France, 1930, Director Augusto Genina
Cast Louise Brooks, Georges Charlia, H. Bandini, A. Nicolle, M. Ziboulsky, Yves Glad, Alex Bernard
Film Only: General $20 / Member $18; Film and Party: General $42 / Member $35
Prix de Beauté marks Louise Brooks’s last starring role in a feature. Less known than her work with G.W. Pabst (
Pandora’s Box, Diary of a Lost Girl),
Prix de Beauté was marred by its foray into early sound (Brooks’s voice was dubbed). Our presentation is the superior silent version recently restored by the Cineteca di Bologna. Brooks is stunning as Lucienne, the “everygirl” typist who enters a beauty contest and is introduced to a shiny world of fame and modernity. But
Prix’s script, a collaboration between René Clair and G.W. Pabst, doesn’t leave Lucienne in a fairy tale bubble but leads to a powerful, moving denouement. Cinematographers Rudolph Maté and Louis Née make beautiful use of Brooks’s glorious face. (TRT: 108 mins.)
Opening Night Party!
Following the Opening night screening of Prix de Beauté celebrate the start of SFSFF 2013 with drinks, hors d'oeuvres, dancing to the Frisky Frolics, and more in the amazing top floor loft of the historic McRoskey Mattress Company! Silent era costumes always welcome.