I think I am about to commit some movie heresy which I may regret later. For many years after initially viewing the German silents "Pandora's Box" and "Diary of a Lost Girl", both directed by G. W. Pabst, I belonged to the club which believed that Louise Brooks was not only one of the great iconic screen presences but that it was the moviegoer's loss when on her return to Hollywood after making the above film in France her career crashed. Theory has it that she upset too many people after swanning off to Europe when her U.S. career was just taking off and that no one was willing to give her the same star treatment that she found abroad. Certainly the subsequent American films made before her retirement in 1936 are all pretty rubbishy.
Anyhow I had previously sought out her earlier film roles to check out what was indeed her indelible image and had even seen this movie previously. However on second viewing, I found it little more than a disappointment. Conceived by screen legends Pabst and Rene Clair (but not directed by either), it started life as a silent, but then had sound added. Since Brooks did not speak French, her voice is dubbed here, so to describe the movie as her first sound film and last starring role is somewhat misleading. It's also known as "Miss Europe" and is the tale of a working-class gal who submits her photo to the newspaper where she works and is subsequently voted Miss France and then Miss Europe, much to the horror of her equally bourgeoise boyfriend. Her head is turned by all the glamour and attention, but she gives it all up for love; however, having tasted the high life she is nothing more than miserable in their drab apartment and boring life. So she hightails it off again with this time tragic results.
Perhaps if this movie had stayed as a silent, it would not have destroyed my previous fascination with the actress, but all the soulful looks in the world just do not cut the mustard here. Brutally this part could have been played by just about any halfway good-looking actress and even here Brooks' own distinctive look does not quite hold the eye. I think what I am now saying is that while I will always treasure the German silent roles, I can not bring myself to believe that her fading from the cinema screen was any sort of tragedy. In a way it's best that she did, since like dying young, these few appearances have assured her a kind of movie immortality.
1 comment:
Cruel but, alas, nearer the truth than any non-critical effusion would be. There
were times in the film when Brooks looked ordinary but then, all of a sudden, the
magic was there, albeit momentarily. A very slight story in many ways which was not helped by an underwhelming performance from the male leads.
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