Call me Hedda Hopper*, because I have been keeping this one under my hat for quite some time. Coming on 13 January and available to pre-order now, Focus on Louise Brooks (Flicker Alley) is the perfect way to start your 2026 with a bang, or a pair of bangs, as the case may be. It’s a mutlifaceted tribute to the most iconic silent star of all time!
This gorgeous multiregion Blu-ray contains “a treasure trove of early and rare Louise Brooks performances”, with all the extant material from her early Hollywood films together in one place, newly restored and presented in this very special edition. All this!
- The Street of Forgotten Men /1925 / Directed by Herbert Brenon / 75 minutes / U.S. / Famous Players-Lasky Corporation
- American Venus (Extant Materials) / 1926 / Directed by Frank Tuttle / 8 minutes / Famous Players–Lasky
- Just Another Blonde (Fragment) / 1926 / Directed by Alfred Santell / 32 minutes / First National
- Now We’re in the Air (Fragment) / 1927 / Directed by Frank R. Strayer / 23 minutes / Paramount Pictures
Believe me, if you are a Brooksie fan you are going to love this. Some of these appearances will really make you rethink what you know about Brooksie in Hollywood. They will confirm, however, that she had “it”, right from the start.
There are extras too, with scores and audio commentaries for each film. These last are by the author and Brooks expert Thomas Gladysz and SFFP’s Kathy Rose O’Regan on Just Another Blonde, and with Gladysz and SFFP’s Robert Byrne on American Venus and Now We’re in the Air. Plus, full disclosure, I do the commentary for The Street of Forgotten Men. There is a restoration demo, an image gallery and a booklet with an essay by Gladysz and restoration notes by Byrne. And there is a chunky featurette featuring yours truly on the life of Louise Brooks with lots of clips and amazing archive imagery.
This really is a beautiful thing and a labour of love for all concerned. So if you do have any spending money in your Christmas stocking… just a thought!
- Pre-order Focus on Louise Brooks from Flicker Alley now. There’s a standard edition, and one with a fancy slip cover too.
- Silent London will always be free to all readers. If you enjoy checking in with the site, including reports from silent film festivals, features and reviews, please consider shouting me a coffee on my Ko-Fi page.
- * No, don’t call me that.
- My book on Pandora’s Box also makes an excellent stocking filler, just saying.
