April 13, 1930. 
 --- "II film è pregevole specialmente nelle parti descrittive più adatte alle particolari qualità dello stile geniniano: le scene del concorso di bellezza, la fiera, certe notazioni d’ambiente e d’officina, sentono tutto il suo tipico realismo spontaneo e pulito. . . . Bisogna menzionare Ia trovata finale, esempio di ingegnosa applicazione dci metodi sonori."

anonymous. "Prix de Beauté." Le Figaro, May 18, 1930.
 --- " . . . Une très jolie femme - Louise Brooks - et une tr&ès jolie idée: l'artiste qu'une balle de revolver abat landis qu'elle chante sur l'écran, et vit, et sóurit, et que, truvée, sanglante, morte, continue, à trois mètres de là, sur l'écran, à chanter, à sourire, à vivre"

Vincent, Carl. "Prix de beauté." L’Indépendance Belge, June 13, 1930.
--- article; "C’est Louise Brooks qui interprète le rôle de Lucienne. Elle le fait avec intelligence et le talent dont elle a fait preuve à travers plus d’un film américain et plus récemment dans deux oeuvres de Pabst: Loulou et Trois pages d’un journal."

Gilbert, Morris. "Paris Cinema Chatter." New York Times, June 15, 1930. 
 --- Brooks is mentioned as appearing in Prix de Beauté in article in New York City newspaper  

H., H. "Miss Europa." Lichtbild-Bühne, August 12, 1930.
--- "Louise Brooks' Spiel ist erfüllt von Anmut und Innerlichkeit . . . . Eine Meisterleistung der Regiekunst."

n. "Miss Europa." Film Kurier, August 12, 1930.
--- "Und Louise Brooks, die bei jeder Geste auf den Regisseur angewiesen bleibt, vermag ihn gerade in diesen Momenten nicht zu unterstützen."

Magnus. Variety, September 3, 1930. 
 --- "The acting is very good. Louise Brooks looks charming and she knows how to move."

anonymous. "Premio de Belleza." Popular Film, July 16, 1931. 
 --- illustrated feature; "Dos escenas de Premio de belleza, el film ablado en francés con fragmentos y canciones en español, del programa Gaumont, estrenado con buen éxito en el elegante cinema Fantasio. Los principales intérpretes de Premio de belleza, son la gentil y bonita Louise Brooks y el excente galán George Charlia. La realización es de Augusto Genina".

Palma, A. "Prix de Beauté." La Rivista Cinématografica, March 30, 1932. 
 --- "Augusto Genina . . . da valoroso artista quale egli è, ha saputo intessere una appassionante trama per lo schermo dallo spunto offerto dall'annuale concorso di bellezza muliebre, e prescegliendo a protagonista Louise Brooks, la quale oltre a campione di bellezza si è dimostrata anche una valida interprete cinematografica . . . Ottima la recitazione della Brooks"

Kennedy, James. "National Film Theater Anthology." Guardian, July 24, 1964. 
--- "Augusto Genina's Prix de Beaute (1930), remarkable for the performance of Louise Brooks."

Lundegaard, Bob. "Prix de Beauté offers quintessential Brooks." Minneapolis Tribune, October 21, 1983.
--- "But we don't go to a Brooks film for plausible character studies. We go to see la Brooks, and for that purpose Prix de Beaute doesn't dissapoint."

Prix de beauté - early American newspaper reference

This newspaper clipping, from September 13, 1929 may represent one of the earliest, if not the earliest, American newspaper reference to Prix de beauté, the 1930 film starring Louise Brooks. This article references the film as it was being shot in 1929 (the film was in production from August 29 to September 27), but before it was released almost a year later, on August 20, 1930. It also claims that Prix de beauté was the first French talkie. Had it's release not been delayed, it could have been the first or second.

Seeking expert in French Musette

I wonder if an expert in early French popular music could offer any clues as to the name of the small orchestra playing a Tango in this scene from Prix de beauté (1930).

Please email the Louise Brooks Society directly (at LouiseBrooksSociety AT gmail DOT com) or post something in the comments section. I hope to include this song on RadioLulu at http://www.live365.com/stations/298896. Thank you.

Prix de beauté screens in New Zealand

Tonight, the New Zealand International Film Festival screens the rarely shown silent version of Prix de beauté, a 1930 French drama starring Louise Brooks. The film, initially shot as a silent, was quickly adapted as a sound film.

The sound version, with dubbed dialogue and music, was released at the time "talkies" were beginning to dominate the French film market. The silent version quietly faded away. This special screening features Marc Taddei conducting the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in a single performance of Timothy Brock’s original score. More information on this event can be found at http://www.nziff.co.nz/2014/auckland/prix-de-beaute/.  Here is what the NZIFF says about the event.

Prix de beauté 1930

Miss Europe
Directed by Augusto Genina

"Our popular annual engagement with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra showcases the last major film to star the dazzling Louise Brooks. Timothy Brock’s score for this rarely seen jazz-age classic is conducted by Marc Taddei.

Our popular annual engagement with the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra showcases one of the few icons of silent-era eroticism whose allure can still be felt 90 years later. Marc Taddei conducts a single performance of Timothy Brock’s original score to accompany Prix de beauté. This rarely seen jazz age classic was the last major film to star the dazzling Louise Brooks.

Famously contemptuous of what Hollywood had to offer her, Brooks is best remembered for three films she made when she headed for Europe: Pandora’s Box, Diary of a Lost Girl, and this French film, long unavailable in its original silent-era version. Like the two better known German films, Prix de beauté puts her at the centre of a trenchant and perversely seductive depiction of social decadence. Venturing an early critique of celebrity culture, the rags to riches tale of a vivacious young office worker who enters a beauty competition packs a surprising punch.

Displaying all the mobility and visual invention of late-20s silent cinema at its height, the film’s location shooting brings documentary immediacy to beaches and fun-fairs jostling with holidaymakers, or the clamorous crowd sizing up Miss Europe of 1928. While these scenes resound with echoes of long forgotten good times, the energy of the woman at their centre feels enduringly present. As much as her piercing beauty and the dramatic bob that forever carries her name, it’s Brooks’ capacity to suggest a dangerous mind that still strikes sparks.

Like many films of the late 20s, Prix de beauté was made first in both sound and silent versions. To the best of our knowledge this will be the New Zealand premiere of the original silent version. We have a recent DCP restoration from an Italian print by the Cinetecas of Bologna and Milan and the Cinémathèque Française. We will provide surtitle translation of the original Italian intertitles.

“This is a photographer’s movie, from the fluid location shooting at the start to the strikingly lit finale… Most beguiling is the camera’s love affair with the face of Louise Brooks, whose eyes retain their sparkle no matter how faded the print. Although beset by a possessive lover, by showbiz exploiters and, in a remarkable funfair scene, by humanity generally, Brooks is so sheerly, dominatingly vivacious that oppression hardly seems an issue.” — Time Out Film Guide

Marc Taddei is currently Music Director of Orchestra Wellington. His several Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Live Cinema engagements have included The Wind in 2006, Nosferatu in 2011, and the Buster Keaton titles Sherlock Jr in 2010 and The Cameraman in 2013.

Timothy Brock is a leading interpreter and composer of orchestral music for silent cinema and has been a regular visitor to the Festival, most recently conducting his restoration of Charlie Chaplin’s score for The Gold Rush in 2009. His original scores have become a regular feature of our Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra Live Cinema programme."

New Zealand premiere of silent Prix de beauté

The New Zealand International Film Festival have announced they will screen the rarely shown silent version of Prix de beauté, the 1930 French sound film starring Louise Brooks. The film was initially shot as a silent, and was then adapted to sound. The sound version, with dubbed dialogue and music, was released as "talkies" were beginning to dominate the film world. The silent version quietly faded away. This special screening on August 3, 2014 features Marc Taddei conducting the Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra in a single performance of Timothy Brock’s recent original score. More information on this event can be found at http://www.nziff.co.nz/2014/auckland/prix-de-beaute/.