Showing posts with label Street of Forgotten men. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Street of Forgotten men. Show all posts

Monday, February 20, 2023

More Bits and Pieces Found on The Street of Forgotten Men

In my forthcoming book, The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond, I state "Bits and pieces of this book were first tried out on my Louise Brooks Society blog, where anyone interested in The Street of Forgotten Men can find additional material which didn’t make it into the book." This is one such post.

One chapter in the book focuses on the film's legacy, and the surprising way it impacted American culture. I discuss how the title of the film became a catchphrase, and survey some of the fiction, film, and other material which was "inspired" by The Street of Forgotten Men, including poetry. I found a handful of pieces, including a prose poem in a 1928 high school yearbook, which referenced the film title. In my book, I didn't have room to discuss each of the examples of poetry which I came across. Here, I foucs on the two poems whose titles were taken from the film.

The film's title-phrase became the subject of a newspaper poem titled “The Street of Forgotten Men.” At the time, many papers printed inspirational or humorous verse, much of which rhymed, was satirical, or sought to teach a lesson. (Today, Edgar Guest may well be the best known writer of such verse.) 

One piece I came across was Daniel J. Knott, Jr.’s “original composition,” which appeared on December 13, 1929 in the Putnam County Courier, published in Carmel, New York. Knott’s verse, which is a sing-songy tour of the Bowery, reflects on the hungry and homeless – the “bodies of wrecks caught in poverty’s mesh.” It ran just a couple of months after the stock market crash which began the Depression.


Another piece I came across was an anonymous poem published in a book, Seth Parker Fireside Poems, a 1933 collection of folksy poems originally broadcast on the radio by Seth Parker (aka Phillips H. Lord), a popular radio personality and the host of the long running program, Jonesport Neighbors. Parker was quite famous in his day, and in 1932 he starred in a motion picture produced by RKO Radio Pictures which was based on another of his books. In the film, Way Back Home, he starred opposite Bette Davis.

A note accompanying the poem reads, “This poem was handed to Mr. Lord during his Monday night broadcast from his ‘Bowery Den’ (the old ‘Tunnel Saloon’ on the Bowery) by one of the men in the bread-line, It was written in pencil on an old scrap of paper. When questioned as to why he had written this poem, the author’s only reply was, ‘My tribute to Phil Lord for what he is doing for us boys down here’.”

If you are wondering how it is that I am ascribing the title of these two poems to the film and not some other source, you will have to read my book. I trace the history of the phrases "forgotten man" (or "forgotten men") and "street of forgotten men," and note that the latter was not used in any print source I could trace until George Kibbe Turner's 1925 magazine story (upon which the 1925 film was based) was published. As I state in the book, "Herbert Brenon's 1925 film has a distinction few other movies can claim, namely, its title became a catchphrase."

The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond is nearly done. I am waiting for one last document to arrive, and have begun a final edit and indexing of the book. As The Street of Forgotten Men is Louise Brooks' first film, this is a book fans of the actress and of the silent era will want to read.

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.

Tuesday, February 7, 2023

Bits and pieces found on The Street of Forgotten Men

In my forthcoming book, The Street of Forgotten Men: From Story to Screen and Beyond, I state "Bits and pieces of this book were first tried out on my Louise Brooks Society blog, where anyone interested in The Street of Forgotten Men can find additional material which didn’t make it into the book." This is one such piece.

In the chapter on the film's legacy, I mention Street of Forgotten Women, stating "Little about the 1927 exploitation film, Street of Forgotten Women, can be traced back to The Street of Forgotten Men – except for its indebtedness to the title of the earlier Herbert Brenon film. Street of Forgotten Women is a dreadful B-film about a rich girl who decides on a career on the stage, and fails. She is then reduced to dancing in her underwear in a saloon, before turning to prostitution." In an email exchange with film historian Kevin Brownlow about my forthcoming book, he reminded me of the existence of Street of Forgotten Women. It has a notorious reputation, and I was sure to make mention of it.

For those who may be curious, Street of Forgotten Women is available on DVD along with another early exploitation film, The Road to Ruin. And what's more, both are available as a budget release for a reasonable price of less than $10.00. Check it out HERE.

Here is a little bit more about both films - which bring Brooks' later German film, Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), to mind: 

STREET OF FORGOTTEN WOMEN (1927): Grace Fleming wants to break into show business, but her father, a wealthy slum lord, forbids it. Seduced by a sleazy agent, she gets a job at a low-class cabaret dancing in a skimpy costume. Grace does not realize that she has actually been drafted into a prostitution ring. Soon, the poor girl is selling herself on the same broken-down streets her father owns.

Not much is known about Street of Forgotten Women, other than that it was made to warn young girls about how easy it is to become a prostitute. Press materials of the era state that it is the dramatized true story of star Grace Fleming (though this may have simply been a screen name for an anonymous actress) and was "heartily endorsed by leading citizens, city officials, and the clergy as a motion picture that should be seen by all young women." The police shut down at least one theater for showing the film in Kansas, however.

ROAD TO RUIN (1928): Neglected by her stuffy parents, 16-year-old Sally Canfield starts experimenting with drugs, alcohol, and sex with older men. Her mother and father disown her after she is arrested in her underwear at a strip poker game. Discovering she is pregnant, Sally submits to a back alley abortion that has tragic consequences.

Road to Ruin was popular enough to warrant a sound remake in 1934, also starring Helen Foster. In his book Behind the Mask of Innocence, film historian Kevin Brownlow reports that Foster kept a bottle of bootleg whiskey by her side to keep herself inebriated during the strip poker scene.

Even though Street of Forgotten Women is otherwise unrelated to Louise Brooks' first film, The Street of Forgotten Men (1925), there is overlap with Brooks' career. In the course of my research into the 1927 exploitation film, I found a couple of interesting advertisements which shows how at least one of Brooks' Paramount films existed alongside a lowly B independent film like Street of Forgotten Women.

As far as I can tell, the first showing of Street of Forgotten Women took place at the Ritz theater in Spokane, Washington on April 3, 1927. The film was billed as "The picture that will startle the nation." Notably, the ad notes that "men only" would be admitted Sunday through Wednesday, while "women only" would be admitted starting on Thursday. (That was the case in most every town where the film played.) Also playing in Spokane at the local American Theater was a popular touring stage show, Earl Carroll Vanities. (The Vanities were similar to the Ziegfeld Follies, though a bit more scandalous.) On the entertainment page of the Spokane Chronicle, advertisements for the two events sit side by side. Be sure and check out the Vanities ad, which notes the appearance of one of their star performers, "The Magnetic -- LOUISE BROOKS -- The Perfect Venus." Of course, that is not our Louise Brooks, just another forth-billed showgirl from the time who had the same name. 


Despite its risque subject matter, Street of Forgotten Women proved popular enough to return to Spokane in January, 1928. It played the Ritz once more, but this time it was billed as "The Sensation of Today." Even though the film's promoter's claimed it contained "A poignant lesson to parents and children," only men were admitted. 

Also showing in town, at Grombacher's Egyptian Theater, was the 1927 film, Rolled Stockings. Despite the fact that Louise Brooks was the film's star, the ad only credited "Paramount's Junior Stars". With such a small ad - despite the fact this showing marked its first showing in Spokane, there wasn't room to list Brooks, Richard Arlen, James Hall, Nancy Philips and others.


The 350 seat Egyptian Theater was later renamed the Bandbox theater, and eventually closed. Read more about this historic venue HERE.

One last newspaper advertisement for Street of Forgotten Women. This one is for another early screening of the film, in Billings, Montana in June 1927. What's funny about this particular ad is that this showing was, again, limited to "men only" - yet, the ad also proclaimed it was a film "every mother should see."

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.

Friday, January 27, 2023

Street of Forgotten Men & Transactions of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, part two

In a previous post, I mentioned that in the course of my research into the history of The Street of Forgotten Men (Louise Brooks' first film), I came across a rather interesting article in the January 1926 issue of  Transactions of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, a trade journal. I thought the article interesting because it not only touched on Louise Brooks' life story, but it also illuminates the experience faced by motion picture exhibitors in the silent film era.

The previously mentioned article, “An Exhibitor’s Problems in 1925,” was authored by Eric T. Clarke, the Director of the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York (Louise Brooks' future home). The article focused on how an exhibitor went about selecting appropriate films for their venue. Notably, The Street of Forgotten Men was mentioned in Clarke’s article. 

The following year in the same journal, Clarke followed up his article with a similar piece, "An Exhibitor’s Problems in 1926,” and again, The Street of Forgotten Men was mentioned! I think Clarke's January 1927 article is interesting, as it gives a thoughtful, man-in-the-trenches, perspective -- something we don't often see. Double click on the individual pages to call up a larger version of the image.

 

 





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.

Monday, January 23, 2023

Street of Forgotten Men & Transactions of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, part one

In the course of my research into the history of The Street of Forgotten Men (Louise Brooks' first film), I came across a rather interesting article in Transactions of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers, a trade journal. I think the article interesting because it not only touches on Louise Brooks' life story, but it also illuminates the experience faced by motion picture exhibitors in the mid-1920s, the silent film era.

The article, “An Exhibitor’s Problems in 1925,” was authored by Eric T. Clarke, the Director of the Eastman Theatre in Rochester, New York. (Louise Brooks future residence.) The article focused on how an exhibitor might select appropriate films which might draw an audience. Clarke’s 16-page piece was, in fact, the text of an earlier talk given before the S.M.P.E. (Society of Motion Picture Engineers), to which was added the transcript of the discussion which followed Clarke’s address. 

Notably, The Street of Forgotten Men, and its merits as a film, were mentioned in Clarke’s article, as were some of the other films in circulation in 1925. Double click on the individual pages to call up a larger version of the image.









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.

Thursday, November 3, 2022

Magic Lantern Slide Newsletter includes Louise Brooks Society

Back on October 17th, I posted a blog post about church and religious interest in The Street of Forgotten Men (1925), Louise Brooks' first film. That post can be found HERE.

In my post, I noted that in 1925 and 1926 a few church pastors around the country gave a sermon or talk on the theme of The Street of Forgotten Men which included a slide show - today's power point presentation, if you will. I am working on a book on The Street of Forgotten Men, and am desperate to find out more about these slides, which articles from the time specifically mention were based on the Paramount film. 

In my search for information, I sent a query to various church archives and historians (Congregationalist and Methodist), but learnt nothing more. The church historians were helpful, but knew nothing more about these specific slides. I also sent a query to the Magic Lantern Society of the United and Canada. They too knew nothing about these specific slides I was asking about, but confirmed -- as did the two church historians, that illustrated sermons were a not uncommon practice in the early decades of the 20th century. 

The Magic Lantern Society, however, included my query in their November newsletter, which is just out. Here is one page from their fascinating newsletter. 

Magic lantern slides are an integral part of the pre-history of film. I would encourage everyone to check out the Magic Lantern Society of the United and Canada and their website. As their website notes, "The Magic Lantern Society of the US and Canada is a group that collects, preserves and shares information on the many devices that were used to entertain and educate audiences before the beginning of cinema. Often called a “stereopticon show,” Magic lantern shows were the combination of projected images, live narration, and live music that preceded the movies. They were incredibly popular 100 years ago. By the 19th century, the magic lantern was used in theaters, churches, fraternal lodges, and at home by adults and children. In 1895 there were between 30,000 and 60,000 lantern showmen in the United States, giving between 75,000 and 150,000 performances a year. That means there would have been several shows a week."

Here is an example of the coming attraction slide for The Street of Forgotten Men. It was issued on glass, as thin, transparent plastics were not then in use. Because coming attraction slides were issued on glass, they were fragile and given to breaking. Not many survive.


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.

Tuesday, May 17, 2022

At the end of The Street of Forgotten Men, Louise Brooks first film, a clue

As mentioned in my previous post, the new restoration of The Street of Forgotten Men was well received when it was shown recently at the San Francisco Silent Film Festival. The large crowd responded positively throughout, especially when Louise Brooks made her first brief appearance on screen. She  garnered a smattering of applause, and when the film concluded, there was a brisk round of applause as well as a few cheers and hollers from the audience.

Bridgeport White-Eye and his Moll (played by Louise Brooks)

Previewing the film ahead of its Festival screening, Michael Barrett wrote in Pop Matters, "Restored this year by the Festival, this Paramount production is missing its second reel, which deteriorated decades ago. The best they could do was 'reconstruct' this reel via dialogue and still images. It’s too bad this reel is missing, but the rest of this splendid print makes an impact as only far-fetched silent melodramas can."

I came across a few other notices of note. Writing on Facebook, film commentator Matías Antonio Bombal noted, "This is one of the most visually perfect prints to be screened this year at the festival, looking exactly as silent films did when brand new.  Exquisite contrast and sharp detail." And on his regular radio broadcast "Matias Bombal's Hollywood" (on KAHI AM and FM in Auburn, California), Bombal stated The Street of the Forgotten Men was "fantastic" and the "absolute highlight" of the Festival. Bombal also singled out Harold Rosson's "stunning photography" seen in the film.

Lincoln Spector, writing on Bayflicks, gave The Street of Forgotten Men a respectable "B" grade. He described the film as "A window into New York’s Bowery – Hollywood style. The concept is based on the probability that panhandlers make more money when they’re disabled, or at least if they’re faking their disabilities. It’s a heart-wringing melodrama and is reasonably entertaining. This film was rare for a long time, and the second reel is completely lost (this restoration uses stills and intertitles to help you get through the missing part). A not-yet-famous Louise Brooks pops up near the end."


I will conclude this post with something a bit unusual.... 

As I have mentioned in previous posts, I have been looking at The Street of Forgotten Men quite closely, sometimes frame by frame. The screen capture shown above caught my interest for reasons which I will explain. It comes from near the end of the film, just before the fight breaks out between Bridgeport White-Eye and Easy Money Charley. "Whitey" and his moll (Louise Brooks) are sitting at a table which has a newspaper on it. Easy Money Charley approaches, and casts a shadow on the white newsprint as he looms over the table. At first unaware, Whitey and his moll are startled. Brooks' character retreats, and a fight breaks out between the two men.

I have been looking at and identifying some of the props and decor in the The Street of Forgotten Men. And to me, this newspaper looked real. And it is! As far as I can tell, this is an actual copy of the New York Evening American  Journal-American, a Hearst newspaper, which dates from early May, 1925. 

Since this particular newspaper is not online, I can't tell the exact date of publication, but I can narrow it down to sometime following May 6 and perhaps before May 11. I am guessing so because I found an very similar page (both in terms of layout and content) published on May 11 (see below). Notably, the Nell Brinkley cartoon "Could Such Things Be" is dated May 5, which leads me to guess this page of syndicated content was published the following day or very soon thereafter. (Besides the Nell Brinkley cartoon, there are a number of advice columns from Beatrice Fairfax.)

I will go out on a limb and guess that legendary cinematographer Harold Rosson had the idea to film the shadow hovering over the table, and needed a white-toned surface on to which to cast a shadow. Someone might have had that day's newspaper, or the previous day's paper, and it was used as a kind-of prop. All of which leads me to guess that the scene in which Brooks was featured was filmed sometime following May 6th and perhaps before May 11th.


If anyone can get access to the New York Evening American to pin down the date of publication of the page in question, that would be great. I believe it is available on microfilm at the New York Public Library.


Tuesday, May 10, 2022

The Street of Forgotten Men Restoration Credits - Thanks Tim Moore

In just a bit, I will be heading out the door on my way to San Francisco and the San Francisco Silent Film Festival (about a two hour drive), where I will attend the premiere of the new restoration of Louise Brooks' first film, The Street of Forgotten Men, on the BIG screen of the historic Castro Theatre. I am  looking forward to it. 


I have seen the film before, but never on the big screen. The first time was some twenty ago at the Library of Congress where I hand-cranked a projector inside a cubicle. I had made an appointment, and a staffer  brought me a print of the film. What a unique, intimate experience - me in my own "little theater," acting as projectionist, and sole audience member. At the time, it was thrilling to have seen something relatively few film buffs had seen. I recall I watched the film twice. Once, the first time, was for pleasure. The second time I stopped and started the film a number of times in order to take notes and study different frames & scenes - not knowing if I would ever have the chance to see the film again.

Fast forward a number of years. Back in 2017,  I helped film preservationist Robert Byrne with the preservation of the surviving fragment of the once lost Louise Brooks film, Now We're in the Air (1927). After that project wrapped-up, I mentioned to Rob what I thought was another worthwhile project, The Street of Forgotten Men. Though not lost, the film was little seen, and deserving. The film was also still under copyright. A few years had to pass before it fell into the public domain, which was in 2022. 

Sometime late last year, Rob Byrne asked if I wanted to help with the restoration of The Street of Forgotten Men. I said YES. My screen credit on the restoration print reads "Research" (see below) - but what I did was a little bit of everything which included helping acquire the scenario of the film (thanks to longtime Louise Brooks Society member Tim Moore), providing stills and bits of information, a few suggestions, and more. I also watched the film at least another six times on my desktop computer (an experience not dissimilar to my first viewing in a cubicle) during the months long restoration process.


As some may know, the Library of Congress holds the only known surviving print of the 7 reel film. But what they have are 6 of the 7 reels. What is missing is reel two. From the scenario (thank you again Tim Moore) we know what happens in the story (which includes the deaths of two significant characters). However, we don't know what it looks like. Rob was able to reconstruct the missing reel based on and utilizing descriptive passages and dialogue from the scenario which were matched up with whatever stills  could be acquired from collectors and archives all around the world. The results are impressive.

Though I have mentioned him twice already, I want to again thank Tim Moore for his assistance in helping secure scans of the film's scenario. Your help was crucial. Tim, as well as the Louise Brooks Society, are also thanked in the restoration credits. As are longtime friends Nancy Kaufman and Kay Shackleton.

The San Francisco Silent Film Festival screening will be introduced by Jennifer Miko, who did the image restoration. The new print looks great on my computer, and should look just as swell on the big screen. I expect to be posting more on today's screening in the next few days.

For those interested, I wrote the essay on The Street of Forgotten Men which can be found in the program book distributed at the Festival. And here is an earlier piece, "Restored Silent Film ‘The Street of Forgotten Men’ Debuts Louise Brooks," which I penned for Pop Matters. 

And here is another piece I wrote for SF Patch on the film's 1925 reception in San Francisco. On to The Street of Forgotten Men !

Sunday, May 8, 2022

San Francisco's The Street of Forgotten Men

Someone once said, "all history is local." If true, then that applies to the movies, and film history. It also follows that film criticism is more than what reviewers in New York or Los Angeles might say about a particular film. How a movie is received in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia or San Francisco also matters. 

On May 10th, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival will screen its new restoration of Herbert Brenon's  The Street of Forgotten Men. This special screening marks a return to The City for this once well regarded silent film which was first shown in San Francisco nearly 100 years ago. More information about that special screening can be found HERE.

The Street of Forgotten Men revolves around a group of pretend handicapped beggars, and stars Percy Marmont, Mary Brian, and Neil Hamilton. Also appearing in the film is Louise Brooks, who made her screen debut in an uncredited bit part in this sentimental and strange melodrama.

Set and shot in New York City, The Street of Forgotten Men premiered at New York's Rivoli Theater on July 20, 1925. A few weeks later, the film made its Bay Area debut at the Granada Theatre (1066 Market Street, at Jones) in San Francisco, where it opened on August 8 and played for a week. It was a successful, and much ballywho'd run.


The Street of Forgotten Men kicked-off the what was known locally as the "Greater Movie Season," an annual event reportedly unique to San Francisco which encouraged the public to attend and enjoy the movies. This city-wide promotional campaign was supported by not only the movie studios - but also city officials, the press, and various civic organizations. Along with screenings of the season's best new films, there was also a parade and other activities. The “Greater Movie Season meant something in this town,” Variety noted later a few weeks later. “Twenty stars came up from Hollywood,” and there was a “big parade with floats from the various studios, corps of usherettes, bands, police escorts, and civic and public officials.” Notably, the horses, chariots and characters from Ben Hur also took part in the parade.

According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “The Tens of Thousands of San Franciscans who lined Market Street yesterday morning and who crowded into the Civic center to welcome the visiting Motion Picture Stars who came from Los Angeles to help inaugurate Greater Movie Week, also paid tribute to Fay Lanphier, 'Miss California,' who left yesterday to compete at Atlantic City for the title of 'Miss America.' The movie stars gave Miss Lanphier a rousing send-off and wished her 'Luck'." The crowd was estimated at more than 30,000. Among the Hollywood celebrities in attendance were Renee Adore, Lew Cody, Corinne Griffith, Claire Windsor, Marie Prevost, Ben Turpin, Syd Chaplin, Paulette Duval, Ernest Torrence, Jean Hersholt, Ronald Colman, and Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. A portable broadcast station was also set up - suggesting the parade was broadcast on the radio.

Despite it's sometimes dour theme, and despite the competition, The Street of Forgotten Men did well at the box office. According to Variety, the film “came in hitting on all six.” The trade journal added that a good promotional campaign provided for a strong opening, and business held up during its week-long run in San Francisco. Variety reported the film took in $21,800 during its seven days at the Granada, ranking it second in The City. Supporting the film was an Al. St. John comedy short, Red Pepper, and on the stage were Ralph Pollock and the Granada Synco-Symphonists, Ukulele Lew, and other entertainers.

The Street of Forgotten Men beat out Douglas Fairbanks in Don Q, Son of Zorro at the Imperial, and D.W. Griffith's Sally of the Sawdust at the St. Francis (among other offerings), but fell just a bit short of Fine Clothes, a First National film also featuring Percy Marmont at the Warfield. Fine Clothes topped The Street of Forgotten Men – but only by $700.00. The latter’s success, Variety suggested, was due largely to the opening act at the Warfield, Fred Waring and His Pennsylvanians. That stellar musical group, one of the most popular acts of the day, “dragged ‘em to the box office.”

The Street of Forgotten Men was widely praised in the local press. Writing in the San Francisco Bulletin, A. F. Gillaspey noted, “For fine dramatic detail, for unusualness, for giving us a glimpse into a world we never see and into the other sides of characters we simply pass in pity on the streets, The Street of Forgotten Men is a photoplay revelation.” That review was echoed by other local critics. Dudley Burrows, writing in the San Francisco Call and Post, thought “The Street of Forgotten Men is more legitimately dramatic, and less frankly melodramatic than The Unholy Three,” a similarly themed film. Curran D. Swint of the San Francisco News stated, “Here we have an underworld drama, stark and naked in its picturing of the beggars and fakers who prey on the public in the name of charity.” 

George C. Warren of the San Francisco Chronicle praised the film's director. “The Street of Forgotten Men, to which Herbert Brenon has lent the magic of his skill at direction, [and] his ability to poeticize even the most sordid theme.” Idwal Jones of the San Francisco Examiner praised the film's star. “Marmont can make any picture pleasing, and does well in this unaccustomed role. The extreme of realism abounds in scenes wherein the fakers transform themselves into cripples and go out and impose upon the charitable.”

The Street of Forgotten Men returned to San Francisco for a handful second-run showings over the next twelve months. Other showings in The City include screenings at the New Fillmore (Oct. 12-14, 1925) and New Mission (Oct. 12-14, 1925), Coliseum (Nov. 2-4, 1925), New State (Mar. 7, 1926), and Majestic (Aug. 31, 1926).

Two other Bay Area screenings are also of note. One took place in neighboring Oakland, when the film played at the American theater September 5 through the 11th. On opening day, two of the stars of The Street of Forgotten Men came to town and made a special in-person appearance to promote the film and participate in Oakland's celebration of its Diamond Jubilee.

The Oakland Tribune thought the film "a vivid document of life along the Bowery." The Oakland Post-Enquirer thought the film had an unusual plot, while the Oakland Morning Record noted the picture had been acclaimed by Eastern critics and was said to be even greater than Lon Chaney's The Miracle Man -  a comment echoed in other reviews and articles from around the region and the nation.

A few weeks later, the film opened in San Jose at the Liberty theater for a short, three day run (Sept. 23-26). The local newspaper, San Jose Mercury Herald, thought the film had " . . . a series of smashing scenes that reveal the genius of Herbert Brenon." It also took note of a local screening with special purpose. On September 25, the San Jose Mercury Herald wrote, “Because the film drives home a lesson that every man should take to heart, the management of the Liberty invited members of the Pastor’s union, heads of clubs and civic organizations and others prominent in community life to attend a pre-view of the picture Wednesday morning at 10’oclock. These men and women were in an excellent position to thoroughly appreciate the value of such a screen story. And without exception they endorsed the picture not only as pointing a moral, but also as a superb piece of art.”

The Street of Forgotten Men showed all around the San Francisco Bay Area - in Berkeley, Sausalito, Mill Valley, Palo Alto, and elsewhere throughout the next twelve months. Other showings took place at the Ramona in Walnut Creek (Aug. 15-16, 1925); New Stanford in Palo Alto (Aug. 23-24, 1925); Sequoia in Redwood City (Aug. 26-27, 1925); Strand in Los Gatos (Aug. 27-28, 1925); Princess in Sausalito (Aug. 27-28, 1925); Hub in Mill Valley (Aug. 30-31, 1925); Orpheus in San Rafael (Sept. 12, 1925); Tamalpais in San Anselmo (Sept. 12, 1925); Virginia in Vallejo (Sept. 14-15, 1925);  California in Berkeley (Sept. 23-26, 1925); Novelty in Martinez (Sept. 24, 1925); Garden in Burlingame (Sept. 27, 1925); California in Pittsburg (Sept. 27-28, 1925); Casino in Antioch (Sept. 29, 1925); Regent in San Mateo (Oct. 10, 1925); Majestic in Benicia (Oct. 20, 1925); Chimes in Oakland (Oct. 23-24, 1925); Glen in Mountain View (Nov. 3-4, 1925); Fremont in Oakland (Nov. 5-6, 1925); Strand in Berkeley (Nov. 9-10, 1925); Lorin in Berkeley (Nov. 19-20, 1925); Oaks in Berkeley (Nov. 21, 1925); Royal in South San Francisco (Nov. 30 – Dec. 1, 1925); Lincoln in Oakland (Nov. 30 - Dec. 1, 1925); Casino in Oakland (Dec. 10-11, 1925); Strand in Oakland (Dec. 14, 1925); Rialto in Oakland (Dec. 21-22, 1925); New Piedmont in Oakland (Dec. 22-25, 1925); Liberty in Oakland (Jan. 10, 1926); Palace in San Leandro (Jan. 11-12 and Jan. 19, 1926); Hayward Theatre in Hayward (Jan. 25-26, 1926); Granada in Oakland (Feb. 1-2, 1926); Palace in Alameda (Feb. 1-2, 1926); Richmond in Richmond (Mar. 8-9, 1926); Berkeley Theatre in Berkeley (Apr. 7-9, 1926); and Peoples in Oakland (July 11, 1926). 



Louise Brooks’ part in The Street of Forgotten Men is small. She is on screen less than five minutes. Brooks is not listed in the credits, and that may explain why few noticed her one short scene. In reviews of the film, no San Francisco or Bay Area critic – let alone any national critic – noted Brooks’ debut performance. The lone exception was the Los Angeles Times. Its anonymous reviewer commented, “And there was a little rowdy, obviously attached to the 'blind' man, who did some vital work during her few short scenes. She was not listed.” Those two sentences mark the actress’ first film review.

Saturday, April 30, 2022

Films at the 2022 San Francisco Silent Film Festival

This year's San Francisco Silent Film Festival features a stellar line-up of films. Along with the debut of the restoration of Louise Brooks' first film, The Street of Forgotten Men (1925), there are a number of other new restorations, some old classics, and a selection of films from around. There are films from Japan, India and the Soviet Union, as well as promising examples of Brazilian experimentalism, French melodrama, Danish science-fiction, and German horror. 

The SFSFF is the largest festival devoted to silent film in the Americas. This year’s event includes 19 recent film restorations. Notably, nine of those restorations will make their North American premiere at the May event. More information about the San Francisco Silent Film Festival as well as this year's event can be found HERE.

Most notably, the festival will screen Arrest Warrant (1926), an Ukrainian film directed by Heorhii Tasin. This briskly paced gem tells the story of Nadia (played by Vira Vareckaja), who’s revolutionary husband flees the city in the midst of civil war, leaving her behind with a cache of secret documents. Expressionist effects, at times riveting and then distressing, highlight Nadia’s psychological torture at the hands of the authorities. It is a must-see film, poignant, and timely. 


Along with other fans of Louise Brooks, I have long been a fan of Clara Bow - the original "IT girl." This year's Festival includes the SFSFF restoration of The Primrose Path, one of 14 features Clara Bow made in 1925. Who doesn't want to see another Clara Bow film? She lights up the screen.

I have also been a long time fan of director / actor Erich von Stroheim, "the man you love to hate." I adore his classic silents The Merry Widow (1925) and The Wedding March (1928), both of which have been shown at the festival in the past. In fact, they are two of my favorite silent films. This year, Erich von Stroheim’s study of decadence, Foolish Wives (1922), opens the festival. It has been newly restored by the SFSFF and New York’s MoMA, and will be accompanied by Timothy Brock’s SFSFF  commissioned score. The following day, the festival will show the Austrian Film Museum’s restoration of von Stroheim’s Blind Husbands (1919), a film the celebrated director also stars in and wrote.

What follows is the SFSFF's complete line-up of films.

Wednesday, April 13, 2022

Actors in uncredited bit parts in The Street of Forgotten Men, part 1 Anita Louise

On May 10th, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival will screen its new restoration of Herbert Brenon's The Street of Forgotten Men - Louise Brooks' little seen first film. More information about that special event can be found HERE

This month, and ahead of that special event, I am running excerpts from my forthcoming book, The Street of Forgotten Men, from Story to Screen and Beyond, which I expect will be published later this year. 

This excerpt is the first of four focusing on some of the actors who had uncredited bit parts in The Street of Forgotten Men. There are many, in fact. The scenes inside the saloon, for example, are crowded with extras - most all of whom are likely to remain anonymous. However, the bartender is the stage and film actor Riley Hatch (1962-1925). He died just a month after The Street of Forgotten Men was released.

The first uncredited actor profiled is Anita Louise (1915-1970, born Anita Louise Fremault), who at the age of 10 reportedly played a flower girl in the film. (I can't trace the origins of this claim, except that it shows up on IMDb and Wikipedia, etc.... Does anyone know anything more about this supposed credit?) The screen grab shown below, which depicts the wedding seen at the end of the 1925 film, includes the only two girls seen in the surviving footage. I am assuming Louise is one of them, perhaps the girl to the left? Or are they too young?

Although I haven't been able to find any contemporaneous mention of Anita Louise appearing in The Street of Forgotten Men, I have come across a couple of images of the child actress from around the time; does either of the flower girls in the screen grab above resemble little Anita, as shown below? Possibly. [I would appreciate hearing from anyone who might have any information which would help confirm or deny Anita Louise's role in The Street of Forgotten Men.]


Anita Louise in 1924, and in an Edison film in 1927


By the time she appeared in The Street of Forgotten Men, Anita Louise was already something of an experienced actress. She had made her Broadway debut at age seven. And soon, she was appearing in films; also at age seven, she had an uncredited bit part in the film Down to the Sea in Ships (1922), which includes aspiring teenage actress Clara Bow. Louise made her credited screen debut at age nine in The Sixth Commandment (1924), which featured Street star Neil Hamilton, followed by uncredited or small parts in F.W. Murnau’s 4 Devils (1928) and the Garbo-Gilbert film, A Women of Affairs (1928).

 

        The film referred in this clipping, "The Children," was re-titled The Marriage Playground.

Noted for her delicate features and blonde hair, Louise was named a WAMPAS Baby Star in 1931. In his book, Hollywood Players: The Thirties, James Robert Parish writes "Artist McClelland Barclay described Anita Louise as 'a piece of Dresden china and probably the most beautiful woman in the movies.' No overstatement! — she looked like a model for the angelic figures in Renaissance paintings. There was about her a cool detachment and an unearthly radiance that constantly evoked the comment that she was the most ethereal ingenue in pictures."

Her best known films from the 1930s include The Florodora Girl (1930), Our Betters (1933), Madame Du Barry (1934), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935), The Story of Louis Pasteur (1935), Anthony Adverse (1936), Marie Antoinette (1938), and The Little Princess (1939). She was also featured in Harmon of Michigan (1941).

By the early 1940s, her career started to slow, but revived somewhat in the 1950s and 1960s with appearances on television in The Loretta Young Show (1953), Ethel Barrymore Theater (1956), My Friend Flicka (1956-1957, as the gentle mother), and Playhouse 90 (1957). Her last TV appearances were in Mannix (1969) and Mod Squad (1970). Louise has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame ( at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard) in recognition of her contribution to Motion Pictures.

Anita Louise in 1931

NEXT IN THE SERIES: LASSIE

Monday, April 11, 2022

George Kibbe Turner, author of The Street of the Forgotten Men

On May 10th, the San Francisco Silent Film Festival will screen its new restoration of The Street of Forgotten Men - Louise Brooks' little seen first film. More information about that special event can be found HERE


This month, and ahead of that very special event, I thought to run a few excerpts from my forthcoming book, The Street of Forgotten Men, from Story to Screen and Beyond, which will be published later this year, hopefully. 

This excerpt focuses on author George Kibbe Turner, whose 1925 story "The Street of the Forgotten Men" was adapted as the 1925 film. Turner is an interesting figure in his own right, as a muckraking journalist, as a novelist and short story writer, and as Hollywood figure.

 # # #

George Kibbe Turner (1869-1952) was a well-regarded writer who first made his name as a muckraking journalist, and then as the author of a number of short stories and novels. Notably, between 1920 and 1932, nine of Turner’s stories were made into thirteen films. At the time, Turner’s renown was such that studios often evoked his name in their promotions and advertisements. (See Turner's IMDb page for more about his efforts in Hollywood.)

Turner began writing for magazines in his early twenties, while working as a journalist for the Springfield Republican in Massachusetts. By 1899, he had placed a small number of pieces in McClure's, a popular magazine which would soon publish his first novel, The Taskmaster (1902); at the time, The Nation described Turner’s debut as “thoughtful, eager, even impassioned.” 

In 1906, Turner was hired by McClure’s as a staff writer. His first major assignment was to report on the new form of municipal government set up in Galveston, Texas following the devastating hurricane of 1900. Turner's widely read article, “Galveston: A Business Corporation,” proved highly influential and helped secure his reputation. 

During his more than ten years with McClure’s, Turner made his name as one of the leading muckrakers, or muckraking journalists. His reform-minded contemporaries included Lincoln Steffens, Ida Tarbell, Frank Norris, Jacob Riis and most famously Upton Sinclair, author of The Jungle. Early on, Sinclair was a champion of Turner’s work. In 1922, Sinclair wrote “Ten or fifteen years ago this man used to write for McClure’s, and I think, for the American Magazine. At this time these magazines were honestly edited by independent and high minded men, and George Kibbe Turner was a ‘coming writer.’ I shall never forget some of his short stories, which were as good as anything published in the magazine in those days. There was a series of Wall Street stories, full of bitter, burning contempt for our money masters and their pride and pomp. There was another series called ‘Butterflies,’ dealing with the showgirls and artists’ models, and other poor feminine waifs of the great Metropolis of Mammon. They were full of human feeling and sympathetic insight into the plight of frail human creatures struggling to keep decent in a world which starved them into indecency. I wrote Turner several letters of friendly sympathy, and tried hard to find a book publisher for those stories.”

Turner’s journalism – which spotlighted the entanglement of local government and vice – included an exposé of drink, gambling, and prostitution titled “The City of Chicago: A Study of the Great Immoralities” (April 1907), as well as “The Daughters of the Poor: A Plain Story of the White Slave Trade under Tammany Hall” (November 1909). Each were widely read, each provoked controversy, and each stirred calls for action while effecting local politics.

With the decline in muckraking journalism, Turner returned to fiction. The stories and novels that followed – melodramatic and at times as provocative as his journalism, appeared in popular publications like the Saturday Evening Post, Atlantic Monthly, Red Book, and Woman’s Home Companion. Others were serialized in newspapers across the country. [A few of Turner's stories were also anthologized, and at least one or two were published in book form in Europe.]

Turner’s best-known novels include The Last Christian (1914), The Biography of a Million Dollars (1918), and Red Friday (1919) – the latter an early red-scare novel which warns of the dangers of Bolshevism when a Lenin-like character appears in America. There was also Hagar's Hoard (1920) – which follows the life of a Confederate miser amidst an outbreak of yellow fever, and White Shoulders (1921), a society drama in which a mother tries to marry off her daughter  to the highest bidder. The latter was made into a film, as were a number of other of Turner more sensational stories. Among them was Held in Trust (1920), a Metro release which starred May Allison.

First National adapted Turner’s 1922 story “Those Who Dance” – about a federal agent and a gang of bootleggers, into a film of the same name in 1924. It starred Blanche Sweet, Bessie Love, and Warner Baxter. In 1930, Warner Bros. remade the story as a talkie starring Monte Blue, Lila Lee, William Boyd and Betty Compson. That same year, Warner Bros. filmed “Those Who Dance” as Der Tanz geht weiter, a German-language version of the story shot in Hollywood with a German-speaking cast which included William Dieterle as director and star. A Spanish-language version, Los que danzan, was also made starring Antonio Moreno and Maria Alba, as was a French-language version, Contre-enquête, with Suzy Vernon and others.

Perhaps the best known film adapted from a Turner story may be The Girl in the Glass Cage (1929), which stars Loretta Young as a pretty young cashier at a movie theater who is stalked by a neighborhood thug. A few years later, Richard Dix starred in RKO’s Roar of the Dragon (1932), which was based on Turner’s “A Passage to Hong Kong.” 

“The Street of the Forgotten Men” (with the determining article, the, before the word forgotten), is representative of Turner's fiction. The short story appeared in the February 14, 1925 issue of Liberty magazine, and was described as a “Romance of the Underworld – The Strange Story of a Bowery Cinderella and a Beggar Who Lost Himself for Love.” It was illustrated by Dudley G. Summers, one of the name illustrators of the time.

 “The Street of the Forgotten Men” sketches incidents in the life of Easy Money Charlie, a “fake bandager” who feigns the loss of an arm in order to solicit sympathy and coins from passers-by on the street. Charlie is part of a gang of professional beggars, and their gathering place is Diamond Mike’s old Dead House, a saloon whose back room is known as the “Cripple Factory.”


Charlie (played by Percy Marmont in the film, depicted above) is a decent sort at heart, and he is convinced to raise a child, a girl, of another down-and out local, the dying Portland Fancy (played by Juliet Brenon). He does so, though removed from the squalor of life on the street. The girl grows up to become a young women (played by Mary Brian), and Charlie hopes she will marry someone better off – someone well-to-do, but all along he must contend with Bridgeport White-Eye (played by John Harrington), another beggar who feigns blindness and is suspicious of the graft Charlie must surely be gaining by his act of kindness. (Louise Brooks is companion to Bridgeport White-Eye, who she calls "Whitey.")

Like other of Turner’s works, “The Street of the Forgotten Men” caught the attention of readers as well as movie makers, who saw its colorful characters and unusual setting as ideal for adaption to the screen. More about the story behind the film can be found on these earlier LBS blog posts "Louise Brooks and The Street of Forgotten Men, part 1" and "Louise Brooks and The Street of Forgotten Men, part 2" and "Louise Brooks and The Street of Forgotten Men, part 3."

 
 
 
NEXT IN THE SERIES: ANITA LOUISE
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