Thursday, January 10, 2013

Fantasio, Prix de Beaute in Spain, mainly


Besides Iceland and Turkey (see previous post), the 1930 Louise Brooks' film, Prix de Beaute, was also popular in Spain, where it showed in various cities. Depicted above is a newspaper advertisement for the film.

Louise Brooks herself was also apparently somewhat popular. Below, she is depicted for no apparent reason on the cover of La Prensa, a major daily newspaper. This clip is from 1928. Louise Brooks is described as an "American Artist." Wow.


Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Movie Legends - Louise Brooks (Showgirl)


Another YouTube video :: Movie Legends - Louise Brooks (Showgirl)

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Louise Brooks stars in Prix de Beaute, from Iceland to Turkey

Louise Brooks starred in Prix de Beaute, a French production released in 1930 which was sometimes advertised or promoted under an alternate title, Miss Europe. It is a terrific film, and proved to be popular enough to have been shown all around the continent - just like Brooks' two German films, Pandora's Box and Diary of a Lost Girl (both 1929).

Recently, I came across two advertisements for the film. The first is from Iceland. It appeared on the front page of this Icelandic newspaper in 1931.


I also came across an advertisement for Prix de Beaute in a Turkish newspaper, also from 1931. This ad is only one of a handful of Brooks' related pieces which I have come across from a Middle Eastern or Arabic country. (I have uncovered a few instances of the actress' films being shown in French north African colonies. I also have an undated clipping of The Canary Murder Case from Egypt.) If any reader has any knowledge of or lead toward uncovering any other instances of Brooks' films being shown in a Middle Eastern or Arab country, please contact me.


Sunday, January 6, 2013

Pandora's Box plays in Latvia - Louise Brooks stars

The 1929 Louise Brooks film, Pandora's Box, played in just about every country in Europe. Some of the recent posts here on the Louise Brooks Society blog show as much. Pandora's Box also played in Latvia, one of the Baltic states.

Recently, while doing some research, I came across a number of clippings in the German-language Latvian newspaper, Rigasche Rundschau, which was published in Riga, the capital and largest city of the then newly formed nation. Apparently, Pandora's Box, a German film production, was something of a big deal in this small country, which included a sizable German-speaking population. I found this feature photo in Rigasche Rundschau. It dates from March, 1929 and notes that Brooks - a junior Paramount star - is featured in Pandora's Box. The film had premiered in Berlin only the month before.



To me, what's interesting about this clip is that it shows just how far and wide Brooks' films were distributed. [I also found clippings and advertisements for a few of her American silent films, as well as the German made Diary of a Lost Girl.] Also, I don't think I had ever seen the image on the left, of Brooks leading a German Shepard. It is, in all likelihood, a rare German publicity photo.

Pandora's Box debuted in Latvia in March, 1929 at the Splendid Palace theater in Riga. It debuted as Die Büchse der Pandora  (from Wedekind's Lulu), as can be seen in this newspaper listing of movies playing in town.


However, two-and-a-half months later it returned to Riga under a different title, Die Gottin der Sunde, which translates as The Goddess of Sunday. This is new to me! I have never seen Pandora's Box promoted under any other name, except for Lulu. Perhaps alluding to the mythological under-pinnings of Wedekind's story, The Goddess of Sunday may refer to the Greek Goddess Aphrodite, or to a well known Romanian folk tale. Does anyone know anything more about this alternative title?


[ 01/09/13 Addendum: I have been told that Die Gottin der Sunde may translate as The Goddess of Sin, which makes sense.]

Friday, January 4, 2013

The month at Niles has Louise Brooks connections

This should be a big year for the Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum in Fremont, California. In addition to the annual Charlie Chaplin Days and Broncho Billy Film Festival held later in the year, Niles Essanay will mark the 100th anniversary of the building of the Essanay Film Studio. A century ago, Niles hosted what was one of the major studios on the West Coast. The venerable film museum also celebrates its eighth year of showing silent movies every Saturday night at its historic Edison Theater (which is also marking its 100th anniversary).

Niles Essanay starts the new year with a great line-up of films in January. One highlight is Anna Christie (1923), the first film adaption of Eugene O'Neill's famous Pulitzer Prize winning play. Notably, it was produced by Thomas Ince (the subject of a major new biography) only two years after O'Neill's stage drama debuted on Broadway. That film is part of the weekly series "Saturday Night at the Movies." There is also the monthly "Comedy Short Subject Night" and "Laurel & Hardy Talkie Matinee." Notably, each silent film is presented with live musical accompaniment featuring some of the Bay Area's leading accompanists. All together, it's a great month of early cinema in the East Bay. Here's what's playing.

"Saturday Night at the Movies" with Bruce Loeb at the piano
Saturday January 5 at 7:30 pm


Today, we think of Wallace Beery as a memorable character actor who often played the "heavy" (as he did in the 1928 film, Beggars of Life). But in the 1920's he was one half of one of the most popular comedy teams of the silent era. His screen partner was Raymond Hatton, and together they appeared in a series of so-called service comedies (army, navy, air force, fire department, etc...) which included the now lost smash hit, Now We're in the Air (1927), which also featured Louise Brooks. In Behind the Front (1926, Paramount), Beery and Hatton join the army and head off to France to fight in this WWI comedy directed by Eddie Sutherland (Brooks' one-time husband). The film also features Mary Brian, Richard Arlen, Chester Conklin, and Gertrude Astor (all of whom appeared in a film in which Louise Brooks appeared). This seldom screened silent feature will be preceded by two shorts, One Is Business, the Other Crime (1912, Biograph) with Edwin August and Blanche Sweet, and Pink Pajamas (1929, Mack Sennett) with Billy Bevan and Natalie Joyce (the latter played in A Girl in Every Port).


"Saturday Night at the Movies" with Frederick Hodges at the piano
Saturday January 12 at 7:30 pm 


In Power (1928, Pathe), William Boyd and Alan Hale are friends and rivals for the affections of the lovely Jacqueline Logan in this light comedy with wisecracks penned by future director Tay Garnett (best known for The Postman Always Rings Twice). Beauties Joan Bennett and Carole Lombard (who starred in the 1931 film, It Pays to Advertise, which included Brooks in a cameo), are also featured, as is the fluid camerawork of J. Peverell Marley. [See the previous blog entry for a bit more about this film.] The feature will be preceded by the comedic shorts Hale and Hearty (1922, Hal Roach) with Snub Pollard, and Many Scrappy Returns (1927, Hal Roach) with Charley Chase and Eugene Pallette (who was featured in The Canary Murder Case).

 
"Laurel & Hardy Talkie Matinee"
Sunday January 13 at 4:00 pm


This month's "Laurel & Hardy Talkie Matinee" is themed "The Sounds of Silents." It's comprised of four late silent short films originally released with Vitaphone soundtracks containing music and sound effects. Each of the four shorts -- Liberty (1928) and Bacon Grabbers (1929) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy, and Barnum & Ringling (1928) and Cat, Dog & Company (1929) -- will be screened with their original, vintage soundtracks.


"Comedy Short Subject Night" with Greg Pane at the piano
Saturday January 19 at 7:30 pm


If you love to laugh, then don't miss this monthly program of shorts featuring some of the most famous comedians of the silent film era. On the bill are The Pawnshop (1916, Lone Star) with Charlie Chaplin and Edna Purviance, The Paleface (1921, Comique) with Buster Keaton, Among Those Present (1921, Rolin) with Harold Lloyd and Mildred Davis, and Putting Pants on Philip (1927, Hal Roach) with Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy.

"Saturday Night at the Movies" with Judy Rosenberg at the piano
Saturday January 26 at 7:30 pm 


Blanche Sweet and William Russell star in Anna Christie (1923, Ince), the first film adaption of Eugene O'Neill's play about a troubled young woman who comes to live with her estranged father on the New York waterfront. Anna Christie has been remade many times as a film, most famously with Greta Garbo in 1931. This earlier version features Eugenie Besserer, Chester Conklin and Fred Kohler (the latter two actors each appeared in a Brooks' film). The feature will be preceded by two shorts, A Ten-Minute Egg (1924, Hal Roach) with Charley Chase, and The Cry of the Children (1912, Thanhouser), starring future director James Cruze, whose credits include The City Gone Wild, with Kohler and Brooks). This latter short was based on a poem by Elizabeth Barrett Browning.

"Mary Pickford Short Film Program" with Bruce Loeb at the piano
Saturday February 2 at 7:30 pm


Looking ahead to February
, Niles Essanay celebrates Mary Pickford at the beginning of her career with a selection of her Biograph and IMP films in 35mm prints from the Library of Congress. Christel Schmidt will be on hand to talk about the films and sign copies of her big new book, Mary Pickford: Queen of the Movies (University Press of Kentucky).

For more info: The Niles Essanay Silent Film Museum is located at 37417 Niles Blvd. in Fremont, California. For further information, call (510) 494-1411 or visit the museum website at www.nilesfilmmuseum.org/.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

More Pandora's Box ads from around the world


Here are a couple more vintage newspaper advertisements for Pandora's Box, starring Louise Brooks. This blog continues the series of recent posts featuring ads from around the world for the G.W. Pabst directed film. These two ads date from 1929 and 1930, respectively. First is an ad from Romania. Below it is an advertisement from Luxembourg.



For more about Zwei Hahne, with William Boyd, Alan Hale and Jacqueline Logan, be sure and check out Friday's post here on the Louise Brooks Society blog.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

Happy New Year from the Louise Brooks Society

Happy New Year from the Louise Brooks Society. That's Louise Brooks in 1925, pictured
here as a member of the Ziegfeld Follies.


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