Merry Christmas Pictures From all of us here at N and CF.

Carole Lombard

Betty Compson

Carole Lombard

Louise Brooks

Alice White

“The Show- Off”(1926)

“The Show- Off”(1926) is a silent comedy drama starring Ford Sterling, Lois Wilson, and Louise Brooks. Directed by Malcolm St. Clair, this is the first of the four film adaptations of the George Kelly play. The story begins with Aubrey Piper, played by Ford Sterling, posing as a railroad executive even though he is really just a $30 a week clerk. He manages to convince a girl from a nice family, Amy Fisher, played by Lois Wilson, that he is rich and successful. Amy’s mother and father dislike Aubrey, but Amy loves him dearly despite his boastfulness. After the wedding, Amy realizes that Aubrey is not rich nor famous. They move into a small apartment, but life is tough because they have trouble paying the bills. When Amy’s father dies, the couple decides to move back into her mother’s home. Surprisingly, Aubrey wins a car in a raffle. Unfortunately, he picks up the car not knowing how to drive and causes some accidents by driving in the wrong lane. At Aubrey’s court hearing the judge hands him a $1,000 fine. Amy’s brother, Joe Fisher, played by Gregory Kelly, pays it with the $1,000 check his father gave him before he died to pay the mortgage. Joe actually prefers losing the house than to have a family member locked up in jail. What happens next is interesting and surprising.


Even though “The Show-Off” is fairly predictable, it is worth watching just to take a look at the legendary and beautiful Louise Brooks in a supporting role as the girlfriend of Joe Fisher, played by Gregory Kelly. I liked the scene where Clara, played by Louise Brooks, catches Aubrey counting portions during the prayer before dinner. I also liked the scene in which Joe and Clara reacted to the death of Pop Fisher. No subtitles were needed because their expressions said it all. Ford Sterling, best known as the chief of the Keystone Cops, gives a wonderful performance as the boastful and pompous Aubrey Piper. His body language and facial expressions bring his character to life. He was certainly a natural comedian. Lois Wilson, who was one of the most dedicated actresses of the silent screen, gives a sympathetic performance as Aubrey’s loving wife.


Born Mary Louise Brooks in Cherryvale, Kansas, on November 14, 1906, she began her entertainment career as a dancer appearing with the Ziegfeld Follies as well as the Ruth Saint Denis’ dance company. Signing with Paramount, Louise’s film debut was in “The Street of Forgotten Men” (1925) in an uncredited role. In 1926, Louise made six pictures at Paramount: “The American Venus,” “Love ‘Em and Leave ‘Em,” “A Social Celebrity,” “It’s the Old Army Game,” “The Show-Off,” and “Just Another Blonde.” Embittered over studio politics and longing for a new adventure, Louise shocked the industry by abandoning Paramount to work with director G. W. Pabst in Berlin, Germany. When Pabst saw Louise in Howard Hawks’ “A Girl in Every Port” (1928), he was convinced that she was ideal for the role of Lulu in “Pandora’s Box” (1929). At the time Louise was involved with a Paramount contract and was not available. Pabst settled on Marlene Dietrich, but before shooting began, a cable came from Paramount saying that Louise was willing to play the role. The film was not well liked in Germany, where there was resentment in having an unknown American play an important German dramatic role. In the United States, the film had no chance at all. It was reedited by its importers to make it seem that Lulu was reformed by joining the Salvation Army. Ironically, it was Louise’s waif like role as the doomed flapper Lulu that made her an international sensation and an icon of the Jazz Age. Her sleek, bobbed hairstyle was talked about in every film and fashion magazine and countless women copied it. In 1929, Louise reunited with Pabst and starred in “Diary of a Lost Girl” (1929), a silent study of a troubled young woman that would in time gain cult status. In 1930, Louise Brooks starred in “Miss Europe,” a French film released in both silent and sound versions and titled “Prix de beaute” in its native land. After being cast in B pictures by studio executives as punishment for her defiance, Louise retired from film in 1938. She returned to Kansas and tried teaching dance, but she was not suited for the job. Louise moved to New York City where she worked as a sales clerk at Saks. She lived in obscurity and destitution until former lover, Bill Paley, the founder of CBS, set up a monthly stipend that supported her for the rest of her life. In the 1950’s, French film historians discovered Louise in Rochester, New York. With the help of such film writers as James Card and Kenneth Tynan, she became a sought after film historian and accomplished writer. Louise Brooks died on August 8, 1985. She was 78 years old.

Silent Film: Pandora's Box(1929).

Pandora's Box (1929). German silent melodrama film based loosely on Frank Wedekind's plays Erdgeist Earth Spirit (1895) and Die Büchse der Pandora (1904). Directed by Austrian filmmaker Georg Wilhelm Pabst. Cast: Louise Brooks, Fritz Kortner, and Francis Lederer. Story of a young woman's uninhibited nature bring ruin to herself and those around her.

Pabst searched for months for an actress to play Lulu. When seeing Brooks as a circus performer in the Howard Hawks' film, A Girl in Every Port(1928), director G.W. Pabst tried to get her on loan from Paramount Pictures.  Pabst's second choice was Marlene Dietrich.

Louise Brooks (November 14, 1906 – August 8, 1985), was a dancer, model, showgirl and silent film actress. Brooks is best known for her films: Pandora's Box (1929), Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), and Prix de Beauté (Miss Europe) (1930). She starred in 17 silent films.

Brooks made her screen debut in the silent film, The Street of Forgotten Men, in an uncredited role in 1925. Soon, after that she was playing the female lead in a number of silent light comedies and flapper films.

She was noticed for her vamp role in the Howard Hawks directed silent "buddy film", A Girl in Every Port (1928).

It has been said that her best American role was in one of the early sound film dramas, Beggars of Life (1928), as a country girl on the run with Richard Arlen and Wallace Beery playing hoboes she meets while riding the rails. Much of this film was shot on location, and the boom microphone was invented for this film by the director, William Wellman.

No longer happy in Hollywood she moved to Germany,  where she starred in the film, Pandora's Box(1929). Brooks then starred in the controversial drama, Diary of a Lost Girl (1929), based on the book by Margarete Böhme and also directed by Pabst, and Prix de Beauté (1930), the latter having a famous surprise ending.

When she returned to Hollywood in 1931, she was cast in : God's Gift to Women (1931) and It Pays to Advertise (1931).  For the rest of her movie career, she performed in bit parts and roles in B pictures and short films.

Brooks retired from the screen after performing in the film, a John Wayne western, Overland Stage Raiders (1938) in which she played the romantic lead. She then briefly returned to Wichita, where she was raised. "But that turned out to be another kind of hell," she said. "The citizens of Wichita either resented me having been a success or despised me for being a failure.  After an unsuccessful attempt at operating a dance studio, she returned East and worked as a radio actor, gossip columnist, salesgirl in a Saks Fifth Avenue store in New York City and she also worked as a courtesan.

Brooks is considered one of the first naturalistic actors in film, her acting being subtle compared to many other silent performers. The close-up was just coming into vogue and her beautiful face was perfect for this new technique.

Louise Brooks, film image was an inspiration for Adolfo Bioy Casares when he wrote his science fiction novel, The Invention of Morel (1940).

Brooks inspired two separate comics:  Dixie Dugan newspaper strip by John H. Striebel that started in the late 1920s and ran until 1966, which came from a novel and later stage musical, "Show Girl", that writer J.P. McEvoy had loosely based on Louise's days as a Follies girl on Broadway and the comic books of Valentina, by the late Guido Crepax, which began publication in 1965 and continued for many years. Crepax became a friend and regular correspondent with Louise late in her life. Hugo Pratt, another comics artist, also used her as inspiration for characters, and even named them after her.

In an interview with James Lipton on, Inside the Actors Studio, Liza Minnelli shared how she prepared for performing her roll as Sally Bowles in the film Cabaret: "I went to my father, and asked him, what can you tell me about thirties glamour? Should I be emulating Marlene Dietrich or something? And he said no, I should study everything I can about Louise Brooks."