In the first few years following its 1929 release, Pandora’s Box was shown all over the world; in fact, it was shown on five continents including Asia, where it is known to have been screened in at least three and possibly four countries. In Asia, its reception was varied — but as fewer Asian newspapers are accessible online, the fuller picture of what Asian critics or cinemagoers thought of the film is not known.
For example, on the island of Java in the Dutch East Indies (modern-day Indonesia), the film was shown with some fanfare in the capital city of Batavia at the Kranggan theater (also kown as the Bioskop Kranggan), a prominent venue which remained popular for many years. Over the course of a week ahead of its early January 1930 showing, the local Dutch-language newspaper, De Indische Courant, ran a series of teaser ads promoting De doos van Pandora, as it was known in Dutch-speaking countries. The ad shown below is one among nine different ads found in just this single newspaper. With so many ads in the series, two different ads sometimes appeared on the same day either on the same page or on adjoining pages. These ads were similar to those printed in some German and Polish newspapers earlier in the year, except these were in Dutch.
Along with an advertising campaign aimed to build up interest in the film, De Doos van Pandora was shown with “special music from our orchestra conducted by Martin Grobe.” (A special musical accompaniment was a distinction enjoyed by only some productions.) Also accompanying the film was a Dutch newsreel meant to draw homesick locals — a short movie titled Marine Manoeuveres which showed images of the Graf Zeppelin airship over the Dutch homeland. Curiously, and despite the fact the film was banned in The Netherlands, moviegoers in the Dutch East Indies could view it in this distant Dutch colony. However, as the advertisement indicates, the film was “Verboden voor personen beneden de 17 jaar,” which translates as “prohibited for persons under 17 years of age.” After its run at the Kranggan, De Doos van Pandora moved over to the Capitol Theater Malang, which was also located in Batavia (present day Jakarta).
As with the Dutch East Indies, there was a significant advertising campaign around Pandora’s Box in Japan, where the film played in February 1930. These advertisements, however, did not appear in local newspaper ahead of a showing, but in one of the island nation’s popular movie magazines. Here are examples of three promotional pieces. The first is a four page piece, while the second and third are two page spreads.
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Louise Brooks was an especially popular star in Japan in the late 1920s. In fact, her popularity nearly rivaled that of Clara Bow, the flapper actress known as the “It girl”. Both were thought of as modan gāru or a “modern girl”. Each were studied by Japanese fans, and each influenced the way Japanese women fashioned themselves and even behaved. What’s especially remarkable about the bold modern graphics of the black-and-white and pink accented four page spread shown above is the inclusion of two inset photos taken especially for Japanese audiences. These rare images, taken in Germany in 1928 during the making of Die Büchse der Pandora, depict the film’s star and director each holding chalkboards with their names spelled out in Japanese script. As a special message to fans, they can be read as a “hello” — an acknowledgement of the actress’ popularity in Japan.
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| Japanese movie poster for The Box of Pandora |
ルイズ ブルックス (left, Louise Brooks) and パンスト (right, G. W. Pabst) hold chalkboards |
Newspaper ad for the film from Kobe, Japan |
Compared with the Dutch East Indies and Japan, the film’s screening in Seoul, Korea was a modest happening. According to a listing found in an English-language Seoul newspaper, The Box of Pandora was shown for about a week at the Tan Sung Sa Movie Hall in mid April 1930. It was accompanied by another 10 reel film, a 1928 Ufa production titled Behind the German Front, which was also known as Behind the German Lines. Like the Indonesian advertisements, this newspaper listing described The Box of Pandora as “variations taken from Frank Wedekind Lula” [sic]. And it yet another variation on the spelling of the actress’ name, it notes the film features “Louis Broox”. Admission to the 7:30 p.m. show was 1.00 yen for a reserved seat and 50 sen for “ordinary” seating.
There is little known about the film’s likely screening in China, as advertisements for actual screenings have yet to be located. Otherwise, shown below is a page about the movie which appeared in a Chinese film magazine in that same year which depicts the closing scenes of the film.
Know of other early Asian reviews, articles or advertisements related to Pandora’s Box? Know of Asian newspaper or magazine databases which might yield more material? Please contact the Louise Brooks Society.
