List: Top 30 Favorite Classic Actresses

To recap from the Classic Actors post, I’ve been doing lists like this nearly my whole life or at least as far back as I can remember. I redo my ‘Classic’ and ‘Modern’ Actors and Actresses lists every couple of years and I felt like posting my latest versions of them. They vary a lot throughout the years; I found the Actors in this case to be more difficult. While there were certainly actresses who regrettably did not make the list because there wasn’t room (Myrna Loy, Claudette Colbert, Rosalind Russell, Paulette Goddard, Rita Hayworth, Ingrid Bergman and Olivia De Havilland to name a few) or because there were actresses who gave one single performance I cannot get enough of but could not justify picking them over others (Anna Massey, Kathleen Byron, Sue Lyon). Like I said in the ‘Classic Actors’ post, I will not be posting reasons; simply a picture and a list of films I have seen with them. This list is a lot less varied than the previous one; it is almost entirely focused on the studio era in Hollywood.

30. Joan Fontaine
Seen in 5 Films: The Women, Gunga Din, Rebecca, Suspicion, Letter from an Unknown Woman

29. Celeste Holm
Seen in 4 films: Gentleman’s Agreement, A Letter to Three Wives (narrator), All About Eve, Three Men and a Baby

28. Tippi Hedren
Seen in 3 films: The Birds, Marnie, I Heart Huckabees

27. Jean Harlow
Seen in 8 Films: The Public Enemy, Platinum Blonde, Red-Headed Woman, Red Dust, Dinner at Eight, Bombshell, Wife vs. Secretary, Libeled Lady

26. Olga Baclanova
Seen in 4 films: The Docks of New York, The Man Who Laughs, Freaks, Downstairs

25. Lauren Bacall
Seen in 12 films: To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep, Key Largo, Dark Passage, How to Marry a Millionaire, Written on the Wind, Murder on the Orient Express, Misery, All I Want for Christmas, Dogville, Howl’s Moving Castle (voice), Birth

24. Judy Garland
Seen in 11 films: Love Finds Andy Hardy, The Wizard of Oz, Babes in Arms, Ziegfeld Girl, Girl Crazy, Meet Me in St. Louis, Ziegfeld Follies, The Pirate, A Star is Born, Judgment at Nuremberg, I Could Go On Singing

23. Audrey Hepburn
Seen in 8 films: Roman Holiday, Sabrina, Funny Face, The Nun’s Story, Breakfast at Tiffany’s, The Children’s Hour, My Fair Lady, Wait Until Dark

22. Miriam Hopkins
Seen in 7 films: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, The Smiling Lieutenant, Trouble in Paradise, The Story of Temple Drake, Design for Living, The Heiress, The Children’s Hour

21. Greer Garson
Seen in 3 films: Goodbye Mr. Chips, Mrs. Miniver, Random Harvest

20. Norma Shearer
Seen in 4 films: He Who Gets Slapped, The Divorcee, A Free Soul, The Women

19. Lillian Gish
Seen in 10 Films: The Musketeers of Pig Alley, The Birth of a Nation, Intolerance, Broken Blossoms, Way Down East, Orphans of the Storm, La Boheme, The Wind, Portrait of Jennie, The Night of the Hunter

18. Greta Garbo
Seen in 8 films: Flesh and the Devil, Anna Christie, Mata Hari, Grand Hotel, Queen Christina, Camille, Ninotchka, Two-Faced Woman

17. Joan Crawford
Seen in 10 films: The Unknown, Grand Hotel, Dancing Lady, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, The Women, Mildred Pierce, Possessed, Johnny Guitar, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, I Saw What You Did

16. Simone Simon
Seen in 4 films: La Bete Humaine, The Devil and Daniel Webster, Cat People, La Ronde

15. Shelley Winters
Seen in 10 films: A Place in the Sun, The Big Knife, The Night of the Hunter, The Diary of Anne Frank, Lolita, A Patch of Blue, Alfie, The Poseidon Adventure, The Tenant, Pete’s Dragon

14. Ginger Rogers
Seen in 9 Films: 42nd Street, The Gold Diggers of 1933, Finishing School, The Gay Divorcee, Top Hat, Swing Time, Stage Door, Kitty Foyle, Tales of Manhattan

13. Joan Blondell
Seen in 8 Films: The Public Enemy, Night Nurse, Three on a Match, Gold Diggers of 1933, Footlight Parade, Nightmare Alley, Opening Night, Grease

12. Marilyn Monroe
Seen in 9 films: The Asphalt Jungle, All About Eve, Clash by Night, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, How to Marry a Millionaire, The Seven Year Itch, Some Like it Hot, Let’s Make Love, The Misfits

11. Vivian Vance
Seen in: “I Love Lucy”, 180 episodes and “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”

10. Jeanne Moreau
Seen in 7 films: La Notte, Jules and Jim, The Fire Within, Diary of a Chambermaid, Mademoiselle, The Bride Wore Black, Ever After

9. Anna Karina
Seen in 5 films: A Woman is a Woman, Cleo from 5 to 7, Vivre se vie, Band of Outsiders, Alphaville

8. Marlene Dietrich
Seen in 10 films: The Blue Angel, Morocco, Shanghai Express, Blonde Venus, The Scarlet Empress, The Devil is a Woman, Destry Rides Again, Witness for the Prosecution, Touch of Evil, Judgment at Nuremberg

7. Katherine Hepburn
Seen in 13 films: Little Women, Mary of Scotland, Stage Door, Bringing Up Baby, Holiday, The Philadelphia Story, Woman of the Year, Without Love, Adam’s Rib, The African Queen, Suddenly Last Summer, The Lion in Winter, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner

6. Barbara Stanwyck
Seen in 12 films: Night Nurse, Baby Face, Ladies They Talk About, The Bitter Tea of General Yen, Stella Dallas, The Lady Eve, Ball of Fire, Double Indemnity,  The Strange Love of Martha Ivers, The Two Mrs. Carrolls, Sorry, Wrong Number, Clash by Night

5. Monica Vitti
Seen in 3 films: L’Avventura, La Notte, L’Eclisse

4. Ann Dvorak
Seen in 4 films: Scarface, Three on a Match, ‘G’ Men, Girls of the Road

3. Bette Davis
Seen in 14 films: Three on a Match, The Petrified Forest, Jezebel, Dark Victory, The Letter, The Little Foxes, Now, Voyager, Mr. Skeffington, A Stolen Life, Deception, All About Eve, Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?, Hush…Hush Sweet Charlotte, Return to Witch Mountain

2. Lucille Ball
Seen in 9 films, 2 TV shows: Stage Door, Five Came Back, Dance, Girl, Dance, Du Barry was a Lady, Without Love, The Dark Corner, The Long Long Trailer, “I Love Lucy”, 180 episodes, “The Lucy-Desi Comedy Hour”, Yours, Mine and Ours, Forever Darling

1. Louise Brooks
Seen in 7 films: The Show Off, Pandora’s Box, Diary of a Lost Girl, Beggars of Life, A Girl in Every Port, Prix de Beaute, Windy Riley Goes Hollywood

List: Top 30 Favorite Classic Actors

edit: June 6th, 2013:
I figured it was about time for an update. It’s only been a year and a half since I posted this list but already some major changes have taken place.

Ever since I was a child, I would make favorite actors lists. When I was around 11 they became as superficial and lovey-dovey as Top Sexiest Actors, and even the nauseating Top Cutie-Patootie Actors….whatever that means. Clearly I was at the age where noting those fellows I was attracted to was became important to me. For the past ten years I would make periodic lists of my favorite ‘classic’ and ‘modern’ actors and actresses. I do 30 for the classics and 50 for the modern. They are only meant to represent the performers I consider to be my favorites at various ages throughout my life. A lot of people end up staying the same, but the more and more I see, the more people shift and make their way on and off the list. ‘Classic’ here includes the silent period through the 1950’s and early 60’s, although several performers made films in later decades. There are a ton of people not on this list that I adore; Gary Cooper, Lionel Barrymore, Jean-Paul Belmondo, Fredric March, William Holden, Toshiro Mifune, Henry Fonda, Kirk Douglas, Alec Guinness, Gene Kelly, Desi Arnaz, Humphrey Bogart, Anthony Perkins, Orson Welles, etc. I am a fan of all of those names, and getting this down to 30 was difficult. I outright worship many of these people for their talent, presence, persona, and yes in some cases for their looks.

I won’t be giving reasons here, just a picture and a list of what I have seen them in. I wish I could dedicate time to explaining my reasons, but I’ve got 3 more of these to post, and with 2011 lists coming up (which will have reasons), I figure that pictures will have to do. I hope you enjoy this; it is meant to be fun and entirely subjective to who I am drawn to for various reasons. I encourage anyone who reads this to comment on their favorites and feel free to give recommendations of films to watch from those I listed. I realize I’ve still got a lot to see from these men.

30. Lon Chaney
Previously: 19
Seen in 5 Films: Ace of Hearts, He Who Gets Slapped, The Phantom of the Opera, Laugh Clown Laugh, The Unknown

29. Anton Walbrook
Previously: 30
Seen in 4 films: The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp, The Red Shoes, La Ronde, Lola Montes

28. Peter Sellers
Previously: 29
Seen in 12 Films: The Ladykillers, Tom Thumb, I’m All Right Jack, Lolita, The Pink Panther, The World of Henry Orient, A Shot in the Dark, What’s New Pussycat?, Casino Royale, The Party, Murder by Death, Being There

27. Burt Lancaster
Previously: 27
Seen in 13 films: The Killers, Brute Force, Sorry Wrong Number, Criss Cross, From Here to Eternity, Sweet Smell of Success, Judgment at Nuremberg, A Child is Waiting, The Leopard, Airport, Atlantic City, Rocket Gibraltar, Field of Dreams

26. Jack Lemmon
Previously: 13
Seen in 16 Films: Mister Roberts, Some Like it Hot, Bell Book and Candle, The Apartment, Days of Wine and Roses, The Great Race, The Odd Couple, The Out-of-Towners, The China Syndrome, Dad, JFK, The Player (cameo), Glengarry Glen Ross, Short Cuts, Grumpy Old Men, Hamlet

25. Takeshi Shimura
Previously: 26
Seen in 11 Films:  Osaka Elegy, Stray Dog, Rashomon, Ikiru, Seven Samurai, Throne of Blood, The Hidden Fortress, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, High and Low, Kwaidan

24. Joseph Cotten
Previously: 24
Seen in 10 Films: Citizen Kane, The Magnificent Ambersons, Shadow of a Doubt, Gaslight, Portrait of Jennie, Under Capricorn, The Third Man, Touch of Evil (uncredited), Hush…Hush Sweet Charlotte, Lady Frankenstein

23. Robert Mitchum
Previously: —
Seen in 11 films: Pursued, Crossfire, Out of the Past, Angel Face, The Night of the Hunter, Cape Fear, The Friends of Eddie Coyle, Scrooged, Cape Fear, Tombstone, Dead Man

22. Richard Widmark
Previously: 20
Seen in 6 Films: Kiss of Death, Night and the City, Panic in the Streets, Pickup on South Street, Judgment at Nuremberg, Murder on the Orient Express

21. Alain Delon
Previously: 23
Seen in 5 Films: Purple Noon, L’Eclisse, The Leopard, Le Samourai, Le Cercle Rouge

20. Michael Redgrave
Previously: 22
Seen in 7 Films: The Lady Vanishes, The Stars Look Down, Dead of Night, Secret Beyond the Door…, The Browning Version, The Innocents, The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Runner

19. Conrad Veidt
Previously: 21
Seen in 6 Films: Different from the Others, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, Waxworks, The Man Who Laughs, The Thief of Bagdad, Casablanca

18. Boris Karloff
Previously: 18
Seen in 16 Films: Frankenstein, Scarface, The Old Dark House, The Mask of Fu Manchu, The Mummy, The Black Cat, Bride of Frankenstein, The Raven, The Black Room, The Body Snatcher, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Isle of the Dead, Bedlam, Lured, “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” (TV Short) (Voice), Targets

17. Sacha Guitry
Previously: 8
Seen in 4 films: Story of a Cheat, Pearls of the Crown, Desire, Quadrille

16. Edward G. Robinson
Previously: 15
Seen in 10 films: Little Caesar, Tales of Manhattan, Double Indemnity, The Woman in the Window, Scarlet Street, The Red House, Key Largo, The Stranger, The Ten Commandments, Two Weeks in Another Town

15. Jean Gabin
Previously: 9
Seen in 6 films: Pepe le Moko, Grand Illusion, Port of Shadows, La Bete Humaine, Le Jour se Leve, Moontide, Le Plaisir

14. James Mason
Previously: 16
Seen in 9 Films: Odd Man Out, Caught, The Reckless Moment, A Star is Born, Bigger than Life, North by Northwest, Lolita, The Last of Sheila, The Verdict

13. William Powell
Previously: 17
Seen in 12 Films: The Last Command, Jewel Robbery, The Kennel Murder Case, The Thin Man, The Great Ziegfeld, My Man Godfrey, Libeled Lady, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, After the Thin Man, Ziegfeld Follies, How to Marry a Millionaire, Mister Roberts

12. Tatsuya Nakadai
Previously: 11
Seen in 9 Films: When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, Yojimbo, Sanjuro, Harakiri, High and Low, Kwaidan, The Sword of Doom, The Face of Another, Ran

11. Charles Laughton
Previously: 3
Seen in 12 Films: The Old Dark House, Devil and the Deep, Sign of the Cross, Island of Lost Souls, The Private Life of Henry VIII, Mutiny on the Bounty, Rembrandt, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, Tales of Manhattan, This Land is Mine, The Big Clock, Witness for the Prosecution, Spartacus

10. Cary Grant
Previously: 7
Seen in 18 Films: Blonde Venus, Devil and the Deep, She Done Him Wrong, The Awful Truth, Bringing Up Baby, Holiday, Gunga Din, Only Angels Have Wings, His Girl Friday, The Philadelphia Story, Suspicion, Arsenic and Old Lace, Notorious, Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, Monkey Business, To Catch a Thief, An Affair to Remember, North by Northwest

9. Peter Lorre
Previously: 12
Seen in 9 Films: M, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Mad Love, The Maltese Falcon, Casablanca, Arsenic and Old Lace, Three Strangers, The Verdict, Tales of Terror

8. Robert Montgomery
Previously: —
Seen in 8 films: The Divorcee, The Big House, The Easiest Way, Faithless, When Ladies Meet, The Last of Mrs. Cheyney, Night Must Fall

7. Charlie Chaplin
Previously: 6
Seen in 7 Films: The Kid, The Gold Rush, The Circus, City Lights, Modern Times, The Great Dictator, Monsieur Verdoux

6. Buster Keaton
Previously: 14
Seen in 8 Films: Our Hospitality, Sherlock Jr., The Navigator, Seven Chances, The General, College, Steamboat Bill Jr., The Cameraman

5. Claude Rains
Previously: 10
Seen in 11 Films: The Invisible Man, The Adventures of Robin Hood, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Now, Voyager, The Wolf Man, Moontide, Casablanca, Mr. Skeffington, Notorious, Deception, Lawrence of Arabia

4. James Cagney
Previously: 5
Seen in 11 Films: The Public Enemy, The Crowd Roars, Footlight Parade, ‘G’ Men, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Angels with Dirty Faces, Each Dawn I Die, The Roaring Twenties, The Fighting 69th, Yankee Doodle Dandy, White Heat, Mister Roberts

3. George Sanders
Previously: 4
Seen in 15 Films: Rebecca, Man Hunt, Foreign Correspondent, Tales of Manhattan, This Land is Mine, The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Strange Affair of Uncle Harry, The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, Lured, All About Eve, While the City Sleeps, Voyage in Italy, Village of the Damned, A Shot in the Dark, The Jungle Book (voice)

 

2. James Dean
Previously: 2
Seen in 3 Films: East of Eden, Rebel without a Cause, Giant

1. Jimmy Stewart
Previously: 1
Seen in 18 Films: Wife vs. Secretary, After the Thin Man, You Can’t Take it With You, Destry Rides Again, Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Shop Around the Corner, The Mortal Storm, The Philadelphia Story, Ziegfeld Girl, It’s a Wonderful Life, Rope, Harvey, Rear Window, Bell Book and Candle, Vertigo, Anatomy of a Murder, The Man who Shot Liberty Valance, The Flight of the Phoenix

Screening Post: December 17th-31st

371. Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (2011, Bird): A/A-

372. Albert Nobbs (2011, Garcia): D

373. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011, Fincher): B

374. The Adventures of Tintin (2011, Spielberg): B-

375. Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011, Alfredson): A

376. A Dangerous Method (2011, Cronenberg): B/B-

377. Call Her Savage (1932, Dillon): B

378. Safe in Hell (1931, Wellman): B-

379. Design for Living (1933, Lubitsch): A-

380. The Story of Temple Drake (1933, Roberts): B-/C+

381. Downstairs (1932, Bell): B

382. Different from the Others (1919, Oswald): C

383. Waxworks (1923, Leni): B

384. Queen Kelly (1928, von Stroheim): B+/B

385. Nothing but Trouble (1991, Ackroyd): F

386. Life as We Know It (2010, Berlanti):B-/ C+

387. The Apple (1980, Golan): A- (This may be my new favorite ‘best worst movie’)

388. Glitter (2001, Curtis Hall): F

389. Solarbabies (1986, Johnson): D-

390. The Party (1968, Edwards): C

391. Horrible Bosses (2011, Gordon): B

392. Blithe Spirit (1945, Lean): B+

393. Distant Voices, Still Lives (1988, Davies): B

394. Dead Man’s Shoes (2004, Meadows): B+

395. The Last Wave (1977, Weir): B/B-

396. After Hours (1985, Scorsese): A

397. La Haine (1995, Kassovitz): A-

398. Beautiful Thing (1996, Macdonald): B+

399. War Horse (2011, Spielberg): B-

Screening Log: December 1st – December 16th

346. Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2011, Herzog): B

347. Warrior (2011, O’Connor): A-

348. Margin Call (2011, Chandor): B-

349. In Time (2011, Niccol): D-

350. The Artist (2011, Hazanavicius): B/B-

351. Le Quattro Volte (2011, Frammartino): B+

352. The Debt (2011, Madden): B-

353. The Devil’s Double (2011, Tamahori): C

354. The Arbor (2011, Barnard): A

355. Hesher (2011, Susser): C

356. Terri (2011, Jacobs): B

357. Captain America: The First Avenger (2011, Johnston): B-

358. Moneyball (2011, Miller): A-

359. My Week with Marilyn (2011, Curtis): C-

360. Shame (2011, McQueen): A-

361. Another Earth (2011, Cahill): C-

362. The Thing (2011, Heijningen Jr.): C-

363. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011, Ramsay): A

364. Redline (2011, Koike): B

365. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011, Wyatt): B

366. Young Adult (2011, Reitman): A

367. Kung Fu Panda 2 (2011, Yuh): B+

368. Nico Icon (1995, Ofterringer): B-

369. The Mill and the Cross (2011, Majewski): B

Weekly Screening Log: June 17th-23rd

206. The Hidden Fortress (1958, Kurosawa): C+

207. Lola (1961, Demy): B+

208. La Bête Humaine (1938, Renoir): A-

209. Irréversible (2002, Noé): B+

210. Midnight in Paris (2011, Allen): A-

211. The Tree of Life (2011, Malick): A

212. The Phantom Carriage (1921, Sjöström): B-

213. Diary of a Country Priest (1951, Bresson): A

214. The Troll Hunter (2011, Øvredal): C

Weekly Screening Log: May 20th-26th

169. Mad Max (1979, Miller): D+

170. Sans Soleil (1983, Marker): A+

171. Seance (2000, Kurosawa): B+

172. Great Expectations (1946, Lean): B+

173. The Freshman (1925, Taylor & Newmeyer): C+

174. A Hard Day’s Night (1964, Lester): B-

175. Last Tango in Paris (1972, Bertolucci): A-

176. It’s a Gift (1934, McLoed): B+

177. Red Riding Hood (2011, Hardwicke): D

178. Unknown (2011, Collet-Serra): B

180. The Roommate (2011, Christiansen): D-

181. Incendies (2011, Villeneuve): A

182. Passion Play (2011, Glazer): D-

Lulu in Pandora’s Box

“Lulu in ‘Pandora’s Box’”    

Originally posted April 20th, 2011 on Film School Rejects as part of their ‘Criterion Files’

The first time I saw G.W Pabst’s Pandora’s Box, I thought I knew what Lulu, the character played by Louise Brooks, would be like. All I knew was that Lulu destroyed the lives of those around her. I expected her to be a typical femme fatale, with perhaps a bit of the vamp in her; sexy, manipulative, cold, calculating, powerful. I expected her to be a scheming woman with a plan for destruction. Lulu is a very complicated character because she is in many ways the direct opposite of the femme fatale despite the amount of damage she inevitably causes. I chose to write about Pandora’s Box because it means a great deal to me. Most importantly, it introduced me to Louise Brooks. I idolize her for all she had to endure, for never compromising and for the enigmatic personality she brought to the screen which has never been matched.  By looking at Lulu as a character, I hope to give at least a little insight into her performance in Pandora’s Box and the complicated and ultimately symbolic character she portrays with Lulu.

The name of the film immediately gives some indication of Lulu’s character in the parallels it suggests between her and the myth. Pandora was the first mortal woman in Greek mythology. She was made as a punishment for mankind due to the actions of Prometheus because powerful women were seen as destroyers of man. She possessed incomparable beauty, charm and skill. But she opened a box out of curiosity and released all of the evils in the world and by the time she closed the box the only thing left in it at the bottom was hope.

There are obvious similarities between Pandora and Lulu. Most importantly, curiosity was Pandora’s motivation for opening the box; not some calculated plan to unleash evil on the world. Curiosity can be seen as synonymous with naiveté, which is exactly what Lulu has. Lulu is not the femme fatale. She is a naïve woman who is somewhat unaware of the effect she has on people and of the damage she causes whether it is her fault or not. Lulu does not purposely ruin the lives of the people around her and this is a key characteristic.

In the commentary for the film with Mary Ann Doane and Thomas Elsaesser that can be heard on the Criterion Collection edition of Pandora’s Box, Doane make a statement that reveals another important characteristic of Lulu’s. Doane states that “she is a character for who the past holds no weight”. Lulu’s sole motivation is pleasure in the present. She does not mean to hurt anyone. She fails to comprehend that her actions affect others and that other people have their own individual feelings and desires. She does not learn from past mistakes and refuses to compromise or dwell on the past. Additionally, Lulu will not learn from past mistakes and is capable of shaking the past off no matter how traumatic it may be.

An example of this is when she returns to Alwa’s place after she escapes from her trial for Schon’s death. Alwa comes home to find Lulu coming out of the bath. She acts insensitively to what Alwa is going through. She smiles even though he has lost his father; she pokes him and he says “How dare you come here”. She looks slightly confused and says “Where else should I go but home?” She smiles, he shakes a hat into her hands and then Lulu gets violently angry and then throws the hat across the room. She then completely changes moods, smiles and crosses the room to go look at herself in the mirror in her bathrobe. Lulu wastes no time moving on from life-changing events so she can continue pursuing the present moment. The way Lulu acts in this scene is not malicious but simply unmindful; because of this, we continue to care about her despite her blatant inability to take other people’s feelings into account.

Another key characteristic of Lulu that harks back to the natural curiosity of Pandora is Lulu’s childishness. We are the most curious as children and this is what Lulu essentially is; a child. She becomes the most childlike around her “father”/pimp Schigolch. She is the most familiar with him and sits on his lap whenever she sees him. The most extreme example of Lulu’s childishness is the tantrum she has backstage at the revue she participates in. Schon brings Charlotte his fiancée backstage at the revue which Lulu is performing in and shows her around. When Lulu sees Schon, her expressions and mannerisms are that of an upset child. Her brow pushes forward and her lips pout out and Lulu suddenly looks like a five-year old who did not get her way. She stomps off and refuses to perform in the show, pushing people out of her way and makes a large commotion in front of Schon.

A piece of behind the scenes knowledge during the making of the film can also shed some light on how Pabst might have seen Lulu. When she shoots Schon, G.W Pabst told Louise Brooks to react by saying “Das Blut!” meaning “the blood!” Although neither the line nor Brooks’ lips uttering the words make it into the film, this direction is an indication of Lulu’s childlike nature. Instead of telling Brooks to react to the fact that she just shot and killed her lover and her best friend’s father, Pabst tells her to react to a much more abstract thing; blood. A child would unlikely understand the full implications of the death of someone and instead would react to the concrete physicality of the blood. Pabst’s direction of Brooks during this scene suggests that he also looks at Lulu as having childlike qualities.

For all of Lulu’s characterization, her mere presence gives off a sense of symbolic purpose. The connection to the figure of Pandora and the elusiveness of Lulu elevates her to a mythical-like status. This is why it takes a figure like the assumed “Jack the Ripper” to eliminate her; someone with that historical status is the only one who has the ability to destroy her. The way Pabst’s camera depicts the actress, and the meaning that Brooks’ presence and performance give to the film add to the fascination that comes with Lulu, making her a unique character and an iconic presence in film.

Louise Brooks never poses for the camera. It makes her all the more appealing and Pabst uses this to his advantage by adding different lighting techniques, most notably soft focus and expressionistic lighting to enhance her undeniably unique qualities. Using soft focus for close-ups was standard, but Pabst’s use of it veers towards visual poetry. The casting of Brooks, an American among a cast of Germans, gives her an added air of mysteriousness and unfamiliarity to audiences; she sticks out even more so because of it. Louise Brooks plays Lulu with a natural air that has never been equaled. Rumor has it that the reason that Pabst did not cast Marlene Dietrich as opposed to Brooks was because he had said that “’one sexy look and the picture would become a burlesque’”. He needed Brooks’ effortless quality in front of the camera to make the film stand out among others and he knew it.

Brooks’ real life antics make the character of Lulu even more engaging to a modern day audience. She was promiscuous, very much into sex and desire almost to a fault. She and Lulu represented the modern woman who was in control of her life, her sexuality and of the choices that she made. Unfortunately for Brooks, many of these were bad choices; but she made her own life by her own rules. The Hollywood system could not contain her. All of Lulu’s seductive qualities were Louise Brooks. Pabst managed to capture the essence of her. This is not an act; beyond the definite construct of Lulu, I believe we are seeing Louise Brooks herself.

Lulu is a character in cinema that has become an icon, representing desire, eroticism; a woman who seems to be in control of the camera that photographs her, her femininity and her power. Lulu is brought to life by Louise Brooks, a legend in her own right, who is unforgettable as Pandora’s Box. Make no mistake that in the end, for all its other accomplishments, of which there are many, Brooks makes this film. She is sex and desire. She is a curious child. She is living completely for herself. She is mythically symbolic. She is Lulu.

Weekly Screening Log: April 22nd-28th

139. Poetry (2011, Lee): A-

140. In a Better World (2011, Bier): B-

141. Slacker (1991, Linklater): A

142. Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall his Past Lives (2011, Weerasethakul): B-

143. Cracks (2011, Scott): B

144. A Girl in Every Port (1928, Hawks): D+

145. The Wind (1928, Sjöström): A-

146. The Last Temptation of Christ (1988, Scorsese): A-

147. The Rite (2011, Håfström): D-

148. Scream 4 (2011, Craven): C

149. Blow Out (1981, De Palma): A

Short Review: The Man Who Laughs (1928, Leni)

The Man Who Laughs (1928, Leni)

This silent film, produced by Hollywood and made by German expressionists including director Paul Leni, is not really a horror film. It falls more under the melodrama genre and is based on a novel by Victor Hugo. Conrad Veidt’s performance, the makeup, art direction and Paul Leni’s expressionist point of view make for a melodrama presented as a horror film. Conrad Veidt’s as Gwynplaine is filled with expression and sadness (using only his eyes) that cannot be forgotten. Olga Baclanova nearly steals the film away from Veidt as Duchess Josiana who loves to do what she wants and has an inexplicable facination with Gwynplaine. Baclanova is captivating with sizzling sexuality dealing with an ambiguous and complex character. Her subplot is even more interesting than the main story. Leni makes very early use of sound by creating certain sound effects and lending a lot of atmosphere with audio during the crowd scenes. The love story is moving, a bit repetitive at times, but still effective. The grimace on Veidt’s face is one of the more unforgettable images film has to offer. Leni’s directorial voice stands out with many techniques that enhance emotion and atmosphere. One of the best silent films ever made, this is a must-see.