PRIX DE BEAUTE (MISS EUROPE) "A Centennary Tribute to Louise Brooks" Series October 21, 2006

$9
live accompaniment
1930 b&w 109min Fr intertitles w/ spoken translation
Scr Augusto Genina, René Clair, Georg Wilhelm Pabst, Bernard Zimmer
dir Augusto Genina
Louise Brooks, Georges Charlia
Special guest: Claudine Kaufmann, former Director of Collections, Cinémathèque Française

Based on a sketch by French writer-director René Clair & German director G. W. Pabst, PRIX DE BEAUTE tells the deceptively simple story of Lucienne, a high-spirited typist who wins a contest to represent France in an international beauty pageant. Before breaking the news to her jealous boyfriend André, Lucienne is whisked off to San Sebastian, where she secures the title of Miss Europe & attracts many influential suitors in the process. André eventually lures Lucienne back to Paris, & away from the temptations of fame, she agrees to marry him. Peeling potatoes while the pendulum of the cuckoo clock marks time, she realizes her mistake & sees only the misery of her life as a housewife stretching ahead. On a nightmarish trip to a fair, crushed among the lowlifes, & depressed by her husband's macho antics, Lucienne decides that she can’t go on. When an offer arrives to star in a sound picture, she leaves André. The consequences of her decision are tragic. In her last starring role in a feature film, Brooks had the advantage of being photographed by not one, but two of cinema’s greatest cameramen—Rudolphe Maté (La Passion de Jean d’Arc, Gilda) & Louis Neé (Liliom, Remorques). She looked stunning throughout the film, though Genina wrote in his memoirs that she drank all day & night, & had to be carried on to the set. "She would have been the ultimate actress," he declared, "if it hadn’t been for the alcohol." Sober or not, she plays Lucienne as alternately stifled & aglow. The story & characters are treated with great sensitivity, & Genina’s detailed direction creates a sophisticated visual dialogue that highlights Brooks’s luminous performance.

Shot as a silent film, later dubbed & re-edited into a makeshift talkie for a changing market, PRIX DE BEAUTE was seen only in the 88min sound version until recently. The silent original, restored by the Cineteca di Bologna, runs 109min & is a completely different experience. We are pleased to present this version of the film in a new print from the collection of the Cinematheque française.

Official Website: http://www.lacma.org/programs/FilmListing.aspx#lb