Over the years, images of Louise Brooks have appeared in a small number of films which otherwise have little or nothing to do with the actress. These visual shout-outs, which go back as far as 1949, take the form of either a picture on a wall which comes into frame, a random image in the background, or a projected image, as when characters go to a theater where a Brooks film is playing. Why such images appear in any given film respective film can’t be said for certain, as it may have to do with a suggestion made by the film’s director, an actor, or the set decorator. Nevertheless, there they are…. This page on the Louise Brooks Society website highlights these cinematic homage to the actress. Also included is a television episode. If you know of other such appearances, please CONTACT the Louise Brooks Society. We would love to hear from you.
Before beginning this survey, let me mention that at one point I thought I saw a portrait of Louise Brooks on the wall of an office in the hard-to-find Josephine Baker film, ZouZou (1934). I first saw it on cable television years ago.. But, every time I have seen the film since, either via poor dupes or somewhere online, I haven’t been able to spot that elusive portrait. Are there any Josephine Baker experts who could tell me if what I saw was just an illusion.
Stage Freight (1949), directed by Alfred Hitchcock
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| Brooks’ portrait is the lower of the two photos on the wall | a closer view of the image in question |
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| Marlene Dietrich and Jane Wyman and the portrait of Brooks | the portrait of Brooks seen in Stage Freight |
A photograph of Louise Brooks appears in the British thriller Stage Fright, starring Marlene Dietrich, Jane Wyman, Michael Wilding, Richard Todd, and Alastair Sim. The film, which was directed and produced by Alfred Hitchcock, was shot in England. The story centers on an aspiring actress, with some scenes shots at London’s Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts. Brooks’ first appearance takes place about 91 minutes into the film. (My apologies about the poor resolution of these screen captures, but it was difficult to get a hold of a good copy of this lesser known film.) What in the world is this image doing in this film? Do any Hitchcock experts have an explanation? Here is a post I wrote about this appearance on the Louise Brooks Society blog in 2018.
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Maledetti vi amerò (1980), directed by Marco Tullio Giordana
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| a Louise Brooks collage adorns an apartment wall in this scene | one of two close-ups of the collage, which is shown in three different scenes |
Maledetti vi amer, also known as To Love the Damned, is an Italian production by an acclaimed director with a professed admiration for Louise Brooks. (See this short video of Giordana speaking about the actress.) Aside from this collage, which is seen in three different scenes, Brooks’ image makes another appearance in the film. Nearer to its conclusion, two characters go to a cinema where Pandora’s Box is playing, and a few brief passages from the Pabst film are shown as the two characters sit in the audience talking.
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Identificazione di una donna (1982), directed by Michelangelo Antonioni
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| a character in the film considers Brooks’ portrait… | … and then places it on a window |
Antonioni may be best known for Blowup (1966), for which he received two Academy Award nominations. His Italian-French drama Identificazione di una donna, which is also known as Identification of a Woman, is the story of a film director in search of an ideal woman. It was awarded the 35th Anniversary Prize at the 1982 Cannes Film Festival. Some years later, in 1995, Antonioni received an Honorary Oscar “in recognition of his place as one of cinema’s master visual stylists”.
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Withnail and I (1987), directed by Bruce Robinson
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| Richard E. Grant in Withnail and I | Louise Brooks |
This British black comedy, which stars Richard E. Grant and Paul McGann, has been described as the “finest cult film known to humanity”. In the audio commentary which accompanies the 2025 Criterion re-release, McGann makes note of some of the images on the wall of the two character’s rather messy kitchen. When the camera pans over a Chaplin poster, McGann notes The Gold Rush was a favorite of director Bruce Robinson, after which McGann gives a shout-out to Brooks by name (who’s portrait is seen in the film for the second time). For more about McGann and Brooks, see this 2013 Louise Brooks Society blog post.
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The Blonde Bombshell (1999), directed by Robert Bierman
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| a portrait on the wall in the waiting room | Louise Brooks |
The Blonde Bombshell is a two-part mini-series based on the life of actress Diana Dors. This production was made for British television and was aired over ITV. Louise Brooks’ portrait is seen hanging on the wall of a waiting room. As with Stage Freight, it is odd that a picture of Brooks helps dress this scene, as Brooks’ career was long over by the time Dors’ career was just getting started.
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Chicago (2002), directed by Rob Marshall
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| Chicago | a cropped portrait on the wall backstage | the Brooks portrait seen in Chicago |
Chicago was one of the most popular films of 2002, as well as the winner of six Academy Awards including Best Picture. Set in the 1920s, the film stars Renée Zellweger (pictured left) as Roxie Hart, a housewife who aspires to be a entertainer and who is arrested for the murder of her deceitful paramour. A portrait of Louise Brooks affixed to a wall can be spotted in the scene when Roxie Hart is cutting her hair.
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HUGO (2011), directed by Martin Scorsese
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| from a scene in HUGO | from a scene in HUGO |
HUGO, which received 11 Academy Award nominations, eight BAFTAs, and three Golden Globes, is a film everyone should see. It is also a film steeped in movie history. In one scene later in the film, two of the central characters (Asa Butterfield as Hugo Cabret & Chloë Grace Moretz as Isabelle) visit a library where they page through a history of the cinema. As they page through the book, it opens to a portrait of Louise Brooks. A brief pasage from Pandora’s Box follows.
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Lost – TV episode (2008)
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| Sawyer reads The Invention of Morel | Sawyer reads The Invention of Morel | Invention of Morel by Adolfo Bioy Casares |
Pictured above is a publicity still from the hit TV show Lost which depicts one of the main characters reading Adolfo Bioy Casares’ The Invention of Morel, in particular the edition with Louise Brooks on the cover. It ain’t a coincidence. Bioy Casares’ was something of a fan of Brooks, and a character in his acclaimed 1940 novella was inspired by the author’s affection for Brooks. The premise of Casares’ book echoes through the television series Lost (2004 – 2010). The popular and critically acclaimed show follows the survivors of a passenger jet crash on a mysterious tropical island somewhere in the South Pacific. Like The Invention of Morel, the show contains science fiction and supernatural elements while messing with perceived reality. During one episode (“Eggtown” season 4, episode 4), one of the show’s main characters is seen sitting in a chair reading the 2003 NYRB edition of The Invention of Morel. Later in the episode, this same character is seen reading the book in bed. Check out this 2016 Louise Brooks Society blog post, “Louise Brooks and The Invention of Morel, by Adolpho Bioy Casares” as well as this 2018 post, “More on Adolfo Bioy Casares and Louise Brooks.”
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Blue is the Warmest Color (2012), directed by Abdellatif Kechiche
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| scenes from Diary of a Lost Girl (mistakenly identified as Pandora’s Box) are projected upon a wall in Blue is the Warmest Color |
Blue Is the Warmest Color (also known by it’s French title, La Vie d’Adèle), is a French film which tells the story of a young woman named Adèle and her passionate affair with a woman named Emma. The film made history when it became the first movie ever awarded the Palme d’Or at the Cannes Film Festival to both its director and its actresses. In the film, scenes from Diary of a Lost Girl are projected on a wall as Adele dances at a outdoor party. In a 2013 interview, the Tunisian-French director stated “I was aware that the film would be seen as ‘controversial’ in some quarters. It’s why in that dinner party scene in the film, when there’s an old silent movie playing on a sheet in the background, I specifically used footage from Louise Brooks’ Pandora’s Box by Pabst. There was a scene in that film where it was revealed that a character was lesbian and that created a big scandal back in the 1920s. Today we think it would be crazy to ban such a film.” The film’s Tumblr account also notes Brooks’ appearance in Blue Is the Warmest Color.
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La La Land (2016), directed by Damien Chazelle
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| this screen grab from La La Land depicts a Los Angeles freeway underpass |
La La Land was one of the most popular films of 2016. This romantic musical comedy-drama film is regarded was one of the best films of the year, having been nominated for a record-tying fourteen Oscars! The image above is a street scene showing a freeway underpass mural which depicts Louise Brooks and Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle. I believe this is an actual location in or around Los Angeles.
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Can You Ever Forgive Me? (2018), directed by Marielle Heller
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| Richard E. Grant lays on a couch below of portrait of Brooks on the bulletin board | the Brooks portrait |
Can You Ever Forgive Me? is based on the true-life story of Lee Israel. In the early 1990s, with her career at a standstill, Israel became a literary forger, composing and selling hundreds of letters that she said had been written by various literary, stage and film notables.– among them Louise Brooks (whose name, incidentally, appears on the cover of Israel’s 2008 memoir, which is also titled Can You Ever Forgive Me?). The film stars Melissa McCarthy as Lee Israel, and Richard E. Grant as her loyal friend. Here are some Louise Brooks Society blogs related to the film: “Lee Israel, writer who forged Louise Brooks letters, has died” (1-8-2015), “Story of Louise Brooks’ forger Lee Israel comes to the big screen” (5-15-2018), and “Can You Ever Forgive Me? and the Louise Brooks connection” (6-17-2019).
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And finally, a footnote….
The Maltese Falcon (1931), directed by Roy Del Ruth
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| a picture on the wall of Sam Spade’s apartment | a picture on the wall of Sam Spade’s apartment |
For the longest time, I believed a photograph in the 1931 version of The Maltese Falcon was that of Louise Brooks. Now, I no longer believe it. This first adaption of the famed Dashiell Hammett story, directed by Roy Del Ruth, stars Ricardo Cortez as private detective Sam Spade and blonde Bebe Daniels (shown above) as Ruth Wonderly.
I have seen this film twice, and each time I spotted the image I said to myself “That’s Louise Brooks.” I guessed it was one of her French portraits, taken while she was in Paris filming Prix de beaute (1930). It certainly looks like one of the images taken by the Studio Lorelle, though it doesn’t match any of them. The image in question is seen twice in the film. The first time is early on, about 30 minutes into the story. The second time is somewhat near the end. In this later scene, Spade places a telephone call from his apartment. Hanging on the wall near the phone is a picture of a woman we assume to be his sweetheart. That woman, I long thought, was Brooks.
Might it be just random set decoration? And why would it be there? I haven’t been able to find any reason or connection, except that … in 1931, Brooks appeared in a Warner Bros. movie, God’s Gift to Women, and was considered for another, The Public Enemy. Each was released around the same time as The Maltese Falcon. Might the image on the wall in Sam Spade’s apartment simply be an extra publicity photo used as set decoration.?
After a few blog posts and asking around, I have come to the conclusion that the women pictured in The Maltese Falcon is actually Rosalind Byrne. (Who, as it turns out, is the women wrongly identified as “L. Brooks” pictured on a cigarette card alongside Maurice Chevalier. More about that HERE.)