Showing posts with label William Wellman. Show all posts
Showing posts with label William Wellman. Show all posts

Sunday, January 22, 2023

Beggars of Life, with Louise Brooks, screens in NYC TODAY

Sorry about the late notice, but thought some might want to know .... Beggars of Life (1928), the terrific William Wellman film starring Louise Brooks, will be shown at Film Forum in New York City later today. 

Wellman’s long-thought-lost silent, starring Louise Brooks and Wallace Beery and featuring dazzling location work on speeding trains, screens on Sunday, January 22 at 3:10 pm! The film will be shown with live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner and a special pre-recorded introduction by Leonard Maltin & Bruce Goldstein. More information HERE.

From the Film Forum website: 

Partial inspiration for Sturges’ SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS (screening immediately after).
♪ Silent, with live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner
Pre-recorded introduction by Leonard Maltin, with Bruce Goldstein

U.S., 1928
Directed by William Wellman
Starring Louise Brooks, Wallace Beery, Richard Arlen
Based on Outside Looking In, a stage play by Maxwell Anderson, adapted from Jim Tully’s 1924 autobiographical book, Beggars of Life
Approx. 81 min. DCP.

On the run after killing a molesting stepfather, dressed-as-a-boy Louise Brooks is befriended by Richard Arlen and falls in with Wallace Beery’s band of hoboes. Long-thought-lost silent classic, with Brooks’ best pre-German work (director G.W. Pabst was so impressed by her screen presence that he soon cast her in PANDORA'S BOX) and dazzling location work on speeding trains.  The set-up of a young woman impersonating a boy, traveling with hoboes on a box car, may have inspired Preston Sturges to re-create it — this time, with Veronica Lake dressed as a boy — in SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS. 

“A rowdy, violent, romantic adventure…The bladelike Brooks, domineering with a mere glance, looks right at home in a man’s suit… [Wellman] has an eye for the physical and moral degradation of the persecuted and despised.”
– Richard Brody, The New Yorker


If you love this film as much as I do, be sure and check out my 2017 book, Beggars of Life: a Companion to the 1928 Film. It is available on amazon all around the world.

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.” With more than 50 little seen images, and a foreword by William Wellman, Jr.

"I can say (with head bowed modestly) that I know more about the career of director William A. Wellman than pretty much anybody anywhere -- always excepting my friend and co-author John Gallagher -- but there are things in Thomas Gladysz's new book on Wellman's Beggars of Life that I didn't know. More important, the writing is so good and the research so deep that even when I was reading about facts that were familiar to me, I was enjoying myself hugely." -- Frank Thompson, co-author of Nothing Sacred: The Cinema of William Wellman

"
Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film is a quick, satisfying read, illustrated with promotional material, posters and stills as well as press clippings. In these pages, Gladysz takes us through the making and the reception of the film and clears up a few mysteries too.... Beggars of Life is a fascinating movie, made by some of the silent film industry's most colourful characters. This highly readable book will deepen your enjoyment and understanding of a silent Hollywood classic." -- Pamela Hutchinson, Silent London

"I cannot help but give this an enthusiastic two thumbs up. It really is the perfect companion, before or after you have seen the film. The volume might be slim, but, it is packed with information and rare photographs. It has been impeccably researched and beautifully executed.... This is a thorough examination of the film from start to finish and written in a breezy style that is not only informative, it is a very entertaining read." -- Donna Hill,
Strictly Vintage Hollywood

"Read your book. I love it. It is thorough and extremely interesting. The art work is compelling." -- William Wellman, Jr., author of
Wild Bill Wellman

"Gladysz has written a brief but informative book .... offers a profound and true insight." -- Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

"For this film, including details on what is known about the original recorded soundtrack, I highly recommend Thomas Gladysz's book
Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film." -- Rodney Sauer, Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

"There is an affordable and highly recommended book that goes perfectly with the blu ray. Gladysz, director of the Louise Brooks Society, has written a companion book to the movie that features a wealth of information, insight, and photos.  It really puts this film into historical perspective and helps to further understand and more deeply appreciate its status as a  screen classic." -- James Neibur, film historian and author
 

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.
 

Saturday, November 13, 2021

Beggars of Life screens in NYC on Louise Brooks birthday!

On Sunday, November 14th (which also happens to be Louise Brooks' birthday), Film Forum in New York City will screen Beggars of Life with live piano accompaniment by Steve Sterner. And what's more, the film will be introduced by L.A.-based author / film critic / historian Leonard Maltin (via recorded Zoom). Notably, this is the fourth time in 10 years Film Forum has screened this now classic film. Film Forum is located at 209 West Houston St. west of 6th Ave. in NYC. More information about the event HERE. BTW: Attendees will be required to provide proof of vaccination for entry to the theater (also applies to children 12 and above).

The Film Forum program note reads: " (1928, William A. Wellman) On the run after killing a molesting stepfather, dressed-as-a-boy Louise Brooks is befriended by Richard Arlen and falls in with Wallace Beery’s band of hoboes. Long-thought-lost silent classic, with Brook’s best pre-German work and dazzling location work on speeding trains. DCP. Approx. 81 min."

 

One of the Film Forum's previous screening took place in 2012. At the time, I wrote a piece for Huffington Post titled, “Beggars of Life with Louise Brooks Screens in New York.” The late great film critic Roger Ebert read my article and tweeted about it, stating he wished that this classic film would be released on DVD by Kino. And a few years later it was!

If you can't attend this event and want to see the film, hurry and search out some of the few remaining Blu-ray copies of the 2017 Kino release. It is my understanding that the DVD is out-of-print. The few remaining copies of this outstanding disc can be found HERE. And what's more, the Kino Lorber release (pictured on the right) features two commentaries, one by the son of the film's director, William Wellman, and one by myself, Thomas Gladysz.

This DVD was named one of the best of the year by three noted critics — not bad for a silent film! Additionally, my commentary was singled out or mentioned by a handful of media outlets including the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, Films in Review, Combustible Celluloid, Film International, and Home Media Magazine.

“Brooks scholar Thomas Gladysz provides a very informative commentary on this excellent restoration.” — PopMatters

“Gladysz, who’s the founding director of the Louise Brooks Society, also goes into great detail about the studio production of the film, and the stories of its stars.” — Texas Public Radio (NPR).


Want to learn more about what is widely considered Brooks best American film? Then let me recommend my 2017 book, Beggars of Life: a Companion to the 1928 Film (pictured left).

This 106-page first ever study of Beggars of Life looks at the film Oscar-winning director William Wellman thought his finest silent movie. With 15,000 words of text, more than 50 little seen images, and a foreword by actor William Wellman, Jr., son of the legendary director.Autographed copies are available directly from me, or they are also available online at the following sites.

Buy from Amazon (USA) | Indiebound | Bookshop.org | Powells | Barnes & Noble | Books-a-Million | Larry Edmunds

 
Or, buy the English-language edition from Amazon in Australia | Brazil | Canada | France | Germany | India | Italy | Japan | Mexico | Netherlands | Poland | Singapore | Spain | Turkey | United Arab Emirates | United Kingdom
 
Or, buy the English-language edition from Open Trolley (Indonesia)  

 

Here is what others have said about my book:

"I can say (with head bowed modestly) that I know more about the career of director William A. Wellman than pretty much anybody anywhere -- always excepting my friend and co-author John Gallagher -- but there are things in Thomas Gladysz's new book on Wellman's Beggars of Life that I didn't know. More important, the writing is so good and the research so deep that even when I was reading about facts that were familiar to me, I was enjoying myself hugely." -- Frank Thompson, co-author of Nothing Sacred: The Cinema of William Wellman

"Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film is a quick, satisfying read, illustrated with promotional material, posters and stills as well as press clippings. In these pages, Gladysz takes us through the making and the reception of the film and clears up a few mysteries too.... Beggars of Life is a fascinating movie, made by some of the silent film industry's most colourful characters. This highly readable book will deepen your enjoyment and understanding of a silent Hollywood classic." -- Pamela Hutchinson, Silent London

"I cannot help but give this an enthusiastic two thumbs up. It really is the perfect companion, before or after you have seen the film. The volume might be slim, but, it is packed with information and rare photographs. It has been impeccably researched and beautifully executed.... This is a thorough examination of the film from start to finish and written in a breezy style that is not only informative, it is a very entertaining read." -- Donna Hill, Strictly Vintage Hollywood

"Read your book. I love it. It is thorough and extremely interesting. The art work is compelling." -- William Wellman, Jr., author of Wild Bill Wellman

"Gladysz has written a brief but informative book .... offers a profound and true insight." -- Jack Garner, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle

"For this film, including details on what is known about the original recorded soundtrack, I highly recommend Thomas Gladysz's book Beggars of Life: A Companion to the 1928 Film." -- Rodney Sauer, Mont Alto Motion Picture Orchestra

"There is an affordable and highly recommended book that goes perfectly with the blu ray.  Gladysz, director of the Louise Brooks Society, has written a companion book to the movie that features a wealth of information, insight, and photos.  It really puts this film into historical perspective and helps to further understand and more deeply appreciate its status as a  screen classic." -- James Neibur, film historian and author

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Beggars of Life and Wild Boys of the Road

If you appreciate the  charm and realism of the 1928 William Wellman film, Beggars of Life, than you simply must see Wellman's 1933 film, Wild Boys of the Road. I just watched the later for the first time, and was WOWED.


From Wikipedia: "Wild Boys of the Road is a 1933 Pre-Code Depression-era American film telling the story of several teens forced into becoming hobos. The film was directed by William Wellman from a screenplay by Earl Baldwin based on the story Desperate Youth by Daniel Ahern. The film stars Frankie Darro. In 2013 the film was selected for preservation in the United States National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being 'culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant'."



But what's more, like Beggars of Life, this latter film also features a young woman (Dorothy Coonan) who dresses as a boy as she rides the rails. It is a terrific, unapologetic, and at times harrowing film.  And like Beggars of Life, it is also in the words of review for Wellman's earlier film, "pungent, powerful, appealing, masterfully directed and superbly acted."



Dorothy Coonan as Sally is real cute, Sterling Holloway as Ollie, another hobo, is oh so likeable, and Grant Mitchell as Mr. Smith is also pitch perfect. The film also has Claire McDowell as Mrs. Smith. She had a similar, motherly role in The Show-Off (1926), which featured Brooks.

The film is available on DVD as part of the Forbidden Hollywood Collection: Volume Three (which includes Other Men's Women / The Purchase Price / Frisco Jenny / Midnight Mary / Heroes for Sale / Wild Boys of the Road). Each is a Pre-Code film directed by William Wellman, one of my very favorite directors. Copies are available through amazon.com

Wednesday, September 9, 2015

William Wellman blogathon starts tomorrow

The William Wellman blogathon starts tomorrow. Hosted by Now Voyaging, the blogathon runs September 10-13, and will feature nearly four dozen blogs from across the web covering many of the director's best known silent and sound films.

The Louise Brooks Society is participating, and will cover Wellman's Beggars of Life (1928), starring Louise Brooks. We'll be posting some amazing and little know material on this singular Louise Brooks film. See you tomorrow. . . .

William Augustus Wellman (February 29, 1896 – December 9, 1975) was an American film director. Although he began his film career as an actor, he went on to work on over 80 films, mostly as as director, and sometimes as a producer, screenwriter, and consultant.

His ouevre is notable for his work in crime, adventure and war films, with a handful focusing on aviation themes. He also directed several well-regarded satirical comedies.

Wellman directed the 1927 film Wings, which became the first film to win an Academy Award for Best Picture at the 1st Academy Awards ceremony. His other best regarded silent film is Beggars of Life (1928).

Wellman's notable films include The Public Enemy (1931), Night Nurse (1931), the first version of A Star Is Born (1937) which he also wrote, Nothing Sacred (1937), the 1939 version of Beau Geste starring Gary Cooper, Roxie Hart (1942), The Ox-Bow Incident (1943), Lady of Burlesque (1943), The Story of G.I. Joe (1945), The Iron Curtain (1948), Battleground (1949) and two films starring and co-produced by John Wayne, Island in the Sky (1953) and The High and the Mighty (1954).

Wellman managed to elicit Oscar-nominated performances from seven different actors: Fredric March and Janet Gaynor (A Star Is Born), Brian Donlevy (Beau Geste), Robert Mitchum (The Story of G.I. Joe), James Whitmore (Battleground), and Jan Sterling and Claire Trevor (The High and Mighty).

In his career, however, Wellman won only a single Academy Award, for the story of A Star Is Born. He was nominated as best director three times, for A Star Is Born, Battleground and The High and Mighty, for which he was also nominated by the Directors Guild of America as best director. In 1973, the DGA honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award. Wellman also has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.


Wellman is the subject of an outstanding biography, William Wellman: Hollywood Rebel, authored by his son, William Wellman Jr. The LBS has read it and cannot recommend it highly enough.

Please nominate the the 1928 film BEGGARS OF LIFE to the 2016 National Film Registry. It's easy. All you have to do is send an email to filmregistry@loc.gov     Read more about William Wellman on his Wikipedia page or IMDb page.


Monday, August 10, 2015

William Wellman blogathon coming in September

One month from today, the William Wellman blogathon hits the web! Hosted by Now Voyaging, the blogathon runs September 10-13, and will feature nearly four dozen blogs from across the web covering many of the director's silent and sound films. The Louise Brooks Society plans on participating, and will cover Wellman's Beggars of Life (1928), starring Louise Brooks. And what's more, we'll be posting some amazing and little know material on this singular Louise Brooks film. See you on September 10th.


Sunday, May 31, 2015

Reminder, Beggars of Life screens at UCLA


A reminder that two early films directed by William Wellman will be shown at the Billy Wilder Theater on the campus of UCLA. The special double bill features Beggars of Life (with Louise Brooks) and Wild Boys of the Road and is set to start at 7 p.m. More information HERE.

This event, part of an ongoing Wellman series, features an in-person appearance by William Wellman Jr., son of the legendary, Academy Award winning director. Wellman Jr. will sign copies of his excellent new book, Wild Bill Wellman: Hollywood Rebel (Pantheon) beginning at 6 p.m. Live musical accompaniment will be provided by the one and only Cliff Retallick, who has accompanied other Louise Brooks' films on earlier occasions.


Friday, May 29, 2015

Beggars of Life with Louise Brooks screens at UCLA on May 31

Two early films directed by William Wellman - each about the down and out and life on the road and both featuring a "cross-dressing" female lead - will be shown at the Billy Wilder Theater on the campus of UCLA.

The special double bill with Beggars of Life - starring Louise Brooks, and Wild Boys of the Road, is set to take place on May 31 at 7 p.m. More information HERE.

This special event, part of an ongoing Wellman series, features an in-person appearance by William Wellman Jr., son of the legendary, Academy Award winning director. Wellman Jr. will sign copies of his excellent new book, Wild Bill Wellman: Hollywood Rebel (Pantheon) beginning at 6 p.m. (Wild Boys of the Road is depicted on the cover of the book.)

Live musical accompaniment will be provided by the one and only Cliff Retallick, who has accompanied other Louise Brooks' films on earlier occasions.



Beggars of Life  (1928)

For a director who was also a decorated pilot in World War I, William A. Wellman’s films burn through a lot of shoe leather, from the Depression-driven tramping of the 1930s (Wild Boys of the Road, Heroes for Sale, Midnight Mary) to the weary marching of American soldiers in WWII, (G.I. Joe, Battleground). Beggars of Life inaugurates Wellman’s fascination with and facility for the rough lives and environs of the trudging downtrodden. After killing her foster father in self-defense, Nancy (the ever spellbinding Louise Brooks) flees to the open road with the help of Jim (Richard Arlen), a young hobo who happened on the scene. Wallace Beery, whose singing on the now lost Vitaphone soundtrack of the sound version was billed as major attraction by Paramount, plays Oklahoma Red, a magnetic and menacing tramp who comes through for the couple in the end.

Paramount Famous Lasky Corp.  Director: William A. Wellman.  (Scenario): Benjamin Glazer, Jim Tully.  Cinematography: Henry Gerrard.  Editor: Alyson Shaffer.  Cast: Wallace Beery, Louise Brooks, Richard Arlen, Edgar Washington Blue, H.A. Morgan.  35mm, b/w, silent, 81 min.




Wild Boys of the Road  (1933)

William A. Wellman directed two topical films about the Depression for Warner Bros., both semi-documentary in tone.  This stark narrative follows boys from impoverished families (and a girl, played by dancer Dorothy Coonan, Wellman's fourth and final wife) on their hungry journey.  Wonderful photography and sincere acting make this film enjoyable despite the grim subject matter.  The optimistic ending resounds with hopeful New Deal rhetoric.

First National Pictures, Inc.  Director: William A. Wellman.  Screenwriter: Earl Baldwin.  Cinematography: Arthur L. Todd.  Editor: Thomas Pratt.  With: Frankie Darro, Edwin Phillips, Rochelle Hudson, Dorothy Coonan, Sterling Holloway, Arthur Hohl.  35mm, b/w, 69 min.

Sunday, October 6, 2013

Beggars of Life twice today

Beggars of Life (1928), the sensational William Wellman directed film starring silent screen legend Louise Brooks, will be shown twice on October 6th.

The first screening takes place on the Bournemouth Pier in Bournemouth, England. The film will be accompanied by the renown Dodge Brothers musical group. Beggars of Life will also be shown in Italy as part of the Pordenone Silent Film Festival's "Canon Revisited" series. Günter Buchwald will provide live musical accompaniment for this latter screening.

Directed by multiple Oscar winner William Wellman, Beggars of Life (1928) tells the story of a girl who goes on the run after killing her abusive stepfather. She dresses as a boy, and together with another young vagabond, they hop freight trains, confront a group of hobos, and steal a car in their attempt to escape the police and reach Canada. The film stars future Oscar winner Wallace Beery as rail-riding hobo Oklahoma Red, Louise Brooks as Nancy, the girl on the run, and Richard Arlen as her vagabond companion.

Many consider Beggars of Life Brooks' best American film. An American film magazine of the time, Picture Play, described it as "Sordid, grim and unpleasant," though added, "it is nevertheless interesting and is certainly a departure from the usual movie."

Both the Bournemouth and Pordenone screenings should prove to be examples of an invigorating combination of a great silent movie and dynamic live music - no matter how different that music may be.

The Dodge Brothers, an Americana-drenched quartet featuring the English film critic and BBC commentator Mark Kermode, will set the musical mood in Bournemouth . When The Dodge Brothers accompanied Beggars of Life at the British Film Institute, the Bradford International Film Festival, at Barbican, and elsewhere across England at prior outings, they each time wowed an appreciative audience.

The Dodge Brothers are "renowned for playing the hell out of classic Americana." Described as ‘wonderful stuff’ by UK Radio 2 presenter Bob Harris, they play an exuberant hybrid of country blue, rockabilly, jugband and skiffle. With the fifth Dodge Brother Neil Brand, expert silent pianist and composer, the musicians bring the jug band/ skiffle style to accompany Welman's classic film. The other Dodge Brothers are musicians Aly Hirji, Mike Hammond, and Alex Hammond.

Following their accompaniment of Beggars of Life, the Dodge Brothers will perform a show at the Pier Theatre. More information at http://artsbournemouth.org.uk/events/the-dodge-brothers/

The Pordenone screening promises to be just as special. As devotees know, the Pordenone festival, sponsored by the Le Giornate del Cinema Muto, is widely regarded as the leading silent film festival in the world. It draws film scholars, film buffs, archivists, musicians and viewers from all over the world.

Befitting its stature, the Festival issues a substantial bi-lingual catalog documenting each of the many films screened at the annual event. Follow this link to read or download the pdf of the festival program/catalog. It contains a few image of the actress, as well as an essay on Beggars of Life by the Academy Award winning film historian evin Brownlow. In writing about the film, Brownlow recalls his own friendship with Brooks and Wellman. The Pordenone catalog is in both Italian and English.

Günter Buchwald, the musician accompanying Beggars of Life, is one of the pioneers of the renaissance of silent film music and one of the most experienced practitioners in the world. He has accompanied silent films for over 25 years with a repertoire of more than 2000 titles. He is director of the Silent Movie Music Company and conducts the Freiburg Filmharmonic Orchestra, which he founded in 1992. His wide experience in music from Baroque to Jazz allows him a huge stylistic variety in musical improvisation. Since 1984 he has appeared regularly at film festivals from Berlin to Zurigo (among others).

More information about Pordenone and Le Giornate del Cinema Muto may be found at http://www.cinetecadelfriuli.org/gcm/giornate/questa_edizione/introduction.html The introduction states, "William Wellman’s Beggars of Life, with the magnificent Louise Brooks, will be shown as a dedicated serata, with ensemble musical accompaniment."

Thursday, February 7, 2013

Cool pic of the day


Cool pic of the day: Louise Brooks dressed for her part in William Wellman's  Beggars of Life (1928).

Saturday, August 18, 2012

Frank Thompson's "The Commentary Track"

"Frank Thompson [is] a prolific author and
film historian of the first rank." - Leonard Maltin
Frank Thompson is an acclaimed film historian and author with more than forty books and hundreds of articles, interviews and reviews to his credit. He has also worked as a writer for television, contributed commentary to various DVDs, and has produced, written and/or directed several documentaries.

For fans of Louise Brooks, Thompson is familiar as the author of the William Wellman (Scarecrow Press, 1983), first book about the director of Wings, The Public Enemy and A Star is Born, among other films. One of those films, of course, was Beggars of Life, starring Louise Brooks. Thompson is also the co-author, with John Andrew Gallagher, of a forthcoming book, Nothing Sacred: The Cinema of William A. Wellman.

Recently, Thompson started a new venture - "The Commentary Track," a weekly podcast featuring conversations with leading film historians, archivists, actors and filmmakers on all aspects of film history. Each of these freely available and highly recommended podcasts last about an hour. In them, Thompson and his guests swap Hollywood stories and celebrate the great movies – and movie makers – of the 20th Century.

Thompson, the author of Lost Films: Important Movies That Disappeared (Citadel), has also penned books on Henry King, Robert Wise and early film-making in Texas. He has an obvious love for early Hollywood. And that's just what some of his guests - like Kevin Brownlow, Rudy Behlmer, John Bengtson, Marilyn Moss and others - have been discussing on "The Commentary Track." Others, like composer Carl Davis and writer Randy Skretvedt, will be heard in the coming weeks.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Louise Brooks in Beggars of Life screens in New York City

Beggars of Life is a film whose reputation is picking up steam.

Directed by William Wellman the year after he made Wings (the first film to win an Academy Award), Beggars of Life (1928) is a gripping drama about a girl (Louise Brooks) dressed as a boy who flees the law after killing her abusive stepfather. On the run, she rides the rails through a male dominated hobo underworld in which danger is always close at hand. Picture Play magazine described the film as "Sordid, grim and unpleasant," though added "it is nevertheless interesting and is certainly a departure from the usual movie."

Beggars of Life will be screened on February 20th as part of Film Forum's Wellman Festival. It is a great opportunity to see a rarely screened film not readily available on DVD.

Beggars of Life is based on the 1925 novelistic memoir of the same name by Jim Tully, a once celebrated "hobo author" whose own reputation is also on the rise. Kent State University Press in Kent, Ohio (Tully's one-time hometown) has launched an ambitious program of reissuing the author's books, including Beggars of Life -- his best remembered work. They have also recently published an excellent biography of the author called Jim Tully: American Writer, Irish Rover, Hollywood Brawler. The book includes a forward by documentary filmmaker Ken Burns, who calls it "hugely important." 

Coincidentally, Tully biographers Paul J. Bauer and Mark Dawidziak are speaking about the author at New York University's Ireland House on February 23 at 7 pm. More info here.

Though shot as a silent, Beggars of Life has the distinction of being considered Paramount's first sound film: a synchronized musical score, sound effects, and a song were added at the time of its release. Early advertisements for the 1928 film even boasted "Come hear Wallace Beery sing!" The gravel-voiced character actor and future Oscar winner plays Oklahoma Red, a tough hobo with a soft heart. Richard Arlen, who the year before had starred in Wings, plays Brooks' romantic interest. 

Beggars of Life is a film about the desperate and the downtrodden. And in some ways, it anticipates films made during the Depression, which was just a few years off. Among them is Wellman's own Wild Boys of the Road, from 1933. It too is included in the Wellman Festival.


2012-02-17-Beggars_Life_1928_301_sil70.jpg
Richard Arlen and Louise Brooks in Beggars of Life.

In 1928, Beggars of Life was named one of the six best films for October by the Chicago Tribune, and, it made the honor roll for best films of the year in an annual poll conducted by The Film Daily. Nevertheless, it is little known today and its grim story set among disheveled tramps drew mixed reviews upon release. One Baltimore newspaper said it would have limited appeal, quipping, "Tully tale not a flapper fetcher for the daytime trade."

Louella Parsons, writing in the Los Angeles Examiner, echoed the sentiment when she stated, "I was a little disappointed in Louise Brooks. She is so much more the modern flapper type, the Ziegfeld Follies girl, who wears clothes and is always gay and flippant. This girl is somber, worried to distraction and in no comedy mood. Miss Brooks is infinitely better when she has her lighter moments." Her cross-town colleague, Harrison Carroll, added to the drumbeat of disdain when he wrote in the Los Angeles Evening Herald, "Considered from a moral standpoint, Beggars of Life is questionable, for it throws the glamour of adventure over tramp life and is occupied with building sympathy for an escaping murderess. As entertainment, however, it has tenseness and rugged earthy humor." 

Critics in New York were also divided on the merits of Beggars of Life, so many of them instead focused on Brooks' unconventional, cross-dressing role. Brooks, it should be noted, was something of a local celebrity in the 1920s. The actress had lived in New York in the mid-twenties while appearing with the George White Scandals and Ziegfeld Follies. And, more often than not related to some outrageous behavior or a scandal, she also managed to get her name or picture in the paper on more than a few occasions. 

Mordaunt Hall, in the New York Times, noted, "Louise Brooks figures as Nancy. She is seen for the greater part of this subject in male attire, having decided to wear these clothes to avoid being apprehended. Miss Brooks really acts well, better than she has in most of her other pictures."

The New York Morning Telegraph penned, "Louise Brooks, in a complete departure from the pert flapper that it has been her wont to portray, here definitely places herself on the map as a fine actress. Her characterizations, drawn with the utmost simplicity, is genuinely affecting." While Quinn Martin of the New York World wrote, "Here we have Louise Brooks, that handsome brunette, playing the part of a fugitive from justice, and playing as if she meant it, and with a certain impressive authority and manner. This is the best acting this remarkable young woman has done."

Indeed, it was Brooks' best acting and her best silent film prior to her heading off to Germany to star in Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl (both 1929). It is on those two films, each directed by G.W. Pabst, that Brooks' reputation rests.

Girls dressed as boys, pastoral life gone wrong, the mingling of the races, desperation depicted among the glitz and glamour of the twenties -- there is a lot of friction and a lot going on in Beggars of Life. It's a more than worthwhile film and one well worth watching. And, until a few years ago when the George Eastman House blew-up its sole surviving 16mm print to 35mm, Beggars of Life had been little seen. 

Wellman was one of the great directors -- and he made a lot of great movies; among them are Wings (1927), The Public Enemy (1931), A Star is Born (1937), Beau Geste (1939), Roxie Hart (1942), The Ox Bow Incident (1943), and Battleground (1949). Actor and author William Wellman Jr., who has recently completed a biography of his father and is introducing some of the movies at the Wellman Festival, stated via email, "Beggars of Life was one of my Father's favorite silent films. He loved it. He talked about it a great deal with appreciation and GUSTO." 


Beggars of Life will be screened on February 20th as part of Film Forum's William Wellman Festival. Start time is 8:35 pm. Musical accompaniment will be provided by Steve Sterner. Film Forum is located at 209 West Houston St., west of 6th Ave.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

A mystery

I spent a good part of the day at the San Francisco Public Library. I was tracking down what turned out to be a false lead on a screening and personal appearance by Louise Brooks in 1965!

It all started with a clipping I came across - an October 1, 1965 column by Hedda Hopper in which the famous columnist noted a special tribute to director William Wellman which included a screening and appearance by Louise Brooks. Hopper wrote, "Director Bill Wellman had his day at the San Francisco Film Festival. They ran A Star is Born. Both Frederic March and Janet Gaynor appeared with the picture. Louise Brooks was on hand with Beggars of Life. 'I told them they could run any of my pictures except for my stinkers,' said Bill. 'I made a few - but not on purpose'."

Hopper's use of the past tense made me think that the Wellman tribute had already happened. And so, I searched the September issues of the San Francisco Examiner and San Francisco Chronicle (and even the old San Francisco Progress). I found nothing. Then I searched the October issues, and found a handful of articles about the Festival and Wellman's appearance. However, instead of Beggars of Life, the Festival screened Wings.

Hopper's column confuses me. Why did she write in the past tense, like the event had already taken place? And why have done so three weeks in advance? Had it been the plan to screen Beggars of Life - but then plans changed?

While scrolling through newspaper microfilm for October 1965, I noticed Clara Bow passed away just a few days after Hopper's column first appeared. I wonder if her death led Festival programmers to choose another film - like Wings, in which she stars? Or perhaps Wellman suggested Beggars of Life, but it wasn't available - and another film was screened in it's place.

I also noticed an anecdote in one of the local papers about Festival programming. Local writer, Festival programmer and man-about-town Barnaby Conrad stated that he had visited the George Eastman House, where he found one of the then few remaining copies of Wings. Did he go there in 1965 looking for Beggars of Life? Did he meet Louise Brooks?

It remains a mystery.
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